How the Rich skip the lines at Disney - rent a disabled tour guide.

[SueM in MN]

Interesting...I wouldn't have though that the turnstiles would have presented that much of a problem to bypass and still use the main entrance.

And by "same day", I meant the same day we were bypassed at HM.

Thanks for clarifying. I thought you meant the same day as my picture.

At that point, they were not letting guests bring wheelchairs or ECVs into the stretching room. We have been coming to WDW with a DD using a wheelchair since she was 3 yrs old.
It was only after the last renovation that we were allowed to come into the stretching room with her wheelchair. Since she can't walk, that meant no stretching room for us.
We did wait in the line until the hearse (sometimes for a few minutes, sometimes 10) before, then were pulled to the exit and usually waited about 15 minutes there. So, yes we disappeared, but no, we were not boarded right away.

 

[Spacedog1975]

Thanks for clarifying. I thought you meant the same day as my picture.

At that point, they were not letting guests bring wheelchairs or ECVs into the stretching room. We have been coming to WDW with a DD using a wheelchair since she was 3 yrs old.
It was only after the last renovation that we were allowed to come into the stretching room with her wheelchair. Since she can't walk, that meant no stretching room for us.
We did wait in the line until the hearse (sometimes for a few minutes, sometimes 10) before, then were pulled to the exit and usually waited about 15 minutes there. So, yes we disappeared, but no, we were not boarded right away.

As I have never needed special access, nor anyone in my party, I'm not conscious of what is and is not available. I'm thrilled that they expanded the access. Everyone should get to enjoy all the little touches, and the expanding room is definitely one of the more charming "little touches"

 

[SueM in MN]

When was the last renovation? The time I referred to was December 2010. I know they renovated the outside queue since to add the nextgen stuff, but I don't recall the outside queue being an issue either.

As for Small World, that same day, the accessible queue was very short and we definitely got on faster than the regular queue. Obviously it varies by crowd though.

Clarification - we waited in the regular line until it reached the point of the hearse.
At the hearse, we waited 5 or more minutes for a CM to open the gate, then waited again to board.

 

[doconeill]

Clarification - we waited in the regular line until it reached the point of the hearse.
At the hearse, we waited 5 or more minutes for a CM to open the gate, then waited again to board.

Ok...when we went, the line wasn't quite that long, so we were diverted almost immediately. We just had to wait because a KTTK tour was coming out. But we did miss the foyer and stretching room

 

[DCTooTall]

Thanks for clarifying. I thought you meant the same day as my picture.

At that point, they were not letting guests bring wheelchairs or ECVs into the stretching room. We have been coming to WDW with a DD using a wheelchair since she was 3 yrs old.
It was only after the last renovation that we were allowed to come into the stretching room with her wheelchair. Since she can't walk, that meant no stretching room for us.
We did wait in the line until the hearse (sometimes for a few minutes, sometimes 10) before, then were pulled to the exit and usually waited about 15 minutes there. So, yes we disappeared, but no, we were not boarded right away.

I'm wondering if it wasn't so much DIRECTLY tied to the turnstiles.... but because of the accessability of the back-stage route between the Stretching room exit and the ride Exit hallway.

I remember when they were doing the work which expanded the outdoor queue, There was also some work inside which modified the hallway between the load-unload.... including removing the physical door that used to be there. I'm wondering if the door removal and any other work done would've improved the ability for mobility devices to take that route. (Both more space for them to go thru comfortably.... and maybe some additional "dressing up" so the area could meet "onstage" standards)

 

[puppypwr68]

I have used the GAC for my son who has ADHD, Sensory Integration Disorder and tics. He takes multiple medications to help control different aspects of his disorders. If it was not for the GAC my son would not be able to tolerate being in Disney. He loves going to Disney! I am so thankful that Disney is able to accommodate his needs. I know people make comments because to look at him he looks like your typical kid however they don't know the anxiety that he suffers from and how he longs to be like everyone else. Please keep in mind not all disabilities are physical.

 

[SueM in MN]

I'm wondering if it wasn't so much DIRECTLY tied to the turnstiles.... but because of the accessability of the back-stage route between the Stretching room exit and the ride Exit hallway.

