Article: Is Disney Dissing the Disabled?

[camandjacksmom]

I am so confused as to why this is here? Does this also bother you? Not sure at all why you would post this. Does this "accommodation" affect you or anyone? Wow.

This person was just giving examples of how accommodating Disney is for all sorts of situations. A great example is for those of us who have food allergies. Geez take it down a notch and quit trying to pick a fight!

 

[OneLittleSpark1]

Aladora - thanks for your response. I think many people who have posted would agree that everyone should "wait and see" how the new system is implemented and how Disney will work on improving it so that it helps the vast majority of the guests.

And Sparky - (at the risk of being labeled as an "atta girl") I'm totally with you. I've followed all of your posts and I think that most people are hovering near the middle - the extremes on either side of the argument do not represent the vast majority of us that think that there's a workable solution in the middle (while curbing as much of the abusers as possible).

thanks! I appreciate it, and I agree with you as well.

I am so confused as to why this is here? Does this also bother you? Not sure at all why you would post this. Does this "accommodation" affect you or anyone? Wow.

Wow, back at cha. Nit picking here much. I think the poster was referring to the fact that Disney provides all different accommodations for all different issues, that they are probably the leader of accommodations, and that they are sure Disney will find a way to make sure every guest has all the reasonable accommodations that they can give.

You are nit picking someone's comments, who was actually posting on the pro side. Why keep it going like that? The poster clearly did not say they were bothered by this.

 

[OneLittleSpark1]

This person was just giving examples of how accommodating Disney is for all sorts of situations. A great example is for those of us who have food allergies. Geez take it down a notch and quit trying to pick a fight!

Thanks for that. It is what I was trying to say before I saw your post.

 

[camandjacksmom]

Thanks for that. It is what I was trying to say before I saw your post.

No problem! I really thought your last post explaining your thought process for this thread was great.

 

[mara512]

Sadly you missed the many many people that have already explained that they DO have a child or parent or spouse with disabilities but yet they STILL don't take advantage of the GAC!!! Is there an smiley somewhere that is ripping out their own hair here?

No actually I did not miss them. What I was referring to was people who do not
have a disabled child would truly never understand. But I am one of those who DO have a disabled child and I have never used/abused the GAC. I think the new system is long overdue.

 

[Talking Hands]

I completely disagree with abuse of the system and riding over and over while others have not ridden once. But I have a question for everyone and please no bashing or negativity. If there is a ride with say 12 cars and only one car can accommodate a wheelchair/scooter, should the person in a wheelchair have to wait in a regular queue? Essentially if we really wanted it to be equally fair every car needs to be able to accommodate a wheelchair then no matter when it was this persons turn the availability is there. I hope this make sense and you get what my point is. I just feel until all playing fields are completely equal then it will not be fixed. As for someone who can not wait in line I completely understand but doesn't the FP fix that situation? Again please no responses that are going to bash or be mean.

Know exactly what you mean here. Same as deaf and hard of hearing being able to any show at anytime because there are interpreters always there.

 

[mara512]

I appreciate your honesty. There is nothing wrong at all with using the GAC when needed. What I think everyone has a problem with are the people that have admitted to using it like you said to loop rides multiple times because Johnny just can't be told no, and letting him do what he wants is a better alternative than exposing everyone to his outburst. As if they are doing us some sort of favor? You are a prime example of someone that isn't an abuser. the only people that are mad are the ones that do abuse the GAC and now they are mad that WDW stepped in and made it harder for them to do so. You are confused about it because you aren't part of the problem. No one is upset that there is a GAC system in place. We're upset that it's been ruined and the ones that ruined it are the ones throwing a fit.

I agree with this. I do not think the new system will make it any harder or inconvenient for anyone who truly does need the GAC system. I believe it is a step in the right direction, and yes may need adjustments over time, to try to get rid of the abuse of the system. We need to give Disney a chance to work out a system that will be fair to all.

 

[ZehnJahren]

I am so confused as to why this is here? Does this also bother you? Not sure at all why you would post this. Does this "accommodation" affect you or anyone? Wow.

