New York Post: Rich Manhattan moms hire handicapped tour guides so kids can cut lines at Disney World

[NoCalMike]

I really can't stand to go to theme parks unless it is the "offseason" I don't care how fun a ride is, I am not willing to stand there for up to 3 hours to ride it.

I tend to go to theme parks in the cooler/colder months.

[Ellis]

Yeah see, I think you missed the part where he said integrity. :doh:

No I didn't.

Integrity is a dying art.

[Larry]

This thread makes me never want to go to Disney. I can't fathom there being a ride that is worth standing around for 2 hours or more in a line to go on. That's ridiculous.

I never have. Not once. Ever.

Yeah, there are a very few rides, at a few times of the day, where you can, if you want to. (Well, I assume that you can. I don't think i've ever even seen a wait longer than about 1:30. But it's certainly possible that they exist.)

And, FWIW? I've read some blog pieces. Disney has budgeted, I believe, a billion dollars, for new technology at their parks. And, according to the guy who's supposedly in charge of it, the #1 goal for the upgrade is to eliminate waiting in line.

(I confess to being skeptical as to whether they can achieve this goal. But that's what the guy said.)

As I understand it, their new Dumbo ride is one of their attempts at this. Instead of having a waiting line, out front, supposedly families enter a circus tent (that part of the park is being themed to resemble a circus). They're handed a pager as they enter. Inside, it's air conditioned. They have seating for grownups who want to rest, and playland equipment for kids who want to climb on things and play. (The term that the exec used was "equalize their energies".) After a while, the pager goes off, and it's your turn on the Dumbo ride.

(As I understand it, the waiting area will also have vendors selling snacks and trinkets, so Disney can extract money from people who used to be standing in line.)

[mojo]

I went this year from April 8-15, the week after Spring break and it was perfect timing. The weather was great and the crowds were light after the parks being slammed during Spring Break. We went with Fast Pass for the more populor rides and the longest we waited for any ride was 30 minutes. The majority of the rides were 15 minutes or less.

The money I saved by not hiring a handicapped tourguide I was able to spend on beer.

[Special K]

I always laugh when dumbasses brag about being dumbasses.

I've taken my nieces and nephews to Disneyland multiple times and have even taken a high school softball team I coached to Disneyworld; I've never waited in line more than 25-30 minutes. I'm astounded by the number of people who don't utilize fast passes. :doh:

Obviously these mothers are narcissistic POS's who lack any integrity, but I pity them.

[NoCalMike]

Also, a good way to avoid long ride lines is, concentrate on the shows/attractions/live action presentations during the day, because once the late afternoon and evening hits, most of the families head for the exits and you can start getting on rides without more than a 5-10 minute wait.

I remember Pirates was crowded all day until the sun started going down, then you could basically ride it, get back in line and ride it again.

Disneyland is one of the better theme parks for non-ride attractions.

It is a really fun place to just walk around at and take everything in.

Universal Studios has also improved a lot in that area over the last few years too.

[No_Pressure]

I come from a fairly wealthy family and I know a lot of wealthy people. None of them would be ****ing stupid enough or have little enough sense to ever hire a handicapped person to "do Disney". Then again we're all "new money" (no, I didn't go to see that godawful new Gatsby film). Those Manhatten scumbags must be "old money" which means they don't truly understand the value of a dollar, and it's only a matter of time until they squander whatever empire their ancestors so tediously assembled.

Also, a good way to avoid long ride lines is, concentrate on the shows/attractions/live action presentations during the day, because once the late afternoon and evening hits, most of the families head for the exits and you can start getting on rides without more than a 5-10 minute wait.

I remember Pirates was crowded all day until the sun started going down, then you could basically ride it, get back in line and ride it again.

Disneyland is one of the better theme parks for non-ride attractions.

It is a really fun place to just walk around at and take everything in.

Yeah, I've been to Disneyland and Disney World. The lines were generally speaking a bigger issue at Disney World, but I found what you're saying to be the absolute truth. Typically, later in the day, many of the small children who have been standing in long lines, taking everything in, out in the heat, etc. will be back at their hotels or restaurants getting dinner. That's when certain rides become walk-ons.

[Henry]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/10329792/Disneyworld-and-Disneyland-change-rules-on-disabled-access-after-abuse-scandal.html

 

Well that's that. Looks like I won't be able to take my son back there. He wasn't the biggest fan anyway.

[stevenaa]

My father has a bad knee and ankle and can't stand or walk for long periods.  We rented a scooter and he has handicap tags.    We went in the spring and they would not give him the pass.  They've restricted the passes due to people like this.  Really hampered his enjoyment as he couldn't wait in a lot of lines. 

