No more 'cuts in line' for many disabled Knott's guests

[KPeveler]

I've only read a few posts on the first page but here's how I feel. I am willing to tolerate a few rule breaker's in order to allow those with real disabilities to go ahead of me. Why? Because I can: stand, run and otherwise enjoy my time in the park without physical problems.

thank you!

i dont want special treatment, but i DO want to be able to do everything that able bodied people can do.

 

[imabrat]

obviously you didnt read anything else i read. I AM DISABLED. i spent my days here defending the disabled. please read everything else i wrote, and then respond. obviously i do not get mad at disabled people, as i am one of them! please go back and read.

I'm sorry, I only meant the first sentence in my post. I'll edit it and seperate it. I'm sorry for the misunderstanding.

 

[breezy1077]

obviously you didnt read anything else i read. I AM DISABLED. i spent my days here defending the disabled. please read everything else i wrote, and then respond. obviously i do not get mad at disabled people, as i am one of them! please go back and read.

Why NEGATE people's experiences? Why PUNISH special needs people and NEGATE THEIR experience because able bodied people do not want to wait!

Well said.

I've only read a few posts on the first page but here's how I feel. I am willing to tolerate a few rule breaker's in order to allow those with real disabilities to go ahead of me. Why? Because I can: stand, run and otherwise enjoy my time in the park without physical problems.

I wish more folks were as empathetic as you are. On behalf of my son, I Thank you for your understanding.

 

[SereneOne]

obviously you didnt read anything else i read. I AM DISABLED. i spent my days here defending the disabled. please read everything else i wrote, and then respond. obviously i do not get mad at disabled people, as i am one of them! please go back and read.

:hugs: My post was not directed at you, but towards the OP.

 

[KPeveler]

I'm sorry, I only meant the first sentence in my post. I'll edit it and seperate it. I'm sorry for the misunderstanding.

OH, ok... thanks

yeah, i know MAW is more than terminal illnesses, but my hands are giving me problems right now, so i tried to abbreviate and i guess caused some misunderstandings!

 

[Ichabadi]

Why NEGATE people's experiences? Why PUNISH special needs people and NEGATE THEIR experience because able bodied people do not want to wait!

No one who has a legitimate need for an accommodation should be punished, however to imply that abuse doesn't take place or to suggest that every accommodation should be front of the line access is plain wrong.

I'm not going to apologize for being upset that I have to stand on a bus because the entire family reunion traveling with the scooter-driving grandparents has first dibs on boarding. Let the scooters load first, and hey, let a couple of people board with them but don't abuse it by making the 40 people already in line stand or wait for the next bus because three generations need to bypass the line to board. It just ain't right.

 

[SereneOne]

No one who has a legitimate need for an accommodation should be punished, however to imply that abuse doesn't take place or to suggest that every accommodation should be front of the line access is plain wrong.

I'm not going to apologize for being upset that I have to stand on a bus because the entire family reunion traveling with the scooter-driving grandparents has first dibs on boarding. Let the scooters load first, and hey, let a couple of people board with them but don't abuse it by making the 40 people already in line stand or wait for the next bus because three generations need to bypass the line to board. It just ain't right.

I never implied anything of the sort. I suggest you go back and read what I posted. And my daughter had a GAC ONE TIME when she was MAW in 2006. Because of seeing first hand how accommodating Disney is to special needs guests, we took her again in 2007 with NO GAC. We wait in line just like everyone else, but go during the value season when there are less crowds.

It just ain't right to punish all disabled people for the abuse of a few and that is what was stated by OP, wishing that Disney would inact the same disgusting rules as Knottberry, NOT implied!

IF that is the standard, I assume you are a man, right? Some men rape, so lets castrate ALL men, because it aint right that men rape.

 

[AC7179]

Geez louise.

I have NO problem letting the disabled cut in front of me in line. Even with 10 guests per person.

I mean seriously.....have a little compassion.

 

[Ichabadi]

It just ain't right to punish all disabled people for the abuse of a few and that is what was stated by OP, wishing that Disney would inact the same disgusting rules as Knottberry, NOT implied!

IF that is the standard, I assume you are a man, right? Some men rape, so lets castrate ALL men, because it aint right that men rape.

