Descrmination towards invisible disabilities by Cast Members or other Guests?

[Taytortots]

I was wondering if anyone else had a similar experience.
I have an invisible disability. I was diagnosed with a brain tumor at the age of 7 (i'm 20 now) and will have this major illness for my whole life. It effects my everyday life. I don't have stamina, and I cannot handle heat, standing too long, etc.
I often get looks when handing my GAC to cast members. I've never been stopped before, but the looks/questions can get annoying and a bit embarrassing.
I understand that, in lou of the abuse to the GAC that cast members may be suspicious, and a women walking up looking perfectly healthy may raise a few flags. But I personally find this a bit insulting. Without the card, I would be completely unable to go to Disney, which is my favourite place in the World. I'm not abusing it. So when someone acts like i'm behaving suspiciously it bothers me.
Anyone have similar experiences?
Also, sorry if this has been posted before. I'm sure it was at some point.

 

[jwmoss]

People can be so thoughtless. I am sorry you have to deal with such insensitive people, but please try your best to ignore them. I promise, if you ever "cut" in front of me, you'll see a smile on my face. I'm always glad to share the Disney magic with everyone, especially those with special circumstances. God bless you!!

 

[amykathleen2005]

You only answer to yourself. You know that you are in the right and that is all that matters.

 

[ali in wonderland]

I was wondering if anyone else had a similar experience.
I have an invisible disability. I was diagnosed with a brain tumor at the age of 7 (i'm 20 now) and will have this major illness for my whole life. It effects my everyday life. I don't have stamina, and I cannot handle heat, standing too long, etc.
I often get looks when handing my GAC to cast members. I've never been stopped before, but the looks/questions can get annoying and a bit embarrassing.
I understand that, in lou of the abuse to the GAC that cast members may be suspicious, and a women walking up looking perfectly healthy may raise a few flags. But I personally find this a bit insulting. Without the card, I would be completely unable to go to Disney, which is my favourite place in the World. I'm not abusing it. So when someone acts like i'm behaving suspiciously it bothers me.
Anyone have similar experiences?
Also, sorry if this has been posted before. I'm sure it was at some point.

I have a semi-invisible disability. I have a c-spine injury that has left me with very week legs. I walk because I can, but it is slow and very labor intensive. When I stand still for more than 3-5 minutes I start to lose my balance. When I am on my meds, my poor gate is barely noticeable, but as the meds wear off it becomes very evident. I never had a CM question me, maybe because I have a scar on my neck that would stop any questions. Once I was in the disabled line at Nemo in AK. A non-disabled family member of an older man in a wheelchair told me that I shouldn't be in the line because I was not disabled. I simply removed the scarf I was using to protect my scar from the sun, and said I have a spinal cord injury.
Some people can be so insensitive. When I see someone who doesn't look disabled in the disabled line, I assume, they have a silent disease. Not everyone needs to be in a wheelchair or scooter.

 

[kaytieeldr]

That doesn't sound like discrimination ("treating people differently through prejudice:unfair treatment of one person or group, usually because of prejudice about race, ethnicity, age, religion, or gender"); it sounds like skepticism.

 

[Schmeck]

I was wondering if anyone else had a similar experience.
I have an invisible disability. I was diagnosed with a brain tumor at the age of 7 (i'm 20 now) and will have this major illness for my whole life. It effects my everyday life. I don't have stamina, and I cannot handle heat, standing too long, etc.
I often get looks when handing my GAC to cast members. I've never been stopped before, but the looks/questions can get annoying and a bit embarrassing.
I understand that, in lou of the abuse to the GAC that cast members may be suspicious, and a women walking up looking perfectly healthy may raise a few flags. But I personally find this a bit insulting. Without the card, I would be completely unable to go to Disney, which is my favourite place in the World. I'm not abusing it. So when someone acts like i'm behaving suspiciously it bothers me.
Anyone have similar experiences?
Also, sorry if this has been posted before. I'm sure it was at some point.

WDW's standard response for a stamina issue is to rent a wheelchair or ECV, as there is a lot more walking between the attractions than in the (typically airconditioned/fanned) queues. I guess that is where the skepticism comes in - you walk up to the queue, in the heat, and have a GAC that gives access for stamina issues. The CM is probably wondering how you got to the attraction in the first place?

 

[bedogged]

That doesn't sound like discrimination ("treating people differently through prejudice:unfair treatment of one person or group, usually because of prejudice about race, ethnicity, age, religion, or gender"); it sounds like skepticism.

It sounds like discrimination to me because "her group" is disabled people and she is being treated differently, because you cannot "see" her disability.

