What statistics am I making up? I am being conservative with the epidemiology here. Lifetime rates are high:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5037147/. As for the hotel rooms, estimating the gondola resorts account for 7K rooms, and Disney has 30K rooms, you are looking at 23% of their rooms. Not sure why people are so emotionally wrapped up in the idea that Disney MUST replace all buses with that gondola. But it's just not going to happen. Sorry.
I think you are projecting in this conversation. Personally I think they run busses across multiple resorts once or twice an hour as an alternative. Like Fort Wilderness to Wilderness Lodge to MK bus route if you don't want to take the boat. That's not discriminatory of people afraid of boats, but it is less convenient and slower. I, personally, do not like heights. I don't really like gondolas. The sway and bob when they go over towers makes me uncomfortable. But I ride them occasionally for sightseeing and I'm sure I will try out the Disney ones. That being said, I have no desire to stay at a Gondola resort and would have the half a brain required not to book one just for this reason. Being afraid of heights, and being diagnosed that way, is not one size fits all. Many people have shades of fear and while they don't like heights, will have little or no problem on gondolas 20 or 30 feet high. Again, as an example, I have no problem with the monorails.
I think Disney will be well covered legally. It's like taxis. Not all taxis have to be handicap accessible. So sometimes, if you need a handicap taxi, you wait longer. This is a problem in big cities, where the wait can be excessive, but courts have generally ruled in favor of providing an option, but not an equal option, in these cases. Disney will be able to easily argue there are options, even if they are not equal. Especially with other value, moderate, and deluxe resorts that do not use the gondola system. There are plenty of alternatives when WDW, as a whole, is taken under consideration. That will be plenty to meet the requirements of the law.
As for public perception, it is possible people will make a stink and Disney may not want that. But overall, the job Disney does making rides and the resort handicap accessible will be very favorable. The Parks are very accessible to all individuals, and rides that cause problems, like 20,000 Leagues, have been phased out over the years.
Unfortunately for your argument, Disney is not required to provide rides that are friendly to people afraid of heights. There is no "non-drop" alternative to Splash Mountain for example. If you choose to go on the ride, you choose to face that fear. Courts will likely look the same at the portion of hotels that are on the gondola circuit. If you choose to stay at them, as opposed to staying at a non-gondola option, you have chosen to face that fear given knowledge of acceptable alternatives. That is not something Disney is responsible for, under the law. People can try and win in the court of public opinion, but given Disney's historic high standing, that will be extremely difficult.