Calm down Nelly! Knotts' rules are hardly disgusting and they are accommodating everyone, just not in the way that each person may prefer. Equal treatment does not mean preferential treatment. Everyone gets to ride by waiting the same amount of time as everyone else. If you can't wait in the queue, you get to come back. Just like fastpass.

Oh, and last I checked....totally female here.

 

[KPeveler]

Calm down Nelly! Knotts' rules are hardly disgusting and they are accommodating everyone, just not in the way that each person may prefer. Equal treatment does not mean preferential treatment. Everyone gets to ride by waiting the same amount of time as everyone else. If you can't wait in the queue, you get to come back. Just like fastpass.

Oh, and last I checked....totally female here.

yes, well, if you cant come back, like fastpass, you have to wait by yourself... hardly seems like a good idea for a family park

six flags tried implementing these rules too. so far they have had terrible luck making it work

 

[SereneOne]

Calm down Nelly! Knotts' rules are hardly disgusting and they are accommodating everyone, just not in the way that each person may prefer. Equal treatment does not mean preferential treatment. Everyone gets to ride by waiting the same amount of time as everyone else. If you can't wait in the queue, you get to come back. Just like fastpass.

Oh, and last I checked....totally female here.

Sorry, I thought your name was Ichabod for some reason. Do not tell me to calm down, I am not upset and my name is not Nelly. I feel the rules are disgusting and so do others, not only that it is EQUAL treatment not preferential...you want equal, hand me over one of your kidneys, sew up your butthole and poop out of your ******, tether your spinal cord, fuse your ribs and cut a couple out, poke a hole in your heart and sew up your mouth and be fed out of a tube on your side. THEN you can say you are EQUAL.

 

[phorsenuf]

For every one person you see get on a bus with a boatload of people I am sure there are 100 that don't. There are times I'm sure you get right on a bus where as a disabled person doesn't. I once had to wait for 5 buses to go by before I could get on one. That was over an hour wait. I suppose it in the long run it all washes in wait times between those are handicapped and those that aren't.

 

[KPeveler]

serene one, while i am not as upset as you, i agree the rules are disgusting... if they made the lines accessible like disney, they wouldnt have these problems, would they?

 

[hentob]

Why NEGATE people's experiences? Why PUNISH special needs people and NEGATE THEIR experience because able bodied people do not want to wait!

I am talking about the experience of 17-22 able bodied people being allowed to use the pass and get in line. It does not happen often, but it is a shame that a person can't vent about it happening without being tossed a guilt trip.

Believe me, our family has its share of very ill children. VERY ill. But I still can step back and understand the frustration of others.

 

[Ichabadi]

Sorry, I thought your name was Ichabod for some reason. Do not tell me to calm down, I am not upset and my name is not Nelly. I feel the rules are disgusting and so do others, not only that it is EQUAL treatment not preferential...you want equal, hand me over one of your kidneys, sew up your butthole and poop out of your ******, tether your spinal cord, fuse your ribs and cut a couple out, poke a hole in your heart and sew up your mouth and be fed out of a tube on your side. THEN you can say you are EQUAL.

Well, clearly I've touched a nerve. I'm sorry that your daughter has so many issues and I sincerely hope that her surgeries help her. I disagree with your assessment of the rules and what does and does not constitute equal treatment for all. As I stated (a few times), I have no problem with someone needing assistance getting it. I do have problems with large parties taking advantage of that assistance and clearly so do theme parks who have had to alter their rules and procedures because of people who have abused the system.

 

[SereneOne]

Well, clearly I've touched a nerve. I'm sorry that your daughter has so many issues and I sincerely hope that her surgeries help her. I disagree with your assessment of the rules and what does and does not constitute equal treatment for all. As I stated (a few times), I have no problem with someone needing assistance getting it. I do have problems with large parties taking advantage of that assistance and clearly so do theme parks who have had to alter their rules and procedures because of people who have abused the system.

Stop telling me what I am feeling, it is not a nerve it is exasperation that healthy bodied people can be so thoughtless and selfish. I have been to Disney MANY TIMES and I have never encountered this phenomena of dozens of people tagging along. I am sure it happens in extreme cases, anything is possible and it angers me when people take advantage like that, however, you do not punish a whole class of people for what a select few do. I read the article and it stated an issue with people renting wheelchairs and taking advantage NOT TRULY DISABLED people.