 

[disney david]

What questions are the cms asking that you think are insulting you said they don't stop you from using it as a pp said Disney response to stamina and it being able to stand for long is to rent a wheelchair or ECV. I just wondering if you could give an example and other guest are going to be idiot you can't let that upset you they have nothing better to do then try to ruin other people's vacation.

 

[Bete]

I was wondering if anyone else had a similar experience.
I have an invisible disability. I was diagnosed with a brain tumor at the age of 7 (i'm 20 now) and will have this major illness for my whole life. It effects my everyday life. I don't have stamina, and I cannot handle heat, standing too long, etc.
I often get looks when handing my GAC to cast members. I've never been stopped before, but the looks/questions can get annoying and a bit embarrassing.
I understand that, in lou of the abuse to the GAC that cast members may be suspicious, and a women walking up looking perfectly healthy may raise a few flags. But I personally find this a bit insulting. Without the card, I would be completely unable to go to Disney, which is my favourite place in the World. I'm not abusing it. So when someone acts like i'm behaving suspiciously it bothers me.
Anyone have similar experiences?
Also, sorry if this has been posted before. I'm sure it was at some point.

Maybe, you should bring a doctor's note. On doctor stationary I'm sure that would stop the CM in his/her tracks. It's not the best answer, but it may stop it from happening. My doctor wrote a note about my mom's Alzheimer's condition. It was very specific as to what set off some triggers for her.

I do think you may be taking the situation in the wrong way. I think sometimes the CM asks questions to help you in a better way. If the condition is invisible you can't expect a CM to know automatically what to do to help you best. Also, the CM may be cautious. I'm sure they are trained to avoid liability factors. The GAC is not magical. It helps to a degree, but it's not the whole story.

Another approach is you may want to state on your own to the CM what would help you the most on the attraction. Now, if you don't know what to say, then the situation may get difficult again.

Some of these circumstances are not just an automatic protocol.

If you will get more specific about what's happening then maybe, we can help more on some suggestions.

Your post is vague and if you answer questions vaguely with a CM it may cause them to ask more questions to help you.

 

[AJKMOM]

It sounds like discrimination to me because "her group" is disabled people and she is being treated differently, because you cannot "see" her disability.

She doesn't say she is treated differently, or not allowed something. She sees "a look". She said no one has ever asked her anything or denied her anything. It could be she is very sensitive to "looks" she might be getting? I use the GAC with my autistic son, and have for over 20 trips. Not once has anyone ever said anything to me. If there were "Looks" I didn't see them.

 

[infopurposesonly]

Well, I just got back today, and there were definitely "looks" as well as grumbling, sighing, and eye rolling on the part of several CM's in the Magic Kingdom. I traveled with several family members who have GACs for various invisible disabilities. At times we split up, and they told me they had the same kinds of experiences. At one attraction, two members of our family were not allowed the accommodation that was stamped on their cards. This was not a case of the accommodation not being available at that time, as it was being used by other guests who were more insistent about the GAC being honored. We had noticed more "attitude" of this kind from CM's over the past couple of years, but never to this extent. Fortunately for us, the negative experiences we have had have always been limited to the Magic Kingdom. We haven't had any issues at any of the other parks.

 

[disney david]

Well, I just got back today, and there were definitely "looks" as well as grumbling, sighing, and eye rolling on the part of several CM's in the Magic Kingdom. I traveled with several family members who have GACs for various invisible disabilities. At times we split up, and they told me they had the same kinds of experiences. At one attraction, two members of our family were not allowed the accommodation that was stamped on their cards. This was not a case of the accommodation not being available at that time, as it was being used by other guests who were more insistent about the GAC being honored. We had noticed more "attitude" of this kind from CM's over the past couple of years, but never to this extent. Fortunately for us, the negative experiences we have had have always been limited to the Magic Kingdom. We haven't had any issues at any of the other parks.

Which attraction didn't let you use a gac but let other guest uses gac with the same stamp sorry cms gave you looks and sighs which they shouldn't and their not trained by Disney to do that they don't on their own and once Disney finds out they can try and fix the problem.

 

[t_daniels]

If they ask,, just look at it as a chance to educate someone on your condition. I have an invisible disability, though it doesn't affect me much. When it does though, it usually involves some explanation on my part..

 

[kaytieeldr]

Well, I just got back today, and there were definitely "looks" as well as grumbling, sighing, and eye rolling on the part of several CM's in the Magic Kingdom. I traveled with several family members who have GACs for various invisible disabilities. At times we split up, and they told me they had the same kinds of experiences. At one attraction, two members of our family were not allowed the accommodation that was stamped on their cards. This was not a case of the accommodation not being available at that time, as it was being used by other guests who were more insistent about the GAC being honored. We had noticed more "attitude" of this kind from CM's over the past couple of years, but never to this extent. Fortunately for us, the negative experiences we have had have always been limited to the Magic Kingdom. We haven't had any issues at any of the other parks.

