Article: Is Disney Dissing the Disabled?

[OurBigTrip]

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

Why exactly should a critically ill child "deserve" to have a better experience than a perfectly healthy child?

It's great if they can, and it's great if it's possible, but they "deserve" it?

Why?

 

[camandjacksmom]

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.

Wow! What a wonderful perspective!

 

[OurBigTrip]

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.

Thank you, so very well said!!

That's the thing that gets me most - the autistic child that walks to the front of the line and rides 7 times "deserves" to have a good time. But my child, who isn't disabled, doesn't deserve to. She deserves to stand in line for 90 minutes and watch dozens of other kids walk right past her and ride repeatedly just because she doesn't have a disability.

 

[Aladora]

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.

I did, post #404 of this very thread. We are now 40 posts past that and I don't see a heck of a lot of simmering down going on.

I have used the GAC every time with our son and I have always been one to fully admit that the way we tour Disneyland using the GAC in the way that the CM have directed us to use it has resulted in us basically having an unlimited Fast Pass for any ride we want. It was not a FOTL pass, but the next thing to one.

 

[camandjacksmom]

I did, post #404 of this very thread. We are now 40 posts past that and I don't see a heck of a lot of simmering down going on.

You did and I thank you for that! Lets be fair you quite possibly may be the only one on this thread to admit it. Your post #404 is brutally honest and to the point. I just don't think many people will admit they had unlimited fast pass with the old GAC. This I feel keeps the debate going on!

 

[Vidia2]

Why exactly should a critically ill child "deserve" to have a better experience than a perfectly healthy child?

It's great if they can, and it's great if it's possible, but they "deserve" it?

Why?

The fact that you need to ask this tells me that the answer would be wasted on you.

Not worth it.

 

[OurBigTrip]

The fact that you need to ask this tells me that the answer would be wasted on you.

Not worth it.

As does your response, although it is good to see you finally admit that you don't give a flying fig about whether or not normal children have a good time. It's all about the disabled kids, screw the non-disabled.

 

[Vidia2]

You did and I thank you for that! Lets be fair you quite possibly may be the only one on this thread to admit it. Your post #404 is brutally honest and to the point. I just don't think many people will admit they had unlimited fast pass with the old GAC. This I feel keeps the debate going on!

So someone already "admitted" what you wanted them to and yet it's not enough.

The answers that people are giving will never be enough.

You want Disney to change their policy and you want disabled people not to have any accommodations that you don't have.

You (not just you since there's a gang of you) also seem to want specific communities to say that they don't deserve accommodations and "admit" that they've been a part of the abuse. These things aren't true but even if someone said (to appease you) that they were, it wouldn't be enough.

 

[Vidia2]

As does your response, although it is good to see you finally admit that you don't give a flying fig about whether or not normal children have a good time. It's all about the disabled kids, screw the non-disabled.

I think you were talking about critically ill children and how they didn't deserve special treatment. There was no mention on my part about flying figs or your other random opinions.

Try to stay focused.

 

[AndreaA]

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.

You really need to try fully reading and comprehending posts before replying.

First, I am not talking about every kid who currently has a GAC. I'm talking about an extremely small subset. An extremely small subset who may now be asking for special accommodation with the new system. That's what we're talking about here. You've repeatedly said that you don't like that idea. You seem to think you know exactly who is going to request it and that none of them will truly "need" it and none of them should get it.

Second, I'm not sure how much clearer I can be, since I mentioned it in several posts, but THIS NEW DAS SYSTEM WILL NOT AFFECT ME. If it was just about ME then I wouldn't care less about what changes they have made. The new system will work fine for us, and since we go at very low crowd times, when lines are regularly under 20min, even our DAS wait will be short.

Unlike you, I am able to divorce myself from the situation. It isn't all about me and my kids. Not one bit. It is about people who are less fortunate than both you and I.

As does your response, although it is good to see you finally admit that you don't give a flying fig about whether or not normal children have a good time. It's all about the disabled kids, screw the non-disabled.

This is so laughable it barely deserves a mention, but man are you really out there. Yeah, I'm so sure that the critically ill and disabled kids getting to ride a few more things is absolutely RUINING it for the "normal" kids. Why don't you ask your own kids what they would do if someone less fortunate than them wanted to ride in front of them. Ask them if they had a horrible time because some child went in front of them. And for the record, at our first Disney visit (with kids) we didn't use a GAC, so we WERE the "normal" kids, and we rode the same amount of rides, did the same amount of things and had the same amount of fun. Strangely, having a few less fortunate people pass us in line failed to ruin our vacation.

