GAC to Become DAS

[shinymonkey]

I'm upset.. more concerned actually...as to how this is going to impact families like my friend and her children (she is a single mother with 2 children and I often go to act as a 2nd parent) who use the current GAC system to be able to enjoy the parks like every other family. My friend's daughter has extreme anxiety issues, impulsive behavioral issues, along with cognitive delay. For her she does not understand time if you tell her we are going to go ride small world as you walk into the line she expects to be getting onto the ride.. so for the current system that works because the wait time is generally very minimum for her. I am not upset because it has taken away the magic fastpass we often will use fastpass for those rides that have it and not tell Abby that we are going on that ride until we have our fastpass time but when the new system says it will allow you to go enjoy other attractions that have minimum wait times because for Abby there really isn't such a thing as a minimum wait time. Like I had said before Disney was a safe haven vacation for families that need more "magic" to ensure a good vacation for all and I am concerned that these changes might not make Disney that destination any more they way it use to be.

It would be fantastic if the changes do limit the number of ECV that get rented or the wheelchairs that people rent for their older children that do not fit in the strollers any more.

 

[shinymonkey]

Putting aside the issue of standing in line at Disney World, I strongly urge you, if you are close to these parents, to guide them toward taking the child to a psychiatrist. The sooner this child receives help, the better off he/she will be.

My friends daughter sees 4 different therapists and has an IEP at school along with several other therapies.... thank you though

 

[shinymonkey]

My cousin has a disabled, combative, autistic foster child. Joey is unable to wait in any kind of a lengthy line or deal with massive crowds. Even though he has the emotional and development capacity of a 4 year old, he has the body and strength of a 12 year old pre-pubescent boy. When he "loses it", people get hurt.
My cousin, therefore does not subject him to excessive stimuli such as a theme park.
When she takes her other children to Canada's Wonderland or the Ex, Joey goes to day camp.
When she took a family trip to California, which included a 2-day trip to Disneyland, Joey went to respite.
I have known and loved Joey for 8 years, since he was a pre-schooler, and I completely agree with my cousin's decision to exclude Joey from some of their more intense vacations. I would never want to be on a plane with Joey. I would never want to be in the middle of Fantasyland when Joey has a melt down. I would never want to walk away from an overpriced $40 Disney steak because Joey was overwhelmed by the time dinner finally arrived. And therefore to be fair to myself, my family, other guests, and MOST ESPECIALLY JOEY, I would never take him to WDW, despite his "right" to be there.
Just because he has the right to be there, and Disney has kindly made some allowances to make his visit more enjoyable, doesn't mean that Joey "should" be there. Joey will probably never get to experience WDW, and that's just the way it is.

Abby is actually much better at Disney then she is at home, she is only 5 and has been to Disney several times. She loves and looks forward to disney and when Abby is starting to get over stimulated we generally will go back to the hotel or a ride on universe of energy or hall of presidents..
She generally comes down in the off peak times late august etc all to make sure that the family can enjoy themselves, but to each his own if the family doesn't think the child can handle it then they have to do what is right for their family.

 

[Spikerdink]

This thread, like the GAC one before it, will devolve into a back and forth over who deserves what.

Here's the bottom line: Some people want Disney to be everything they need to 'ensure that they have a perfect family vacation' which may include never having to wait on line over 30 seconds long. Others see this as abuse and that this idea has led to abuse of the system wherein perfectly healthy (and/or wealthy) people have made a mockery of the system to get more out of their day than the average guest. But, Disney can not be all things to all people because at some point one person's needs/wants will overlap with another person's needs/wants and someone will need to be disappointed.

This new system seems to try to be the most fair to the most people. Some people will get less than they have in the past, but Disney owes no one anything more than making everything as equal access to all guests.

Let the fighting begin.

 

[OswaldTheRabbit]

My autistic son has had the GAC pass during all our trips except the first one (we didn't know about it). It has been such a blessing for us. I will be honest that I am breaking out in sweats right now just reading the changes. I hope it works out ok. We have 2 trips planned because he is obsessed with disney.

Officially nervous now...... Already have a touring plan in place and breaks planned but this is a huge change for him and that usually goes VERY POORLY.

Yikes..... So if you for everyone that is in line be kind if you see a parent struggling with a child. Try to help....

 

[flynnibus]

when they limit to one ride at a time and say you can go ride something else with a low wait time for those children that literally cannot handle a 10-20 minute "low wait time" what are the families suppose to do?

If they can't handle a 10-20 minute wait.. how on earth did they get to WDW in the first place?

They can wait.. they can use a FP somewhere else.. they can eat.. they can shop.. they can look around.

The idea people can't wait at all is total bullocks. Can't wait in that line under those conditions? Surely.. can't wait at all? bullocks.

 

[flynnibus]

It's closer to equality, but still gives those using the system a slight advantage. Isn't equality exactly what should be the goal of the system?

From a legal perspective yes...

From a guest relations perspective... you don't necessarily have to limit yourself to 'equal'

 

[khale1970]

...we often will use fastpass for those rides that have it and not tell Abby that we are going on that ride until we have our fastpass time but when the new system says it will allow you to go enjoy other attractions that have minimum wait times because for Abby there really isn't such a thing as a minimum wait time...