Clearly selfish thoughtless able bodied people complained and maybe they should be hit by a bus and made quads and then think about what a privilege it is for people to get an alternate line. Disney also has made many rides to where one can wait in line with a wheelchair and several of the alternate wait lines where just as long if not longer than the original, we waited in them, we know.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

I believe that Disney does have a policy on how many may accompany physically challenged guests, however I have never seen it enforced. I will agree that it is frustrating when it happens. When it happens again just try to be grateful that nobody in your party has a disability.

I would like to speak as a former attractions CM in Fantasyland. I could go weeks without ever having one party with more than the allotted number try to enter through the alternate entrance. When they did, I almost always made the extra members go through the regular line. The only exception I made was if the party would all fit into the same number of cars if I kept them all together.

I will stand by my statemnet that we have been "cut" by people using the handicap line. I have no problem with the people who really need it but MANY do not need it and they do not need to take 15-20 people with them. If you don't like my opinion tough I didn't ask you to. I think Knotts has a good accomadating plan and hopefully other parks will follow suit. FWIW I can not walk long distances and standing in line is painful for me but I take lots of breaks and deal with the excrutiating pain and yes it is excrutiating.

The lines are not designed to cut, that is a consequence of not having fully accessible lines. Whenever we build or refurbish a line we have to make it fully accessible. There are fewer and fewer rides with alternate entrances. Even with the alternate entrance, we are supposed to make them wait approximately the same amount of time. Does that normally happen? No. But I do not let them board right away either. I do take the other guests into account and follow my training. Are there CMs who do not enforce it? Absolutely. Does that mean that there is rampant abuse? No.

My boyfriend is a supervisor at World of Fun which is owned by the same company as Knott's. I have known about this policy for awhile, and he and I have had many conversations about it. I do worry about how it will negatively impact guests with disabilities, nobody should be forced to wait away from their party. He has had lots of problems with this policy because many people are not understanding and take it out on him. It's a bad situation all the way around. What they need to do is make their lines accessible and it will solve the majority of problems.

 

[Ichabadi]

Stop telling me what I am feeling, it is not a nerve it is exasperation that healthy bodied people can be so thoughtless and selfish. I have been to Disney MANY TIMES and I have never encountered this phenomena of dozens of people tagging along. I am sure it happens in extreme cases, anything is possible and it angers me when people take advantage like that, however, you do not punish a whole class of people for what a select few do. I read the article and it stated an issue with people renting wheelchairs and taking advantage NOT TRULY DISABLED people.

Clearly selfish thoughtless able bodied people complained and maybe they should be hit by a bus and made quads and then think about what a privilege it is for people to get an alternate line. Disney also has made many rides to where one can wait in line with a wheelchair and several of the alternate wait lines where just as long if not longer than the original, we waited in them, we know.

Yes, that would definitely be the solution to this problem.

 

[SereneOne]

The simple solution is that CM's enforce the rule that five people only are allowed.

"I am sorry, you are only allowed five other guests with you, the rest will have to wait in the regular line" End of discussion.

And again, Disney has made several rides wheelchair accessible.

I am done. Until you have walked in someone else's shoes...

Now the tour groups that knock you over and cut in line...that I could see, but not disabled people who would not be able to participate otherwise.

 

[Chuck S]

I'm sorry, but separating a party to have a wheelchair bound person waiting alone is not equal treatment and access, unless they separate ALL parties. There really is very little of the original Knott's left, most of the old historic stuff was torn out when Cedar Fair/Cedar Point took over park operations from the Knott family years ago. And any NEW attraction should already be able to handle wheelchairs in the queue lines. If not, then they were extremely poorly and cheaply designed.

Knott's used to be one of our families favorite parks, I have fond memories of my Grandma and I spending days there, even before they started charging park admission. But I have only been there twice since Cedar Fair took over and destroyed the historical features and classic attractions in favor of mostly Roller Coasters. And I have no plans to return in the future, except for an occasional chicken dinner, until they close that restaurant, like they destroyed the Walter Knott Steak House.