I remember when they were doing the work which expanded the outdoor queue, There was also some work inside which modified the hallway between the load-unload.... including removing the physical door that used to be there. I'm wondering if the door removal and any other work done would've improved the ability for mobility devices to take that route. (Both more space for them to go thru comfortably.... and maybe some additional "dressing up" so the area could meet "onstage" standards)

The turnstile was just one part and is the first part anyone entering the front door of the mansion would come to.
Before the renovation, there was a hallway from the exit/unload area to one of the stretching rooms. Guests who could walk and stand long enough to experience the stretching room were able to leave their ECV /wheelchair parked at the unload courtyard and enter the stretching room thru a doorway in the exit hall. Once the entered that door, they were led into the stretching room (or maybe the room before the stretching room) and then followed the same path thru the stretching room and boarding area as other guests.
I have talked to people who used that access, but we never did, so I don't know if it was wheelchair accessible. All I know is everyone I talked to who used that door boarded at the regular boarding area.
As we waited to board at the exit, I saw many people go in that door, but never saw anyone come back out to the exit hallway to board at the exit.
We did ask a few times if we could go in there so DD could see the stretching room and we were told that was not possible.

I heard from a CM that renovation involved modifications to the hallway and at least one doorway as you described to make everything (not just one stretching room) accessible.

 

[SueM in MN]

I have used the GAC for my son who has ADHD, Sensory Integration Disorder and tics. He takes multiple medications to help control different aspects of his disorders. If it was not for the GAC my son would not be able to tolerate being in Disney. He loves going to Disney! I am so thankful that Disney is able to accommodate his needs. I know people make comments because to look at him he looks like your typical kid however they don't know the anxiety that he suffers from and how he longs to be like everyone else. Please keep in mind not all disabilities are physical.

Yes, sometimes it is as much for the other guests' comfort as for the person with a disability.

I went on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad once with my nephew who has ADHD. I was very glad we were using Fastpasses because what he was talking about in line was making the other guests uncomfortable.
He was kind of obsessing (loudly) about how fast the train went, whether it could come off the track, whether people might be thrown out of the train and how far the train would travel (and what it would hit) if it left the track.
Not the sort of things most people want to think about when waiting in line for the attraction.
We ended up with a pretty large 'cushion ' of space between us and the guests closest to us as they tried to stay away from us.

 

[Akwafunk]

A friend's mom goes to her doctor to get a note about "back problems" prior to Disney trips so she can get the family group through the disabled line...

*sigh*

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

Well if the articles are all right or all wrong or part way in between, Seems Disney is officially taking it very seriously!



Disney World Scheme: Entitled Families Hire Disabled Guide to Bypass Lines, Says Report

..By Beth Greenfield, Shine Staff | Parenting – Wed, May 15, 2013 11:23 AM EDT....


Disney World. Photo: Getty Images. Now this is rich: Disney World is investigating news that a handful of upper-crust Manhattan moms have a pricey, secret way to get their kids to the front of the lines—and it’s not by bribing Mickey Mouse.

More on Shine: Disney Princess Makeover Sparks Outrage: Merida Petition Goes Viral

Instead, according to the New York Post, the moms pay $130 an hour to hire a disabled, “black-market” guide, who uses her position—sitting in a motorized scooter—to help entitled families gain special access to rides.

“On one hand, you can say she’s a great entrepreneur,” disability activist Kleo King, of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association, told Yahoo! Shine. “On the other hand, she’s kind of pimping herself out. And it’s outrageous she would help people commit fraud.”

Though the New York Post has no on-the-record sources in its shocking report, Disney is taking the matter seriously, according to spokesperson Bryan Malenius, who told Yahoo! Shine, “We are thoroughly reviewing the situation and will take appropriate steps to deter this type of activity." He added, "It is unacceptable to abuse accommodations that were designed for guests with disabilities."
More on Yahoo!: 6 Rejected Disney Theme Park Rides

The scheme of hiring out the disabled guide was uncovered by social anthropologist Wednesday Martin, a former New York Post contributor who was conducting research for a forthcoming book, “Primates of Park Avenue,” due out in 2014.

“It’s insider knowledge that very few have and share carefully,” Martin told the Post. “So when you’re doing it, you’re affirming that you are one of the privileged insiders who has and shares this information.” You’re also getting a good deal, as VIP tours offered by Disney, which include speed passes, start at $315 an hour.


