Descrmination towards invisible disabilities by Cast Members or other Guests?

[disney david]

Her group - disabled people - was not being treated differently. One individual was asked one or more questions that have not been identified here before being allowed access to an alternate access to an attraction. Alternate entrances generally do not provide seating (so she'd still have had to stand) and do not tend to shorten the wait time. Sometimes they do, sometimes those guests wait longer. It's possible the CM knew the mainstream line was constantly moving and would have gotten on the ride faster?

Any two guests presenting a GAC at the same attraction at the same time won't necessarily require the same accommodations.

I know your right

 

[kaytieeldr]

A specific occasion that I can remember was the first day of my last trip, at Epcot's Spaceship earth. I had used the alternate entrance that we had been directed to by a cast member. We were sitting inside the waiting area. Most (if not all) of the other guests were in wheel chairs. A specific cast member was grilling me on it. Saying things like 'Why are you here?" "You look perfectly able to stand in the line" "You're not in a wheelchair."

Then you ask for a manager or you go to guest relations.

 

[Taytortots]

I agree that that is how the situation should have been dealt with. That's not exactly what i'm speaking about. I was simply asking if anyone had received any type of discrimination or had been treated differently, and people seemed to want to know a specific situation so I told them one.

 

[Schmeck]

Sometimes the queue area for the 'alternate entrance' is too full and people are turned away. If someone was enough of a bully, he/she could be so annoying that the CM just lets the person down there anyways, hoping that a few of the other guests down there have already boarded by the time the arguing/bullying is done. I've seen that happen at WDW many times. It always starts out with the CM stating "I'm sorry, I can't let you in this way right now". If there was another way to get access, the CM suggests it, but the person holding the GAC has it in his/her head that the alternate entrance is the only way they can go. We've seen this on Splash, and at the exit for BTMRR. Once the exit at BTMRR had a huge crowd waiting to get in, and we couldn't get out!

 

[infopurposesonly]

Any two guests presenting a GAC at the same attraction at the same time won't necessarily require the same accommodations.

Different guests, same stamp, different treatment, in the situation I mentioned. I wasn't completely surprised, though, because I have had CM's try to do the same thing to my daughter at that particular attraction. There is one accommodation they don't like to allow because it's inconvenient for them.

 

[floridaminnie]

Different guests, same stamp, different treatment, in the situation I mentioned. I wasn't completely surprised, though, because I have had CM's try to do the same thing to my daughter at that particular attraction. There is one accommodation they don't like to allow because it's inconvenient for them.

Which us what? We have used the alternative lines with my father due to him being in. Wheelchair and now a scooter. We've only had an issue once at splash where the required a pass from guest services. I trekked over there where the guy rolled his eyes because it should have been obvious he couldn't go in the regular line. Some rides don't gave a separate line.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Different guests, same stamp, different treatment, in the situation I mentioned. I wasn't completely surprised, though, because I have had CM's try to do the same thing to my daughter at that particular attraction. There is one accommodation they don't like to allow because it's inconvenient for them.

Could I ask how you know both guests had the same stamp(s)? Just having a GAC - or even having the same condition - doesn't necessarily mean two people need the same accommodation.

 

[ttintagel]

after the Haunted Mansion fiasco (I am a wheelchair user who can walk a few steps, and the CM was telling us that she could not stop the walkway and that I would have to walk down the entire hall, which would have been impossible. We knew she could stop the walkway and insisted on it. She finally gave up, rolled her eyes and agreed to stop it) we went right over to Town Hall and spoke with someone there.

I cried. I didn't mean to, but I did. Disney is our happy place, and we keep going back because it is one place where I feel I am treated so well and I don't feel like a burden. The CM we talked with in Town Hall got right on the phone and called the supervisor at HM. She kept asking us what she could do to make up for that experience; I told her I just didn't want another guest to be made to feel like I felt. After we left, DH said I should have asked for a night in the Castle Suite! LOL

GAH! The CM's at the Haunted Mansion are the worst at handling accommodations for PWD. Simply the worst. I think anyone who has a bad attitude or poor people skills is transferred back there in the hopes that their personalities will just pass off as "spooky." I have never gone there and gotten the assistance I needed without some kind of scene.

 

[Schmeck]

GAH! The CM's at the Haunted Mansion are the worst at handling accommodations for PWD. Simply the worst. I think anyone who has a bad attitude or poor people skills is transferred back there in the hopes that their personalities will just pass off as "spooky." I have never gone there and gotten the assistance I needed without some kind of scene.

Something else to think about at Haunted Mansion - how often are they allowed to stop the attraction to let people board that way? When does it become detrimental to the fundamental purpose of the attraction, or become too harmful to the ride mechanism itself?

 

[infopurposesonly]

Could I ask how you know both guests had the same stamp(s)? Just having a GAC - or even having the same condition - doesn't necessarily mean two people need the same accommodation.

I'm well aware of that. Talk about the accommodation was overheard. As I said before, the CM's tried to do the same thing to my family on another visit, and when I made it clear that my daughter couldn't do what they were telling her to do, they accommodated according to what was on her GAC, but reluctantly.

 

[Freesia123]

We got major looks from other guests, but treated very courteously by the cms. My dad is noticeably frail, and has a hard time walking / standing. They stop rides because he falls over on anything that moves. The looks he gets are disgusting. No one likes to wait but patience and compassion are sometimes lacking.

