Lego Land and DDA

GlasweJen

The crazy thing with theme parks is people like me can get this accessability pass to skip queues for rides that i'll never in a billion years be allowed to use anyway.

My niece would also get a pass but she's also unable to go on any of the bigger rides as it's just too much stimulation for her - she's autistic.

pipkin71

GlasweJen wrote: »

The crazy thing with theme parks is people like me can get this accessability pass to skip queues for rides that i'll never in a billion years be allowed to use anyway.

My niece would also get a pass but she's also unable to go on any of the bigger rides as it's just too much stimulation for her - she's autistic.

I assume then, that you just wouldn't apply for the pass. That being the case, I'm not quite sure why it is a crazy thing with theme parks??

GlasweJen

Well no, I just get a pass for people who aren't using rides (most places do this) but I do know several people who will get a pass for a disabled person and then proceed to use this to skip queues even though the disabled person can't use the ride.

Given that this is happening you can't really blame theme parks for tightening up criteria.

jetta_wales

GlasweJen wrote: »

Well no, I just get a pass for people who aren't using rides (most places do this) but I do know several people who will get a pass for a disabled person and then proceed to use this to skip queues even though the disabled person can't use the ride.

Given that this is happening you can't really blame theme parks for tightening up criteria.

It would mean that the disabled person doesn't spend the whole day just waiting n their tod for others they're with to queue for rides but then I'm not sure what the point would be in going really if you can't go on the rides.

GlasweJen

I go because other people want to go and it's nice to get out. Most theme parks are in England so not something that the family can go to and leave me at home for (I need someone there to make me dinner and help me shower).

Alton towers have gardens you can wander through and I love disney land because their concession isn't all about the ride - they provide mobility aids and assistance for us wanderers too.

The parents who take their kids, they usually have other kids as well and use their disabled kid to jump ahead. If their sibling wasn't disabled then they would be queuing anyway but the parents see these passes as a divine right. The disabled child is floating about all day anyway (the kid I know has cerebal palsy and is severely disabled, we went with his family and they parked him up and left him with a sibling who was too young and therefore too short to go on the ride but was also too young to look after him for the 25 minutes they were away).

wattdallas

dmg24 wrote: »

I do understand what you mean, but you are misunderstanding the OP's situation. Yes, there are people that claim their children have ADHD when they do not, but there are also those who have been clinically diagnosed and this is the situation here. True ADHD is not 'naughty child syndrome', it goes far beyond that. Indeed, many ADHD children are not naughty at all, but rather will get distressed and upset in busy situations.

The point you made regarding the OP expecting too much is spot on, nobody disagrees with you. As you know I will not condone or encourage anyone that is playing the system, but you need to get away from assuming that everyone with certain conditions falls into this category. Otherwise you'll start to sound like a certain other poster who just thanked you ... and you're far better than her.

I will thank whom i like .28,000 posts oh you do have a very sad life DMG.:o

warehouse

My family love the theme parks and we have Merlin passes now, so go quite a lot. Last year we noticed that there was a big increase in people queuing for the disabled access, or by the exits. This definately made queing times longer for certain popular rides, so I'm not surprised the theme parks have intriduced this rule. Legoland wasn't too bad to be fair, but the queues at Chessington were markedly worse than previous visits due to many more people at the disabled entrances.

Now let's get one thing straight, I completely agree that people with disablities who are unable to queue should get preferencial treatment, it's a no brainer. However, I honestly think that there are now a very large number of people "milking" the system, and no, not all of those in the disabled queue should be there.

What Legoland have done is make the system fairer for all involved, and I have to agree with that. It won't be long before the others parks do the same thing, but please don't blame the people who complained, blame the scam artists who jumped onto the system.

BTW, I didn't complain, but would have thought twice about visiting Chessington again this year because of the issue.

LilacViolet

I have to say that when we went to get our exit pass at Legoland last year the girl at guest services glanced at my Paed letter for all of half a second before giving me the stamp to stamp our hands with. I could have given her anything!

If they are going to update the system, I hope that they will change the stamping ink they use - DS headed straight for the splash zone bit as thats his favourite part and his stamp started to wear off straight away.

Flyboy152

pwales wrote: »

no its not but all kids play up queing alot take the mick thats why some parks are stopping thr que jumping for disabled....make no diffrent to me because i cant use them any way but this forum is turning into how to get fraudulant claims and pushing
privaliges and getting awards by points of law even though they can lead normal lives,
it bugs me alot how some are taking the !!!! then we all get tared with the same brush
dmg i know from previos posts u take no messing and give your veiws in a way that tells them to buck up without comming aaccross aggressive , but i cant i say as i think

I really have come across a massive amount ignorant and bigoted prejudices in my time, but this just takes the biscuit. You haven't even got the first idea of what it is to live with these conditions.

Flyboy152

jetta_wales wrote: »

All of those changes are perfectly fair and reasonable. Also they would never have to wait longer if one of the big rides had a short line (but let's be honest they're always going to be about an hour) you could still just join the regular line and not use your pass.

You.ve had it extra cushy in the past with this scheme and now it has been made fair but still very generous, there is nothing to be complaining about at all. Don't be greedy.

Extra Cushy? Have you ever tried to stand in a queue with a child who has ASD, ADHD etc.? Very often it is unlikely he would last to the end of the queue and have a panic attack, so we would have to leave the ride. Before we discovered the availability of this scheme we were often lucky to get three or four rides in a day, a lot of the time we would have leave after just a couple of hours.