“My daughter waited one minute to get on ‘It’s a Small World’ — the other kids had to wait 2 1/2 hours,” one unnamed mom bragged to the Post. “You can’t go to Disney without a tour concierge...This is how the 1 percent does Disney.”
A tour company singled out in the story as the family's guide denied using a disability to bypass lines. Both the tour company and Disney have not yet responded to Yahoo! Shine requests for comment.

But according to the park's official policy, guests using a wheelchair or motorized scooter, plus up to five members of their party, can use auxiliary entrances “intended to offer guests in wheelchairs or with trained service animals a more convenient entrance to the attraction” and are “not intended to bypass waiting lines.”

Still, the Post also reported that urban mothers have asked Divamoms website operator Lyss Stern how they might make their children appear handicapped in order to gain special disabled access. “I never understood how parents could have a clear conscience doing this,” Stern told the Post. And one parent, Matt Montesi of Atlanta, added that, after his 11-year-old with ADHD was granted a three-day Disney handicapped pass with a doctor's note, he was tempted to sell it on Craigslist. "People will pay bucks to circumvent the lines," he noted.

Yahoo forums on the topic turn up people who claim to have seen folks fake handicaps for special access. Wrote one commenter, who identified himself as a Disney employee, "There are ways that do allow you to bypass the line but I am not going to tell people because there are people who already abuse it and that pisses me and my fellow cast member off. Those people should be ashamed of themselves for doing it to. They disgust me every time I see them come through."

Using a false disability claim to skip lines is not a new trick, unfortunately. A recent Wall Street Journal story documented the trend of travelers requesting the use of complimentary wheelchairs in airports as a technique of getting pushed to the front of security lines, only to leap up and sprint to their gates once they have clearance. “We call them ‘miracles.’ They just start running with their heavy carry-ons," longtime wheelchair attendant Kenny Sanchez noted.

It’s also not unheard of at other amusement parks, apparently. King told Shine that, just the other day, she heard about someone who borrowed his grandmother’s wheelchair for his day at New Jersey’s Six Flags Great Adventure in order to avoid waiting in queues.

“It’s outrageous. This practice is hurting people with disabilities who legitimately can’t stand in line, as the more people who do it, the more resentful people get,” King explained. “Disney World and other places can’t really ask people about their disabilities in order to curtail fraud, so they have to take people at face value. But anytime fraud happens, it hurts people who really need services.”



I just hope if this does prove to be true, I hope they figure out how to stop it fast

To take advantage of the GAC or to plainly break and misuse these rules is really a display of poor manners and a total lack of class and character.

Shame on them!

 

[Nigel Channing]

You stop it by allowing only one person to go with the disabled guest. If there are more people in the party that want to ride with them then the disabled guest waits until the rest of the party goes through the regular line.

 

[MonorailLime]

Recent talk of a massive Guest With Disabilities policies overhaul. Rumor is Disney plans to employ a USF style system.
Grab a cold drink and some popcorn, and find a comfy seat inside Guest Relations. The entertainment is coming.

 

[KPeveler]

You stop it by allowing only one person to go with the disabled guest. If there are more people in the party that want to ride with them then the disabled guest waits until the rest of the party goes through the regular line.

Don't you think Disney had already tried that?

Do you have a person with a disability in your family? Do you want to be separated from them every time you want to access an attraction. If there are kids, it means you and your spouse NEVER get to be together, if you make the limit two. What kind of family vacation is that?

Tell you what, I will do this if you do this too. And every able-bodied family. Every able bodied family will decide which one or two of its members do not get to spend time with the family but must wait alone in a separate place, to hopefully be reunited with your party when it comes time to ride. Oh, you don't want to be separated? Because you don't "have" to? How do you think I feel?

What if it is a party of two. Since, by law, I as a disabled person must be allowed one companion, who is waiting in line for me? You cannot, by law, make me wait alone, so now what?

So, when my wife and I have a child, how does that work? I wait alone? What happens when I tell you I cannot wait alone - I need someone with me for health and safety reasons. So now my wife and minor child have to wait with me. Now I tell you that my wife and I have 3 minor children. I still cannot wait alone. Now 5 of us are sitting there. What about when there are 3 of us with disabilities in a group? Do each of us get a person? My wife and I plan to adopt children with disabilities. So do you want all of us to wait wherever this mythical place is we are waiting, with our likely 2-3 kids with disabilities? What if there is no able bodied member of the group?