[Larry]

Sigh.

Still, I can't think of a better solution.

 

My father has a bad knee and ankle and can't stand or walk for long periods.  We rented a scooter and he has handicap tags.    We went in the spring and they would not give him the pass.  They've restricted the passes due to people like this.  Really hampered his enjoyment as he couldn't wait in a lot of lines.

REALLY surprised to hear this. What kind of proof were they demanding?

[DM72]

So a few rich snobs ruins it for everybody.

I'm sure Disney can come up with a better solution than this.

[Slateman]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/10329792/Disneyworld-and-Disneyland-change-rules-on-disabled-access-after-abuse-scandal.html

 

Well that's that. Looks like I won't be able to take my son back there. He wasn't the biggest fan anyway.

 

This is why we can't have nice things.

 

BTW, I'm sure Disney World will adapt their lines to accommodate wheelchairs and another disabled assistance devices. Essentially, all this means is that the disabled will have to stand/sit in the same lines as everyone else.

[Larry]

This is why we can't have nice things.

BTW, I'm sure Disney World will adapt their lines to accommodate wheelchairs and another disabled assistance devices. Essentially, all this means is that the disabled will have to stand/sit in the same lines as everyone else.

Problem is, some handicaps affect a person's ability to wait.

The article interviewed a mom who has autistic children. She says they aren't capable of waiting more than a few minutes before they start trying to push the people in front of them.

My mom is that way. She simply cannot wait. For anything. I can't take her to a restaurant where she orders something, and waits for them to bring it to the table. I have to take her to buffets. When I take her to restaurants here in town, I order things like soup, for her. Things they don't have to cook. Things where she can have her food, two minutes after she gets to the table.

[Sweet Sassy Molassy]

To be honest, I didn't have a terribly big issue with this. Sure on the surface it seems wrong spirited and mean to the handicapped person (they are getting used for their disability, as it were). However, at the same time, someone is making a pretty good chunk of change and getting a free trip to Disney ... I can think of much worse ways to make much less money. Now if the family was making the disabled person, buy their own ticket, and sit outside the ride, while they had a great time at his/her expense, then that'd be way wrong. I mean seriously, let's not act like it's not already in practice now, hell the only reason Disney doesn't like it is because they aren't making the money that these people would have otherwise have had to pay to them for "Disney" tour guides and the vip pass. So to my mind these people just found a way to save some money, while also giving someone (who's completely fine with doing this) a free trip to Disney on top of it. There are worse things for me to be pissed at the 1% about, this I can't be mad at.

[rictus58]

Problem is, some handicaps affect a person's ability to wait.

The article interviewed a mom who has autistic children. She says they aren't capable of waiting more than a few minutes before they start trying to push the people in front of them.

My mom is that way. She simply cannot wait. For anything. I can't take her to a restaurant where she orders something, and waits for them to bring it to the table. I have to take her to buffets. When I take her to restaurants here in town, I order things like soup, for her. Things they don't have to cook. Things where she can have her food, two minutes after she gets to the table.

I read a lot at one of the Disney Forums. Some of these people wear a badge of honor to have a kid "on the spectrum". Which most of them claim. There are some who do have serious conditions, but year over year, I'd see people more crusing in the scooters at Disney.

 

To Quote the article posted earlier...

Rebecca Goddard said she takes her sons, ages 4 and 6, to Disneyland once a week. They have autism and can't stand in lines longer than a few minutes before they start pushing other people.

 

The guest assistance passes were never intended to be front of the line cards. And frankly, there's sometimes even a wait when you use them. Nobody "wants" to wait in line. But we all have to. If her kids inability to wait is causing them to push others, she needs to find better things for them to do.

[Larry]

I read a lot at one of the Disney Forums. Some of these people wear a badge of honor to have a kid "on the spectrum". Which most of them claim. There are some who do have serious conditions, but year over year, I'd see people more crusing in the scooters at Disney.

 

Oh, I agree that a lot of the folks on scooters at Disney, their handicap is "needs to lose 100 lbs".

OTOH, can I really, authoritatively, say, that that isn't a handicap? I mean, I think we'd all agree that yeah, it is a handicap. Should we be pronouncing that it's a "handicap that doesn't count", or some such?

And I can also say, from experience, that not all handicaps are readily visible. Years ago, Mom's physical status was that she could stand, and walk. She just couldn't do it very far. I'd take her to a restaurant, and she could walk from the car to the table just fine. But when we went to the grocery store, she had to have a shopping cart, to use as an aid, so she could lean on it.

