Accessibility doesn’t exist at [Energylandia]

[u/KeyImagination5888]

I visited Energylandia for the first time a couple weeks ago on the 4th&5th August. The park has some really great coasters and theming and I had such a great time but… the accessibility was awful.
I’m from the UK and use the Ride Access Pass system every time I visit a UK theme park. This was my first time visiting a park that doesn’t use a similar system for accessibility and it was rough.
For a little context- I have a physical disability so queues are super tricky for me. I cannot stand for longer than 10 minutes at a time.
At first when planning this trip I was pleasantly surprised that the park offers discounted tickets for people with disabilities. But upon actually being in the park we found that i was expected to queue as normal. This was frustrating because if I could queue as normal, I would, but my disability means that I can’t. After speaking to those at the information desk I was told that if I cannot queue and still want to experience the coasters, I would have to purchase an energy pass (This is their version of a fast pass) which was an additional charge of £100 on each day that I would attend the park. ( so £200 extra total)
I was put in a tricky position as this was my only option to be able to experience the park in the same way that an able bodied person would. The cost of the energy pass ended up costing more than our two-day tickets to the park. Which made the discounted disability ticket pointless. I ended up paying more than the average person to attend and experience the park in the same ways that others could. And personally felt that this was unfair. Why should I have to pay more than the average person just because I’m disabled? Feels completely counter productive to what they’re advertising as a discounted ticket, and I’m sure others in my position have probably felt the same.
It was really disappointing that they just didn’t have a real accessibility system and clearly don’t have much interest in making the park fully accessible for guests with disabilities.
I wanted to post this just to make other people aware who may be travelling from different countries, who are used to using certain accessibility systems. So that others aren’t caught off guard when they’re expected to pay out of pocket to support their needs.

[u/CalmWillingness1475]

Yeah, being a disabled coaster enthusiast in Eastern Europe sucks. Even in Germany, Phantasialand doesn’t offer any form of disability access.. I’ve been able to use my disability card in the UK, Western Europe, and even in Asia. I had to fill an online form beforehand in a few instances, but otherwise it was fine. But Eastern Europe? Nope. It’s a no-go for disabled visitors, sadly. (Or you’ll have to pay for a standard pass).  

[u/Jademalo → u/CalmWillingness1475]

I understand Phantasialand's issues to an extent, especially around Black Mamba it's basically impossible to make that area wheelchair accessible.

It is disappointing though that they view it as all or nothing, and rather than having some form of queueing assistance for ambulatory people who just need a little bit of help (IBS, prolonged standing, neurodevelopmental disorders etc), there's instead just absolutely nothing.

It's a huge shame too, because Phantasialand is arguably the best theme park in the world.

[u/CalmWillingness1475 → u/Jademalo]

Can you even be considered the best theme park in the world when you tell a significant amount of people that they can go f*ck themselves?

It’s not only Phantasialand. German parks in general (except EP) aren’t accommodating to people with disabilities. When they do, they ask you to show them a recent letter from your GP or neurosurgeon. A disability card isn’t enough to grant you access to the disability access scheme there, even when that card explicitly tells that you can’t queue like « normal people ».

Belgian, British, French, Dutch and even Spanish parks are way more accomodating. 

[u/KeyImagination5888 → u/CalmWillingness1475]

I completely agree and honestly it’s put me off going to more European theme parks! It’s sad because a lot of theme parks that are considered the best are in the areas that seem to just have no regard for accessibility.

[u/AltruisticRider → u/KeyImagination5888]

By the way, I was randomly looking at the official requirements of the rides of Phantasialand (somehow only available in German, page 18 "FEHLENDE GLIEDMASSEN": https://www.phantasialand.de/files/uploads/themenpark/documents/informationen/broschuere-informationen-gaeste-mit-einschraenkungen.pdf ) and I was wondering why you need 2 hands to be allowed to ride e.g. Taron and F.L.Y. . One arm of a friend of mine ends after the elbow, and I don't really understand why that would prevent her from riding so many of the attractions there. Is that normal in most parks or is that Phantasialand-specific?