Then they should ask for the Attraction Lead or Area Lead (lead = supervisor) and have issue addressed on the spot.

 

[infopurposesonly]

Then they should ask for the Attraction Lead or Area Lead (lead = supervisor) and have issue addressed on the spot.

This is all new to them. Maybe when they have been dealing with disability issues as long as my daughter and I have, they will. It was kind of a shock to them, I think.

 

[ttintagel]

Unfortunately, some people are always going to be ignorant or just plain jerks. And even people with VISIBLE disabilities get treated suspiciously.

 

[geek+nerd]

I'm still rather curious as to what exactly happened.

However, in the future, if something like this happens, you can get the CM's name and head right to Town Hall. DH and I had very negative experiences on Haunted Mansion and Buzz Lightyear on the same day last year. I was going to let the Buzz Lightyear one go, but after the Haunted Mansion fiasco (I am a wheelchair user who can walk a few steps, and the CM was telling us that she could not stop the walkway and that I would have to walk down the entire hall, which would have been impossible. We knew she could stop the walkway and insisted on it. She finally gave up, rolled her eyes and agreed to stop it) we went right over to Town Hall and spoke with someone there.

I cried. I didn't mean to, but I did. Disney is our happy place, and we keep going back because it is one place where I feel I am treated so well and I don't feel like a burden. The CM we talked with in Town Hall got right on the phone and called the supervisor at HM. She kept asking us what she could do to make up for that experience; I told her I just didn't want another guest to be made to feel like I felt. After we left, DH said I should have asked for a night in the Castle Suite! LOL

 

[Bete]

She doesn't say she is treated differently, or not allowed something. She sees "a look". She said no one has ever asked her anything or denied her anything. It could be she is very sensitive to "looks" she might be getting? I use the GAC with my autistic son, and have for over 20 trips. Not once has anyone ever said anything to me. If there were "Looks" I didn't see them.

Reread the original post. You'll see the original poster states she gets looks and questions from the CM.

 

[Taytortots]

Thanks for the replies.
To those that spoke about the stamina issue: seeing as it is NOT my only issue and difficulty in the park being in a wheelchair will not solve my problem. I do understand the response to stamina issues is to have a guest use a wheelchair.
A specific occasion that I can remember was the first day of my last trip, at Epcot's Spaceship earth. I had used the alternate entrance that we had been directed to by a cast member. We were sitting inside the waiting area. Most (if not all) of the other guests were in wheel chairs. A specific cast member was grilling me on it. Saying things like 'Why are you here?" "You look perfectly able to stand in the line" "You're not in a wheelchair."
I was honestly very shocked. I'd never experienced this kind of treatment at a Disney park. Thankfully, there was another cast member there (a women, very nice) who apologized for the treatment.
That wasn't all he said either but you get the point. I felt like I was being treated like I was doing something wrong, when I wasn't at all.
I did go to guest services and let them know about what happened. I was really unhappy. I come to Disney because of their great customer service, and here was this person that was being straight out rude to me.
Let me be clear that I understand they might want to ask questions, and i'm happy to answer them, but sometimes it seems as if they're accusing me, and this specific situation was terrible for me.
Guest services was great and apologized, of course.

EDIT:
I just wanted to know if anyone else had a similar experience rather than anything becoming a debate between what is what. I'm sorry if I worded something wrong that you thought shouldn't have been used the way it was.
Could it have been meant a different way? Maybe. There's always a chance I could have taken something that someone said a way that was not intended. To me though, it came off in a rude tone.

 

[kaytieeldr]

It sounds like discrimination to me because "her group" is disabled people and she is being treated differently, because you cannot "see" her disability.

Her group - disabled people - was not being treated differently. One individual was asked one or more questions that have not been identified here before being allowed access to an alternate access to an attraction. Alternate entrances generally do not provide seating (so she'd still have had to stand) and do not tend to shorten the wait time. Sometimes they do, sometimes those guests wait longer. It's possible the CM knew the mainstream line was constantly moving and would have gotten on the ride faster?

Which attraction didn't let you use a gac but let other guest uses gac with the same stamp sorry cms gave you looks and sighs which they shouldn't and their not trained by Disney to do that they don't on their own and once Disney finds out they can try and fix the problem.

Any two guests presenting a GAC at the same attraction at the same time won't necessarily require the same accommodations.