I'm confused myself - did you not read the post, or were you just looking to pick a fight? It's one or the other. I'm stating that plenty of accommodations are made, and listed out some of them - WHICH I'VE USED MYSELF IN THE PAST - as an example that Disney is not removing all the accommodations people have gotten used to and that there are more in place besides just the GAC/DAS.

I'm glad everyone else understood what I was saying. I am definitely all for accommodation and think it is super awesome you can go to Disney and eat well on a gluten-free diet, or go and see your favorite shows with an interpreter at certain times of the day. I just don't know what the answer is to making sure everyone is accommodated at the rides - but one thing is for certain, changes are and were needed.

 

[OurBigTrip]

As a result, all the attention and hatred is focused on abusers (who deserve the hatred) and a handful of children who are locked into minds in a tragic and unfortunate way (who do not deserve it).

Of course, most of that hatred could be avoided if the people who are so worried that they're not getting theirs would take a step back and look at the hardship required to get that small perk for which they are so intently jealous.

I've seen no hatred on this thread - YMMV.

While there is no doubt that parents of autistic children have rough lives, that is totally unrelated to their Disney experience, or at least it should be. How rough they have it 51 weeks of the year is, or should be, irrelevant to what they experience in the parks.

 

[Talking Hands]

What if instead of having to go to the attraction for your wait time minus 15 minutes, you got a return time of the full wait time when you entered your previous attraction. To clarify, you're entering Dumbo at 10am and you would tell the CM at that time (before entering the fp queue) you plan to head to Peter Pan next. The CM looks at a screen and sees Peter Pan currently has a 1/2 hour wait and stamps your passport for 10:30. Your wait is reduced by whatever amount of time it takes you to get through the fp queue and experience the attraction and you no longer have to crisscross back and forth. If you're done Dumbo in 5 minutes you simply take your time getting to Peter Pan.

Does anyone else think this could be the missing aspect of thus new policy to make it all work?

Might work for some but not for all. I would not mind this if all I had to deal with was rides. My problem is I also have to mesh in the schedule for the interpreted shows and we are asked to arrive at least 20 minutes prior to a show so we can be seated or stand in the proper area. So unless they are going to have some on at each interpreted show to check and stamp the card it doesn't work for me.
Since I go frequently (4-6 times a year) I pretty much know what rides I can and cannot ride and what is near what. So if I could get a set schedule that meshes the few rides I do ride with the interpretation without crisscrossing the parks I could deal with that. Sometimes something has to give but interpretation and battery power are constants for me. Being spontaneous goes out the window.

 

[OurBigTrip]

If everyone whose child has autism waits in line at GR to request they be given special accommodations, the line will be very, very long. How will the autistic child handle this line, if they can't handle ride lines? I'm genuinely curious. If they can "go off in the park and do something else" while waiting for Mom in the GR line, then couldn't they do that on the DAS system too, negating the need for special accommodations?

Those who are gaming the system would be just as happy to wait in that line for "special accommodation" as well. How will this weed them out? They'll lie as easily now as they did before.

I don't think it's about people worried that they're "not getting theirs"; I think it's now a knee-jerk reaction to seeing all these people who have had FOTL passes with the GAC revolting over something they were never meant to have in the first place. It's no longer a small perk when thousands have it - it's now a major perk that is causing problems for guests waiting in the standby line and giving preferential treatment to those with the GAC. I don't think there's an ounce of jealousy over those people's lives, but there might be a little pause when Jr. and his entire family pass you for the third time in the FP line with their GAC in hand, while you're still on the stairs at SM with a 90 minute wait ahead of you and your 6 year old is already whining about the wait and your 9 year old already has to go to the bathroom.



Again, I've seen some kids who live in severe hardship every day who will never go to Disney. You don't have to be disabled to have a difficult, uphill battle in life.

Bolding added by me, and you've captured it exactly.

 

[OurBigTrip]

Yes, and I believe that they will work with people on a case by case basis. I'm not worried about Disney, I'm curious about those who would question Disney's decision to work with those people.