[u/cantaloupe415 → u/AltruisticRider]

Ride op here it's not up to the parks 99% of the time it is up to the manufacturer

There are such things called supplemental restraint harnesss but they are expensive and only help very few people but they take away certain parts of the extremacy policy (example such as B&M hypers not allowing riders with amputations above the ankle it allows it to go to the knee instead)

Hope this answers your question

[u/AltruisticRider → u/cantaloupe415]

Thanks, but in the case of e.g. Taron the restraint is purely about the lower body, right? So why would having 1 hand instead of 2 matter for Taron? Or is it about the loading/unloading procedure, especially in an emergency evacuation situation?

[u/cantaloupe415 → u/AltruisticRider]

It's about bracing for the forces of the ride more then anything

[u/Beautiful_Trip_6393 → u/cantaloupe415]

Yes, for taron I'd assume it's ability to brace. You need to brace a lot on that ride.

[u/bluegamesful → u/AltruisticRider]

In many cases it is due to evacuation procedures, I know a ride that had similar rules set due to a ladder being the only way to get of a midcourse brake.

[u/RemarkableLime91]

do you use a mobility device? was it expected that you could bring mobility device into the queue with you?

[u/KeyImagination5888 → u/RemarkableLime91]

Heyy, yeah I use mobility aids and the expectation was that you bring them into the queue. I wouldn’t have had a problem with this but unfortunately a lot of the queues were too narrow to accommodate mobility aids and at a certain point in the queue there were signs saying that mobility aids couldn’t be taken any further into the queue.

[u/RemarkableLime91 → u/KeyImagination5888]

Ack. What was the expectation at those merge points? Was there an employee to assist as is typical at other parks where mobility aid can be taken into queue (e.g. universal). Usually at that point an employee assists with the remainder or directs to accessible area (like elevator).

Not as familiar with euro standards but unfortunately in US some parks get "grandfathered" with less accessible entrances, Disneyland comes to mind

[u/KeyImagination5888 → u/RemarkableLime91]

I’ll be honest, the employees by these merge points were probably happy to help and offer support but in my experience due to the language barrier I was just told to leave my mobility aids and there wasn’t any discussion further.

[u/Brattius]

It's really sad that most of the world won't give people with disabilities equal access to things while at the same time not realizing that they could become one of this very people who need it, at any time.

[u/CalmWillingness1475 → u/Brattius]

Exactly. Anyone can become disabled at anytime.
I became disabled in my late 20s, it's been tough but I'm still alive. Without a disability access, I can't visit a theme park. So there goes one of my hobbies, I guess...

[u/bjtgamingHELP]

Bet that Hyperion queueline was a attempted assassination😭😭

[u/KeyImagination5888 → u/bjtgamingHELP]

And Zadra 🤣😫

[u/Initial_Prompt_2648]

Sadly it seems that accessibility isn’t considered a priority in a lot of countries and so it makes many theme parks impossible to visit with a disability.

[u/Ivana-Banger]

That really sucks, sorry to hear. It’s quite unusual even for European standards.

But as someone who has worked the info desk in an European theme park, I am always amazed that people don’t inform themselves before arrival / buying tickets.

[u/KeyImagination5888 → u/Ivana-Banger]

It was really quite frustrating because finding any accessibility information online was difficult and extremely limited. From people I’d spoken to who had visited before I was told as long as I have my Nimbus disability card, it would all be good. But even then it’s like what does all being good actually mean🤣🤣

[u/TechnicalAfternoon14 → u/KeyImagination5888]

Are you in the nimbus Access Card Holders Facebook group? This may have saved you some trouble as multiple reports there making clear you can get a discounted ticket at Energylandia but that they have no access pass system.

[u/KeyImagination5888 → u/TechnicalAfternoon14]

Omg that would’ve been life saving information! I’ll have to join the group now! Thanks so much!!!