Want to get fired up??? Unreal story!!

[mickey0624]

Last week I was at a kid's birthday party with my son and daughter. It was the birthday party of a very close friend of ours. Anyway, during the party I started talking to one of the other fathers that I knew and the subject came around to Disney World. He told me that his family had just returned from a week's trip. So as we were discussing the trip, he says to me "Hey, you want to know a secret to get you to the front of all the lines?" Now I've been to WDW 30+ times and as far as I know there is no secret. My first inclination was that he was referring to fast passes. But I was wrong!! He said "Just go on your first day and rent one of those motorized wheel chairs. It cost us about $200 for the whole week and we went to the front of every line". I asked him if he was serious and he assured me that he was. he also went on to say that on the child rides, he allowed his son to ride it and they loved zooming around the park. No one in their group needed a whelchair, they just decided to rent one to cut all the lines. The scary thing is I'm pretty sure this guy is not the only one who does this. I'm sure there are lots and lots and lots of others. Needless to say I was dumbfounded. Couldn't do anything but shake my head.

 

[MagiKitty]

Wow, that is really so sad to me. My BF has CP and has to use crutches, and when we're in the parks we rent a chair. We have never had FOTL privileges, except for Big Thunder at MK, where the line isn't wide enough for a chair to fit through. Some of the older rides at MK also have separate entrances for the same reason. What an abuse of the system. Shame on them.

 

[fan1080]

I believe I read somewhere that Disney is not allowing front of the line access to those in scooters/wheel chairs anymore, or at least cutting back on it.

Maybe someone who has the need to use one can comment.

 

[mickey0624]

I believe I read somewhere that Disney is not allowing front of the line access to those in scooters/wheel chairs anymore, or at least cutting back on it.

Maybe someone who has the need to use one can comment.

I don't know. he was pretty adament about it. It was only about a month ago. I don't think he was lying.

 

[WishingMom]

Oh how very sad...they should be ashamed of themselves.

 

[boxer]

He's an idiot for spending $200 for something that good planning and organization can achieve. Plus he has the added annoyance of being tied to this thing for a whole vacation.

If he has an extra $200 to spend, then more power to him for being an idiot.

 

[debf]

Shame on him. Not a very good example he's setting for his kids.

 

[Sandy321]

I'm sure Sue in MN or another mod from the Disabilities board will come in also -
http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=20

but WDW line queues fit a wheelchair, and scooter - and Front of the line access is not part of the program - many times waits are longer (ie Safari in AK or some of the boat rides like Its a small world)

I fell and sprained BOTH ankles and rented a scooter, I didnt expect nor did I try to go to FP lines or front of the line access - my dd really wanted to try it when the FP to Test Track were gone, we went up and nope - standby only!

The only front of the line Disney uses is for Make a Wish kids.

I dont know why this topic comes up so often?

 

[SereneOne]

Our family in 2006 went to Disney with MAW. We recieved a special pass for up to six people (It was DH, myself, our three sons and our MAW 3yo daughter). Other than character lines, we did not get a front-of-the-line pass. We did go through the alternate entry, but from my experience of the following year (once we knew how accomodating Disney was/is with those of special needs, we knew we could travel there with no problems and did not even get a GAC) without a MAW pass. The wait was even. Now we did sit in the handicapped section which could be a good or bad thing depending on the ride/show, however that was the only difference between the two.

 

[Plasticletters]

unfortunately I know this to be true as well. As recently as my last trip (which was a little over a year ago) people in scooters were getting front of the line treatment and I noticed people on more than one occasion getting up out of a chair and letting a friend/family member switch with them - no disability, just laziness and abuse of the system.

 

[devores]

I am a firm beleiver in EVERYONE having to wait thier turn for the rides. No one should have FOTL privliages. I do know on HM they make the ECS guests wait at the front of the line for the rest of thier party to catch up to them. They do not allow them to just stroll on. If they do allow FOTL to anyone for any reason, I feel it should be for the guest with the dissabilities and one other, not the entire party of 10. And they should have a legit reason, not just because they are in a scooter or wheel chair. This would cut down on those who abuse the system such as the guy in the OP.

 

[fan1080]

I don't know. he was pretty adament about it. It was only about a month ago. I don't think he was lying.

Sorry, to clarify, I wasn't denying his story, just passing along that I've heard they are asking guests to use the standby line if their chair/scooter can fit in through the line.

Some of the ques are too tight for scooters/charis to fit so they have a separate entrance.

 

[SereneOne]

OH for goodness sakes. You DO NOT get front of the line access in a wheelchair.

 

[MartDM]

In any situation involving crowds & waits, there is always some jerk who puts their own selfish needs above the good of the whole.

Clearly this guy lives on shaky moral ground as a rule or he wouldn't have been so proud of his scheme and would have known better than to brag about it.

I don't wish ill on anyone but I always hope that people like this might find themselves in a situation where they are in need of special accomodations so that they might appreciate how inappropriate their past behavior is. Never happens though; jerks are jerks and we're stuck dealing with them.

I hope you properly shamed him; he would've gotten an earful from me about his behavior and the very poor lesson it teaches his kids.

 

[donna in Oz]

My MIL travels to Disney with us frequently, and uses a wheelchair while she's there (she's blind and also has difficulty walking). The only front-of-line access that I can remember is Thunder Mtn RR -- the wheelchair doesn't fit through the queue. We had to go to the exit to get on.

And shame to all who try to use this ruse .......

 

[baw]

how sad for him and his family. i can't imagaine that they had too much fun on vacation based on that attitude.

what i really wanted to say was that i was there in 2007 with my mother in law who had a broken foot and was using a scooter. we waited in every line with the scooter because she could transfer to the ride without help (she had a walking boot). the CM at the front of the attraction would say "can you transfer?" before waiving us into the line. at the front they'd take the scooter around for us to find at the exit. maybe if the scooter bound person needs help transfering they take them through a different entrance? how do you work that if you are lying about even needing the scooter?

we did go through a separate accessible entrance on the jungle cruise b/c of the narrow lines, but that is the only attraction i remember with special circumstances.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I was talking to a mother at my child's sporting event and she told me how she could never get into LeCellier and went up to the podium and LIED. SHe said she made the reservation, was very adament that she did when she really didn't and was seated. She was very proud of herself.

 

[suevee]

I have rented a motorized wheelchair on occasion because of foot, ankle, and knee problems. I have only used it at Animal Kingdom and Epcot, because of terrain and distances. I have never got front of the line passes nor expect too. When offered at the Safari, I declined, parked my scooter with the strollers, and waited like everyone else. The only exception being at parades, fireworks, the Lion King show, and Nemo show. Then I was put in the wheel chair access spots marked specifically for wheelchairs.

However, I do not go on rides that involve strapping in or high altitudes....I needed the wheelchair to be able to roam the parks and take in all the sites comfortably.

 

[JerseyMamaBear]

 

[Jamie77]

He might have gotten to the front of all the lines, but he was still out $200. I'll take the fastpass for 200, Alex.