That's easy - by agreeing to offer front of the line access and looping, Disney is opening up the DAS to the same abuse that made the GAC such a disaster. They can't tell people "no".

 

[AndreaA]

That's easy - by agreeing to offer front of the line access and looping, Disney is opening up the DAS to the same abuse that made the GAC such a disaster. They can't tell people "no".

I'm not talking about logistics. Logistically, the new system is JUST as easy to abuse as the old one, and extra FPs will certainly be an incentive for many people. I'm talking about empathy. About thinking about people other than ourselves. Your posts have rarely pointed to logistical issues, and instead have repeated a chorus of "your kid's not special, your kid doesn't DESERVE to go ahead of mine, yeah, life's not fair, but it had better darn well be perfectly fair for ME in this ride line".

If you want to talk logistics, then simply limiting the length of an AP GAC (which were far and away the most abused since they were SOLD outside the park) and requiring a picture and requiring that the person in the picture be the person on the ride would do JUST AS MUCH as the full-scale re-work they've decided to proceed with. But be honest. You don't really care that the old system was being abused, you just care that someone - deserving or not - was able to pass YOU in the line. Yeah, sorry that doesn't garner a whole lot of sympathy from me.

Can you really not admit that a critically ill child DESERVES, yes DESERVES to go ahead of you, "Wish kid" or not?

 

[karice2]

Can you really not admit that a critically ill child DESERVES, yes DESERVES to go ahead of you, "Wish kid" or not?

I am sure I will get flamed for this one but no, a critically ill kid does not deserve to go ahead of me. I can be kind and let them go ahead of me for kindness sakes but they are not entitled to a different trip experience. That is where the disconnect is.

I often travel solo and will let a group with a small kid go in front of me because I choose to be kind in that moment. Abuse of the system has created a situation where people do not want to be kind to anyone because it is such a pain in the butt.

 

[Vidia2]

I am sure I will get flamed for this one but no, a critically ill kid does not deserve to go ahead of me.

I was wondering how long it would take for some people to actually admit that they felt this way.

 

[Goofyuk]

Maybe i'm missing something here, but in some of the examples mentioned I don't understand why the kids are being taken to WDW.

If a kid has photo sensitive epilepsy, then I wouldn't take him to a disco and then complain that the strobe lights were causing him problems.

If a kid is in a wheel chair, a hiking holiday is probably not a good idea.

Deaf kids are not going to get much out of going to see the philharmonic

So maybe if your kid is unable to wait for 5 minutes, handle lines and needs to repeat every attraction immediately, JUST MAYBE you should look at the holiday you are taking your child on and ask yourself if it's the best one for them.

Disney put a huge effort into helping guests with disabilities, whether it's audio description, special access ride vehicles, special dietary foods, etc.

They go above and beyond what they are required to do, however the vast majority of things they do, do not have a negative impact on 99% of guests.

A family needing to ride in the easy access log on splash mountain, does not affect anyone else. A family going to the front of the queue and then re-riding splash mountain 5 times means that everyone else has to wait longer.

 

[OurBigTrip]

If you're going to purport to quote me, please try to be accurate about it

I'm talking about empathy. About thinking about people other than ourselves. Your posts have rarely pointed to logistical issues, and instead have repeated a chorus of "your kid's not special, your kid doesn't DESERVE to go ahead of mine, yeah, life's not fair, but it had better darn well be perfectly fair for ME in this ride line".

Yes, I did say your kid isn't special. I also said neither is my kid. Sure, she's special to us, but I don't expect the world to see her as special. And I don't think you should expect the world to see your child as special either.

I never said your kid doesn't deserve to go ahead of mine - I said that your kid should have to wait, just like mine does. It should absolutely be somewhere that is comfortable and meets your child's needs, but your child should still have to wait.

I did say that no child should, and I'll say deserve, to loop on rides multiple times while other children are waiting to ride only once.

Fairness - I'm pretty sure I've never said that life isn't fair, but I could be wrong.

And I haven't asked for complete fairness in the lines - fair would making our child wait in line with everyone else, but that won't work, so you have a good alternative. But you should still have to wait.

