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Controversy over accessibility measures for disabled

visitors in Belgian Plopsa theme parks

Update : 19:49 Published by François Mayné the 29 July 2012, Corporate.

Theme parks operator Plopsa Group is currently facing a controversy in Belgium after having strengthened accessibility measures for disabled people in three of its properties: Plopsaland De Panne, Plopsa Coo and Plopsa Indoor Hasselt.

In June, Plopsa has indeed modified the conditions of access to some of its rides after conducting a risk analysis carried out by the German certification agency TÜV, formally following incidents and previous experiences on similar installations.

If visitors with physical disabilities can not access certain rides for obvious safety reasons, the controversy arose after Plopsa's decision to deny access to a small number of rides to people with mental handicap. A ban that the group has motivated by the need for all visitors to have a "good notion of time and space" in attractions such as flying chairs, flume ride, summer sledging or chairlift.

These new accessibility measures have not been appreciated by families and escorts of concerned disabled visitors, especially at Plopsa Coo where the park has been awkwardness in distributing red bracelets to "identify" the visitors with mental disabilities. A situation considered as discriminatory and that is the subject of several complaints to sevral government agencies and interest groups.

New accessibility measures for mentally disabled visitors are introduced on rides such as flying chairs...

A few days ago, the CEO of Plopsa Group Steve Van den Kerkhof said in a statement that the Plopsa parks would now propose a "provisional compromise" to disabled visitors. If they wish to ride on the concerned attractions despite the ban, they will have to sign a paper stating that they accept of not rejecting liability against Plopsa in case of problems or incidents. This compromise has not been welcomed with optimism by families and associations as well as by the Minister of Equal Opportunities for the Flemish region.

Steve Van den Kerkhof justified this decision by explaining that Belgian Plopsa parks are facing two contradictory laws, one requiring operators of amusement parks to ensure the safety of their visitors through the implementation of risk analysis and the other concerning the fight against discrimination. "We hope to arrive as soon as possible to a compromise between the two laws with ministries and all associations and interest groups concerned. Our objective is to provide access to rides to as many visitors as possible so that everyone can enjoy optimally from visiting our parks in complete safety" he declared.

Access restrictions and security procedures are regularly a source of conflict for owners and operators of amusement parks. Legal requirements and sensitivities of some visitors are sometimes incompatible, especially as parks today tend to "overprotect" legally to avoid facing with an incident damaging to their image. A phenomenon that is particularly developed in the U.S. where disgruntled visitors do not hesitate to go to court for any trouble.

The case of "Plopsa compromise" is a good subject for discussion: Should amusement parks protect themselves at all costs of a possible incident with restrictive measures of accessibility for disabled visitors? Or should they leave the responsibility to concerned visitors to choose in their own conscience? This question reminds a tragic incident last year at Darien Lake, USA. A young with both legs amputated is indeed died after being ejected from Superman Ride of Steel hypercoaster, while he had decided not to respect the conditions of accessibility of the ride that was not authorized for his disability. Other recent incidents have also involved people with certain physical or mental disabilities.

In any case, if the parks are unable or unwilling to change their conditions of access to rides and attractions, it is clear that this is at the level of communication that an effort must be made. With clearer information ahead of the visit and a proper support on site, each disabled visitor would be better informed about the procedures and security measures of each theme park. This is often the misunderstanding that leads to the controversy...

The accessibility guide for disabled visitors in all Plopsa parks (including in the Netherlands and Germany) can be downloaded online on www.plopsa.be (in French).

Plopsaland De Panne - Plopsa Coo - Plopsa Indoor Hasselt - -

Written by François Mayné

François Mayné Publishing Director » Contact Us
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