I'm not disagreeing with you, because that's an article I've wanted to write for years. However...
1) even though I've been with the Weekly nearly 10 years, I'm only a freelancer (not staff) and must defer to my editors & publisher on those kind of decisions.
Oh, I get that. And I'd flat out ask them why they wouldn't want a story that winds up ... what's the social media word ... oh yeah ... trending. Because a real in-depth piece on how Disney controls the message would get picked up all over. You could also, as a freelancer, write it for someone else if the OW would strangely not run with it.
I do get how 'complicated' these situations can get from my days working in that field. How a great story gets killed just because it doesn't fit into an editor or publisher's personal agenda.
2) the bad blood between Disney PR and OW goes back long before me, to the days when Charlie Ridgeway was at WDW and Jim Hill wrote a critical column for the Weekly:
http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/eye-drive/Category?oid=2240448
Yeah, well, Jim Hill has changed his strategy to be relevant. So instead of critical pieces of writing (even though I've long hated his style, such as it is), he now writes strictly propaganda. Yes, Anna and Elsa topiaries or an interview with some Star Wars toon voice 'talent' or the like. So strange that Jim has gone completely soft on Disney (and UNI for that matter) and is now back on their lists. I believe they even fly him to events and give him free hotels, tickets, meals etc.
But no matter, what went down between Disney and Hill has nothing to do with you, the OW today or the story I'm suggesting. (And I can't suggest it strong enough ... let's just say I know an organization much larger that would almost certainly jump on it IF someone else broke it!)
3) WDW does cooperate with us in the sense that I could request a comp park pass if I wanted (I don't, I pay for my AP). They just don't invite us to media events, but that doesn't stop me from covering them; I was as the Frozen Summer parade debut standing just outside the press corral, and had a better view than they did ;-)
Free tickets mean nothing. All you have to do is make friends with a few CMs, regrettably, one check away from living in their cars and you'll have all the free tix you need. As far as I'm concerned, any writer who normally covers the parks should have APs (preferably paid for by the employer). I don't believe Soup & Salad Sandra visits WDW without letting CP know she's on property. Not how I'd play it ... reporters are supposed to be paid independent observers.
4) I've tried addressing the issue in print a few times over the years, and always get a big backlash. Not only do most readers not care about media access, they think I'm a big whiner if I complain about it.
The story shouldn't be about YOU. The story should be about how Disney fashions the narrative by controlling the media. Who they place on their precious list (and purchase) would only be part. As media has shifted this presents a huge opportunity for someone like yourself because even organizations like the NYT and WSJ have ceded their independence and become propagandists for many of the companies/politicos they cover. Meaning an alternative outlet like the OW, or something like it, is precisely the place for breaking something like this.
Again, you are dealing with what I believe is the largest single site private employer in the nation (definitely in Florida). How they control what people get to read and discuss about their business operations affects so many people ... many who would never go near one of their parks.
I'd love to think a front page article from me would bring the whole Disney PR machine crashing down. But realistically, it would barely merit a shrug...
I think ... know, I know you're wrong. You should push it. Strongly. ... And there are other ways of going about this that you likely are already aware of.
