Hi all, I'm not one for posting non-Playroom-related topics on this forum, but I just thought I'd throw this out there. Myself and my partner, both blind, had a rather negative (somewhat understandably) experience recently at a particular theme park in the UK. The theme park did not provide us with an assistant as requested, which was fair enough as we hadn't contacted them in advance, but they also told us they do not provide the service regardless, and that we should've brought a carer. We said we would navigate the park by ourselves, but were subsequently told, having gotten some of the ride staff to help us, that we would not be allowed to go on the rides at the park without a carer. I do understand it from the point of view of the park, in terms of rollercoaster evacuations and such, and with the crap the park would have to deal with in terms of insurance if anything happened (not that we would've sued), but does anyone know of any other theme parks in Europe which offer assistance or which would allow blind people in without question? I'm not disputing the fact that from an insurance point of view, naturally theme park personell would decide it not worth it to have blind people walking around and going on rides alone, but does anyone know of any theme parks in Europe that would (a) allow for this, or (b) provide assistance. If not, does anyone know of a service that would provide someone for the day for a fee or whatever who would act as our legal 'carer' for the day? Sorry, I know there's a lot in this, but just surprised it hasn't come up before.

U.K. theme parks are not a good place for blind people unless you go with someone sighted. U.K. in general is pretty much discriminator against us which is why we have a carer assigned to each of us where that can be family or not. However to access such service you’d need to be a uk citizen because you can’t have a carer without legal documents that prove you are blind. Canes aren’t enough apparently. So to answer your question you pretty much won’t be able to go to big theme parks. You can probably go to funfairs around etc but nothing else. Sorry.
The charities i know that help with these things will need to also be local to where you live and to access you’d need to again prove you are registered blind, preventing anyone such as tourists to access them.
Maybe other Eu theme parks will be more accepting and welcoming, less you can find a sighted i visual in uk who is happy to help.

So if I visit the UK as a tourist, can't I enter theme parks even if there's a sighted Person accompanying me? Or would that work?

Oh you can defo come with a sighted person. I’ve done that so many times. They’re not allowed to reject you. They’re allowed to reject you if you don’t meet the hight restrictions and possibly some health conditions like back problems but if you don’t, you’re fine.

If you are talking about where I am thinking of then the grounds are huge. I did go there in the 1990s a number of times and you would need sighted assistance but you do have advantages of jumping the queues (some 45 minute long) and even have a second go on the rides. If you have any issues then I suggest you contact Radio 4's In touch.

I read about famous parks through Europe such as Europa park and found out that they have on their website written what is accessible for the blind what not. I thought oh hey, this might be something but then found out that they have been sued for discrimination because those things are in fact possible, and despite you wanting to go on a ride they won't allow you on those certain ones, marked inaccessible.Both in Europa park and disneyland I found no assistance that they provide, except that in Disneyland I found some minor interesting accessibility things.

There is 2 issues, the first is people not getting enough help and that's a problem.

the other is you should ask for a full refund unless you have already been given it.

What I did eventually in the past was, I went back to the theme park with a sighted assistant that me and my partner found on FB. Yes we were desperate! @ynwa it was not the park you were referring to, but a separate one operated by the same group.

Yeah they let you in with sighted individuals. Otherwise the risk of being sued can be high for them. Just insure you are happy with the person and that you know them as well as they’ll be with you in all situations. The theme park doesn’t want to take any responsibility for any guiding and accidents relating to blindness, though don’t get me wrong there are some nice workers there who sometimes will not care. And i have read of UK couples who are blind go with their kids and guide dog so i think it varies.

I think it ultimately depends on the insurance laws for each country, which is fair enough. Don't get me wrong, I completely understand the policies and such, I would just prefer to wave my rights at the entrance to be honest with you! But as I say, I think it depends on the territory. My friend recently went to Efteling and was asked on entry whether he'd like someone to help him on and off the rides