Mother Claims Daughter, 3, Was Not Allowed On Blackpool Pleasure Beach Rides Because Of Downs Syndrome

A three-year-old girl was allegedly banned from going on children’s rides at Blackpool Pleasure Beach because she has Down’s syndrome. 

Emma Patrick, of Loughborough, claims she was told the theme park was ‘not for the disabled’ as she tried to enjoy a family day out with three-year-old Lucy, who is in a special chair.

Mrs Patrick, 33, said the family were told when they arrived that there were only four rides her daughter could go on because she is disabled, but when they attempted to board these they were only allowed on one.

The childminder claims the family were told ‘if you can’t walk, you can’t ride’ when they tried to board rides which included the teacups, carousel and Bikini Bottom bus tour. 

She claims they were refused to ride despite the theme park’s brochure saying the bus tour and the Pleasure Beach Express were suitable for disabled people. 

Mrs Patrick said she booked the tickets for her family online, and was not told it was not suitable for disabled people until they tried to get on the rides. 

She added: ‘They told us that the rides weren’t for the disabled and I wasn’t allowed to take her on.’

‘I could have carried her on with shoes on and they wouldn’t have said anything but because we turned up and she was in a chair,  they said no straight away.

‘We only tried to get on the baby rides. We didn’t try and get on massive rollercoasters.

‘I didn’t want special treatment, she will do what other children will do, but they took one look at her and wrote her off.’

Mrs Patrick and her husband Paul, 30, had travelled from Loughborough with Lucy and their four-year-old son AJ to enjoy a family day out last summer.

She said: ‘It spoiled the day with people treating her like that because to us she’s normal.

‘We thought it would be an enjoyable day out and a great place to take children but we felt so discriminated as they even have gates saying “disabled, enter here.” It’s wrong. 

‘There was absolutely no reason why Lucy shouldn’t have been allowed on.’

She claims to have raised her concerns with a manager at Blackpool Pleasure Beach and sent several letters of complaints to management since returning home, which have all been ignored. 

She added: ‘I want to warn other parents in my situation. If this is how they really feel then maybe they should say the Pleasure Beach isn’t for disabled people, so people don’t turn up and feel discriminated.

A spokesperson for Blackpool Pleasure Beach said: ‘Blackpool Pleasure Beach takes complaints of every nature very seriously and all are investigated.

‘The procedure of how we investigate complaints has recently been overhauled to ensure it is more robust.

‘We will be contacting Mrs Patrick to apologise and explain the situation and the outcome of our investigation.’