Disabled visitor to Thorpe Park

[Faethe]

Hi

I'm a manual wheelchair user planning to visit Thorpe Park for the first time in a couple of weeks.

What is the access like around the site? I.e. how hilly is it? are the rides far apart?

I've been to Alton Towers a couple of times and I think their ride access passes are the same aren't they?

The website says that the ride access pass is issued to anyone with medical evidence of why they can't queue. Are any of the queue line areas wheelchair accessible? Because I can queue like anyone else if I can fit in the place where you're meant to queue, and it doesn't take me up steps etc... If the queue areas aren't accessible then presumably evidence that I have to use a wheelchair is acceptable?

How strict are they about how many carers/friends you can take with you on a ride? I'm planning to go with 2 friends, which will make us a group of 3. I can stand and walk a few steps unaided so won't need much help with transfers etc but I don't want to have to choose which friend to take with me on each ride! (Also, I'll need both of them if the ride gets stuck and we have to evacuate from anywhere that isn't the normal place where you get on and off - they take that into account don't they?)

Thank you for any help or advice that anyone is able to give me

[OldFarmerDean]

Thorpe Park is tiny compared to Alton Towers, and is also pretty much flat - besides a queue or two, so shouldn't be (too) much of an issue)

I'm pretty sure you are allowed 2 helpers with you on the rides, and you get a ticket where you wait the amount of the current queue on the ride before you can use it again.

Saw: The Ride has a disabled lift to allow you to get to the ride

Stealth: if I remember correctly also has a disabled lit to get up to the station

Nemesis Inferno: I'm pretty sure there is no way to access it, without walking up stairs

Colossus: definitely has an easily accessible entrance (which is the exit for disabled users)

The Swarm: not too sure, but the station is on the ground, so should be fine

Hope this helps, and someone else can confirm / add to this

[jom222]

Your meant to have just one helper bust most of the time they will let you have 2 or 3 though.

[JoshC.]

It is Thorpe's policy to only have one helper. However, if you'd need two helpers to get off rides in case of evacuation, and you have that explained in (preferably) a doctor's note, they will allow two.

[Faethe]

Thank you so much for the replies so far.

What is the access around the park like?

I'm hoping to be able to get round the park without too much help, but I can't really manage that round Alton Towers and am hoping that Thorpe Park might be more compact and flatter. Is that the case?

[Coaster]

Thank you so much for the replies so far.

What is the access around the park like?

I'm hoping to be able to get round the park without too much help, but I can't really manage that round Alton Towers and am hoping that Thorpe Park might be more compact and flatter. Is that the case?

Thorpe park is fairly flat, there is quite a steep(ish) hill going through the Colossus area but it can be avoided by going past the Crust Building and heading past Saw Alive (which is closed) - it will bring you out at the Saw area, or vice versa.

Don't think there are any other hills at the park really - although I don't think there is any form of disabled/avoiding the steps entrance to Rumba Rapids.

[Fred]

http://www.thorpepark.com/downloads/plan-your-visit/ride-access-guide-2013.pdf

This is actually the best thing for you - it's from thorpe and says absolutely everything you need to know

[Faethe]

Well I've been and really wasn't impressed with their access.

They start off by asking for evidence of your disability (I've never been asked for proof before, usually people are happy to accept that seeing me in my wheelchair is evidence enough). I provided what they wanted though and was given the ride access pass as required. So far so good.

I set off round the park though, and was pleased with the access between rides. As people above have commented, the park is reasonably flat and compact so on the whole getting between the rides was very easy.

The frustrations I found were with the ride operators. I was made to feel like an inconvenience and was frequently forgotten about. I was asked on a number of occasions if I could walk 25m including steps for evacuation purposes (yes I can) and then told that I must leave my wheelchair and walk about that distance in order to get onto the ride. Whilst I am capable of walking, it is difficult and painful. If it was required in an emergency evacuation situation then I would of course walk and not complain. What was frustrating was that the walking to load onto rides was only necessary because of a combination of the ride staff attitudes and the fact that access gates had been locked with padlocks and were therefore not usable.

Most of the rides had good access features in place. Nemesis Inferno and Rumba Rapids being the only ones that I couldn't access without walking on steps, but the others in general had problems because of staff attitudes or locked access facilities.

