Should have done Disney before Universal

[MakiraMarlena]

?

Every major theme park does not have a program that allows immediate front of the line or express access to disabled visitors who are unable to wait in the regular queues, at all times. Many of them have systems like the one Disney has now with a few differences.

Disney was the only one that did that until recently.

I get that it was tough to lose it.

 

[sonofanarchy]

People did, and Disney changed the system to allow equal access without allowing thousands a day to get front of the line access. A big improvement.

Honestly, you did 7 rides in MK in July in five hours. Doesn't sound too bad at all. The fact that the bands won't work consistently is a problem for sure.

I don't have a problem with it. It's not as good as the GAC was, but I get it. It morphed into something it wasn't supposed to be so they changed it. At least they do something.

 

[okeydokey]

Given that every major theme park has a program for it, you're in the minority. Some people can only spend so much time in the parks. To make it worth it to them, the parks accommodate them to be able to see as much as they can.

When I had toddlers in the park, I was only able to stay for so long. Disney didn't let me cut everyone in line because of it, nor would I ever expect them too.

Now, park experience is more equalized for all, which I believe is the right thing to do.

 

[sonofanarchy]

?

Every major theme park does not have a program that allows immediate front of the line or express access to disabled visitors who are unable to wait in the regular queues. Many of them have systems like the one Disney has now with a few differences.

Disney was the only one that did that until recently.

I get that it was tough to lose it.

That's what I meant. They all have some program for guests.

 

[sonofanarchy]

When I had toddlers in the park, I was only able to stay for so long. Disney didn't let me cut everyone in line because of it, nor would I ever expect them too.

Now, park experience is more equalized for all, which I believe is the right thing to do.

Having children is a blessing and a choice. Having a disability or an ailment is not. Awful analogy.

 

[okeydokey]

Having children is a blessing and a choice. Having a disability or an ailment is not. Awful analogy.

There are lots of reasons people can't spend the same amount of time in the parks as others. The intent of the DAS is to provide equal access to the park to everyone and that is what it does.

I know you were used to being able to get in the front of every line with the old system and you are sad to see that go. But now you experience the parks like everyone else does and that is fair.

I suggest you put the phone away and try to enjoy your vacation.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

I think I'm lost on the argument now...are we saying that parks should have express access for disabled guests at all times? I know Disney used to but doesn't anymore and now its policies are stricter than Universal's. Are we arguing that Disney's program should be more like Universal's or that it should be what it used to be?

 

[sethschroeder]

Um, no. It's called common sense and courtesy. If I'm in line at the grocery store with 50 items and someone comes up behind me with just a bottle of milk, I let them go in front of me. This was no different.

Sorry for the issues you have had this trip so far. As for this comment though would you STOP your checkout midway through the process? Say only 20 items had been scanned? I mean the other person only had a bottle of milk right?

The people in front of you were already "checking out" by discussing a possible pin trade it sounded like from your post.... I likely would have been a little upset but if it took more than a min or two I would have asked to be checked out quickly or more likely just left the items on the counter and left.

PS- The people in front of you likely didn't even notice you were standing there and came away from that same time with a great experience. They were fully engaged with a CM and likely having a great time and that only added to their day.

 

[bumbershoot]

Now, I'm the opposite, I have had nothing,but, problems with my Universal AP two trips down with one to go and the fingerprint scanner never works, I have to get my ID out and everytime they say 'Are you sure this was the finger you used?' Yes, I am not stupid! They refuse to sort it out as well. And what is with the lockers? To be made to put a small across body bag in them to go on Men In Black? Then, either the finger scanners do not work, you forget the number because you have to do it so many times or the person in front has no idea what they are doing. I didn't take a bag of any kind in when I went in May, a small camera that fitted in my hand out of sight and it was much better. Also, the cheapjacks that lure you into the magic show then proceed to do a hard sell and there is no leaving early. Plus, final gripe, they have the characters out and there is no one there to take a photo of you with them more often than not. Besides, the food is awful there.

If something falls off onto the tracks, the whole ride has to go down. They have to draw a hard line somewhere, and NO BAGS is it. It gets pretty spinny on MIB!

Use a knuckle for the touchscreen for the lockers. Can't help you with trying to remember what number your locker was. Don't ever let a child do the fingerscan for the lockers; fingers are too small and it just doesn't work to open it again! But if you have problems, find a locker TM immediately and they will help you.

Magic show?

Ooh we love the food we eat there! Veggie burger at Richter's, cheese ravioli at Lombard's, DH and DS liked the cheese pizza at the "NY" counter service place. All the veggie options at Three Broomsticks. Many people rave over Mythos.

The GAC was never intended to provide front of the line access despite that often being the ultimate result. The DAS doesn't provide this same preferred access, it provides more or less equal access to all attractions for all guests. As.a disabled guest, I can't think of a single reason I should be be given preferential access to any attraction.

Exactly.

Honestly all Disney had to do was to shore up the problems in how GAC was being implemented by individual CMs. Some CMs were causing it to be FOTL, and so people expected it. Those who never got those CMs, who experienced the GAC how it was supposed to be, had a very different experience than the others!

And I think Disney might have listened to people who didn't know what they were talking about a bit too much. I once waited with a friend in an ECV, and at one point it LOOKED like we were going ahead of everyone (this is on Buzz at DL), but then we got to wait longer than if we could have stayed in the regular line. Anyone watching us go through the door but NOT watching to see when we got on would have thought we got something special.

Okay, so guests who benefited from the the GAC acting like a front of the line pass are still unhappy...

Exactly.

I still wish they had just fixed the implementation problems on the individual CM level, rather than razing the whole program...

 

[bumbershoot]

They were fully engaged with a CM and likely having a great time and that only added to their day.