 

A person, just standing there and looking at her, could very well come to the conclusion that she's just some lady who gamed the system so she could get a handicap parking permit. 

 

I'm sure that there's lots of people who look perfectly healthy, but who don't have the endurance to spend a day hiking around Disney. 

 

The guest assistance passes were never intended to be front of the line cards. And frankly, there's sometimes even a wait when you use them. Nobody "wants" to wait in line. But we all have to. If her kids inability to wait is causing them to push others, she needs to find better things for them to do.

 

Yeah, I think I commented earlier that with Mom, I'n not certain that her wheelchair actually saves much time. When I can talk her into riding a ride at all, there's only certain ones she's interested in. I'd take her to It's a Small World, or jungle Cruise, and yeah, the handicap entrance takes her past the waiting line. But then, when we get to the front, we have to stand there and wait till the one handicapped accessible boat comes around. We'd skip the line, and then stand there and watch them load 15 boats. (And, if there's a wheel chair in front of us, then we have to wait for the special boat, then they load the wheelchair that's in front of us, then we have to wait while that person goes all the way around, so we can use that same boat.

I'm not certain that having the wheel chair really saves that much time.

But then, my experiences might not be typical of people with handicap access. We need a boat that the wheel chair can fit on. The folks whose handicap is "I can't wait", they can take the next boat in line. And, the rides that I can talk Mom into riding, they aren't the rides with the big huge lines.

----------

I also wonder how much Disney's new technology initiative may change the dynamics. I've read that Disney has budgeted a BILLION dollars, to upgrade technology at the parks. And their #1 goal is to eliminate waiting in line. (Because their marketing surveys say that's the biggest complaint people have, about visiting.)

I beta tested the thing, when I took Mom, in June.

It allows people to get several Fast Passes, before their trip. (You can request up to three, per day of your stay. And then the system will often give you a few more, for less-requested rides. You have some limited ability to pick and choose when you want to ride your favorites.)

Maybe, a year or so from now, their handicap system will simply consist of giving handicapped parties better, or more, or something, Fast Passes.

[rictus58]

Oh, I agree that a lot of the folks on scooters at Disney, their handicap is "needs to lose 100 lbs".

OTOH, can I really, authoritatively, say, that that isn't a handicap? I mean, I think we'd all agree that yeah, it is a handicap. Should we be pronouncing that it's a "handicap that doesn't count", or some such?

And I can also say, from experience, that not all handicaps are readily visible. Years ago, Mom's physical status was that she could stand, and walk. She just couldn't do it very far. I'd take her to a restaurant, and she could walk from the car to the table just fine. But when we went to the grocery store, she had to have a shopping cart, to use as an aid, so she could lean on it.

 

A person, just standing there and looking at her, could very well come to the conclusion that she's just some lady who gamed the system so she could get a handicap parking permit. 

 

I'm sure that there's lots of people who look perfectly healthy, but who don't have the endurance to spend a day hiking around Disney. 

 

 

Yeah, I think I commented earlier that with Mom, I'n not certain that her wheelchair actually saves much time. When I can talk her into riding a ride at all, there's only certain ones she's interested in. I'd take her to It's a Small World, or jungle Cruise, and yeah, the handicap entrance takes her past the waiting line. But then, when we get to the front, we have to stand there and wait till the one handicapped accessible boat comes around. We'd skip the line, and then stand there and watch them load 15 boats. (And, if there's a wheel chair in front of us, then we have to wait for the special boat, then they load the wheelchair that's in front of us, then we have to wait while that person goes all the way around, so we can use that same boat.

I'm not certain that having the wheel chair really saves that much time.

But then, my experiences might not be typical of people with handicap access. We need a boat that the wheel chair can fit on. The folks whose handicap is "I can't wait", they can take the next boat in line. And, the rides that I can talk Mom into riding, they aren't the rides with the big huge lines.

----------

I also wonder how much Disney's new technology initiative may change the dynamics. I've read that Disney has budgeted a BILLION dollars, to upgrade technology at the parks. And their #1 goal is to eliminate waiting in line. (Because their marketing surveys say that's the biggest complaint people have, about visiting.)

I beta tested the thing, when I took Mom, in June.

It allows people to get several Fast Passes, before their trip. (You can request up to three, per day of your stay. And then the system will often give you a few more, for less-requested rides. You have some limited ability to pick and choose when you want to ride your favorites.)

Maybe, a year or so from now, their handicap system will simply consist of giving handicapped parties better, or more, or something, Fast Passes.