I also encountered difficulties with a lack of signage telling me where the accessible entrances were to rides. Just a few more signs and some staff training would have made so much difference to my day out.

[pluk]

That doesn't sound great. I wonder if that set up is deliberate though, as if access is dependent on that level of mobility are they effectively getting you to 'prove' you have that ability before riding. That, and maybe they've decided things on wheels aren't great to have on station platforms from a safety point of view?

They really shouldn't be making you feel like an inconvenience though, and the signage should be better than that.

Out of interest, were they happy with you having two friends/carers accompanying? It is a question I've seen asked on here many times and the answer often seems to be different!

[Faethe]

They allowed me 2 friends/carers but they said that they won't do it again unless I get a letter from a medical professional that clearly states that I need two people to help me transfer, or that I would need 2 people in the event of needing to do an evacuation from somewhere other than the usual ride platform. If I decide to go again then I'll get my physio to write me something (she won't charge, but the GP would. I checked and they said a physio letter would be acceptable.) They did also say that they only allowed me 2 carers on Saturday because it was anticipated to be a quiet day and if the park was busier they wouldn't have allowed it.

I understand that they could be asking me to walk in order to prove that I meet the mobility requirements, and I sort of understand that. But there is a big difference between being able to walk 25m easily for the purpose of a standard load into a ride carriage and being able to walk the same distance slowly and in pain for the purpose of an evacuation from a malfunctioning ride. Also, Alton Towers have the same mobility requirements and they don't require any level of 'proof'. Again, the safety of leaving a chair on wheels on the platform is questionable but most rides have an area of platform that is behind a rope / chain or fence, or they ask me to put the brakes on the chair or place a bag in front of it so it can't roll. If that's the concern then there are other ways round that.

I think the most frustrating part was seeing that they have the facilities to be very accessible but choose for whatever reason not to use them. I'm always very patient and understanding with places that were built long ago and don't have any easy ways to adapt but seeing the facilities there and not being able to use them was worse.

I wonder if the staff training goes along the line of 'get people on the ride asap and keep queues to a minimum' and that was the reason I was treated as an inconvenience? Perhaps Alton Towers staff training goes along the idea of 'make sure everyone has a great day'? That could explain why at Alton I always get asked loads of times if I'm having a good day and nothing seems to be too much trouble. I don't know what goes on behind the scenes but I do know that the staff could have been a lot better at Thorpe on Saturday.

I did have a good day, There were just a lot of small things that would have been done to make it better and I thought I'd come back here to let you all know how it went after you were so helpful before the trip.

[Marc]

If I was you id go to http://www.thorpepark.com/misc/contact-us.aspx and explain this to them, whilst they read these forums guest feedback is the best and most effective ways for issues to be looked into and hopefully improved upon!

[trav]

Hi Faethe, I'm sorry to hear that you had a pretty bad time with some aspects of the disabled policy.

I'm not entirely sure why any ride would ask you to actually walk that distance to prove it, the only reason I can think of is so you're not actually bringing the wheelchair onto the platform as it can create hazards for other guests also.

I can definitely say it isn't the intention of any ride coaches or hosts to make you feel like an inconvenience and I'm terribly saddened and sorry to hear that you felt this way. They try their best to be as accommodating and helpful to any guests who may need attention, but of course there might be times where this attention is directed at the wrong people. If you'd care to, I'd very much like to hear about how you were made to feel like an inconvenience, whether through a reply in the topic or even a PM.

As Marc said above, the best thing to do is just to directly give Thorpe your feedback, they will take note of it, and any feedback is directly relayed to all the rides staff, we know when there are things that haven't happened as smoothly as they could.

[Faethe]

I am planning to write a detailed letter to Thorpe Park, and will explain what happened, how it made me feel, and how things could have been done differently. I do understand that the way to make changes for future guests / visits is to communicate directly with Thorpe about this, and I will be doing so.

I wanted to provide some feedback here too as I had asked for advice and information before my visit to the park and I thought that other people might also come here looking for the same information. I now have more information than I did last week and thought that it might be helpful for others if I was to share it.

If anyone has any specific questions about my experience then I would be happy to respond to PMs.