Guest Assistance Cards ending, to be replaced with Fastpasses?

[Halloweenqueen]

I am curious about how the new system will stop the abusers. Guests who had no problem cheating the system before will not hesitate to abuse DAS.

Al Lutz (a DL blogger) discussed how bad the abuse has become in DL during the roll out of Carsland last year. The majority of the guests at DL are AP holders. GACs were given out with expirations months in advance leading to many passing them to friends and family to use. Obviously there is a benefit of shorter waits if people were selling or gifting them. Al reported, for example, that DL was reporting between 1500 to 2000 GAC users in the parks daily. When Radiator Springs opened GAC users were escorted into the FP line. Over 5000 people used their GAC privileges to access the ride, forcing Disney to reduce the number of FPs it gave out daily. FDs were gone in the first hour because of this. It is obvious something had to be done.

Guess I question the effectiveness of the new program. GAC was always a quietly discussed topic, but now more people know about it than ever. Questions about it exploded after the story of the disabled tour guides. Unfortunately there are plenty of people who will ask for DAS. How will this effect accessibility for other DAS users and the general public?

 

[Octoberbaby]

I am curious about how the new system will stop the abusers. Guests who had no problem cheating the system before will not hesitate to abuse DAS.

Al Lutz (a DL blogger) discussed how bad the abuse has become in DL during the roll out of Carsland last year. The majority of the guests at DL are AP holders. GACs were given out with expirations months in advance leading to many passing them to friends and family to use. Obviously there is a benefit of shorter waits if people were selling or gifting them. Al reported, for example, that DL was reporting between 1500 to 2000 GAC users in the parks daily. When Radiator Springs opened GAC users were escorted into the FP line. Over 5000 people used their GAC privileges to access the ride, forcing Disney to reduce the number of FPs it gave out daily. FDs were gone in the first hour because of this. It is obvious something had to be done.

Guess I question the effectiveness of the new program. GAC was always a quietly discussed topic, but now more people know about it than ever. Questions about it exploded after the story of the disabled tour guides. Unfortunately there are plenty of people who will ask for DAS. How will this effect accessibility for other DAS users and the general public?

It is basically just going to hurt the people who REALLY need it as with anything else. The people who cheat and lie are ALWAYS going to find a way around things. Just people who REALLY deserve the cards are going to suffer and it makes me so OUTRAGED that people think it is FAIR for people with disabilities to WAIT with everyone else. They have no clue what these kids and adults have to deal with on a daily basis.

 

[AndreaA]

I am curious about how the new system will stop the abusers. Guests who had no problem cheating the system before will not hesitate to abuse DAS.

This is my feeling as well. Those who were abusing the system will still abuse it to get shorter wait times, but those who are truly in need of the flexibility of the GAC which allowed for very specific touring plans to be followed, re-riding to take place and those with limited time in the parks to get a decent amount done, will now be shut-out.

I think that a limited window GAC for AP holders would have done far more than this new system.

That is one of the main reasons I dislike the new system. It will not affect my family at all, since my son won't have an issue using the DAS return time and visiting something else in the meantime (we just cannot wait in lines or wait in one place for any length of time) and hopefully by the time we return we will be able to spend more hours in the parks, so the need to get more done in less time won't be as much of an issue. So I'm not speaking for my own benefit but for those who are not as fortunate as I.

 

[Granny square]

I am curious about how the new system will stop the abusers. Guests who had no problem cheating the system before will not hesitate to abuse DAS. Al Lutz (a DL blogger) discussed how bad the abuse has become in DL during the roll out of Carsland last year. The majority of the guests at DL are AP holders. GACs were given out with expirations months in advance leading to many passing them to friends and family to use. Obviously there is a benefit of shorter waits if people were selling or gifting them. Al reported, for example, that DL was reporting between 1500 to 2000 GAC users in the parks daily. When Radiator Springs opened GAC users were escorted into the FP line. Over 5000 people used their GAC privileges to access the ride, forcing Disney to reduce the number of FPs it gave out daily. FDs were gone in the first hour because of this. It is obvious something had to be done. Guess I question the effectiveness of the new program. GAC was always a quietly discussed topic, but now more people know about it than ever. Questions about it exploded after the story of the disabled tour guides. Unfortunately there are plenty of people who will ask for DAS. How will this effect accessibility for other DAS users and the general public?

Omg! That is incredible. I think that a. Big piece will be having to sign up every day. That I think will be the crappy part for the non cheaters too though.

 

[FireDancer]

Really this is demonstrating your lack of knowledge. Naturally there is no life-and-death NEED to ride anything at all, but for some people especially some with certain mental/neurological issues, re-riding something approaches close to a medical necessity, and lack of that ability will most certainly keep some families out of the park.

