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Ride Access Pass Systems and Disabled Access (pre 2024)

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Rick said:
Is the test that people don't need support during normal operation or don't need support whatever happens (in case of evac, for example) ?
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It's never actually been officially confirmed what the test is, in practice yes

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Skyscraper said:
Can you elaborate? I'm a bit confused as to what you mean.
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I mean yellow rap its mostly a discuss with staff situation on top of the usual application process
 
imanautie said:
It's never actually been officially confirmed what the test is, in practice yes

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I mean yellow rap its mostly a discuss with staff situation on top of the usual application process
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Yeah she printed off a red one for me and explained what it was so I mentioned I don't need support getting off or on rides so she kindly gave me a yellow one instead.
 
I don't see why Towers can't spring for a few NFC tags for RAP stuff. Then all the data is stored on the card itself - no internet required! They're already putting them on the drinks cups in order to stop people taking their own cups to the (extortionately-priced) coke refill stations. Just scan your card at the entrance, and then come back in x amount of minutes and scan it again. It'd be simple!
 
BenTechy66 said:
I don't see why Towers can't spring for a few NFC tags for RAP stuff. Then all the data is stored on the card itself - no internet required! They're already putting them on the drinks cups in order to stop people taking their own cups to the (extortionately-priced) coke refill stations. Just scan your card at the entrance, and then come back in x amount of minutes and scan it again. It'd be simple!
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The freestyle cups are existing technolgy, Validfill, created by Coke and Whirley drinkworks. Been in use at Disney & Universal for years.
Creating your own system for managing RAP would be harder, easier to use an off-the-shelf solution like Q-Bot, which I think is what Legoland does?
 
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Chessington and Legoland both use reserve and ride now which is website based, they use the same system for fasttrack:Screenshot_20230124-135350.png
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The RAP side of the system is added by guest services on registration and shows as a reserve now button.
 
BenTechy66 said:
I don't see why Towers can't spring for a few NFC tags for RAP stuff. Then all the data is stored on the card itself - no internet required! They're already putting them on the drinks cups in order to stop people taking their own cups to the (extortionately-priced) coke refill stations. Just scan your card at the entrance, and then come back in x amount of minutes and scan it again. It'd be simple!
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Because people like me exist, it has to actually have a strong financial benefit for it to be worthwhile the risk and cost, it's a similar situation with freestyle being such simple tags.
 
imanautie said:
By that I mean gotta keep the security of the system into account.
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It is not difficult to write a secure system with the data stored on the tag. all you have to do is encrypt the data at rest (which many NFC specs will actually do already) and you're all set. Alternatively, the tag stores a unique ID, then the only connectivity required is at the point of scan (the ride entrance) rather than park-wide.
 
AstroDan said:
My only expectation from RAP at Alton Towers this season is that the RAP queues will be worse than ever. It's been the pattern of the last 15 years.
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Completely agree, they were shocking last Scarefest so I dread to think what they could be like this season. I'm planning to go on an off-peak/term-time day sometime this season which I haven't had the chance to do before. Will mean I won't need to use my RAP as the crowds will be extremely low and the queues will be non-existent or very short.
 
BenTechy66 said:
It is not difficult to write a secure system with the data stored on the tag. all you have to do is encrypt the data at rest (which many NFC specs will actually do already) and you're all set. Alternatively, the tag stores a unique ID, then the only connectivity required is at the point of scan (the ride entrance) rather than park-wide.
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It feels easy yes, but it's not in practice.
 
Bump!

Interestingly the RAP access on Thirteen has been changed slightly and has been causing loads of issues.


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Not going to make the wait any shorter and is a pain for wheelchair users.
 
Being in a wheelchair was always burdenous coming off Thirteen.

Extending the queue like that and it being completely full shows that RAP as a whole is probably unsalvageable in the current format. Unfortunately the parks are stuffed that any changes would bring a wealth of bad press for 'discrimination'.
 
RAP queues were ridiculous yesterday from what I saw. How is it acceptable for people with significant disability to then end up waiting ages to ride? Surely there needs to be a cap to ensure that those with significant needs can be effectively catered to? Maybe a two-tiered approach?

Whatever, it's clearly not working when you see 100+ people snaking down Towers Street to get a pass sorted.

Genuinely staggered by the sheer quantity of people who seem to qualify.
 
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