 

[kellyw8863]

I'm sorry this happened - I truly am. Is it possible that the CM was simply trying to get some more info? Especially considering one of the attractions was Spaceship Earth? We were asked a lot of questions there, too, but I was under the impression it was because the alternate waiting area was going to be a far longer wait than the regular line. In the end, dd decided that she didn't want to transfer even though she can, so we stuck it out. We probably waited more than 20 minutes even though the standby line was only 5 minutes. I don't remember the CM having an attitude about it, but maybe I just wasn't paying attention?

 

[berryinDC]

.
A specific occasion that I can remember was the first day of my last trip, at Epcot's Spaceship earth. I had used the alternate entrance that we had been directed to by a cast member. We were sitting inside the waiting area. Most (if not all) of the other guests were in wheel chairs. A specific cast member was grilling me on it. Saying things like 'Why are you here?" "You look perfectly able to stand in the line" "You're not in a wheelchair."
I was honestly very shocked. I'd never experienced this kind of treatment at a Disney park. Thankfully, there was another cast member there (a women, very nice) who apologized for the treatment.
That wasn't all he said either but you get the point. I felt like I was being treated like I was doing something wrong, when I wasn't at all.
I did go to guest services and let them know about what happened. I was really unhappy. I come to Disney because of their great customer service, and here was this person that was being straight out rude to me.

I'm really sorry that happened. That cm sounds pretty obviously inappropriate and rude. Questioning someone's disability is outside the scope of their job. You already have a GAC, they should honor it and recognize that if you're in that area it's because you feel that you should be.

 

[Schmeck]

I'm really sorry that happened. That cm sounds pretty obviously inappropriate and rude. Questioning someone's disability is outside the scope of their job. You already have a GAC, they should honor it and recognize that if you're in that area it's because you feel that you should be.

One thing people forget about a GAC is that it isn't a legal document, or a contract, or an IEP, and what's on it is just there to help the CM decide what to do at an attraction. It's not a magic piece of paper that gives you 'rights' to a certain entrance. I think Disney needs to rethink their GAC policy so that it is more reflective of what it is supposed to do, which is to provide some more access to attractions that were built before the ADA came into existence.

 

[ttintagel]

Something else to think about at Haunted Mansion - how often are they allowed to stop the attraction to let people board that way? When does it become detrimental to the fundamental purpose of the attraction, or become too harmful to the ride mechanism itself?

I really don't know how often they're allowed to stop the belt, but they seem to have a system down for spacing it out. I've seen people waiting for more than a few minutes at the wheelchair entrance, and I've never been on the ride when it stopped more than once.

 

[Sparkly]

GAH! The CM's at the Haunted Mansion are the worst at handling accommodations for PWD. Simply the worst. I think anyone who has a bad attitude or poor people skills is transferred back there in the hopes that their personalities will just pass off as "spooky." I have never gone there and gotten the assistance I needed without some kind of scene.

How the Mickey Mouse does rude equate to spooky? I don't get it

 

[ttintagel]

How the Mickey Mouse does rude equate to spooky? I don't get it

It doesn't. But I think the managers HOPE that it will. That's the only reason I can think of for the high concentration of Crabby Appletons at the HM.

 

[Jonell]

We had a bad experience using the GAC at HM a few years ago. This was before the new que was built and guest with GACs were directed to enter through the exit. My dh showed the CM his GAC and the CM asked, "Is there really something wrong with you or did you get this card just to skip lines?" My dh replied that he had a disability that made the regular lines difficult for him. The CM then demanded that my dh tell him what the disability was. We got the CM's name and went straight to Town Hall to report this incident. Hopefully the CM was disciplined and never did this to another guest.

 

[bedogged]

We had a bad experience using the GAC at HM a few years ago. This was before the new que was built and guest with GACs were directed to enter through the exit. My dh showed the CM his GAC and the CM asked, "Is there really something wrong with you or did you get this card just to skip lines?" My dh replied that he had a disability that made the regular lines difficult for him. The CM then demanded that my dh tell him what the disability was. We got the CM's name and went straight to Town Hall to report this incident. Hopefully the CM was disciplined and never did this to another guest.

That is truly awful! I had a bad experience once and went to Guest Services to complain. She was very sympathetic and I gave the Guest Service CM the name of the CM involved, but I noticed that the she never wrote anything down. When I got home, I wrote a letter detailing my experience. Within a week I received a phone call and I really believe that they seriously addressed my concerns. I now recommend that if a person has a serious problem, they should write a letter about it.

 

[infopurposesonly]

One thing people forget about a GAC is that it isn't a legal document, or a contract, or an IEP, and what's on it is just there to help the CM decide what to do at an attraction. It's not a magic piece of paper that gives you 'rights' to a certain entrance. I think Disney needs to rethink their GAC policy so that it is more reflective of what it is supposed to do, which is to provide some more access to attractions that were built before the ADA came into existence.

Has Disney provided written information stating this is the purpose of the GAC, or is this your opinion? My daughter's GAC doesn't say the CM gets to decide what to do. One of the stamps offers a particular accommodation "where available." It doesn't say "when convenient for the CM" or "when the CM isn't feeling cranky or lazy" or "when the CM finishes flirting with another cute CM." Nobody has claimed it is a legal document.