I'm sorry, my opinion is that no one should be able to just keep riding a ride over and over while other people have to wait. Whatever the justification (autism, OCD, something else) that is not a need. No one will die if they don't ride over and over and there is nothing equal access or even equal experience about that accommodation.

Really, if someone can't understand that they have to wait their turn like everyone else (even if that wait is an alternative wait) perhaps a vacation that involves lots of waiting isn't for them.

And as for closing loopholes I'd love to see the outrage that people are directing at the people who just want to help their disabled family members, directed at people proudly proclaiming how many FPs they were able to get the machines to spit out for them, using everything anything with a magnetic strip.

I'm as much for closing that loophole as the GAC one but that sounds more like a defect in programming then a loophole in an implementation. I would hope Disney addresses that. I would expound on what I meant by more entities closing loopholes but it could be interpreted as political so I won't. I wasn't talking about Disney specifically.

 

[Octoberbaby]

I'm sorry, my opinion is that no one should be able to just keep riding a ride over and over while other people have to wait. Whatever the justification (autism, OCD, something else) that is not a need. No one will die if they don't ride over and over and there is nothing equal access or even equal experience about that accommodation.

Really, if someone can't understand that they have to wait their turn like everyone else (even if that wait is an alternative wait) perhaps a vacation that involves lots of waiting isn't for them.



I'm as much for closing that loophole as the GAC one but that sounds more like a defect in programming then a loophole in an implementation. I would hope Disney addresses that. I would expound on what I meant by more entities closing loopholes but it could be interpreted as political so I won't. I wasn't talking about Disney specifically.

I guess I should UNSUBSCRIBE from this thread. I hate it when people have no compassion for anyone.

 

[FireDancer]

I guess I should UNSUBSCRIBE from this thread. I hate it when people have no compassion for anyone.

I fail to see not allowing someone to walk onto a ride over and over while everyone else waits their turn as a lack of compassion. No one should be able to completely skip lines once let alone over and over and over except for the WISH kids. The whole notion that anyone feels as though they are entitled to do that just boggles my mind.

I'm just stating my opinion and having a conversation. No need to take it personal or get upset.

 

[Octoberbaby]

I fail to see not allowing someone to walk onto a ride over and over while everyone else waits their turn as a lack of compassion. No one should be able to completely skip lines once let alone over and over and over except for the WISH kids. The whole notion that anyone feels as though they are entitled to do that just boggles my mind.

I'm just stating my opinion and having a conversation. No need to take it personal or get upset.

It is very personal because I have a disabled child with stage 4 cancer that is on a lot of medications as well as chemo. She is also in a wheelchair. I see disabled children everyday. It is sad what they go through. Certain illnesses require kids to have special routines that require them to repeat things....They also have medications that need to be taken at certain times etc. I could go on and on. I am sorry you feel that they shouldn't be allowed to skip a few lines or whatever I am sure they wish they weren't sick.

 

[AndreaA]

I fail to see not allowing someone to walk onto a ride over and over while everyone else waits their turn as a lack of compassion. No one should be able to completely skip lines once let alone over and over and over except for the WISH kids. The whole notion that anyone feels as though they are entitled to do that just boggles my mind.

And what about those people who former WISH kids and are revisiting the parks? Are they less deserving of a little special consideration just because they aren't traveling with a WISH guide? Their medical circumstances have not changed. And what about those kids who are very ill and just haven't been chosen to be WISH kids but have managed to scrounge up the money on their own? I just really think you (and others) aren't seeing the whole picture here.

And again, the GAC DID NOT ALLOW anyone to completely skip the lines. Even using our GAC and going through the FP line during a slow time of year, we were still waiting in the FP line. We weren't merrily skipping past everyone and into the next available car.

 

[Granny square]

It is very personal because I have a disabled child with stage 4 cancer that is on a lot of medications as well as chemo. She is also in a wheelchair. I see disabled children everyday. It is sad what they go through. Certain illnesses require kids to have special routines that require them to repeat things....They also have medications that need to be taken at certain times etc. I could go on and on. I am sorry you feel that they shouldn't be allowed to skip a few lines or whatever I am sure they wish they weren't sick.

But believing that there needs to be a standard procedure that doesn't mean fotl isn't about you.

I can't imagine your life. It breaks my heart. But Disney is just attempting to fix an overloaded abused system. I suspect that there is some squish in it for medications and such because that makes sense with the population being served. I wouldn't panic yet.

