armyfamilyof5
Well-Known Member
Never heard of the Howie's Angels or character-breakfast system screw up, do tell!
-
Welcome to the WDWMAGIC.COM Forums!
Please take a look around, and feel free to sign up and join the community.
Families of autistic kids sue Disney parks over policy on lines
- Thread starter GrumpyFan
- Start date
Never heard of the Howie's Angels or character-breakfast system screw up, do tell!
EOD K9
Well-Known Member
Wasn't that a TV show?
unkadug
Follower of "Saget"The Cult
armyfamilyof5
Well-Known Member
I just found this when I googled it: http://articles.orlandosentinel.com...04180361_1_cinderella-walt-disney-world-table It says the meal was only $15.99 for adults and $8.99 for children, wow what a difference 10 or so years makes! Thanks for the throw back Tuesday!
ParentsOf4
Well-Known Member
For anyone who is paying attention, that's a 200% increase in 12 years.
GoofGoof
Premium Member
For anyone who is paying attention, that's a 200% increase in 12 years.
The price of food has gone up a lot...seems justified. Damn farmers and their extravagant lifestyle
EricJ
Active Member
Not only that, but these people were downright creepy:
As you can tell from the article, Howie was a bit--well, if I said "narcissistic", it would sound funny, but remember, it is a psychiatric condition--which means that his little gathering had to be a downright cult. To get the benefits of his scalped reservations, you had to be a member of his forum, most of which spent their time sickeningly fawning over each other. ("Thank you so much, my daughter's dream came true, here's a Rainbow Pony Angel .gif I decided to share...")
This was around the days of Rec.arts.disney.parks, (the sane Disney forum), one of the "Angels" would usually come over and brag about her cool deal, we would all chastise them for the shameless selfish scofflaws they were, and they would go back and spread stories on the Net of how they were being "persecuted" by our "cabal" of Disney fans. Once in a while, they'd try to defend the idea, and once the consensus pointed out how wrong it was, they would corner with "Well, what are you, some kind of spokespeople for the Mouse?--These people DESERVE it for the way they've been jacking up the prices!" Ah, the ugly face of entitlement...
Disney later found out, and required a credit-card reservation for character breakfasts--Not to be outdone, Howie first bragged, "Ha, no problem...It's always easy to get quick credit cards under assumed names!" We can assume that idea didn't work out.
When I first heard about the Cripple-for-Hire folks abusing the system, you didn't need to explain them to me twice.
Yes, the worst part was that it now focused attention on the Princess breakfasts, and Disney became so aware that if moms would lie, cheat, steal and backstab to get them, that they'd better create MORE of the meals available.
Cindy's Table now made all three meals character dinners, and they even took over the Akershus. (Which used to be my favorite international restaurant at Epcot.
Only later did they find out from the Disney Moms panel that half of the moms wrestling each other over the breakfasts literally didn't even know the Princesses appeared anywhere else in the parks. There was plenty of publicity for the breakfasts, but how many knew to find Cindy and Belle in the back by Mickey's County Fair? Hopefully the new Hall has taken a little of the pressure off of that. (With or without the Frost Girls.)
Last edited:
Often, this debate settles into everyone agreeing that Disney should ask for proof, but I really think that won't make much of a difference. This person said it well:
Not that most doctors can even be bribed. It can be something as simple as, "Doctor, remember how I sprained my ankle last year? Could you write me a note saying it's still acting up? See..., I'm spending all this money taking my family to Disney this summer..." Sometimes an appeal to emotion can easily allow someone to lie or tweak the truth. And not only that, with the number of people I work with (at a job that REQUIRES we stand on our feet all day and walk around) who have handicap placards but clearly do not need them is astounding. Besides, if you felt too guilty to drag your doctor into a lie, it's super easy to find a "doctor's note" template on Dr. Google and make one yourself. Honestly, doctor's notes seem (to me) to be laughable form of proof.
Not that most doctors can even be bribed. It can be something as simple as, "Doctor, remember how I sprained my ankle last year? Could you write me a note saying it's still acting up? See..., I'm spending all this money taking my family to Disney this summer..." Sometimes an appeal to emotion can easily allow someone to lie or tweak the truth. And not only that, with the number of people I work with (at a job that REQUIRES we stand on our feet all day and walk around) who have handicap placards but clearly do not need them is astounding. Besides, if you felt too guilty to drag your doctor into a lie, it's super easy to find a "doctor's note" template on Dr. Google and make one yourself. Honestly, doctor's notes seem (to me) to be laughable form of proof.
