Appalling: Wealthy hiring disabled people to cut in line at Disneyland

[Crazedclerkthe2nd]

Story here

Summary:

Apparently some travel company in Florida runs a "service" whereby a disabled person poses as a family member of wealthy individuals so they can cut in line at Disney and don't have to wait as long as us less privileged folk.

Also, you can't just sign up for the service if you have money, you have to be referred.

There had better be a special place in hell for these people.

[Panacea]

Agreed. These fuckers are going to ruin a good thing for disabled people who don't have the stamina to wait in long lines.

Evil Empryss has taken her kids to Disney World; being able to use shorter lines allowed her to enjoy her visit with her kids. She tires quickly and easily; she could never do Disney if she had to wait in regular lines.

I'm fine with the disabled being able to cut in line. Why shouldn't they get to enjoy life like the rest of us?

But non-disabled folks taking advantage . . . disgusting, and they should be ashamed of themselves. And of course, they won't be, the smug bastards.

[Ginger Tea]

Caveat, must be wiling to change adult diapers as and when needed or assist into and out of disabled toilets as if they were parents and or care givers.
cant see that happening though.

This is like getting a hitch hiker just so they can use the car pool, even if it's in the wrong direction for the hiker.

[Andara Bledin]

Disney has cameras and the resources to match up faces of disabled people and their groups. It won't be long before there's a rash of bannings for those who were disabled. That'll be a fun day at the park, when the rich people's crutch (if you'll pardon the term) is denied at the gate.

Amusingly, the very first testimonial on their site includes this: "Your ability to get us to the head of the line really maximized the time we were able to enjoy all facets of the park and made the fly along." How long before they scrub it, do you think?

[Pixilated]

Do the disabled have to ask to cut in line? Because if they do, people are going to quickly start saying "Sorry, back of the line is thataway" which is going to mean disabled persons who can't wait in line are basically going to be SOL.

And I don't think much of the disabled folks who are allowing themselves to be used this way. It's a short-term gain for a long-term loss, because again, people's perception of disabled people in general is going to very quickly go sour -- and it's going to backfire on the very people who are benefiting from this arrangement, when they don't have their wealthy benefactors to back them up.

[MrsEclipse]

In order to cut in line at Disneyland and Walt Disney World, it works like this:

First you go to Town Hall or whichever is the main information building in your park. You explain to the person there the nature of your disability and request accommodations. You are then given a special card with a stamp on it which shows your accommodation and the date that it's valid. You show this stamp to the cast member at the beginning of the queue, and they take you through the back way. If the attraction has FastPasses available, you have to get a FastPass because it's the same entrance. My guess is that Disney will find out who these people are, and Town Hall will start keeping track of them and not issuing a card.

It's not terribly hard to get a card, in my experience (which is slim, I'll admit.) I was at Disneyland by myself in 2008. I had a sort of breakdown near the end of the day when I lost my video camera and couldn't work out how to use the phone card, which set off a severe anxiety attack. I went to town hall and asked a cast member to show me how to use a phone card. The lady instead told me to call from their phone, never mind that it's long distance (is long distance still a thing?) I called Mom, and she talked me down. The lady then asked me a few questions about my anxiety, which has to do with people and crowds (in a very non-invasive way) and asked if joining the line separate from everyone else would help. I said it would, because I automatically agree with things when I'm having anxiety issues. I kept the card as a reminder of how helpful and wonderful the cast members at Disney are. (I got the camera back, too.)

[fireheart17]

Part of me is wondering if there are certain people who might be "acting" disabled, rather than being "genuinely" disabled.

[Amanita]

Yeah, those yuppy moms are pure slime. What kind of example are they setting for their children?

And yes, this is going to ruin things for a lot of people- the potential backlash against the disabled and their helpers or relatives that others have mentioned, for one thing. I hope Disney makes moves to ban everyone involved- the yuppy parents who think they're too good to wait in line, and the disabled folk who are enabling them.

[IDrinkaRum]

I was actually going to post about this here. I saw it on both Yahoo! and on my FB wall. Some comments pointed out that we should be taking the story with a grain of salt because of the source that was reporting it.

The company has shut down the VIP Tours for now due to "inaccurate reporting" and "slander".

If this is true, and a part of me says it is, and the other part hopes it's just yellow journalism, this is going to make it harder for me, as a parent with a special needs child who can't wait more than five minutes in any line, to get special passes for her and us.

I also find it offensive that people think this is a great idea. Are they jealous of a small group of parents who get to jump ahead because the life of a parent of a special needs child is just so glamorous and we get "perks"? (Which, sometimes, we have to jump through hoops to get?)

[mikoyan29]

It's kind of like the ire that is directed at people with a handicapped parking pass. Gee, they get to park up front and somehow that makes up for all the other issues that they have. Me, I'm just grateful that I can walk to the store and not have to yank out a walker, wheel chair or whatever.

[Panacea]

Yeah, those yuppy moms are pure slime. What kind of example are they setting for their children?

A positive one, as far as the moms are concerned. They're making sure their kids understand that rules for regular people don't apply to them.

[Aethian]

What this is also going to do is make the ticket prices jump even more. They are already too high and now for some people this is going to make it even worse.

[crashhelmet]

I've gotten these passes in the past. MrsEclipse is right. You go to guest services at Town Hall, request the pass, and give them the reason why. For me, it was either my ankle, my knee(s), or a combination of them. They may ask for proof (surgery scars are always a helper) and may require you to rent a wheelchair if you don't already have one. They'll also ask how many people are in your party.

When you goto a ride, you goto the handicapped entrance, which is usually the exit, they'll verify your pass and ask if you can climb stairs.

There have been times where I've gotten them when I first gotten to the park and times where I had to go back and get one because my Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome had decided to rear its ugly head.

[Nekojin]

I'm going to buck the trend here, and say that I think this is a "mountains out of molehills" problem. Disney screens handicapped people already, as MrsEclipse and Crashhelmet have pointed out. It doesn't really matter if the party that the handicapped person is with isn't their family. And I can't imagine this being a large enough problem for Disney to even notice, much less do something about. How many times a day do you expect this to happen? Once a day? Disneyland averages over 40k guests per day, peaking at over 70k (over 100k, if you include California Adventure). If even a dozen people per day are taking advantage of this unfairly, it's still beneath Disney's notice, because doing anything about it would inconvenience all of their handicapped guests.

Is it scummy? A bit, but the handicapped people are at least getting a free trip to Disneyland out of it, and hopefully a bit more. If they (the handicapped people, not the broker) are getting paid for it as well, I really don't see a problem with it. But I don't think it's worth the HWFO some people are displaying over it.

[crashhelmet]

I think it is a Mountains vs Molehills issue too. However there is, or was, the possibility of this being exploited. It may have been stopped in its infancy. What started with a company whoring out disabled people for easy access at Disneyland may have developed into multiple companies doing it. False charity organizations setup to rent out a disabled person. Make me rich and I'll give you a tax write off and a head of the line pass on almost every Disney ride.