 

[Justin Jett]

I fail to see not allowing someone to walk onto a ride over and over while everyone else waits their turn as a lack of compassion. No one should be able to completely skip lines once let alone over and over and over except for the WISH kids. The whole notion that anyone feels as though they are entitled to do that just boggles my mind.

I'm just stating my opinion and having a conversation. No need to take it personal or get upset.

I need a GAC, but I have never been "able to completely skip lines"

Check out this video:

https://www.facebook.com/video/embed?video_id=527086984034054" width="568" height="320" frameborder="0"

 

[Halloweenqueen]

I have a son with mild form of autism. We have never used a GAC... luckily we never needed one, but I can understand having a child that wants to ride something repetitively enough that it feels like a need rather than a want.

It does remind me of the lady who sued Disney because they would not allow her to ride TOT multiple times. She claimed that it helped with her medical condition. Her suit was thrown out. The judge said Disney wasn't in the business of administering an experience that served a medical purpose.

I wonder if this idea could be used against families who would like access to a ride multiple times.

 

[FireDancer]

And what about those people who former WISH kids and are revisiting the parks? Are they less deserving of a little special consideration just because they aren't traveling with a WISH guide? Their medical circumstances have not changed. And what about those kids who are very ill and just haven't been chosen to be WISH kids but have managed to scrounge up the money on their own? I just really think you (and others) aren't seeing the whole picture here.

And again, the GAC DID NOT ALLOW anyone to completely skip the lines. Even using our GAC and going through the FP line during a slow time of year, we were still waiting in the FP line. We weren't merrily skipping past everyone and into the next available car.

WISH is a one time experience and highly regulated as far as who qualifies for it. Disney has always treated them differently.

If someone was going repeatedly on a ride that had a 30 minute wait without waiting 30 minutes between rides they are skipping the line. Even if they get handed a fastpass and go through that line when they are supposed to wait in the stand by line they are skipping the line. Entering a shorter line then you are supposed to wait in is skipping the line. Skipping the line doesn't mean you don't wait at all, it means you don't wait as long as everyone else. That should not be allowed in my opinion based on ability.

Look, I am not interested in going around and around. The bottom line is the way GAC should have always worked was allowing an alternative way to see an attraction, not allowing a way to wait a shorter amount of time to see it. Disney is merely closing a loophole they never intended to be there. At least that is the way I am interpreting the way they have been used and how they are being changed. Now, everyone will have the ability to go on a ride in 30 minutes if there is a 30 minute wait, 60 minutes if there is a 60 minute wait, or walk right on when there is no wait regardless of whether they wait in the standard line or somewhere else. The rules of society is everyone waits their turn. The new system is literally allowing for people to have an alternative way to wait their turn. That gets a from me.

 

[buggy]

And again, the GAC DID NOT ALLOW anyone to completely skip the lines. Even using our GAC and going through the FP line during a slow time of year, we were still waiting in the FP line. We weren't merrily skipping past everyone and into the next available car.

As a parent of a physically disabled child who can't transfer and utilized the GAC, it most certainly did allow those with invisible disabilities to either completely skip the line or most of it (and many were merrily skipping past everyone). It made us sick to our stomachs watching this abuse of a pass that was originally intended to help even out the wait times for those who are truly physically disabled and had to wait longer for a wheelchair accessible ride vehicle. Glad to see this abuse go even if we do end up having to wait longer now.

 

[Justin Jett]

WISH is a one time experience and highly regulated as far as who qualifies for it. Disney has always treated them differently.

If someone was going repeatedly on a ride that had a 30 minute wait without waiting 30 minutes between rides they are skipping the line. Even if they get handed a fastpass and go through that line when they are supposed to wait in the stand by line they are skipping the line. Entering a shorter line then you are supposed to wait in is skipping the line. Skipping the line doesn't mean you don't wait at all, it means you don't wait as long as everyone else. That should not be allowed in my opinion based on ability.

Look, I am not interested in going around and around. The bottom line is the way GAC should have always worked was allowing an alternative way to see an attraction, not allowing a way to wait a shorter amount of time to see it.

Please watch the Temporary Tourist video in my previous post.

 

[FireDancer]

Please watch the Temporary Tourist video in my previous post.

I watched it. Is TSM the exception or the rule? If the GAC allows someone to just walk into the fastpass line then even in the scenario shown in the video it could shorten the line if the fastpass line + handicapped access line is shorter then the stand by line. I have no idea if that was the case in that video or not.

I have no doubt that touring the park with anyone handicapped is a struggle. I believe that 100%. That isn't really what these GAC threads should be about though. They are about what Disney is doing to to allow handicapped guests equal access without granting them any additional perks beyond that access. I think those additional perks are what cause abuse and that those perks, when they do exists even if they don't on TSM, were unintended from the beginning.