 

[Aladora]

You did and I thank you for that! Lets be fair you quite possibly may be the only one on this thread to admit it. Your post #404 is brutally honest and to the point. I just don't think many people will admit they had unlimited fast pass with the old GAC. This I feel keeps the debate going on!

I'm not really sure why it is important for people to "admit" that they had an unlimited fast pass. I could ask why you feel the need to berate people into admitting this but to be honest, I don't actually care that much.

I tell my staff at work that I can only work with what I know to be true and factual.

I know the following to be true and factual about the GAC and DAS.

1. What I know, think, feel, believe, wish and hope about the GAC is irrelevant. Today is the last day that this program is in effect and since the park closes in 2 hours, the GAC does not matter anymore.

2. Tomorrow is the first day of the DAS and no one knows for certain exactly how it is going to be implemented.

3. Tomorrow is going to be difficult for everyone involved. The CMs are going to have a lot of angry and confused guests to deal with.

That's it. That is all that we know right now.

Tomorrow will come and the DAS will be implemented and what benefits the GAC provided does not matter.

People will yell and complain and threaten to stop going to Disneyland and Disneyworld and some of them will actually stop going. Others will think that the system is great and still others will have very little opinion one way or the other, either because they do not need one or they use one and find it works ok.

And the world will go on.

 

[Vidia2]

Thank you, so very well said!!

That's the thing that gets me most - the autistic child that walks to the front of the line and rides 7 times "deserves" to have a good time. But my child, who isn't disabled, doesn't deserve to. She deserves to stand in line for 90 minutes and watch dozens of other kids walk right past her and ride repeatedly just because she doesn't have a disability.

By this logic, your child deserves to get to go to prom, get a drivers license, graduate from high school and college, fall in love, get married, have a family, take his/her own family to WDW someday, have grandchildren, have choices in life and not be the victim of hate. My child on the other hand doesn't deserve these things? Life isn't fair, right?

Your logic is flawed. Disney is a private company. They can, have and will continue to give accommodations to those who need them. If you don't agree, you can contact them and complain. They might even reply but at least they'll have your identity so they'll have warning when someone is in the park who so strongly disagrees with their policies and is likely to be rude to people with disabilities and critically ill children.

 

[OurBigTrip]

You want Disney to change their policy and you want disabled people not to have any accommodations that you don't have.

You (not just you since there's a gang of you) also seem to want specific communities to say that they don't deserve accommodations and "admit" that they've been a part of the abuse. These things aren't true but even if someone said (to appease you) that they were, it wouldn't be enough.

I haven't seen anyone say that specific communities, or the disabled in general, don't deserve accommodations.

While perhaps no one on this thread has been part of the GAC abuse, the GAC certainly was abused, by the non-disabled that shouldn't have had it, and by a segment of the disabled community that should have had it.

 

[camandjacksmom]

So someone already "admitted" what you wanted them to and yet it's not enough.

The answers that people are giving will never be enough.

You want Disney to change their policy and you want disabled people not to have any accommodations that you don't have.

You (not just you since there's a gang of you) also seem to want specific communities to say that they don't deserve accommodations and "admit" that they've been a part of the abuse. These things aren't true but even if someone said (to appease you) that they were, it wouldn't be enough.

Wow what a way to generalize someone. I have made no comments that accommodations shouldn't be made. Please read all my posts in this thread. I never asked anyone to admit to abuse of the system. The truth is that the old GAC was an unlimited fast pass and the truth is people don't think your children are anymore special than theirs are. I get accommodations every time I go to Disney by needing a milk free diet but I have never screamed Disney should get rid of ice cream because I can have it. You seem to never have anything positive to contribute to this discussion. You are always tearing others down. You assume everything is directed at you and take offense to what anyone has to say that doesn't think the way you do. Lighten up a little. This is a Disney discussion board no need to have so much hate.

 

[camandjacksmom]

I'm not really sure why it is important for people to "admit" that they had an unlimited fast pass. I could ask why you feel the need to berate people into admitting this but to be honest, I don't actually care that much.

I tell my staff at work that I can only work with what I know to be true and factual.

I know the following to be true and factual about the GAC and DAS.

1. What I know, think, feel, believe, wish and hope about the GAC is irrelevant. Today is the last day that this program is in effect and since the park closes in 2 hours, the GAC does not matter anymore.

2. Tomorrow is the first day of the DAS and no one knows for certain exactly how it is going to be implemented.

3. Tomorrow is going to be difficult for everyone involved. The CMs are going to have a lot of angry and confused guests to deal with.

That's it. That is all that we know right now.