 

I don't doubt that the new RFID bands will help them develop a better system to allow them to better accomodate people with Handicaps. I think the major roadblock Disney faces, is they can't really require proof of someone for a handicap. A few months ago,I could show up, and say I have anxiety in crowds, and I'd get a guest assistance card. And yes, I've heard of people getting them for that reason. Of course, common sense dictates you don't visit the worlds most visited theme park if you don't like crowds.

 

It's a shame that the lazy, self-serving segment of the population has ruined a good thing for those it could benefit.

[Henry]

I read a lot at one of the Disney Forums. Some of these people wear a badge of honor to have a kid "on the spectrum". Which most of them claim. There are some who do have serious conditions, but year over year, I'd see people more crusing in the scooters at Disney.

 

The guest assistance passes were never intended to be front of the line cards. And frankly, there's sometimes even a wait when you use them. Nobody "wants" to wait in line. But we all have to. If her kids inability to wait is causing them to push others, she needs to find better things for them to do.

 

You don't need to put quotation marks around the phrase. There is a spectrum. When you have a kid on it you'll know. And if, after spending years weathering severe meltdowns and wrestling with schools for proper programs and the absolute, indescribable unbearable anxiety of wondering just how your child will someday survive in the world without you, some parents cope by exhibiting some pride in the fact that they have not yet lost their freaking minds, I'd grant them that small token badge of honor.

 

And I reject the notion that the best way to raise a kid with autism is to just keep them sequestered away in a dark room. Sorry, the best way for them to learn how to make their way in the world is to get them out in it. The last time I took my son to Disneyland I spent $80 or so for his ticket and spent five hours in the car in the parking lot with him while my two other kids and my wife walked around the park. It was just too overwhelming for him. He just couldn't do it. On a better day he probably could have. He might have even been able to go on a ride if the wait wasn't too long, and it would have been a really good experience for him to succeed like that.

 

It would be nice to at least give him that chance, and he won't have that chance now. But you know, who gives a crap, right? I should just find something better for him to do.

[rictus58]

You don't need to put quotation marks around the phrase. There is a spectrum. When you have a kid on it you'll know. And if, after spending years weathering severe meltdowns and wrestling with schools for proper programs and the absolute, indescribable unbearable anxiety of wondering just how your child will someday survive in the world without you, some parents cope by exhibiting some pride in the fact that they have not yet lost their freaking minds, I'd grant them that small token badge of honor.

 

And I reject the notion that the best way to raise a kid with autism is to just keep them sequestered away in a dark room. Sorry, the best way for them to learn how to make their way in the world is to get them out in it. The last time I took my son to Disneyland I spent $80 or so for his ticket and spent five hours in the car in the parking lot with him while my two other kids and my wife walked around the park. It was just too overwhelming for him. He just couldn't do it. On a better day he probably could have. He might have even been able to go on a ride if the wait wasn't too long, and it would have been a really good experience for him to succeed like that.

 

It would be nice to at least give him that chance, and he won't have that chance now. But you know, who gives a crap, right? I should just find something better for him to do.

Henry,

I'm sorry you were offended. I could/should have worded my thoughts differently.

[Dan T.]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/10329792/Disneyworld-and-Disneyland-change-rules-on-disabled-access-after-abuse-scandal.html

 

Well that's that. Looks like I won't be able to take my son back there. He wasn't the biggest fan anyway.

 

 

I was struck by this part:

 

"Rebecca Goddard said she takes her sons, ages 4 and 6, to Disneyland once a week. They have autism and can't stand in lines longer than a few minutes before they start pushing other people."

 

Do people really go to Disney once a week?  Isn't that a bit of overload?

[Henry]

Henry,

I'm sorry you were offended. I could/should have worded my thoughts differently.

 

 

Eh. I'm having myself a week. You're fine.

 

Sorry I flew off the handle.

[Larry]

Do people really go to Disney once a week? Isn't that a bit of overload?

For a while, there, I was taking mom every 6-8 weeks. Three day trips (three full days, not counting the two travel days), Contemporary hotel, breakfast and dinner at Chef Mickey's.

It was therapy for her. Only way to make her briefly happy. And when she's there, she eats a whole lot more.

(I've cut back, lately. It doesn't make her as happy as it used to. Although she does still eat a lot more, when we're there. Now I'm taking her every 3-4 months.)

I have no trouble at all imagining someone who's caring for two special children being willing to take them some place where they're happy, on a very regular basis. If you live nearby, and you aren't eating every meal in the expensive restaurants, it doesn't cost much.