Disney News: Disability Pass

[Marti Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Marti]

DISNEY

Disabled guests will no longer be allowed to go straight to the front of the lines at Walt Disney Co. theme parks starting in Oct, 2013.

Disney is switching to a new pass for people with disabilities on Oct. 9 that will replace the Guest Assistance Card with the new Disability Access Service Card.

The new pass will be similar to the FastPass system and will issue tickets with a return time and shorter wait times for guests at Walt Disney World and Disneyland in California.

[Presley Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Presley]

I don't approve. I've never needed a disabled pass and never known anyone who needed one, but I always thought it was a much needed thing.
Minus one for Disney for doing this.

[Luanne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Luanne]

That's too bad. One of the best Disney experiences we had was when my younger dd and I went after she'd had hip surgery. She used a scooter and crutches. We did see some abuse of the privilege though.

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

I don't approve. I've never needed a disabled pass and never known anyone who needed one, but I always thought it was a much needed thing.
Minus one for Disney for doing this.

Disney is doing this because the current system is rife with abuse. A whole industry has sprung up of people who obtain their guest assistance card, then hire themselves out as "tour guides" to families to cut the lines. Apparently the going rate is about $50 to $100/per hour. See this story, for example: Undercover at Disney: 'Deplorable' scheme to skip lines. Disney also apparently did not do this unilaterally. They reportedly worked out the new policy on conjunction with several groups that are involved with and represent people with disabilities.

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By the way - did you know that flying in an airplane is one of the best healing activities you can do? If you don't believe, just notice the number of people who request wheelchair assistance to get through security (via a special gate) and to the gate, then do early boarding on the place. But miracle of miracles, when the plane arrives at the destination they don't need any help whatsoever!!!

[Pstreet1 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Pstreet1]

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By the way - did you know that flying in an airplane is one of the best healing activities you can do? If you don't believe, just notice the number of people who request wheelchair assistance to get through security (via a special gate) and to the gate, then do early boarding on the place. But miracle of miracles, when the plane arrives at the destination they don't need any help whatsoever!!!

You're right that there are healthy people who request wheelchair assistance, but there are also people like me who need assistance some of the time. I don't always have breathing difficulties, but sometimes I do, and if the walk to the next gate is minimal, I can manage. If it isn't minimal, I have to have assistance or not get there. My usual tactic is to turn down the wheelchair at checkin and see how I do on the way to the gate when there is no time pressure. Leaving, I ask how long the walk will be and decide on that basis whether I need assistance or not. Sometimes, there is no question, and I have to have it when exiting the plane.

Not saying that applies to all, but there are some whose need varies and isn't predictable in advance.

[Hobbitess Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hobbitess]

Disney also apparently did not do this unilaterally. They reportedly worked out the new policy on conjunction with several groups that are involved with and represent people with disabilities.

Disney has a pretty good record of working with people who have disabilities. But GACs weren't supposed to function as front-of-the-line cards anyhow; I know people who were disabled but refused to use them because they'd so often become "privileged" cards. GACs were originally supposed to give people with disabilities equal access to the rides, not faster access. Disney may have to work some kinks out of the system, especially with the new magic bands and fastpass plus project going on, but I don't think their underlying goal of providing people who are disabled with equal access is going to change any; just how they try to accomplish it.

[BoardGirl Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close BoardGirl]

I don't approve. I've never needed a disabled pass and never known anyone who needed one, but I always thought it was a much needed thing.
Minus one for Disney for doing this.

Unclear. You don't like that they changed the broken process or don't like new process or don't like either of them.

I'm not at all clear on what you are dinging Disney for, as they destroyed their own program, which they can do at will. They have always been accomodating to all.

[Luanne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Luanne]

Are the GACs a fairly new thing? When my dd and I went we didn't get one. I guess seeing her in a motorized scooter was enough to get us to bypass the lines.

[mdurette Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mdurette]

Curious - but why would you think that a disabled person should not have to wait like the rest of the non disabled crowd?

[Luanne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Luanne]

Curious - but why would you think that a disabled person should not have to wait like the rest of the non disabled crowd?