Oh, and to make it an equal experience, you get to wait with me. With your one person.

And these are just the problems I came up with at 330 in the morning with no legal training.

If you had bothered to read ANY article refuting the garbage in the original post, then you would know that most lines in Disney are mainstreamed, meaning that people with disabilities wait with everyone else, just like you. Only at older rides, where it is not ADA compliant, do we sometimes access the ride differently.

See, you may see us getting on the ride through the exit, and see me already in my car on Buzz Lightyear as I move past the regular loading area.
What you obviously do not know is that I have already waited in the standby line for Buzz Lightyear, just like you, and then, when we get to the boarding area, I go through another door to wait in ANOTHER line. You see, only so many people with disabilities are allowed on the ride at a time for safety reasons (for most rides the number allowed is 2, maybe 3). So after I have waited "like everyone else" without having to separate my family, as you suggested, I get to wait AGAIN. So when you see a person already in a ride car at a ride like Buzz Lightyear, please know that I have already waited in line. Twice. Sometimes, I get to wait 3 times.

Oh yeah, and when I am traveling with someone else in a wheelchair, we usually cannot ride as a group or even as a family because of that limit. So someday, when my wife and I adopt a child in a wheelchair, I will have to put them on the ride with my wife and never ride with them. I will never get to see my child's face light up on a ride for many rides, because I am disabled too.

If you go to Disneyland ever, I invite you to tour the parks with me. It is obvious that you have not traveled with someone with a permanent disability, so perhaps this would be an enlightening experience for you.

 

[spidet1964]

You stop it by allowing only one person to go with the disabled guest. If there are more people in the party that want to ride with them then the disabled guest waits until the rest of the party goes through the regular line.[/QUOTEI

I absolutely couldn't agree more.

 

[KPeveler]

You stop it by allowing only one person to go with the disabled guest. If there are more people in the party that want to ride with them then the disabled guest waits until the rest of the party goes through the regular line.[/QUOTEI

I absolutely couldn't agree more.

Read my post directly above to see why this does not work. And is illegal in many cases.

 

[bocaj1431]

Don't you think Disney had already tried that?

Do you have a person with a disability in your family? Do you want to be separated from them every time you want to access an attraction. If there are kids, it means you and your spouse NEVER get to be together, if you make the limit two. What kind of family vacation is that?

Tell you what, I will do this if you do this too. And every able-bodied family. Every able bodied family will decide which one or two of its members do not get to spend time with the family but must wait alone in a separate place, to hopefully be reunited with your party when it comes time to ride. Oh, you don't want to be separated? Because you don't "have" to? How do you think I feel?

What if it is a party of two. Since, by law, I as a disabled person must be allowed one companion, who is waiting in line for me? You cannot, by law, make me wait alone, so now what?

So, when my wife and I have a child, how does that work? I wait alone? What happens when I tell you I cannot wait alone - I need someone with me for health and safety reasons. So now my wife and minor child have to wait with me. Now I tell you that my wife and I have 3 minor children. I still cannot wait alone. Now 5 of us are sitting there. What about when there are 3 of us with disabilities in a group? Do each of us get a person? My wife and I plan to adopt children with disabilities. So do you want all of us to wait wherever this mythical place is we are waiting, with our likely 2-3 kids with disabilities? What if there is no able bodied member of the group?

Oh, and to make it an equal experience, you get to wait with me. With your one person.

And these are just the problems I came up with at 330 in the morning with no legal training.

If you had bothered to read ANY article refuting the garbage in the original post, then you would know that most lines in Disney are mainstreamed, meaning that people with disabilities wait with everyone else, just like you. Only at older rides, where it is not ADA compliant, do we sometimes access the ride differently.

See, you may see us getting on the ride through the exit, and see me already in my car on Buzz Lightyear as I move past the regular loading area.
What you obviously do not know is that I have already waited in the standby line for Buzz Lightyear, just like you, and then, when we get to the boarding area, I go through another door to wait in ANOTHER line. You see, only so many people with disabilities are allowed on the ride at a time for safety reasons (for most rides the number allowed is 2, maybe 3). So after I have waited "like everyone else" without having to separate my family, as you suggested, I get to wait AGAIN. So when you see a person already in a ride car at a ride like Buzz Lightyear, please know that I have already waited in line. Twice. Sometimes, I get to wait 3 times.

