I am not one for venting but today something has really got be rattled – My son along with around 200 other students went on an end of year trip to Alton Towers.  He has returned this evening really disappointed with how they and others at the park were treated. He said he felt sad that his dad and myself had paid £30 for him and that he had only managed to get on two rides. He said it was so busy mum, there were loads of School coaches trying to park it took ages to actually get in. There were also lots of families who like him couldn’t get on rides. For some rides you were expected to queue for in excess of 150 minutes. He did queue for a third ride, and was in the next group to get on, but it was closed due to a breakdown. Apparently, they had tried to go on this earlier but it was closed due to a technical issue.  
My heart absolutely goes out to him and others who have been in the same situation. I have heard that Monday was exactly the same. These kids have looked forward to going on this trip since the start of the academic year.  
The amount of money that these places must make from School trips must well and truly run into the millions. I can imagine that they just take booking after booking with the top man/woman rubbing their hands together at the amount of money they are making without any thought about either the cost to the parents or the disappointment faced by the children.  
Personally, if it were a School, I would seriously consider whether to “line” the pockets of these big organisations next year. I know that at the end of the day it is down to me and other parents whether we let/pay for our kids to go, but we are so proud of how well he is doing we wanted to reward him for his hard work.  
My twins are due to go to Drayton Manor on Thursday and I feel that we may be in for the same situation! 

These Companies should be held responsible and need to stop taking advantage of parents/Schools and our children. They are not happy just making a few million pounds they just want to make more and don't care how they do it. 

My aim is to get this problem heard in the Commons for the Government to see what us parents are up against - we are constantly paying over the odds for everything - our summer holidays cost us more - you see the cost of these doubling when the School holidays start. We are fined if we take our kids out to spend some quality time when its cheaper.  For those that need child care in the holidays you are looking at in excess of £30 per child per day!  We are tied into purchasing named uniform from one particular shop who charge you £20 a t-shirt plus an additional £15 for a PE top and £30 for a Rugby top!  With us all struggling financially I feel that the Government need to start doing something to help us out.