Why Thorpe Park no longer care about disabled people: a thread
Before I begin I need to make two things clear at the outset.
Firstly, taking my brother Rich to Thorpe Park has become an annual tradition dating back to 2009. It’s something we both look forward to each year because of how much we (used to) love Thorpe Park.
Secondly, my brother suffers from BBS, a rare genetic disorder. There are many symptoms associated with BBS but the most important ones for this thread are...
That he is completely blind and has severely limited mobility - to the point that standing for prolonged periods of time is very painful.
Let’s get started...
We arrived at 10am opening time today ready to have another good experience at the @THORPEPARK
As normal, I went to the ticket office to collect the tickets I’d bought in advance - one carer and one disabled ticket that comes with it.
This collection process has taken on average 2/3 minutes in previous years so I always leave Rich in the car.
I did the same today. This was a mistake.
When I got to the office, I did what I normally do and walked through the exit to speak to the manager or a free member of staff. This is something I’ve been told to do in previous years and the staff in the past have always been friendly.
When I walked inside holding Rich’s disabled badge I was greeted with an aggro “what do you think you’re doing?” by a member of staff.
I explained my situation and that my brother was in the car and was promptly told to join the normal queue because they no longer had a separate line for disabled people at the office. Or that they gave any allowance for disabled people at all.
I joined the back of the normal queue thinking it would at least move fast. It didn’t.
55 minutes later I was greeted by a member of staff at the front of the line. I had spent the last 20 minutes worrying about my brother left alone in the car at this point. I said what I was picking up and showed him my reference number...
He seemed confused. He asked “if you’re not disabled, what do you need?”
I showed him my phone again and told him my disabled brother was currently roasting in the car. He printed me one ticket and I queried it at the time. But he confidently declared this was a “new system for disabled people”.
I took the ticket and went back to the car, very aware that my brother had been waiting for nearly an hour in the boiling heat (24 degrees in the shade in Greater London today).
Needless to say my brother was distraught and had been panicking by himself in the hot car.
This was meant to be a fun experience for him - and he’s had a really tough month with multiple tests in hospitals. This was a chance to make him feel better. But here he was saying the day was “ruined”. I felt awful.
By the time we took our ticket to the entrance, he had recovered and was looking forward to the day again despite us missing 1 hour 15 minutes (so far).
We went up to the gate but... the member of staff on the gate stopped us going in. “Why do you only have one ticket?”.
I repeated what the ticket office had told me. And explained why Rich was nearly in tears at this point. The staff members on the gate actually laughed at this. Which, needless to say, is fucking disgraceful.
They told me I had to go back to the ticket office and queue again. I had absolutely no intention of doing this and went through the exit door.
This time, thankfully, I was greeted by the office manager. He didn’t understand why one of his staff had only given us one ticket. He printed us the two tickets based on my reference no. and apologised.
I didn’t take his name (short ginger hair, medium height, nice bloke) but he was very helpful. Not every person there was frustrating and this point needs to be stressed. Owe him a big thanks!
But this is part of the problem...
In the past, every single member of staff seemed to know their roles and responsibilities when it came to disabled care. This time, very few seemed to show an ounce of compassion.
But let’s move on.
We got in to the park and headed to the information and ride access centre to get disabled passes for the ride. Another 30 minute queue here as there were only two members of staff despite how busy the place was.
At this point, a family with a daughter in a wheelchair started to get upset at the lack of action by staff. But were ignored.
Fortunately when seen we were greeted by nice member of staff and we were ready to go!
This staff member told us how to get on all rides and we were specifically told that for Nemesis Inferno, Stealth, and Swarm the best way to get in for disabled entrance would be through the gift shop.
Quick interlude - Nemesis Inferno is Richie’s favourite ride. He has a picture of us on the ride from 2013 on his fridge and I have the same image on my keyring.
So when I asked Rich what ride he wanted to go on first he immediately responded “Nemesis Inferno”.
We had waited for two and a half hours and not had the best time by any stretch of the imagination but he was really excited to go on his favourite ride.
On the way through the gift shop disabled entrance, I double-checked with staff in the shop this was the right way. And we were told it was.
We went up all the stairs and after a few minutes of navigating the exit route we got to the ride. We were met by a member of staff. His name was William.
William is one of the worst people I’ve ever met.
When we got to the gate, he told us that he wouldn’t let us through the disabled access even after we had gone all the way up the stairs and up to the ride.
William told us that “this entrance is not for people who aren’t fully disabled. He (pointing at Rich) is not disabled enough.”
Either William is just an idiot or he’s a thundercunt. Or perhaps William is both. Whichever way you look at it, that is one of the worst things I’ve ever heard.
Rich, standing there with his cane and suffering from a rare genetic disorder, was “not disabled enough”. Maybe William thought there should be some sort of “test”.
I explained what had happened this morning and asked to speak to his manager. He refused. I asked if we could be let on this time even if he thought Rich was not “disabled enough” to use the disabled entrance, he refused.
I asked for his surname and he said it was Faithful. I very much doubt Will Faithful is his real name, but if it is, I hope he feels somewhat guilty for his lack of compassion or the lack of empathy he showed today.
We didn’t go on the ride in the end. We were sent back the way we came and we never tried to go on it again. Rich no longer wanted to go on his favourite ride. Instead we went to Stealth. We went through the exit queue and got on the ride.
Before we got on the ride, staff members at Stealth heard Rich talking about his Nemesis experience and asked him about it. They said that Will was wrong and that the way we went in to Nemesis was the right way.
We went on Stealth (and loved it)
After lunch, it has to be said that our experience got much better. And we encountered some compassionate members of staff who had much more common sense than their colleagues.
Dione at Colossus was a perfect example of someone who helped me get Rich on and off the ride and showed Rich care and attention. But overall, we enjoyed Thorpe Park in spite of the staff and their new outlook on disabled customers.
Testament to Rich’s positive outlook on life in the face of adversity, he had a great time in the afternoon.
Particularly on Tidal Wave which “always takes him by surprise by how mental it is!”
(Soaking after Tidal Wave) 
After this ride we left the Park. We only started going on rides after 12:45 and had left the place by 3:30.
. @THORPEPARK says it’s an “Island like no other”. But this was the first time this slogan ran true ... but for all the wrong reasons. I’ve certainly never witnessed such poor treatment of my disabled brother anywhere else. Ever.
Should say at this point that I’ve spoken to Nicola at Thorpe Park PR. She was lovely, very apologetic, and offered us free passes (which we’ve turned down as Rich doesn’t want to go back). She is looking into the matter to prevent it happening to anyone else in the future.