How does she handle the often 15 to 20 minute wait time you often find after the merge of the standby and fastpass lines?

I'm upset.. more concerned actually...as to how this is going to impact families like my friend and her children (she is a single mother with 2 children and I often go to act as a 2nd parent) who use the current GAC system to be able to enjoy the parks like every other family.

How is asking you to wait the same amount of time as the stand by que (without actually having to stand in the que) diminshing your trip in comparison to other families? You don't have to go stand in another line that might take longer than 15 to 20 minutes, you can take that time and go walk around, enjoy a show, get something to eat, find a bench and people watch. The other family has to stand in line and not only can't go get in line for another low wait time ride, they can't do any of the other things available (eat, rest, people watch) to someone with a DAS. Or are you saying this little girl must be on rides with no wait at all times or she melts down?

 

[raymusiccity]

I like this version.
Will this see an increase in ECVs though? I really don't want to be run over waiting for Pooh, definitely not the sort of interactive queue I want to be standing in!
Or do ECV riders have to switch to a manual wheelchair for queuing?

I'm sure they'll be able to hop off and onto the ride without a hitch. Casual observation has shown that the ECV people have no issues getting in or out of their chairs when riding on the buses. (Except for the rentals. Most of them struggle since they're still learning how to operate and ride around in them!). Just sayin'.

 

[luv]

My friends daughter sees 4 different therapists and has an IEP at school along with several other therapies.... thank you though

It really sounds to me like the girl is in desperate need of a psychiatrist. If the mother has been told that giving her what she wants, when she wants it, as quickly as possible is the best solution, she has received poor advice. The girl cannot be allowed to become violent and abusive if her every whim isn't catered to. If the girl is as out-of-control as you say and someone doesn't intervene, the poor girl is headed toward a life in prison or (much more likely), a psychiatric institution.

The sooner children receive professional psychiatric treatment, the better off they will be later.

If you really care about this girl and her mother, urge that poor mom to take the child to a psychiatrist.

You must answer to your own conscience, of course, but do at least consider suggesting the mom takes the child to a doctor. Sometimes it takes seeing more than one doctor, but once she finds the right one, it will all get easier for everyone. The child will be happier and the mother will be happier.

Just think about it.

 

[flynnibus]

So families that have children that cannot physically wait in line due to the childs inability to understand what is going on and why you said ok lets go ride small world and you get in line and 15 minutes have passed and the child still isnt on small world

You never went to it's a small world.. you went to a kiosk and got a time... your kid never saw iasw to get ramped up on and you never went in a line in front of the attraction.

 

[Lucky]

I have a feeling this thread may go down the same way as the last one on the subject.......

It already did. We just got there a whole lot faster.

 

[IWantMyMagicBand]

My cousin has a disabled, combative, autistic foster child. Joey is unable to wait in any kind of a lengthy line or deal with massive crowds. Even though he has the emotional and development capacity of a 4 year old, he has the body and strength of a 12 year old pre-pubescent boy. When he "loses it", people get hurt.
My cousin, therefore does not subject him to excessive stimuli such as a theme park.
When she takes her other children to Canada's Wonderland or the Ex, Joey goes to day camp.
When she took a family trip to California, which included a 2-day trip to Disneyland, Joey went to respite.
I have known and loved Joey for 8 years, since he was a pre-schooler, and I completely agree with my cousin's decision to exclude Joey from some of their more intense vacations. I would never want to be on a plane with Joey. I would never want to be in the middle of Fantasyland when Joey has a melt down. I would never want to walk away from an overpriced $40 Disney steak because Joey was overwhelmed by the time dinner finally arrived. And therefore to be fair to myself, my family, other guests, and MOST ESPECIALLY JOEY, I would never take him to WDW, despite his "right" to be there.
Just because he has the right to be there, and Disney has kindly made some allowances to make his visit more enjoyable, doesn't mean that Joey "should" be there. Joey will probably never get to experience WDW, and that's just the way it is.

Agreed. my middle child has issues which we are getting assessed, so I treat my eldest to a stress free Disneyland Paris trip once a year, just me and her. We also have stress-filled trips with middle child as I think general exposure to something lessens his behaviour (as in he will gradually, hopefully, learn to behave more appropriately) but if it was so severe that he could harm others etc I wouldn't allow him to be exposed to the equivalent of child LSD....
I also have some issues which means I should try and avoid excessive UV exposure (but we are NOT getting into that again @flynnibus lol), so instead of insisting the beach add shade to every part of the great wide open I choose not to go there.
I suffer from focal migraine, and I have to avoid ToT and RnRC, do I think I should be given extra rides on something I can do. No, I just choose not to do it.

 

[JenniferS]

Agreed. my middle child has issues which we are getting assessed, so I treat my eldest to a stress free Disneyland Paris trip once a year, just me and her. We also have stress-filled trips with middle child as I think general exposure to something lessens his behaviour (as in he will gradually, hopefully, learn to behave more appropriately) but if it was so severe that he could harm others etc I wouldn't allow him to be exposed to the equivalent of child LSD....
I also have some issues which means I should try and avoid excessive UV exposure (but we are NOT getting into that again @flynnibus lol), so instead of insisting the beach add shade to every part of the great wide open I choose not to go there.
I suffer from focal migraine, and I have to avoid ToT and RnRC, do I think I should be given extra rides on something I can do. No, I just choose not to do it.

