LESIURE & RETAIL
THEME PARK WASHROOMS
What factors need to be considered when equipping the washrooms of summer venues such as theme parks? Stuart Hands from Tork manufacturer Essity discusses the issue.
UK theme parks are back in full swing. And their managers are hoping for a bumper season as everyone strives to make up for two years of Covid-19.
Some of the nation’s biggest parks have optimistically expanded their offerings in a bid to rack up bumper sales. For example, Alton Towers has added three new attractions including Andy’s Adventures Dinosaur Dig in which visitors are encouraged to unearth fossils and help build a new museum exhibit.
Legoland Windsor Resort has unveiled The Brick for 2022 which allows families to build extravagant models using hundreds of thousands of Lego pieces, whilst Paultons Park in the New Forest has opened a child-friendly aeroplane-themed roller-coaster which enables whole families to ride together for the first time.
However, the stakes are high when visiting a theme park. A one-day pass for Alton Towers or Legoland costs upwards of £60 on the gate – a high price to pay when the cost-of-living crisis has already left everyone strapped for cash.
So, the pressure is on for theme park visitors to incorporate as much fun as they can into their one expensive day. But this can be a challenge when the most popular rides attract long queues.
Theme parks have various ways of managing their queueing systems to ensure they have minimal impact on customer satisfaction levels. Some venues issue ‘fast passes’ that allow guests to jump the queue for an added fee. Others use an appointment system whereby customers are given a specific time to show up for a ride
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and are then alerted via text message when their slot becomes available.
Theme parks often optimise the queueing time by making it part of the fun, using devices such as holograms, videos and recorded commentary to build anticipation for the ride and create a ‘pre-show’ experience. Some even employ performers to entertain the queue and to hand out bottled water to guests as they wait.
However, no such strategies are implemented in the washrooms. Queues for the theme park toilets are basically ‘dead time’ leaving everyone standing in line feeling frustrated by the wait and anxious to return to the fun as quickly as possible.
Congestion in the washrooms spells bad news for a number of reasons. Hand hygiene is crucial in a theme park because most visitors will be staying the whole day and will be picnicking on sandwiches or buying burgers, chips or hot dogs – all items that are eaten with the hands. But after a lengthy wait to use the loo, some visitors might be tempted to carry out a cursory hand wash so that they can hurry back to the attractions. And this could lead to issues such as cross-contamination, stomach bugs and a miserable summer.
Washroom visitors in a hurry might also leave behind messy sinks, taps left running and discarded hand towels strewn over the units in their haste to return to the park’s attractions. This will result in excess waste, higher costs and an unsightly washroom appearance.
Theme parks rely heavily on customer questionnaires and web reviews to attract new custom, but a poor washroom
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