DL tightening up flaws in disabled guests ride policies article

[Bob O]

I agree with Crusader that people will cheat/scam any system to get a advantage or to avoid wainting in lines.
While i havent been to disney lately, when i have been there i have seen numerous people using disability passes to avoid waiting who were physcially not disabled.
I dont think anyone is upset if someone who has a observable physcial disability gets a pass to avoid waiting in long lines, but when you see people with no apparent physcial disability walk to the front of the line, it is wrong. And getting a pass because a child has a short attention span and cant wait in lines is just pure BS imho as i have read about here and on other sites.

 

[GeekChic]

okay, since this topic is going again...have to answer this.

I dont think anyone is upset if someone who has a observable physcial disability gets a pass to avoid waiting in long lines, but when you see people with no apparent physcial disability walk to the front of the line, it is wrong.

i don't think that disabled people should get to cut the line, personally. and I am one. I hope that they will continue to make the rides accessable to chairs/ ecvs so that people can all wait in the same queue. being able to sit while waiting is one thing; expecting not to have to wait at all, that's just not realistic when it comes to visiting a theme park.

i always choose to wait in the lines if my chair can possibly fit in the pre-show area/queues. And when we go in sept there are usually no lines at WDW, so if i have to wait for a CM to send us around the side or whatever for accessability reasons, my family usually has to wait while the able bodied people walk right on. but that's the breaks of traveling with a disability.

i agree, the system is abused, yes they need to figure something out; i just don't think doing away with them altogether is the answer.

of course, like i said i have never had one of these magical passes anyway. and there are people who don't have obvious disabilities, but have them nonetheless. that's why it should be up to Disney to determine by setting up some sort of system who qualifies. then if you see someone with a pass, you know that they've already been screened and really need it.

geek

 

[Beca]

I don't mean to stir this one up again...but, I just returned from DL and I cannot see that things are much better.

First, let me say that I am blessed to have a mostly healthy 2 1/2 yr old. That is a blessing....sometimes, too much of a blessing!!! If you have never waited in long lines with a hot, wiggling, bored, and sometimes grumpy two year-old...well, it is just hard to compare. I know that lifting and caring for a disabled child can be hard. But, that should not diminish the fact that caring for ANY two year-old is hard. My child is VERY clingy, and although we brought a stroller, the noise and crowds made her far too uncomfortable to ride in it (she has tactile and "noise" issues which caused her to be developmentally delayed and has been in therapy....she is "healthy" and smart, but battles her own issues, as many children do). Therefore, we ended up carrying her the ENTIRE trip. I would much rather have lifted her in and out of a stroller at the queues rather than carry her all the time, but I knew her issues before, and I still wanted DL for her...so, I accepted what strains that put on us as a family.

So, here's my observance of "the system" at DL. It still seemed to give an un-needed advantage to card-holders in terms of wait times...at least at the "kiddie rides" that we were on frequently. I noticed this most at Dumbo, when wait times were 20-30 minutes in hot sun (the umbrellas didn't work that well). Each time we rode, we saw families where one person was disabled go to the exit where they were immediately handed "feathers" to get them onto the very next ride. Sometimes, the families would ride 2-3 times while we were waiting. This was a line that was FULL of hot, wiggling 2-5 year olds.

From my perspective (and, you can flame me for this if you want), it seems people with disabilities are still being well accomodated by DL. Until I read this thread, I really thought the old policy had been re-instituted. I really thought the policy was about equal access, not better access.

GeekChic...I am happy to hear that you feel you should not have "front of the line" access...your points make wonderful sense. I am just curious as to how many others who signed that "internet petition" feel the same way. I never saw a single party who, when they got to the exit sign and were informed they would be next, responded by saying, "Oh, we just got here...maybe we should wait a while as there were others here first." And, I never saw a CM explain that they would board them "in 20 minutes, because that's how long the line is".

Such a plan seems fair enough.



Beca