Originally Posted By Donny <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://news.msn.com/pop-culture/parents-say-new-disney-policy-punishes-disabled-kids?GT1=50501">http://news.msn.com/pop-cultur...T1=50501</a> Where do you stand on this ????
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt Some people are simply too self entitled. That's where I stand.
Originally Posted By Donny There needs to be a awy to seperate the truely disabled and those who use the system but don't need the benifits. My wife and I know 2 friends and a family who do not need "Guest Assistance Card" and smile when they use them.
Originally Posted By sjhym333 This is obviously a sticky subject. First I want to applaud Disney for finally taking steps to correct the problems that the GAC cards created. Having worked in the parks I can tell you that the GAC system was abused (as well all now know) but also often misunderstood by the people using it. I can't tell you how many times I had to explain to a guest what their particular GAC card would and would not allow them to do. I also remember seeing GAC cards that were older then God. Some looked like they had been used so many times that it was hard to even read the information on it. From what I can tell the new system seems fair and reasonable. I like the idea that a guest who is need of assistance will need to get a card with their picture on it that has a beginning and end date. While I am sympathetic to the father and others in the article and I can't begin to fathom the difficulties that having a child with severe special needs requires, I am not sure where we got to a point that we think that special accommmodations means that each guest should get exactly what they need? Being given a return time seems an equitable way of working with people with special needs. I have to assume that the party of someone who has restrictions of any type would come to the parks with the understanding that their visit will, by default, not be like the other guests because of their travelling companion. While not the same thing, when our children were infants our expectations of a day at Disney were much different then when we did not have our children with us. I expect that if you are bringing a severely disabled person you must know that you will not be able to fully do the parks when you get there due to the limitations involved. I would also say from experience (I sat in on some of these meetings) that Disney spent a lot of time and money consulting with disability groups to gather information and expertise on how best to accommodate people with special needs. Every single group told Disney that disabled guests wanted to be treated like every other guest in the park. Disney over the years has tried to do that by expanding aisle ways in stores and food locations and by making many queues fully wheelchair accessible. I don't think Disney is punishing anyone. With the millions of guests who come every year they really needed to get a handle on how they handle guest with disabilities. And this seems like it may be a good answer for everyone.
Originally Posted By Disneymom443 It's a shame that some guest have taken advantage of Disney and now the others have to pay for it. (not $$ wise)
Originally Posted By RoadTrip I think the parents are being unreasonable. If for whatever reason the child can't wait, how on earth did they get to WDW in the first place? Either the child had to sit in the car for a long drive, stand in a long line to go through airport security and then a long wait in the waiting room. If they stayed at a Disney Resort they likely had a wait for the bus; if they have a car with them they had to wait for a ferry or monorail. Sounds to me that the parents are complaining becasue THEY liked doing the whole park in three hours and now they can't!
Originally Posted By LadyandtheTramp "Every single group told Disney that disabled guests wanted to be treated like every other guest in the park" Appears to me that this is essentially what Disney is doing here - giving a return time that is the same as if one were standing in line. The parents in the story are not wanting to be treated the same, they want special treatment better than other guests get. While I'm sorry that their offspring has problems, they should not expect to be treated better than anyone else.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip And I can assure you, non-disabled kids have meltdowns at the park too... I've witnessed plenty of them. You either deal with it, or you leave the park.
Originally Posted By TP2000 From the MSN article, this quote sums up why the GAC had to be blown up... <<< Disney found that close to a quarter of all the visitors riding Radiator Springs Racers — 5,000 out of 20,000 on average per day — were using a Guest Assistance Card, according to MiceChat.com, a website devoted to Disney theme-park news. Most were also annual-pass holders. Disney won't provide specific figures. But it says that it now gets hundreds of thousands of requests annually for guest-assistance cards, and that the number of people asking for them has grown "substantially" during the past few years. >>> My God. I've been a member of this online community for over a decade and I feel I have established myself as a reasonable person, so I'm just going to say it... If you have a child who can't wait for a Fastpass-style boarding time to Space Mountain without having a "meltdown" and screaming and threatening violence to themselves or others, then don't go to Disneyland. It's not fair to the child, it's not fair to you, and it's not fair to others. Stay home. Tell them Disneyland is closed. It's just not going to work for you. Visiting Disneyland with a front of line pass isn't a human right, and if you don't get your front of line pass you can't threaten CM's and the general public with verbal or physical disturbances from your disabled child. You will just have to stay home and find other entertainment that can be handled safely and sanely by your disabled child. There, I said it. I feel better.
Originally Posted By Brad If you have a child who can't wait for a Fastpass-style boarding time to Space Mountain without having a "meltdown" and screaming and threatening violence to themselves or others, then don't go to Disneyland. It's not fair to the child, it's not fair to you, and it's not fair to others. Stay home. Tell them Disneyland is closed. It's just not going to work for you. Visiting Disneyland with a front of line pass isn't a human right, and if you don't get your front of line pass you can't threaten CM's and the general public with verbal or physical disturbances from your disabled child. You will just have to stay home and find other entertainment that can be handled safely and sanely by your disabled child." Why am I not surprised that TP once again makes perfect sense?