Because many of them can't wait as long as it takes it some of those lines. Do you know any disabled people?

[Presley Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Presley]

Unclear. You don't like that they changed the broken process or don't like new process or don't like either of them.

I'm not at all clear on what you are dinging Disney for, as they destroyed their own program, which they can do at will. They have always been accomodating to all.

Don't like the new policy. Many disabled people cannot spend more than a couple hours in the parks. If they have to go to guest services, wait in line there, to get a fast pass for each ride, I don't think they will get much out of their day.

[chriskre Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close chriskre]

Curious - but why would you think that a disabled person should not have to wait like the rest of the non disabled crowd?

Its not that they don't want to wait but many don't have the strength or energy to wait.
I can tell you as someone who has personally experienced this this past year.

My yearly pass became uselesss to me because I just don't havethe strength to stand for 70 minutes in line per ride.
I always bought the annual pass but this year life threw me a curve ball and for the first time in my life I actually dread going to Disney.
its just not fun if you cant run and play.
Disney really needs to think this one over.

Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

You're right that there are healthy people who request wheelchair assistance, but there are also people like me who need assistance some of the time. I don't always have breathing difficulties, but sometimes I do, and if the walk to the next gate is minimal, I can manage. If it isn't minimal, I have to have assistance or not get there. My usual tactic is to turn down the wheelchair at checkin and see how I do on the way to the gate when there is no time pressure. Leaving, I ask how long the walk will be and decide on that basis whether I need assistance or not. Sometimes, there is no question, and I have to have it when exiting the plane.

Not saying that applies to all, but there are some whose need varies and isn't predictable in advance.

And do you request flight attendant assistance to load your 30-lb (or more) wheeled bag into the overhead bin when you get on, then miraculously remove that tote with no problem at all at the end of the flight, then proceed to walk at a brisk pace up the jetway and through the terminal?

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

Don't like the new policy. Many disabled people cannot spend more than a couple hours in the parks. If they have to go to guest services, wait in line there, to get a fast pass for each ride, I don't think they will get much out of their day.

Then perhaps the park isn't a good choice for those, just as a beach resort in the tropics isn't a good choice for a person who is genetically disposed to skin cancer and music camp isn't a good choice for a person with tin ear such as mine.

As I've gotten older I find it in increasingly difficult to sit through a movie at a movie theater. My solution isn't to ask the movie theater to give me a ticket that will allow me reentrance into the theater several times so that I can see the entire movie in smaller segments; rather I choose to not go to movie theaters and use movie viewing options that allow me to a view a movie in shorter segments.

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The business model for a theme park is not built on people spending a couple of hours in the park and then leaving. They don't make money on the entrance fee; that covers the base cost of operating the resort. They make money on all of the additional stuff people purchase inside the park. Theme parks want people there all day, because the more time people are at the park, the more money they spend. It makes perfect sense for them to structure their program in favor people staying in the park all day, in same way that it makes sense for a resort located on a beach to tilt their services in favor of the traveling public that prefers to stay at a beach.

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Maybe the disabled access program that makes the most sense is a form of the old system where you got lettered tickets that were good for different classes of rides. A fiixed numbers of tickets could be provided for different ride groups, with certain tickets good at certain times of day. So maybe you could access 4 "A" -group attractions during the day, segregated into separate 2-hour intervals. Similar blocks could be provided for a set of "B" attractions, "C" attractions, etc. At any time that a person wants to wait in line as an ordinary guest they could do so - so if a line is sufficiently short at an attraction they can do that attraction without burning a ticket. That way a person with disability challenges could get roughly the same attractions access as a non-disabled cohort, would be spend the amount of time in the park that the park operator desires, and not be penalized for having a pass when attractions are otherwise lightly attended.

Such a program could even be structured with different degrees of access privileges, so that a person who is physically unable to participate in some of the most popular attractions (such as the roller coaster rides) could get a cheaper pass that omits those attractions.

[Pstreet1 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Pstreet1]

Nope--can't take carry-on luggage unless my husband is there to handle it. If I'm alone, it is all checked. And I never walk at a brisk pace, though I wish I could.