• ℹ️ Heads up...

    This is a popular topic that is fast moving Guest - before posting, please ensure that you check out the first post in the topic for a quick reminder of guidelines, and importantly a summary of the known facts and information so far. Thanks.

Ride Access Pass Systems and Disabled Access (pre 2024)

Status
This topic has been locked. No further replies can be posted.
Matt N said:
Maybe some sort of waiting room system would work for RAP users; at Towers, for example, RAP users could wait for a ride in that quiet room that opened in Towers Street not long ago so as they don't have to "queue", but it doesn't offer any obvious benefit over a regular park guest. I'm not sure it would work if there was only 1, but if they had one in each major area, for example, then I think it could work.
Click to expand...
Then the quiet room is no longer a quiet room. And forcing some RAP users to wait in a room would be forcing on them the exact problems the RAP is meant to remove.

The timed lock out system works, as copping strategies can be employed. Away from the crowds or guests taking the urine about the behaviour of guest using the
RAP.

When people abuse they system, like mentioned above of taking a used one, cleaning it up and duplicating more. Is a horrid abuse of a system designed to help.

Maybe the only way to stop the abuse of the system is to go with RFID bands like disney pass. That would log the wait times and if fitted to a door way would pick up on 2 RAP trying to pass themselves as one.

Sent from my SM-J600FN using Tapatalk
 
Maybe a better idea would be having many smaller quiet rooms in a specific area as opposed to one big quiet room? They could allocate a room to each group, for example, so then it would be a truly quiet room for RAP guests to wait in.

Having autism myself, I know how difficult it can sometimes be to cope with crowded spaces; as trivial as it sounds, I often get a bit anxious walking through the corridors at school during busy times (thankfully, having free periods in sixth form means that I move between places at quieter times when I can, meaning that I can avoid the crowds, but that's besides the point). I can queue with no issue nowadays, so I haven't personally used RAP in some time (I think we only used it for my first ever visit, when I was very, very young), but I must admit that I do sometimes find walking around in very busy places a bit stressful.
 
Matt N said:
Maybe a better idea would be having many smaller quiet rooms in a specific area as opposed to one big quiet room?
Click to expand...

Waiting rooms are an absolute non-starter. There isn't the space to incorporate them at each attraction, they'd require huge staff numbers to operate, and they'd only be suitable for a limited number of genuine RAP users.

While some people might benefit to an extent it is a long way beyond the 'reasonable adjustment' the park is obliged to or should make.
 
I think it all come down to one thing.

If you have a system designed to help people no matter how hard you try. They will be people trying to abuse it to their own ends.

However this does not mean the system is rubbish or should be discontinued.

Sent from my SM-J600FN using Tapatalk
 
delta79 said:
If you have a system designed to help people no matter how hard you try. They will be people trying to abuse it to their own ends.

However this does not mean the system is rubbish or should be discontinued.
Click to expand...

But this system is rubbish, to the extent it is not able to actually help the people who need it, and should be discontinued.
 
pluk said:
But this system is rubbish, to the extent it is not able to actually help the people who need it, and should be discontinued.
Click to expand...

Just because the RAP is abused, doesn't meant that is should be discontinued. Disable facilities are a life line and provide much needed independent to those that need them, giving much needed freedom to those that otherwise might not be able to leave their home. This is why it is so important that disable facilities should never ever be abused.
 
The system itself isn't broken though, as when used correctly it does work. It does suffer from abuse, but show me a system which doesn't? Even Disney's is open to abuse due to Floridian law and people renting out disabled kids.

Perhaps the parks should give wristbands to the carers as well as the disabled person if they want to keep the 3 carers rule (or actually follow that rule would be a start). That or reduce it to follow in line to most other parks and have one carer and that's it. Therefore reduces a lot of abuse straight off the bat.
 
Staff not enforcing the RAP rules is the biggest problem, either through simply being too scared to stand up to an abusive person twice their size, or through fear of being labelled a pickalabelendinginphobe.

If staff enforced the rules then word would eventually get round that you can't take the micky, maybe Merlin should put the older members of staff on RAP duty and tell them to enforce the rules 100%.
 
Benzin said:
The system itself isn't broken though, as when used correctly it does work.
Click to expand...

I can't agree with that. The overuse, even when it is properly enforced, means it does not offer the adjustment necessary to make the rides accessible for those who need it most.

All the time those waiting in the RAP virtual 'queue' can go and wait on another actual queue, if they are able and abusing it, the system offers too much advantage to those willing to abuse it and drives unsustainable demand. It's fundamentally flawed and needs proper overhaul.
 
Whilst people are free to do whatever they want whilst they wait for the time slot, if you wanted to prevent them from queuing for other things in the time frame in-between could just stop any yellow wristbands in the normal queue.

But other parks don't even put time slots or have similar passes (Efteling or Toverland) and are yet not abused by guests. So why doesn't it work in the UK with a more fairer system?
 
Benzin said:
But other parks don't even put time slots or have similar passes (Efteling or Toverland) and are yet not abused by guests. So why doesn't it work in the UK with a more fairer system?
Click to expand...

Self centred people that think they are above the rules.

The kind of people who would damage police vehicles with no thought to knock on affect to people that need assistance urgently.
I will stop ranting now.

Sent from my SM-J600FN using Tapatalk
 
Benzin said:
Whilst people are free to do whatever they want whilst they wait for the time slot, if you wanted to prevent them from queuing for other things in the time frame in-between could just stop any yellow wristbands in the normal queue.

But other parks don't even put time slots or have similar passes (Efteling or Toverland) and are yet not abused by guests. So why doesn't it work in the UK with a more fairer system?
Click to expand...

I think it's because we have more scumbags living in Britain who are generally willing to abuse any system for their own gain with little thought for others in society.
 
What is it that has made the system so widely used these days? My parents imply that when we used the system (admittedly back in around 2009), we were the only ones using it on most rides, and they said that we stood out so much that a lot of guests in the regular queue gave my parents and me very judgmental looks as we got onto rides. Nowadays, however, a great number of people seem to use RAP. Admittedly, things such as inclusion of those with SEN needs and disabilities, as well as knowledge about disabilities, has improved over the last decade, which would naturally lead to an increase, however I can't think of a reason why use would have increased so exponentially over the last decade.

In fairness to Merlin/Alton, they need to be inclusive to those with disabilities in this day and age, and I think it's really good that they are being so inclusive. Also, I'm not really sure how they can solve the issue. The only plausible way I can think of is through a virtual queueing system, sort of like what Universal does with Jimmy Fallon & Volcano Bay.
 
bluesonichd said:
because you can get a RAP card for the most mundane things
Oh little Johny is allergic to nuts and there may be someone in the main queue eating a snickers bar...

RAP
Click to expand...
To be fair, we often eat our packed lunches in a ride queue at Alton, and if other groups do the same, then there's a definite chance of nuts being present in the main queue.
 
RoyJess said:
The same could be said that someone could also be eating nuts in the RAP queue line too
Click to expand...
True, but in theory, wouldn't the RAP queue line remove the long term exposure to nuts that the main queue could provide?
 
Status
This topic has been locked. No further replies can be posted.
Top