Last edited:
GoofGoof
Premium Member
Sure, people could get a fake doctors note or even write one themselves, but that level of fraud is a lot different than just requesting a GAC without even giving a valid reason. I've read on these boards that at DLR a lot of abuse came from CMs visiting the parks on their day off. How many would risk losing their job by fraudulently submitting a fake doctor's note? Once you put something in writing it takes it to another level of fraud. I would bet a lot less people would be willing to go to that length for a DAS or a few extra FPs. This is likely an academic debate anyway since I don't see Disney requiring this.
No Time To Say Hello Goodbye
Member
Pretty much all of this is just academic debate, since none of us actually get to decide the case in court
No Time To Say Hello Goodbye
Member
I wonder if the plaintiffs were to convince the court that due to their disability they need the 5 FP if it would allow other disabilities to request similar accommodations? I know that would be a different situation, but I just wondered what others thought about a precedent being set where other disabilities besides autism request 5 anytime FP. I don't know much about the law, but it seems to me that if this was considered an acceptable accommodation for one type of disability by the court then it wouldn't be much of a stretch to consider it an acceptable accommodation for other types of disabilities. Thoughts?
GoofGoof
Premium Member
Pretty much all of this is just academic debate, since none of us actually get to decide the case in court
You never know...I could be a judge in real life
GoofGoof
Premium Member
It's a bit of a slippery slope. I think the other disability would need to be something that would make waiting in line difficult or impossible. There was a guy who posted on here in the past that had a bad back condition. He could walk around the parks OK, but he couldn't stand in one place without experiencing a lot of pain. Someone with a physical disability like that should probably qualify too.
No Time To Say Hello Goodbye
Member
True! But even if you are "a" judge doesn't mean you get to be "the" judge on this caseYou never know...I could be a judge in real life
GoofGoof
Premium Member
True! But even if you are "a" judge doesn't mean you get to be "the" judge on this case
Nah, nobody would take me seriously as a judge looking like goofy anyway
. I do know a few judges, but they won't be hearing this case either.
No Time To Say Hello Goodbye
Member
But do you think that would qualify them simply for the DAS without additional accommodations? I agree it is a slippery slope, but more because I think from a PR view Disney wouldn't want to appear to be "judging" disabilities. Honestly, I think this had a lot to do with why their system is a so general. Someone said earlier when you try to give something extra to some who may need it then others get upset that they don't get it and it causes more problems than it solves. I am paraphrasing, but general idea is what sounds great in theory is sometimes hard to apply in reality. (By the way, I think the person who said something kinda similar was you.)
GoofGoof
Premium Member
I do think Disney needs to be careful. They can't have the appearance of offering accommodations to some but not everyone who is entitled. That's a big no, no. When DAS first came out there were some people with physical disabilities who were also upset. They now require you to be in a wheelchair to use the alternate entrance. In the past there were some people with physical issues not severe enough to need a wheelchair who used the GAC to avoid having to stand for an hour at a time in line. If Disney were to offer additional accommodations to DAS guests like extra fast passes I wouldn't be surprised to see people with physical disabilities complain and try to get in. The difference is they are less organized so unlikely to make as much noise.
I think I've said this before, but in my experience with guests with GACs, people fell into one of three categories:
1) About 5% of users truly, TRULY needed accommodation (many users on this board seem to fall into that category, however, most - though possibly not all - of them are probably still able to manage Disney quite successfully with the new DAS).
2) 5% of users were downright lying about having a disability with absolutely no remorse or guilt.
3) The other 90% of users did in fact have some sort of disability to one degree or another, but did not truly NEED the level of accommodation that the GAC offered (i.e., utilizing the FP system would have suited them just fine if they were really honest with themselves); but due to the extreme level of accommodation the GAC provided (I know, I know..."sometimes a 20 minute FP line!" Still better than a 120 standby line, and most FP lines were 5-10 minutes compared to the 1+ hour standby lines), they were able to exaggerate a real disability or at least convince themselves that their disability made it absolutely impossible to wait for more than 20 minutes for anything EVER - that "bum" knee, the once-a-year migraine that COULD occur at any moment in theory, that Irish skin which burns so it qualifies as a "sun sensitivity," etc.
Last edited:
Tom Morrow
Well-Known Member
No.
Well, yes, unfortunately some abuse was from CM's. But that represented a tiny fraction of the GAC users. Remember. The attractions were keeping track. 1/5th of everyone riding. 1/5th. of. everyone. riding. There are nowhere near enough CM's willing to cheat and risk their job to account for that amount. Heck, at DLR, there aren't even enough CM's, period, to make any real impact.
Last edited: