Alton Towers (UK Theme Park) bans people with certain disabilities from Disability pass

Rich-Allen1976 · Post by **Rich-Allen1976** » 12 Feb 2026, 13:06

Link found on Google, therefore I am aware of it

Personally this disgusts me, the first and last time I attended Alton Towers I was only about 5 or 6 so it's 40 odd years ago, and I wasn't diagnosed as Neurodivergent back then, would I go again 40 odd years later? Are you flippin' kidding?

And don't even get me started on how most of this is contrary to any and ALL aspects of the Equality Act 2010.

Thoughts?

Edited with updated link.

Post by **Ojisama** » 16 Feb 2026, 20:35

Accept cookies or pay to refuse?

Can't you find a clean link?

Rich-Allen1976 · Post by **Rich-Allen1976** » 17 Feb 2026, 04:19

Ojisama wrote: ↑
16 Feb 2026, 20:35
Accept cookies or pay to refuse?

Can't you find a clean link?

Alton Towers U-turns on plans to limit disability pass

Post by **Beerkeg** » 17 Feb 2026, 10:26

With more and more people claiming the pass, some disabled visitors were facing longer waits than the main queue, which the company said was "not the experience we want for anyone".

I mean... It's quite clear why they wanted to make the change...
Guess they'd have to add a 3rd queue to all rides that is just for people with physical disabilities and make that the priority queue. What about a 4th queue for people who go alone, because we don't have anyone to talk to in queue and would make excellent seat fillers? Soon enough you end up with the bin situation, you'll be in the queue of people who are trying to figure out which queue they have to be in.

Also I don't get the "difficulty with crowds" thing... What are you doing in a crowd event/thing if you have difficulty being there? You're choosing to put yourself in an uncomfortable situation even though you know it makes you uncomfortable? Why? I don't like concerts because of the crowd... so I don't go to concerts, even the for the bands I really enjoy. I don't attend free public events because I don't like the crowd. I don't think it's unreasonable to avoid going to a place or event if you don't like that it is crowdy. I don't travel much because I hate airports.

With nearly everyone these days claiming to be on some autism spectrum, to have ADHD or suffer from anxiety I can completely understand why they'd want to remove those people from the disabled queue. You have a problem with waiting in a queue? Understandable, but so does everyone... The margin of people who enjoy queueing must be very small. I know several people who don't go to places where they have to stand in a queue just because they don't like queueing.

Maybe I'm just ignorant and if so, feel free to enlighten me. As a person without a disability I wouldn't mind my queue getting longer as a result of the formerly planned changes.

Rich-Allen1976 · Post by **Rich-Allen1976** » 17 Feb 2026, 18:00

Beerkeg wrote: ↑
17 Feb 2026, 10:26

With more and more people claiming the pass, some disabled visitors were facing longer waits than the main queue, which the company said was "not the experience we want for anyone".

I mean... It's quite clear why they wanted to make the change...
Guess they'd have to add a 3rd queue to all rides that is just for people with physical disabilities and make that the priority queue. What about a 4th queue for people who go alone, because we don't have anyone to talk to in queue and would make excellent seat fillers? Soon enough you end up with the bin situation, you'll be in the queue of people who are trying to figure out which queue they have to be in.

Also I don't get the "difficulty with crowds" thing... What are you doing in a crowd event/thing if you have difficulty being there? You're choosing to put yourself in an uncomfortable situation even though you know it makes you uncomfortable? Why? I don't like concerts because of the crowd... so I don't go to concerts, even the for the bands I really enjoy. I don't attend free public events because I don't like the crowd. I don't think it's unreasonable to avoid going to a place or event if you don't like that it is crowdy. I don't travel much because I hate airports.

With nearly everyone these days claiming to be on some autism spectrum, to have ADHD or suffer from anxiety I can completely understand why they'd want to remove those people from the disabled queue. You have a problem with waiting in a queue? Understandable, but so does everyone... The margin of people who enjoy queueing must be very small. I know several people who don't go to places where they have to stand in a queue just because they don't like queueing.

Maybe I'm just ignorant and if so, feel free to enlighten me. As a person without a disability I wouldn't mind my queue getting longer as a result of the formerly planned changes.

I blame the Simpsons for that, several years ago they said Bart had ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), and ever since, any badly behaved child with the attention span of a Gnat, the Parents are like "Oh he/she has that Attention Deficit Disorder" like it's somehow "cool".

Post by **Beerkeg** » 18 Feb 2026, 11:45

Rich-Allen1976 wrote: ↑
17 Feb 2026, 18:00
I blame the Simpsons for that, several years ago they said Bart had ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), and ever since, any badly behaved child with the attention span of a Gnat, the Parents are like "Oh he/she has that Attention Deifcit Disorder" like it's somehow "cool".

Right? I mean I'm not the only one thinking that, it seems like claiming to have some disorder is now considered cool. My friend's 7-year-old said the other day that she's depressed... a 7-year-old... just starting to develop retentive memory... absurd, but because "guy on youtube said he has it and thats where she learned it from"
And ADD in children has always felt very strange to me... "they have ADD" and "they're a child" these 2 phrases are exactly the same. Yeah, most children get bored in a matter of seconds and have a hard time paying attention and get distracted easily because the brainrot has completely set in.

Rich-Allen1976 · Post by **Rich-Allen1976** » Today, 07:14

Beerkeg wrote: ↑
18 Feb 2026, 11:45

Rich-Allen1976 wrote: ↑
17 Feb 2026, 18:00
I blame the Simpsons for that, several years ago they said Bart had ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), and ever since, any badly behaved child with the attention span of a Gnat, the Parents are like "Oh he/she has that Attention Deifcit Disorder" like it's somehow "cool".

Right? I mean I'm not the only one thinking that, it seems like claiming to have some disorder is now considered cool. My friend's 7-year-old said the other day that she's depressed... a 7-year-old... just starting to develop retentive memory... absurd, but because "guy on youtube said he has it and thats where she learned it from"
And ADD in children has always felt very strange to me... "they have ADD" and "they're a child" these 2 phrases are exactly the same. Yeah, most children get bored in a matter of seconds and have a hard time paying attention and get distracted easily because the brainrot has completely set in.

Indeed, just because they have the attention span of a Goldfish doesn't automatically mean they have ADD.