Oh yeah, and when I am traveling with someone else in a wheelchair, we usually cannot ride as a group or even as a family because of that limit. So someday, when my wife and I adopt a child in a wheelchair, I will have to put them on the ride with my wife and never ride with them. I will never get to see my child's face light up on a ride for many rides, because I am disabled too.

If you go to Disneyland ever, I invite you to tour the parks with me. It is obvious that you have not traveled with someone with a permanent disability, so perhaps this would be an enlightening experience for you.

 

[bocaj1431]

You stop it by allowing only one person to go with the disabled guest. If there are more people in the party that want to ride with them then the disabled guest waits until the rest of the party goes through the regular line.[/QUOTEI

I absolutely couldn't agree more.

It amazes me how narrow minded and ignorant people can be when giving an opinion on a subject they themselves have no personal experience with or legal knowledge about.

You obviously are entitled to your opinions just as I am entitled to have a reaction to those comments.

I just wish that people like you would have to spend one day as a special needs individual or a family member of a special needs individual. Their world has so many more extreme daily challenges than a typical person experiences. I guarantee, if you experienced being in their shoes, you wouldn't respond in the way that you did.

 

[KPeveler]

It amazes me how narrow minded and ignorant people can be when giving an opinion on a subject they themselves have no personal experience with or legal knowledge about.

You obviously are entitled to your opinions just as I am entitled to have a reaction to those comments.

I just wish that people like you would have to spend one day as a special needs individual or a family member of a special needs individual. Their world has so many more extreme daily challenges than a typical person experiences. I guarantee, if you experienced being in their shoes, you wouldn't respond in the way that you did.

Agree. BTW, I never accept the "well, my uncle is in a wheelchair" unless you have toured Disney with that uncle, or live/work with him day to day. Simply knowing a person in a wheelchair is similar to me saying I know a person from India (which I do) and therefore I know all about Indian culture and the life Indian immigrants face in America (which obviously I do not).

Do people reading this thread know that there is a such thing as Disability Culture. Yes, we have our own culture, our own words and slang, clubs, sports leagues, even our own Olympics - both community Special Olympics and the Paralympics (if you do not know the difference between them, please educate yourself before commenting on how people with disabilities should be "handled" in Disney.)

What many of the people on this thread/board do not realize is that while you may encounter more people with disabilities in Disney than your average life (this is due to the accessibility and inclusive nature of Disney), we are still disabled when we get home. What you here refer to as "Disney policy" is, in fact, "Federal Law." The ADA and its Addendum Act passed in 1990 and 2010 (respectively) are about the country actually including us in daily life. And that even includes Disney.

Do you have any idea how long we have been discriminated against, both actively and passively, just in this country? Did you know that people with disabilities of all type were forcibly sterilized (which for males often involved full castration, not a vasectomy) while institutionalized? Did you know that happened until the 1980s in some states? And that it was not illegal?

Do you know what it is like to have strangers tell me that it is wrong/irresponsible/an offense against God/etc to have children, because I use a wheelchair?

Do you have strangers ask you every day "what is wrong with you?" (btw, there is nothing "wrong" with me, thank you)

Did you know there is a word for many people in this thread (I have not read every post, but I have read enough)? It is called "ableist." It is when a person is prejudiced against or discriminates against (those are two different things) those with disabilities. Just as racism was acceptable for so long, ableism is still acceptable in many ways.

No, we do not get "preferred treatment" at Disney, though to the uninformed, it may seem so. What we get is "equal access." Even if it seems like we "skipped the line" remember, we almost always waited in that line, then got to wait in separate one. And perhaps learn a little something about Disability Culture. Or at least the legal situation before commenting in ignorance.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

To add on to what Katy has described. I have multiple disabilities. Some of them clearly affect my life and abilities. However I am able to handle them with some medications and equipment.

I am willing to go out on a limb and state that over 50% of the people living in the United States have at least one disability which is correctable. If you don't believe me, throw away your glasses or contact lenses. Yes, imperfect vision is a disability.

 

[doconeill]

To add on to what Katy has described. I have multiple disabilities. Some of them clearly affect my life and abilities. However I am able to handle them with some medications and equipment.

I am willing to go out on a limb and state that over 50% of the people living in the United States have at least one disability which is correctable. If you don't believe me, throw away your glasses or contact lenses. Yes, imperfect vision is a disability.

Tell me about it...