Again, just my opinion.

ETA: I don't mean FOTL literally unless I am talking about those that hop off and back on based on their disability. I mean they wait less time then someone getting in line at the same time but standing in the stand by line. If GAC gets someone into the Soarin' fastpass line and they wait 45 minutes when the stand by line is 120 minutes they are still getting a shorter line experience because of the GAC. The new system, if implemented correctly, would get that person on the ride in 120 minutes but keep them from having to stand in line for that amount of time. That is the more fair accommodation. It is giving them the same access as an able bodied person in regards to wait times.

 

[mrzrich]

.

Really, if someone can't understand that they have to wait their turn like everyone else (even if that wait is an alternative wait) perhaps a vacation that involves lots of waiting isn't for them.

.

Where would you like my family to vacation?

We tried vacationing elsewhere with our son. We went to DC, as we walked around the National Mall, my son jumping and flapping, people starred and whispered, " why would you take that kid here?" We went to St. Augustine, and tried to tour the OLd Jail, which scarred the heck our of my child, as we tried to discretely back out of the tour we got more stares and more " why would you take that kid here?"

We finally came to the conclusion that WDW was the only place that we could somewhat plan our day, with few hiccups, and our son could be himself without the stares and disapproving head shakes.

None of this is fair for my neuro typical son who really would like to see the monuments, tour Museums, etc. There is no respite in my area, and truthfully, I'm not sure I'd be comfortable leaving my child with limited speech with a stranger. Would you leave your normal child with a stranger?

Your ignorance on this matter is really showing, perhaps you need to spend a day with a disabled child. Well be in WDW next month if you want to stand in line with my son for a few rides.

.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

I have no doubt that touring the park with anyone handicapped is a struggle. I believe that 100%. That isn't really what these GAC threads should be about though. They are about what Disney is doing to to allow handicapped guests equal access without granting them any additional perks beyond that access. .

The problem is that the proposed DAS (which I fully believe will be shortlived) creates barriers to access for many families.

 

[Justin Jett]

I watched it. Is TSM the exception or the rule? If the GAC allows someone to just walk into the fastpass line then even in the scenario shown in the video it could shorten the line if the fastpass line + handicapped access line is shorter then the stand by line. I have no idea if that was the case in that video or not.

I have no doubt that touring the park with anyone handicapped is a struggle. I believe that 100%. That isn't really what these GAC threads should be about though. They are about what Disney is doing to to allow handicapped guests equal access without granting them any additional perks beyond that access. I think those additional perks are what cause abuse and that those perks, when they do exists even if they don't on TSM, were unintended from the beginning.

Again, just my opinion.

I would gladly trade this "perk" for not being disabled.

Nobody can predict the future. The day may come when you or a family member become disabled. Then you will be able to experience the reality of these "perks."

I also wear earmuffs during nighttime and loud shows. Are earmuffs a "perk" too?

 

[FireDancer]

Where would you like my family to vacation?

We tried vacationing elsewhere with our son. We went to DC, as we walked around the National Mall, my son jumping and flapping, people starred and whispered, " why would you take that kid here?" We went to St. Augustine, and tried to tour the OLd Jail, which scarred the heck our of my child, as we tried to discretely back out of the tour we got more stares and more " why would you take that kid here?"

We finally came to the conclusion that WDW was the only place that we could somewhat plan our day, with few hiccups, and our son could be himself without the stares and disapproving head shakes.

None of this is fair for my neuro typical son who really would like to see the monuments, tour Museums, etc. There is no respite in my area, and truthfully, I'm not sure I'd be comfortable leaving my child with limited speech with a stranger. Would you leave your normal child with a stranger?

Your ignorance on this matter is really showing, perhaps you need to spend a day with a disabled child. Well be in WDW next month if you want to stand in line with my son for a few rides.

.

I am not advocating that your son should wait in line, I am only advocating he wait his turn just like everyone else. I am all for the system that tells you go do whatever you'd like and come back at this time. That was my first post. A system that gives someone an alternative to waiting in line but doesn't shorten their wait to ride is the right solution in my opinion.

Waiting your turn is not the same as waiting in line. Waiting your turn means that when a line is 45 minutes you get to ride in 45 minutes even if you don't wait in the line. It means that if you ride that ride and want to go back on you get to do so in another 45 minutes even if you don't wait in the actual line to do so.

I am 100% for giving your son an alternative to waiting in line. I am not for giving your son an alternative to waiting his turn. I'm sorry if you thought I meant if you can't wait in line you don't get to ride. That was not what I meant.