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I completely agree with TP's sentiment. Kids go through a lot during a day at a theme park, and they need to be ready for it. Yes, it would be fun to let them have their fun a year or two earlier, but everybody will enjoy it more when they're actually ready for it As for the numbers quoted in that article, I questioned them when they were originally reported by MiceAge. I'm sure that it actually was a high percentage of visitors, but those numbers are a little tough to believe and were posted in an article full of sensationalistic information. In my opinion, they should be considered with a grain of salt
Originally Posted By gaston lives I'm disgusted by the responses I've read in this thread. Anybody have a special needs child? Saying they should stay home because they have needs that you don't? Disgusting in every level. That being said, let me explain my stance. I have a brother in law with Down's syndrome. One of his features is that he has one leg longer than the other. This causes him great pain to stand for long periods of time. When we all go to DW, he has to get a wheel chair due to the pain he would endure. Admittedly I have been wary of how badly he may or may not need it, but that's my mother in laws decision. As he is in the chair, he gets access to the assistance card. The tricky part is that the card allows the bearer plus like 10 others to ride simultaneously. I have benefitted from this, but every time I do, I feel horrible because I do NOT need the card. I use it in order to keep the family together. What makes me sick is that his sisters, not my wife though, will use the card when he's back at the hotel! I've told them off before, and this is the type of thing that has to stop. The ADA states that companies need to provide access to all people, event hose with disabilities, and provide a way for them to have no limits or reasonable restrictions. Some children, like those in the article, really need the benefit of quicker lines, and I have no problem waiting an extra 3-4 minutes in queue to help them out. In order to stop the craziness, I think the cards should have a picture and allow for only 3-4 people total. On top of that, I think certain rides should only allow access to the fast pass line. These people are not at the parks to make YOU have a good time, they are there so THEY can experience the magic of Disney as well. For a lot of these kids, it may be the ONLY thing they have to look forward to in life as many will never have families of their own, hold down jobs, or even drive a car.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I don't think that anybody is saying that people with special needs should stay home. If you read TP's post, it specifically mentions the ability to use a FP-style return time for attractions as a way to avoid this. Their waits in the queue will be minimal (though overall the same length as the standby queue), and seem to completely meet the ADA mandate of "reasonable accommodation". TP says (and I agree) that in certain instances where that type of accommodation is not adequate, perhaps those people shouldn't go to the parks, where being in large crowds of people is an integral part of the experience. With the new system, your brother in law will be able to either use the wheelchair in the standby queue (if it is accessible), or be granted a return time for roughly the same wait as the traditional queue. If he has trouble waiting in crowded areas, I'm sure that he will be able to opt-out of the queues and be granted a FP-like return time at any attraction so he can wait it out somewhere that is less overwhelming The new system is also designed to cut down on the 'cheating' that you mentioned, and will only allow a group to board a ride if the cardholder is present and riding. If he's back at the hotel, his sisters will need to get in the queue with everybody else
Originally Posted By RoadTrip Sometimes you just have to suck it up and say "No, this type of vacation isn't for me." That is kind of where I'm at. My COPD/Emphysema make it difficult to spend all day walking and waiting in line. WDW is blessedly flat which makes it possible, but still not always enjoyable. Sure,I could rent an ECV but I just don't see that as an enjoyable option. Let's face it... strollers and ECVs are a PITA in the parks and I don't want to contribute to making matters worse. So I get my Disney fix on the Disney Cruise Line. Less walking, less standing in line, no ECV necessary. Not everyone is guaranteed access to every type of vacation. Would you expect to take a disabled child on a trek in the Himalayas? Probably not. What makes a Disney Park so different? Your child, or my child, has no RIGHT to a Disney Park vacation. Most often, economics make the visit impossible. Disability would restrict very few. Should we require that Disney offer free admission to anyone from a family receiving Food Stamps? Think through this crap. At times modern society has gone nuts.
Originally Posted By sjhym333 Just wanted to comment about the GAC card for a second. No GAC card ever allowed 10 people to enter an attraction through an alternative entrance. If that happened it was because CM's decided to do that not because of Disney policy. Under Disney's policy (I used to teach this to CM's) on GAC card was...The GAC card allowed the person with the card and up to 2 other guests to wait with the guest before boarding. ALL other members of the party were required to either wait in the standby line or FP line then reunite with their party at the load area. That was the official policy. Sooo, the way it should have worked was lets say a party of 6 approaches with a GAC card that allows a guest to wait in a wheelchair at an attraction whose line is not full w/c accessible. The guest in the wheelchair was directed to a place near the load to wait, while the other members of their part waited on line and then reunited the entire party after the rest of the party got to load. What that insured was a fair wait for everyone. Now I know that many many times a CM would allow a full party to go to the alternate loading area together. Many CM's did not want to separate parties and did not want to deal with the angry guests who did not either want to separate or wait in line. But that was not the policy and is part of the problem with the GAC Card. I will also say that I have a lot of sympathy for guests who travel with someone who is special needs. It must be very hard to do. And that was noticeable by CM's. I would also say that I say A LOT of guest travelling with family members with special needs who wanted (with the best intentions I believe) their family member to experience Disney to the fullest, but in reality was travelling with someone who probably did not need to do some of the things they did. I had to step in on many occasions to tell a family member that I could not allow their family member to ride an attraction due to the disability they had, which made it unsafe for them. It was a terrible thing to do, but had to be taken care of. I am not saying that everyone did that but it happened all too frequently. If your family member cannot keep themselves sitting in an upright positions, there are certain attractions that really should be avoided.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "Think through this crap. At times modern society has gone nuts." Amen.
Originally Posted By TP2000 gaston, you should go read the big Miceage update from earlier this week. Miceage got its hands on a DAS card early, and there is a color photo of the person it is issued to. Your family will no longer be able to cheat the system while their disabled brother is resting back at the hotel. Please go re-read my post, as I don't think you comprehended the concept. I understand that you feel I am "disgusting at every level", but it would seem to me that type of very strong language might be better served with your own family who is using the condition of their own disabled brother to skip the lines when the brother isn't even on property. It would have made for a fun family discussion in the hotel room, that's for sure! ;-) But that option for your family to cheat the system in the name of the disabled brother is over for them. Sucks, doesn't it?
