Guest Assistance Cards ~ Ever Used Them?

[pokemon_master]

I've just nipped over to the disABILITIES! board, and they were talking about Guest Assistnace Cards. I honestly had no idea that disney did these sort of things for Park Patrons that have problems with lines, and I only assumed that the only treatment that was given to people was if they were in Wheelchairs.

Now, as you may or may not know I have Asperger Syndrome. Whilst this could mean I could get said card if I needed it, say at my trip to WDW 2 years ago, I probably wouldn't of gotten one for myself. Whilst I do find waiting in lines really annoying like some people with Autism/ASDs do, I try to be patient with it so having it would be more of a line cut, which is really immorally bad. I probably would of needed it when I was younger though, but I have no clue since I don't have any memories of me back then. But then again, who does?

My brother who I think has a worse case then I do probably could of gotten one if we decided to go to see Fantasmic for example, as he hates loud noises so I think have a GAC would of meant that the staff could of accomadated us in a different place; i.e. where the noises aren't that bad; but again we probably wouldn't have much use otherwise. In fact, I think he is slightly more patient than I am in lines.

I am interested to see if anyone has used one here on the UK boards, and what experiences you have had whilst using it. I have heard that are some people which try to fake an illness/syndrome just to queue cut, so I was interested to see if there was any negative experiences using it. Any experiences involved using these would be helpful anyway.

 

[mikki.young]

We have used these occasionally because my dh is registered blind. They do different things depending on the disability. In our case it let him sit near the front of shows and at one stage go round twice on a ride without lining up again (this was useful on dark rides because he is sensitive to light and it let his eyes adjust as best they could to the dark). We haven't used it very often. They give it to you for the whole number in the party but it does not mean that you bypass lines - they may let the disabled person wait in one area while the rest of the party line up. It seems to be whatever works best with the attraction. Some shows like Festival of the Lion King have a separate entrance to let you in.

 

[alisonbestford]

We got one for DH as he has a brain tumour and is unable to stand in line for any length of time or in direct sunlight.

The card stipulated that he should be able to sit in a shaded area but we were advised, by cast members, to use it in the same way as a 'fast pass'

As we went around Spring Bank / Easter time, and the lines were immense, this was invaluable to us and allowed us to just spend an hour or two in the parks but still experience the rides that we wanted
We've been to WDW in the past, not had a GAC, and had to leave the parks without riding anything as DH felt too ill to stay

 

[mushumadness]

we have used one for my niece, she has downs syndrome as well as a bone condition, she gets agitated in long lines (we do que in the shorter ones) so we use the card, it keeps her very calm and anables her to enjoy her trip

 

[Lizzy Lemon]

Plan on getting one for Ashley who can wait in line (his brother has more problems waiting patiently!) it is more for the food situation where he refuses to eat new things so may have to use it as restaurants when we want chicken nuggets and nothing else! He is sometimes bothered by noise so we will have to wait and see how it works. Will let you know this time next year.

 

[carolfoy]

I think that Disney does their utmost to accomodate ANY special needs, if getting a GAC card eases your trip then why not, I do think there are people who abuse these and, say, wheelchair use, but at the end of day its up to them. If their conscience lets them do it then just be thankful they're in the minority. Personally, if theres someone in line behind me that would benefit greatly for skipping the queue I'd let them do it.

 

[KayleeUK]

Matt

Going to move this over to Trip Planning, there may be more Disers there that have used the card

 

[gilld]

We used one for my Mum over Christmas/New Year 1997/1998. She has a Chronic Spinal condition called Spondylolithesis and can only walk about 100m and is unable to stand for longer than a couple of minutes.

Although she doesn't use a wheelchair here, we hired one to take with us otherwise she wouldn't have been able to come at all, and the GAC was a godsend. As it happened we were able to enter through most of the exits and by-pass the queues - that was a bonus that enabled us to get around far more than we would have otherwise been able to do, over such a busy time.

I think they may be abused sometimes, but if someone is entitled to use them, they are wonderful.

 

[lawlesslovewdw]

we use a gac when we go, my 3 year old son has asp. syndrome, we took a gp letter so that they wouldnt think we were faking it! The only negative thing is he doesnt look disabled, so that got a few comments by other holiday makers, (to which by the end of the holiday grated on my nerves) such as why has he got a card and tuts about us cutting lines and using reserved seating which the cm showed us.

