The Ride Access Pass Explained
We were recently able to apply for a Merlin Ride Access Pass. So I thought I would take the time to explain why we have it and why we are not just skipping the queue because we feel like it (yes that was shouted at me yesterday).
My little one is completely and utterly taken by Rollercoasters. He watches POV’s (point of views) on YouTube, can tell you any fact about them and how much air time you get on each one. So it stands to reason that a preferred day out for him is a day at Alton Towers.
But we have a slight problem, my little one has ADHD. So queuing is incredibly difficult. He can do it because at the end of it is something he is desperate to do. But it comes with issues – like the last two times I’ve queued with him I’ve ended up with injuries and bruises.
So why is this… When a person with ADHD has to queue it’s like an elastic band being twisted and twisted until it’s very tight and at some point that elastic band has to spring back into its original position. This twisting can be a combination of anxiety, excitement and inability to be patient. This then can result in acting impulsively – swinging on the bars of the queue, running away or making incredibly loud noises.
The sensory issues surrounding queuing can also be daunting.
Smells such as food, other peoples washing powder or perfume can be overwhelming.
Loud noises such as others laughing or screeching or the music from the rides itself can cause anxiety or over stimulation.
Standing still for children/adults who are sensory seekers it is agonising as they are all the time trying to meet their sensory needs and therefor standing still doesn’t meet that. So to meet these needs they fidget, move around, jump, touch everything and generally be distracting to everyone around them.
For children and Adults who are sensory avoiders, queues can also be incredibly difficult. Again smells, loud noises and having people near by can cause anxiety and overwhelm. Making the whole process so unenjoyable and therefor they can’t enjoy the experience of coming to the theme park.
If by any chance they do manage to hold it together and queue especially for something like the cinema or the London eye (recent experience), then you find that they can’t actually enjoy the thing they have queued up for because all of their energy has gone into queuing and they can’t hold it together any more. One experience we had, was for a ride and he held it together to queue and do the ride, but it was all too much so came off and was aggressive and shouting. Not fun for us and not fun for him.
For me as the parent, I find queues difficult because I have no idea what will happen or what he will do to meet his needs. And usually it’s me who gets the impact of it. I end up like an elastic band of stress, it gradually getting worse the longer we queue.
Merlin have a great system, so where people may feel we are skipping the queue, we are not I assure you. We queue by walking around the park or playing on the play parks and when it is time for us to ride we make our way to the ride. We can’t go on other rides during that time and we queue for the same amount of time that is stated outside the ride. So we are really not skipping the queue I promise, we are just queueing in a way that means myself and my little one are not hurt in the process of queueing!