As an aviation enthusiast and father of an 18-month-old boy, I have been to the viewing park a few times lately and here is my take on it:
1) £9 for three hours parking for a young family is NOT value for money. Granted, nobody is making us spend the money, but I do not want to deny my son the golden memories I myself have of my childhood.
2) The new system where you pay on exiting is ridiculous. It is no fun sitting in a hot car with a screaming kid queuing to get out. It is FAR too slow manually paying on exit and I've witnessed people getting irate. Either make people pay on entering again, or install pay machines. I can only imagine that such a system has been implemented to create maximum profit, i.e. herd 'em all in as fast as we can, then make 'em wait to get out.
3) Would it not be fairer to split the AVP into two, with a free park and view grassed area and burger van, like I imagine it was in the old days, and then have a mini theme-park type area with the aircraft on display, shop, Concorde tours, restuarant etc, that you pay to get into and park?
I admit, I do not know the ins and outs of the setup, who owns it or just how much work goes into it, but from a family viewpoint it does not seem very good value for money, and I imagine it must be getting expensive for the spotters as well. I'd take my lad every week if I could, but for now it's just going to be a "once in a blue moon" treat.