If you want to talk logistics, then simply limiting the length of an AP GAC (which were far and away the most abused since they were SOLD outside the park) and requiring a picture and requiring that the person in the picture be the person on the ride would do JUST AS MUCH as the full-scale re-work they've decided to proceed with.

No, it wouldn't, because it wasn't the fraudulent selling of GACs that was the problem - it was that too many people had them, whether they needed them or not. One way to get rid of the scammers that don't really need them is to make DAS less attractive - no more front of the line access, no more use as an unlimited Fast Pass, no more looping on rides. That's why the DAS, as originally announced, had a pretty decent chance of reducing the number of people that had them. For the scammers, they would be much less attractive, so not really worth the effort. But with Disney caving on what they'll offer, they'll be just as attractive as the GAC, so the abuse will continue.

But be honest. You don't really care that the old system was being abused, you just care that someone - deserving or not - was able to pass YOU in the line. Yeah, sorry that doesn't garner a whole lot of sympathy from me.

Your bitterness about the fact that someone disagrees with you doesn't change the fact that you're wrong.

Can you really not admit that a critically ill child DESERVES, yes DESERVES to go ahead of you, "Wish kid" or not?

If it were one or two children per line? Sure. But that's not what it is. It's dozens, and few, if any, are critically ill.

Are you willing to admit that your child doesn't deserve to negatively impact other children's experience? I doubt it.

 

[camandjacksmom]

I was wondering how long it would take for some people to actually admit that they felt this way.

At least she admitted it and thats her choice. Now why cant anyone admit the GAC was an unlimited fast pass. If this happens then maybe both sides can simmer down.

 

[OurBigTrip]

They go above and beyond what they are required to do, however the vast majority of things they do, do not have a negative impact on 99% of guests.

A family needing to ride in the easy access log on splash mountain, does not affect anyone else. A family going to the front of the queue and then re-riding splash mountain 5 times means that everyone else has to wait longer.

Exactly. But apparently, we're not supposed to care about that. Those of us with children that don't have disabilities are supposed to be so grateful for our cakewalk lives that we don't care if our children's trips are negatively impacted by people abusing accommodations.

 

[ZehnJahren]

Can you really not admit that a critically ill child DESERVES, yes DESERVES to go ahead of you, "Wish kid" or not?

I just had to reply to this.

I think critically ill children should go ahead of me. I think kids with cancer should go ahead of me, or kids who have had cancer, or kids on chemo, or kids just done with chemo, or kids who have ever HAD to have chemo. I mean come on, CHEMO; you should get a lifelong pass for doing that, what bravery.

I think that autistic children should go ahead of me. And I think that children who have to use wheelchairs should go ahead of me. I think that those with developmental delays should go ahead of me, and those with down syndrome. I think that kids with anxiety or crowd phobias should go ahead of me. I'm dead serious. I feel the same way about adults; any of the above, they should go ahead of me. God has blessed me with health now, and He gave me a childhood in which I got to go to Disney and theme parks and baseball games and I didn't spend it in therapy or in a hospital.

I think that kids whose parents have died and left them orphans should go ahead of me, and kids on their first and only trip should get a shorter line so they can see more. I think kids who have ever been abused or seen someone be abused should go ahead of me. I think any kid who has ever had to sleep overnight in the back seat of a car because the parents couldn't pay rent anymore, who somehow went from that to Disney World, should go ahead of me. They should get something special.

I think that the adorable, polite little girl in the Cinderella costume and saying please and thank you should step to the head of the line. I think the big brother that just hugged his little sister when she fell down to stop her crying should get some preference. I think the big sister who doesn't fight with her siblings and instead helps mom out every day of the year because she's a good kid should go ahead of me.

But all these kids can't go ahead of me. And if they did, their line would be as long as mine would be.

I think all those kids deserve something special. Yes, I think they DESERVE it. From being ill, to being alone, to having disabilities, to being poor or overcoming adversary, to just being a darned good kid. We just have to figure out how to do it right so all of these guys get the same great experience.