The worst thing is peoples comments about your child - i am sorry if anyone was in the park with us when this happened. We had just finished toilet training ds and he had finally adjusted to this routine when he had a wee in the house at pooh corner my dh went off to find a cm to help clean and disinfect the area, and i was trying to prevent a meltdown in my son and deal with 1 year old ds. I calmed him down and dh came back with cm and left cm in charge. Meanwhile some man came up and had a right go at us about ds having an wee, which wasnt on purpose, and we were trying to deal with the situation! Had he been visibly disabled would this have happened.

On a good note the cm are extremely helpful esp the cm's at the lion king show (which caused another meltdown ). We also used a gac at universal from guest services.

If a card would be helpful get one, all we need to do now is change a few attitudes!

 

[daipp]

I have used one on my last two visits as I'm on crutches. However, if there is no long queue I don't use it. On other occasions when I use it, it is accepted like a Fastpass. Two rides I have always had to use it is Tower of Terror and Soarin (remember that there's a VERY long walk to Soarin).

David

 

[JohnnySharp2]

We always get a GAC with Joshua being Autistic - mainly because although he is perfectly mobile he does have a lack of patience if we need to queue for a while.

To be honest, we have found we rarely use it, mainly as we try and plan our days so that we beat the queue's, getting to the parks early etc plus we actually try and encourage Josh to be more patient and have found he has improved a lot in doing so.

The only time we have used it at Disney was on a couple of rides at Fantasyland at MK this August.

I must admit we have used one more at Universal, where the GAC becomes the equivelant of an express pass, for rides like ET where we skip the pre-show and get in through the back entrance.

There is an inconsistency with CMs attitude towards them I have found.

 

[rpbert1]

We had one in July, as DW had an operation on her foot in April ,just before our holiday[DW told surgeon where we where going ,and he said she would be fine] Dw was on crutches till August , and we where stayin on Property so got a wheelchair, as she struggled with the crutches , especially being on them for so long at the parks.
CM where excellent about it and we where took on at the exit, a few of the rides that dont stop , where you get on while they slow down, the CM actually stopped the ride so she could get on.At Test track me and DD where only ones riding and i took DW close to the exit where we would come out when we got of, a CM came over and opened the gate, we told him DW was just waiting outside as ME and DD where going to the ride, he took her in to wait inside and said we could get on there , we said with DW not riding we dont mind queing as it was not long , but he said even though she was not riding we could go on, i would have preferred waiting in the line as it was quite short , but it obviously must have something to do with leaving someone who is disabled on their own for to long.
My DW has a condition called SLE or Lupus for short as well as a few other problems , i had read of people getting GAC cards for this, but only for my DW having the operation, she would not have got one for her condition , as she likes to try and persever, and if she had got to tired she would just have gone back to the resort, this was why we stayed onsite.

 

[SueM in MN]

If you haven't been to the disABILITIES Board, you might want to check out the disABILITIES FAQs thread. There is a section in that thread about GACs.

 

[CHRIS_PRESTON]

Johnny,

Like you we plan our days carefully to avoid having to use our GAC for Joe (ASD) but we didn't realise you get something similar to the GAC at Universal - this would have been handy as we struggled a bit more there. How do you go about getting the GAC equivalent at Universal?

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Johnny,

Like you we plan our days carefully to avoid having to use our GAC for Joe (ASD) but we didn't realise you get something similar to the GAC at Universal - this would have been handy as we struggled a bit more there. How do you go about getting the GAC equivalent at Universal?

A similar way to the Disney one Chris.

At both Universal and IOA there are Guest Services for visitors with disABILITIES or special needs, we normally get ours from the Universal Studios park.
Just immediatley to the right as you enter in through the park turnstiles - double doors with the blue 'wheelchair' sign.

Just explain your situation with Joe and that you would like a Guest Assistance Card - I am sure you will have no problems. You do not need to give too much information, just the basics.

The only problem with the Universal one is that it only covers you for 1 day, so when (or if) you go again on the holiday you would need to re-visit Guest Services and get a new one.
It is just a small card (credit card size) basically an 'express pass', but is recognised by the cm's as a GAC.

 

[CHRIS_PRESTON]

Johnny,

Thanks for that Johnny, will come in useful in April.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Johnny,

Thanks for that Johnny, will come in useful in April.

No problem