Argh...this article ticks me off just as much as the one I dissected yesterday.
“My daughter waited one minute to get on ‘It’s a Small World’ — the other kids had to wait 2 1/2 hours,” one unnamed mom had bragged to the Post. “You can’t go to Disney without a tour concierge ... This is how the 1 percent does Disney.”
Ok Snookie. First, this is just silly. If Small World has a 2.5 hour wait, the park is well past capacity.
And, no. The 1% pay for a real tour guide service from Disney which includes unlimited Fast Passes in the service. It's expensive. They don't need to hire scammers. They can afford the real deal. So, crawl back into your fake 1% life you live off your hubby's black Amex and promptly kill yourself for the betterment of the species.
On Monday, Martin told Yahoo Shine, "While it is admirable that Disney seeks to address abuse of and profiteering from their policy for the disabled by those who got disability passes unfairly, the park's 'solution' penalizes disabled children and adults, who were supposed to be served by the policy in the first place, by revoking their ability to go to the front of the line." She added, "This 'privilege' is actually a necessity for some kids with disabilities. Hopefully Disney will work closely with groups that advocate for people with disabilities to refine this policy so that it actually serves the people who need it the most."
I really don't care the disability. If your kid can't wait in a line, then they have no business being at a theme park (or a McDonalds or a Walmart or really anywhere)...sorry, but that's just reality. But, the reality is, that most can. They just don't like it. Guess what, so do all the other people in line with you!
Other criticisms were just beginning to hit Twitter on Monday, with one mom noting that because her daughter suffers from fibromyalgia, she would not be renewing the family's park passes. "See? One more reason we can't have nice things," tweeted another critic of the policy change.
I agree. Abuse is sad. I've not one across one poster in any of these threads (who wasn't obviously trolling) who said that GAC was a bad thing. The abuse simply was. But, this abuse is far more societal...it's a reflection of general abuse of ADA and HIPAA (people toss around those acronyms without even understanding what they are...even parents of the disabled don't understand the HIPAA doesn't mean that private companies cannot ask for or even require proof of disability (ADA covers proof, not HIPAA), and plenty think ADA means privileges, not "reasonable accommodation". <facepalms>
HIPAA has nothing to do with being disabled. It has to do with healthcare portability, first, and healthcare privacy (from the provider) second. It has absolutely NOTHING to do with private companies and ADA compliance. Nothing. Period. So, STOP BRINGING IT UP if you can't even take the time to even read a rather short summary of what it is (much less the legislation itself)!
ADA, likewise, is a nuanced set of regulations, but the overarching concept is REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION...Disney went above and beyond with GAC. Good for them. Which ends this response by tying back to my first statement...I agree, abuse is sad. Disney tried to make magic for those who might need a hand, and people abused the heck out of it instead.
“Disney reached out to us,” Autism Speaks spokesperson Michael Rosen told Yahoo Shine. “A large segment of our population with autism has sensory issues, so having patience to wait on noisy lines is a really hard thing.”
When Rosen has taken his own son, who has autism, to Disney World, for example, “he would start crying and screaming when we stood on a line, because he didn’t realize that in 25 minutes he would go on a ride. He had no idea why he was standing on a line, and that really takes away from the fun.”
Wow. That never happens with other kids. They NEVER hate lines and act up or cry and scream. Nope, never happens.
Every kid stands in rampant anticipation in the heat and crowds and waits patiently and never ever whines or complains or needs to suddenly go to the restroom or even throws tantrums. Only autistic children act up.
<facepalms>
I won't get into the previous "scale" comments I made in too much detail, but this ties to it. There's a HUGE difference between an Autistic child with little sense of reality and one that has minor autistic regressions. I don't think Autism isn't real. It most certainly is.
I just think the spectrum is so wide that you can't say "He has autism" and explain everything away with it (different than, my kid has Leukemia...for example...where it's fairly black and white).
MAJOR difference. Painting all children who have such a broad condition the same because you don't want to be inconvenienced by a temper tantrum (based on the statement in the article, nothing more)...I mean, come on. That's crap.
I tugged my kid (who, as far as I know isn't autistic, she's just a kid) out of the park one day last trip because of the way she was acting in the parks. We didn't do squat at Hollywood Studios our last trip, not even one ride. That was HER fault, not Disneys.
Nor should it have been their responsibility to provide me a "perfect line experience" because she was in a sour mood and decided to act up. A day back at the hotel room resting and her mood had reset. Was I happy I didn't get to ride Star Tours or Tower of Terror? Nope...but, it comes with parenting...sorry. It happens.
I saw where her mood was, and I was gonna end that. So, I spent the day working, and she spent the day resetting her mood. Not the best day of our trip, but I don't regret it (or the decision). It's no less a happier day, as we were still enjoying time together and, well, I won't say having fun, but as I said, it comes with the territory.
But, I made it very clear to her that it was HER fault. Something that I hope sticks with her.
Rosen said Autism Speaks has been urging parents concerned about the change to be patient and wait for the official release of the new policy from Disney. “We worked with them so they would make it as comfortable an experience as possible for our community,” he said.
Good. I hope they come up with a policy that works and is fair for all, and also realistic. How do you expect your disabled (pick a disability) child to learn how to cope with the real world if you constantly look for the easiest solution for you (not necessarily the child)?
Someone posted here a few posts back about how their child did "far more than Dr's ever expected them to"...and implied it was partially due to expectations from them as parents. That's exactly my point.
And, I'm sorry if I rant about this, but I have my own medical issues, and in the long run my parents (while obviously well meaning, I mean, what parent SHOULDN'T care about their kid's health?)...but, in the long run, they did me no favors as a younger child in that respect, because they (like many of these parents I see) have decided that instead of teaching me how to manage my Asthma and Hyperactivity (before it was called ADD or ADHD), they coddled it. And, I had a history of issues in school and with peers.
It wasn't until I got a bit older and they finally found a doctor who had some decent advice, discipline and physical activity, instead of medication and condolences, that that changed.
Do I think they were wrongheaded? Nope. I was 8 weeks premature, and they had to watch me in an incubator for three months. A pain that, being a parent now, I can only now begin to comprehend the impact that must have had on them. I was, quite literally, their little flower who was supposed to die (according to the Docs)...
My mother (she doesn't know I know this) thrashed for years to find the reason, anything but her being an unfit person...and, she found it. A morning sickness pill (prescription) in the mid 70s that was later brought up in a Class Action because it was known to cause premature birth but the company sat on that news and it was prescribed to millions of women, including her. She has all the articles in a scrapbook in her closet that I'm quite sure she doesn't know that I know exists...
The real world is cold and shallow. But, it's also warm. Major disabilities will always be, generally, respected. But, arrogant people who think that because they have "x or y" and then refuse to provide even basic documentation of proof of their claims, merely anecdotes...will not.
You can't miss work for 3 days and then say "well, I have ADHD"...it just doesn't work that way. And, while extreme Autism is just that...extreme, with extreme behavior. Mild autism is nothing like that.
So /Rant
Usually people back off when you show them the big syringe! It is nice to not have to worry about toy story fp's running out BUT the no stairs line takes forever and there is no fp option for that ever. For me using it only when needed I felt like it all balanced out. I have a child with CP and I would never get it for him or let him ride over and over without waiting. When he gets tired we rest. We go during slow times and plan our touring carefully for the least busy times of day and sometimes we say no if a line is too long for him once he's tired. He's a teen now and does so much more than Drs ever thought because we expected no less for him.
