TarinMaria

Statement on behalf of myself and the rest of Attraction Central:
 

Not really comparable, gigs are once in a lifetime, even if you go and see the same band again, they may have new music or change up what they're playing, gigs are also few and far between. Your favourite band might come to your nearest city once every couple of years, Thorpe Park isn't going anywhere. Thorpe also hasn't changed all that much since my last visit in 2016.

Also, out of all the gigs I've been to (probably verging on 40 or 50) only 4 have been anywhere near the £80 mark, most of the time they're about £25. 2 were stadium tours by a band that hadn't toured in several years, 1 was a pop act in the O2, and 1 was a resale ticket that cost more than it should have. The last gig I went to cost me £18. I could see that gig twice and still spend less than a day ticket to Thorpe, and I had far more fun at that gig than I ever did at Thorpe.



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Infinity looks like a Slug & Lettuce.

There isn't a lot they can do, but putting in place some kind of sanctions for those who do abuse the system would be a good idea. However, that won't happen unless the staff are trained in the system and how to cope with guests who do choose to abuse it.

They could make it so that you need to have 2 forms of proof, but that would cause mass uproar, just as changing it to only blue badges or PIP/DLA would.

Actually timing out cards would make it less attractive to those who are simply just using it as a fast track, meaning that only people who need to use it will. I still think, however many people have been overheard in parks *possibly* talking about fake doctors letters, it is a minority who do abuse it, and if it is not, please do provide receipts for this data.

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That's kind of what Paulton's have, they send you to first aid and a nurse checks your proof... Anyone with a legitimate need for RAP will probably have multiple things stating that (I have a card that states I have MS, I have a treatment card, I have a doctors letter and I have a blue badge) so even invisible disabilities should have enough proof.

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That's kind of what Paulton's have, they send you to first aid and a nurse checks your proof... Anyone with a legitimate need for RAP will probably have multiple things stating that (I have a card that states I have MS, I have a treatment card, I have a doctors letter and I have a blue badge) so even invisible disabilities should have enough proof.

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I honestly doubt that as much abuse really goes on as some here are suggesting.

The issue is that the RAP rules are not being abided by. Those who do abuse it (like having more than 3 carers) should have action taken against them by the staff. Be that a removal of the RAP or having to reapply with different documentation.

On the whole though, I'd say the problem here is the opposite of a "snowflake society". It is still this prevalent belief that if you don't *look* disabled, you can't be disabled. My disability can only been seen in my brain, so unless you're walking around with an MRI scanner in your back pocket, you can't see it.

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I honestly doubt that as much abuse really goes on as some here are suggesting.

The issue is that the RAP rules are not being abided by. Those who do abuse it (like having more than 3 carers) should have action taken against them by the staff. Be that a removal of the RAP or having to reapply with different documentation.

On the whole though, I'd say the problem here is the opposite of a "snowflake society". It is still this prevalent belief that if you don't *look* disabled, you can't be disabled. My disability can only been seen in my brain, so unless you're walking around with an MRI scanner in your back pocket, you can't see it.

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I honestly doubt that as much abuse really goes on as some here are suggesting.

The issue is that the RAP rules are not being abided by. Those who do abuse it (like having more than 3 carers) should have action taken against them by the staff. Be that a removal of the RAP or having to reapply with different documentation.

On the whole though, I'd say the problem here is the opposite of a "snowflake society". It is still this prevalent belief that if you don't *look* disabled, you can't be disabled. My disability can only been seen in my brain, so unless you're walking around with an MRI scanner in your back pocket, you can't see it.

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I wonder what the ratio is of RAP users to Disabled ticket purchases (free carer so essentially a 2-4-1). Might make for some interesting reading.
 
Honestly not sure what the parks can do short of ACTUALLY ENFORCING THEIR RULES. So often we've not had the RAP signed, so that in of itself opens it up to abuse and that's before we look at the actual hand out system.
 
To say that the increase of RAP distributed is down to the "snowflake society" is utter nonsense. It'll be tied into an increased awareness (and detection/diagnosis) of mental health issues. I doubt many kids first thought when being diagnosed with ADHD or severe Autism is "omg I can jump the queues at Thorpe Park". 
 
I don't really think that the sort of people who would be termed as "snowflakes" would be the sort of people abusing this as a system.
 
