That is not what I said. I quoted someone who stored those with physical disabilities would be more readily helped now while chastising the idea of autistic people being the complainers because they were abusers. The opposite is proving true. Many people in wheelchairs are being denied access to the program and being told it is for the autistic.
People in wheelchairs don't need this program unless they have another underlying problem that prohibits them from being in a queue (such
as Autism). The ADA is, essentially, about physical access to something. It has nothing to do with granting an equal experience, because there really is no such thing. If the queue is large enough to accommodate a wheelchair and it leads to the load area or alternative load area, Disney has met its obligation under the law. If you don't like being in crowded situations, that's too bad. That in itself is NOT a qualification for ADA accommodation. And no one said that autistic people were abusers. They've been saying that autism is the disability of choice for abusers. It enables them to claim the hyperactivity of their non-physically-disabled child as a disability since Disney doesn't require proof.
Theme parks have used the exit for boarding simply because it was generally easier to make that area accessible than it was the queue. But as has been said numerous times, there is absolutely NO reason that access should be immediate. Disney simply cannot offer an "equal" experience because there is no such thing. Not all guests will experience the same number of attractions, not all guests spend the same amount of time in the parks, not all guests tire at the same time. Everyone has a different experience. As a single rider at WDW, there are times I've been made to wait off to the side, adding an additional 10 minutes to my wait...and that's for an able-bodied person. So I certainly don't have the same experience as the group behind me. OTH, at DLR as a single rider, the single rider lines exist on 3 major attractions in DL and 5 at DCA, so I can get a LOT done in a shorter amount of time than other non-single guests, again, making my experience unequal to others. So let's stop trying to claim that the system is about or should be about equal experiences.
I know folks here have no issue with those having severe enough physical disabilities to make them full time wheelies get a little extra help. I'm telling you that is not how the program is being applied initially.
Again, it's about physical access. This system provides that. If there is another condition that prevents someone from being able to be in that queue, Disney will accommodate that. But simply being uncomfortable in the queue is NOT a condition that should grant someone a DAS.
I'm not getting into current thread fervor over that one mom FB poster because that is the straw man. She's being brought out so people in favor of the change can go on with their gripes about abusers.
She's an example of why the system didn't work. She's the poster child of the abusers. And let's not mince words, the disabled are often just as capable of exploiting their own disabilities for an advantage as those with little-to no-disability who lie to get the advantage are. And unfortunately it's not uncommon.
Meanwhile the people who probably needed a program to help them have a vacation anywhere near comparable to a regular guest are being denied. (A guest with a severe mobility disability never was able just get directly on a ride as you experienced in the Safari wheelie queue.)
A disabled guest is unlikely to ever have a comparable experience to that of a non-disabled guest. So let's stop with that nonsense argument. While it is unfortunate that being in a wheelchair may cause a guest to experience less attractions than someone not in a wheelchair, it is not incmbent on Disney to level the playing field.