It's the CM that should have noticed, though. There's got to be some way for them to differentiate because actual business and pin-trading business.

 

[lbmiller77]

Having children is a blessing and a choice. Having a disability or an ailment is not. Awful analogy.

Cringe.....

After reading through this whole thread, I can't help but shake my head. It wasn't all that long ago that addressing the disabled mobility and other issues was not even thought about by engineers and the hospitality industry. I'm talking honest to goodness issues, like not being able to access a bathroom stall or wash your hands because the counter is too high. And we still have a long ways to go!

When looking at the big picture of where we need to advance in this country to better accommodate our disabled population, to hear someone complain about not getting access to the front of the line at a Disney ride because of their disability (or in your case, a family members) is just wrong. Disney has made great strides, above average for their industry, to accommodate their disabled guests. Disney's goal is to eliminate disproportionate impacts for their disabled guests. How is allowing them to get onto every ride in MK in half amount of time of the average guest achieving this goal?

I can say I do agree with you on one thing though...waiting more than a few minutes for pin trading would drive me bonkers.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

Cringe.....

After reading through this whole thread, I can't help but shake my head. It wasn't all that long ago that addressing the disabled mobility and other issues was not even thought about by engineers and the hospitality industry. I'm talking honest to goodness issues, like not being able to access a bathroom stall or wash your hands because the counter is too high. And we still have a long ways to go!

When looking at the big picture of where we need to advance in this country to better accommodate our disabled population, to hear someone complain about not getting access to the front of the line at a Disney ride because of their disability (or in your case, a family members) is just wrong. Disney has made great strides, above average for their industry, to accommodate their disabled guests. Disney's goal is to eliminate disproportionate impacts for their disabled guests. How is allowing them to get onto every ride in MK in half amount of time of the average guest achieving this goal?

Disabled guests don't get FOTL access. I'm not sure what you're implying.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

Disabled guests don't get FOTL (with the exception of Make A Wish kids) but many of them did get immediate access to the Fastpass lines under the GAC system, and thus a much shorter wait. Especially for the most popular attractions.

I think this was first noticed at Disneyland when it was discovered that more than half the people in the Fastpass line for Radiator Springs Racers were there with a GAC.

Then it broke that regular guests were hiring disabled tour guides to get their party into the fastpass lines. And everything changed.

And then came Fastpass Plus...which has WDW able to actually calculate access to FP lines at any given time. Throw a bunch of GAC users in and that makes it harder to calculate how much access to FP they need for times and attractions.

 

[surferdave]

Anarchy, I don't think the grocery shopping analogy is the right one, because being in line behind a bunch of people trying to pin trade with the sales clerk is more like being stuck behind someone who is still shopping. It's more like what makes convenient stores truly inconvenient, because they keep so many vice products like tobacco behind the counter; imagine waiting to pay for your bottled water behind somebody whose favorite brand of chewing tobacco is out and he's asking the clerk to run through all the other choices for him. I hated the day my state voted in the lottery because the people who blow their money on that tend to occupy the sales clerk for a while trying to pick their tickets, scratch them at the counter and basically act like they're sitting at a craps table in Atlantic City.

I've always thought that CMs who are supposed to be running registers or doing other jobs with high guest throughput shouldn't be wearing the pins for trading.

 

[aaarcher86]

Disabled guests don't get FOTL access. I'm not sure what you're implying.

Do we really have to have the conversation that FOTL is a misnomer, again?

Nobody thinks guessed were escorted to the front of the line and placed on the next available cart. However, someone getting a 15 minute wait when everyone else has an hour is essentially going to the front PART of the line. If someone was moved to be 5th in line when there are 30 people I'm going to call it the front of the line.

People tend to look at things as a front section, middle section, and end section... I have no idea why in terms of lines and the GAC people get so darned literal. While I'm sure it's frustrating to hear FOTL and really pick out that word 'front,' it's equally as frustrating when people don't apply common sense to conversation.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

Do we really have to have the conversation that FOTL is a misnomer, again?

Nobody thinks guessed were escorted to the front of the line and placed on the next available cart. However, someone getting a 15 minute wait when everyone else has an hour is essentially going to the front PART of the line. If someone was moved to be 5th in line when there are 30 people I'm going to call it the front of the line.

People tend to look at things as a front section, middle section, and end section... I have no idea why in terms of lines and the GAC people get so darned literal.

Yeah, that doesn't happen anymore. So I don't know what the point is in discussing it.

 

[aaarcher86]

Yeah, that doesn't happen anymore. So I don't know what the point is in discussing it.

You don't have to know why people are talking about it, but they are. It was in reference to the OPs displeasure for the DAS.

 

[sonofanarchy]

You don't have to know why people are talking about it, but they are. It was in reference to the OPs displeasure for the DAS.

I'm really not displeased with the DAS. Sorry if it came across that way. We haven't used it much, but the couple times we did, it was just fine. Back at the hotel now so the kids can relax, but we only used it once and that was for Maelstrom. We had FP for Test Track, Land and Spaceship Earth. Other rides we just did standby since they were either indoors or under 15 minutes.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

That's where most of the displeasure with the DAS comes from in fact...parties that were used to getting sent straight into the FP line are now being sent somewhere else to wait. That, and you need to be able to articulate your needs to a CM and either some guests are better at that than others, or some CMs are more willing to do what the guest really wants than others.

And you can't blame the guests for not liking the removal of their instant access to the fastpass line. But Disney thinks it was something they had to do in order to help ensure equal access.

I actually think the OP is just displeased with Disney in general, but the conversation got into how the DAS at Disney differs from what you get at Universal, since he implied that Universal's system was far better.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

I actually think the OP is just displeased with Disney in general, but the conversation got into how the DAS at Disney differs from what you get at Universal, since he implied that Universal's system was far better.

LOL, probably true.