I'm intrigued as to how the systems will work in the States this year. But I think the amount of people using RAP here is a culture thing rather than any fault of the parks. And I'll imagine Disney is the worst for it, hence why their modern rides in the States make wheelchair/mobility scooter users go in the main queue.

I won't do a huge rambling post like I just did for my blog, but I will say that the Liseberg Halloween event is incredible and I highly recommend it!

All 4 mazes are fab, and a lot of effort has gone into the event. The park is really well decorated, obviously night rides on Helix were a ride based highlight, and Valkyria is fab!

The Experiment was short but crammed in the scares, they also sent me round alone. 8/10

Zombie was longer, loads of actors, looked amazing, and the make up was spot on. Not wheelchair accessible as stated though.
8/10

Smittharden Gasten was the most beautiful maze I've ever been in, and I wish I'd had time to do it again, again lots of actors and lots of scares.
9.5/10

Vinden was a surprise, it included a very big and fast industrial lift, and some of the most impressive animatronics I've seen inside a maze.
9/10

There were also a tonne of actors in both the scare zones, and they really did interact with everyone, even children.

Probably the best event I've been to at a park, loved it.

I won't do a huge rambling post like I just did for my blog, but I will say that the Liseberg Halloween event is incredible and I highly recommend it!

All 4 mazes are fab, and a lot of effort has gone into the event. The park is really well decorated, obviously night rides on Helix were a ride based highlight, and Valkyria is fab!

The Experiment was short but crammed in the scares, they also sent me round alone. 8/10

Zombie was longer, loads of actors, looked amazing, and the make up was spot on. Not wheelchair accessible as stated though.
8/10

Smittharden Gasten was the most beautiful maze I've ever been in, and I wish I'd had time to do it again, again lots of actors and lots of scares.
9.5/10

Vinden was a surprise, it included a very big and fast industrial lift, and some of the most impressive animatronics I've seen inside a maze.
9/10

There were also a tonne of actors in both the scare zones, and they really did interact with everyone, even children.

Probably the best event I've been to at a park, loved it.

I won't do a huge rambling post like I just did for my blog, but I will say that the Liseberg Halloween event is incredible and I highly recommend it!

All 4 mazes are fab, and a lot of effort has gone into the event. The park is really well decorated, obviously night rides on Helix were a ride based highlight, and Valkyria is fab!

The Experiment was short but crammed in the scares, they also sent me round alone. 8/10

Zombie was longer, loads of actors, looked amazing, and the make up was spot on. Not wheelchair accessible as stated though.
8/10

Smittharden Gasten was the most beautiful maze I've ever been in, and I wish I'd had time to do it again, again lots of actors and lots of scares.
9.5/10

Vinden was a surprise, it included a very big and fast industrial lift, and some of the most impressive animatronics I've seen inside a maze.
9/10

There were also a tonne of actors in both the scare zones, and they really did interact with everyone, even children.

Probably the best event I've been to at a park, loved it.

I won't do a huge rambling post like I just did for my blog, but I will say that the Liseberg Halloween event is incredible and I highly recommend it!

All 4 mazes are fab, and a lot of effort has gone into the event. The park is really well decorated, obviously night rides on Helix were a ride based highlight, and Valkyria is fab!

The Experiment was short but crammed in the scares, they also sent me round alone. 8/10

Zombie was longer, loads of actors, looked amazing, and the make up was spot on. Not wheelchair accessible as stated though.
8/10

Smittharden Gasten was the most beautiful maze I've ever been in, and I wish I'd had time to do it again, again lots of actors and lots of scares.
9.5/10

Vinden was a surprise, it included a very big and fast industrial lift, and some of the most impressive animatronics I've seen inside a maze.
9/10

There were also a tonne of actors in both the scare zones, and they really did interact with everyone, even children.

Probably the best event I've been to at a park, loved it.

You could even throw in Vialand and Viasea to your Istanbul escapade...

Plenty of parks across Europe have their advertised closed time as the time when rides will be stopped.  Efteling do exactly what Phantasia do and close queue lines ridiculously early or, worse, apparently stop running rides with people in the queue.  Movie Park Germany closed all their rides at random times to ensure everything was done by 6pm.  Liseberg were very sharp with their closing times too (especially for their games and food places!).  Maybe it's just the parks I've visited, but it's a common theme amongst many of the parks that they try to make sure most things are done by the close time.  And no one really seems to mind; it's almost expected.
 