Tomorrow will come and the DAS will be implemented and what benefits the GAC provided does not matter.

People will yell and complain and threaten to stop going to Disneyland and Disneyworld and some of them will actually stop going. Others will think that the system is great and still others will have very little opinion one way or the other, either because they do not need one or they use one and find it works ok.

And the world will go on.

Because half of this drawn out thread is people claiming it wasn't an unlimited fast pass which fuels the other side to say your child's no more special than mine. No one is berating its just an observation that if everyone just called a spade a spade the discussion would not be this heated.

 

[OneLittleSpark1]

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

Thank you, I really tried to explain in a nice way where I was coming from, bc I could certainly see that some people were getting the wrong impression.

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.

Exactly. That is a lot of what "this" side of the debate is trying to say.

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.

Yep, and that is where the whole who has it worse in life and turns GAC/DAS into the "pity" card. This also applies to the reference of critically ill kids deserving to go first or ahead of others.

Personally, I don't have a problem with critically ill children going ahead of me. Do I think they deserve it? Not necessarily, but I don't mind if it is that way. However, the people who are complaining loudest on the pro-GAC side are not people with critically ill children, and that is the difference...to me anyway.

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.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

This is what all of us Midway was trying to say, that got her named as ignorant. She didn't put it quite as eloquently as you did here though. Well done!

I did, post #404 of this very thread.

I think this is another example, like I mentioned, of being on the same page for a lot of things. I don't think people have an issue with you in any way bc you admitted it from the get go, and then said that you would adjust accordingly. You didn't go off half cocked about how you need a FOTL, to ride NOW, and HAVE to have it, or you just won't go anymore....and anyone who doesn't understand or agree is cold and heartless or ignorant. That is the big difference. You never said anything to make people think that you think your entitled. I, personally, applaud you...whether we agree or not.

 

[Vidia2]

Wow what a way to generalize someone. I have made no comments that accommodations shouldn't be made. Please read all my posts in this thread. I never asked anyone to admit to abuse of the system. The truth is that the old GAC was an unlimited fast pass and the truth is people don't think your children are anymore special than theirs are. I get accommodations every time I go to Disney by needing a milk free diet but I have never screamed Disney should get rid of ice cream because I can have it. You seem to never have anything positive to contribute to this discussion. You are always tearing others down. You assume everything is directed at you and take offense to what anyone has to say that doesn't think the way you do. Lighten up a little. This is a Disney discussion board no need to have so much hate.

In other words, you're on a trolling mission.

 

[OurBigTrip]

By this logic, your child deserves to get to go to prom, get a drivers license, graduate from high school and college, fall in love, get married, have a family, take his/her own family to WDW someday, have grandchildren, have choices in life and not be the victim of hate. My child on the other hand doesn't deserve these things? Life isn't fair, right?

Don't try to project your bitterness onto me. I've never said any of those things. I've never said that my child deserves more than your child - it's been you saying that your child deserves more than mine. What I've said is that neither of them deserves any more than the other does.

Your logic is flawed. Disney is a private company. They can, have and will continue to give accommodations to those who need them. If you don't agree, you can contact them and complain. They might even reply but at least they'll have your identity so they'll have warning when someone is in the park who so strongly disagrees with their policies and is likely to be rude to people with disabilities and critically ill children.

Why is it so hard for you to distinguish between reasonable accommodation and abuse?

Reasonable accommodation is allowing a child to wait outside of the line, return to an alternate location, and ride the attraction ONE time.

Abuse is skipping every line, with little to no wait, and riding until you either get tired of it or a CM tells you have to leave the ride.

As for your last line, sorry, but your emotions are getting the best of you, and you're just flailing, making up things about which you know nothing...namely, me. I've never been rude to anyone in the park, even when their abuse of an accommodation resulted in making my own kids unhappy.

 

[camandjacksmom]

In other words, you're on a trolling mission.

No I have no clue why you would say that? Are you on a trolling mission or just like to stir the pot?

 

[Aladora]

I think this is another example, like I mentioned, of being on the same page for a lot of things. I don't think people have an issue with you in any way bc you admitted it from the get go, and then said that you would adjust accordingly. You didn't go off half cocked about how you need a FOTL, to ride NOW, and HAVE to have it, or you just won't go anymore....and anyone who doesn't understand or agree is cold and heartless or ignorant. That is the big difference. You never said anything to make people think that you think your entitled. I, personally, applaud you...whether we agree or not.

You know what is actually funny?

I have no idea if we agree or not. I have no idea where you stand on the issue and to be honest, I'm a little muddy on what the whole issue actually is anymore!