You Madame, are far too sensible to be allowed to participate in this thread.

 

[khale1970]

If they can't handle a 10-20 minute wait.. how on earth did they get to WDW in the first place?

They can wait.. they can use a FP somewhere else.. they can eat.. they can shop.. they can look around.

The idea people can't wait at all is total bullocks. Can't wait in that line under those conditions? Surely.. can't wait at all? bullocks.

I was wondering the same thing? How does someone that can't stand in line for 15 minutes handle the car ride or plane trip to Orlando? If flying, how do they handle the wait for screening groping at the airport? How do they handle the wait for the bus, parking lot tram, monorail or ferry boat?

 

[raymusiccity]

So families that have children that cannot physically wait in line due to the childs inability to understand what is going on and why you said ok lets go ride small world and you get in line and 15 minutes have passed and the child still isnt on small world and the child doesnt understand that they have to wait to have that child break down and freak out and start lashing out where the parents have to try and calm a child down in line where people are staring at them thinking about what a horrible parent they are because they can't control their child and the other children in the family see all of this and hear what people are whispering to each other and get embarrassed about the situation and the parents are now getting beaten up by their child and start loosing it themselves... yep that makes such magical moments.... I hope every one here that doesn't have a child with a disability thinks about that before they make such comments... and yes this happens and yes you may say "oh I would never think that about another parent" but you know you would/do we are only human and who do you think gets more annoyed over GAC abuse then that parents that NEED to use this to have a magical trip for their families because they deserve a magical vacation just as much as every one else

This only leads to domino effect of longer and longer lines. If everyone whose child melts down past the 15 minute mark was issued a pass, all the wait times would go through the roof. Looks like an easy solution would be to schedule a magical trip during the slowest times of the year. Less crowds, less stress for all of the family members.

 

[IWantMyMagicBand]

I was wondering the same thing? How does someone that can't stand in line for 15 minutes handle the car ride or plane trip to Orlando? If flying, how do they handle the wait for screening groping at the airport? How do they handle the wait for the bus, parking lot tram, monorail or ferry boat?

I've never been groped . Am I in the wrong queue? Or do I need a special pass/look to be entitled?

 

[WDWFan_Boston]

Oh yeah lets take a child who has combative behaviors and will melt down so bad that you have to restrain the child because she can and will hurt people even though shes cute and little into a store and will want the whole store and when she's told no because they can't afford it... just bloody let the kid ride Peter Pan 3 times in a row because its what makes her happy and when she's happy the rest of the family can enjoy the vacation...

Uh, no. You seem to forget the thousands of other people who want to enjoy their vacation. This system makes everyone play by the same set of rules. Well done, I say.

 

[Tom Morrow]

here we go, people who use a gac legitimately are already out to defend it while not being aware of the extreme abuse the cards have caused. this new system will be fair and still accommodate your needs.

you will see a reduction in standby wait times... maybe not immediately apparent... but I'm almost willing to put money on that.

 

[Gomer]

I think people have been, for lack of a better workd, spoiled by the current system a bit.

As parents of disabled children, we need to take on some responsbility to meet Disney half way on some of these things.

I use GAC for my son, but I also use it to teach him time awareness and patience. When we first began taking him to WDW, he loved it but he was combative when faced with waits and we had some of those embarrasing/frightening moments of judgmental onlookers. But, no one can take that in stride better than a parent of a child with disabilities.

So, after our first trip I speant the next two years exposing my son to videos and music of rides and attractions that rarely have a wait. I play the tomorrowland BGM in his room at night to sleep to so he develops an attachment to TTA. I show him videos of LWTL and Country Bears and get him to develop a love for those rides. On our next trip we were able to use GAC for his obsessions (Pooh, Pirates, IASW) and mix them up with minimal waits on the aforementioned TTA, LWTL, etc...

With each trip we try to expand his horizons to new rides with slightly longer waits. This last trip (his 5th) he stood in a 25 minute line for Pooh (thank goodness for interative qeueues and those disgusting touch screens) and sat 30 minutes to get a front row seat for MSEP. He loves MSEP and we told him if he sat quietly and waited he'd get to see it without being blocked by other people. And I'll be damned if he didn't sit there patiently the whole time and got a huge smile on his face when those floats rolled by right in front of him. It was one of my proudest moments and something my wife and I would have never imagined possible 6 years ago.

I thank Disney for their GAC program. It has helped me teach my son concepts I never thought possible. But I have also always understood that it is there to help him overcome his hardship, not to make it easy for him. I know all cases are different, and my method took/takes a lot of work. But the payoff is well worth it. My son still has his moments and it is by no means easy. But he loves WDW more than anything, the GAC/DAS has made that love possible. The last thing I would want is to see that destroyed by abusers. So, I accept the changes as a necesarry evil to keep the system functioning. No way around it.