It's a shame you've had bad experiences with Phantasia, and hopefully you'll get less awful experiences next time.  I'm sure I'd be thinking the same in your shoes to be honest.  But honestly, the park truly shone as something special when I've been there, and it just has this feel about it - it can't be properly described, and you don't really get 'it' until you visit.  Maybe you're just an angry German magnet?
 
 
That's one thing which sticks in my memory actually - there's lots of hills and steps in main pathways around the park. I guess part of it is a necessary evil, what with the park being so compact and having so much on top of each other, but that doesn't help ease the pain.  It must be a killer for anyone with mobility issues or anyone pushing wheelchairs!

Still trying to work out how you can have any sort of opinion on atmosphere or staff when you've never been to a park...
I didn't love Phantasialand, for a few reasons, I actually wasn't thrilled with the ride line up (as I'm not a huge fan of water rides) and personally my mobility suffered there as there are some hills that really upset me.
Aside from that, I couldn't fault the atmosphere, it felt far more magical than any UK park, and the only places that really give me a magic feeling are Europa, Disney and Efteling, so that should tell you something.
The staff were efficient and friendly, one even giving us a huge laugh because we used the single rider queue for Taron as a two, and he deliberately split us up so we wouldn't be on the same train. It was actually hilarious.
PA is probably the closest to a Thorpe vibe I have ever gotten, due to terrible staff and operations.

Still trying to work out how you can have any sort of opinion on atmosphere or staff when you've never been to a park...
I didn't love Phantasialand, for a few reasons, I actually wasn't thrilled with the ride line up (as I'm not a huge fan of water rides) and personally my mobility suffered there as there are some hills that really upset me.
Aside from that, I couldn't fault the atmosphere, it felt far more magical than any UK park, and the only places that really give me a magic feeling are Europa, Disney and Efteling, so that should tell you something.
The staff were efficient and friendly, one even giving us a huge laugh because we used the single rider queue for Taron as a two, and he deliberately split us up so we wouldn't be on the same train. It was actually hilarious.
PA is probably the closest to a Thorpe vibe I have ever gotten, due to terrible staff and operations.

I had one actor get very handsy with me in Mine Tours, like grabbing my cheeks and saying how nice and chubby they were and I was in fits of laughter, great fun, but not scary...

I had one actor get very handsy with me in Mine Tours, like grabbing my cheeks and saying how nice and chubby they were and I was in fits of laughter, great fun, but not scary...

Well, they wouldn't have problems with people staying on site if they lowered the prices so you don't have to take out a mortgage to stay a night...

- Our parks aren't doing great, should we invest more into them?
 
- No, we shall build MORE hotels!
 
- But we've had to close Splash Landings because no-one's staying there...
 
- NO! MORE HOTELS, IT'S THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE!
 
 
That Merlin see themselves as market leaders of the industry concerns me greatly...

PortAventura has really disappointed me this weekend just gone.
It's the kind of place that could be amazing, but isn't. It makes Thorpe's operations look like Europa's, queue jumping is terrible, most of the rides are painful, the staff range from okay to appalling, and the guests, urgh.

The lady in guest services was incredibly rude when she refused to give me a disabled pass, as a letter from a consultant isn't enough, she didn't even look, I imagine assuming I was trying to play the system.
It was taking them 5 minutes to dispatch trains on Baco. Baco is one of the worst rides I've ever been on. And no one gets out the way of mobility scooters, which I'm sure is something to do with anyone being able to hire them.

The scare mazes were an organisational nightmare, no time slots and ticket booths opening around the same time as the maze, rather than an hour before. The mazes also weren't open for long enough. Although, REC was being batched and operated better than any of the rides. The free maze had a 2 and a half hour long queue when we wanted to go on, but guess what, they sold fast tracks for that too!

I mean, sure, the place looks nice, and it has Shambhala, but when put next to Efteling, Europa or even Phantasialand, it pales in comparison. I've heard the phrase 'it's missing something' a fair amount over this weekend, but I think it's missing quite a few things.

Indeed. Why make the parks you already own better when you can buy other places and ruin them instead. 

Why buy another park when the ones they already own are in a state of neglect and decline?