GAC to Become DAS

[arko]

Bravo arko, very well put.

Might I add there were a few disabled GAC users who did abuse it, however. I'm thinking of the powerwheelchair lady who'd spend the day continually looping through TSM and hogging the one wheelchair car. One could argue the loopers on other attractions (like taking the fixated autistic kid on Peter Pan) did the same. But these people were few and far between. The largest abusers were the fakers and borderline (oh I can't stand long periods - so why not rent an ECV like every 80 yr old?). Those are the sorts of conscienceless people Disney needs to proactively keep out.

The more I think about FP+ the more I think it may solve a lot of my needs better than DAS. My ONLY concern with it is I have difficulty scheduling my activities far in advance. I usually don't bother making ADRs until I'm a week away from my trip, or many times DURING my trip.

Criticism I have about how Disney is setting up FP+ is they are creating a bad situation with their 60 day out availability. That's going to make going to E ticket attractions as difficult for some as getting a breakfast ADR at Cinderella's Castle was. Unless they plan to put in a lot more queue activities to entertain the guests, you can bet your bottom dollar guest dissatisfaction will skyrocket. CMs at TSM have had to deal with angry guests bemoaning no FPs since that ride opened. They should have been the ones to design a new program.

There will always be abuse of anything that gives a benefit. Lets say even if Disney stared asking for proof, it wouldn't be hard to get a Doctor to sign something for you. All you have to do is find the right doctor.
I mean if wealthy New Yorkers were willing to shell out 100$ an hour to use a GAC then I am sure they can easily find a doctor who will write them up something for a lot less. And once one does, you can bet they will tell all their friends who to go see, just like they did with the tour guide.

 

[arko]

So what was the point of the these changes again if they are giving out thousands of Fast Passes and "ReAds" on a daily basis? Might as well just go back to the old system because now the Fast Passes are just going to run out for the people who are not entitled. Sad...

chances are it's temporary. And these FP tickets are not part of the regular block as they do not have a ride name on them.

 

[BroganMc]

There will always be abuse of anything that gives a benefit. Lets say even if Disney stared asking for proof, it wouldn't be hard to get a Doctor to sign something for you. All you have to do is find the right doctor.
I mean if wealthy New Yorkers were willing to shell out 100$ an hour to use a GAC then I am sure they can easily find a doctor who will write them up something for a lot less. And once one does, you can bet they will tell all their friends who to go see, just like they did with the tour guide.

Good thing I'm Irish Catholic. Comforts me to think such people will eventually get their just punishment. Imagine being denied a DAS, GAC or FP in purgatory? "Sorry ma'am, you used up all your special dispensations in life. Wait here for the next 100-200 years and enjoy our lovely heavenly theme music."

 

[BaconPancakes]

chances are it's temporary. And these FP tickets are not part of the regular block as they do not have a ride name on them.

Oh so they are probably those "ReAps" that are supposed to only be given out in extreme circumstances. This doesn't surprise me. The entitled will always find a way to get exactly what they want, and screw everyone else.

 

[BaconPancakes]

Looks like she (and others) are suing Disney over this. I'll repeat once more, TRASH.

 

[arko]

Looks like she (and others) are suing Disney over this. I'll repeat once more, TRASH.

she will lose, and I love how she says she loves Universal Florida, who's system is pretty much the same as the DAS

for those wondering here is a site that details each parks pass
http://www.autismattheparks.com/disability-passes.html

 

[stevehousse]

Looks like she (and others) are suing Disney over this. I'll repeat once more, TRASH.

LOL! Suing Disney because you can't get an unlimited fast pass anymore! Some people just really are so ludicrous! This won't go far at all!

 

[arko]

LOL! Suing Disney because you can't get an unlimited fast pass anymore! Some people just really are so ludicrous! This won't go far at all!

She lives in Florida and the lawyer is based out of LA and looks to be a class action specialist. So I am guessing he is doing this on his own or for some California based people and she just had herself added to the suit.

 

[JerseyDad]

Looks like she (and others) are suing Disney over this. I'll repeat once more, TRASH.

....exactly what I predicted earlier in the thread ...AND ...exactly the reason I also said that Disney has added the word DISABLED to the name of the pass.

....Disney had also instructed their GR personnel to use VERY specific language when dealing with guests ....in anticipation of this bogus suit.

....at this point ...someone at Disney needs to reference the video of the Hippie witch indicating that her son will get violent ...and go after her for making terroristic threats.

....they are all going to Universal? Good luck with that........

 

[JerseyDad]

she will lose, and I love how she says she loves Universal Florida, who's system is pretty much the same as the DAS

for those wondering here is a site that details each parks pass
http://www.autismattheparks.com/disability-passes.html

....just gave the other parks rules a quick read ...they seem to be just about the same as the DAS reg's...or am I reading them wrong?

 

[arko]

Oh so they are probably those "ReAps" that are supposed to only be given out in extreme circumstances. This doesn't surprise me. The entitled will always find a way to get exactly what they want, and screw everyone else.

There is nothing wrong with the ReAd per say, its the number that guests are receiving that concern me. My son would be happy just riding Buzz Lightyear all day, but even we would limit it to twice a day, so one or two for families that do have real limits is fine, but with reports of some getting 12+ all that does is stoke the fires, because at that point you really are getting more than everyone else even those using the DAS.

 

[arko]

....just gave the other parks rules a quick read ...they seem to be just about the same as the DAS reg's...or am I reading them wrong?

Nope it looks like the DAS is based pretty much on the Universal one, with the exception of taking 10/15 minutes off the wait time to factor in the FP queue time for most rides.

In fact the ride sheet is almost a direct copy field for field with a slight variation in wording

 

[Pixie VaVoom]

"Change for autistic children can be very difficult," quoted from post ## 2019.

Now. I may be wrong, and I will probably get crucified, but let's look at the LOGIC here.

"Change ...difficult" - so WHERE are we going to take these delicate, impressionable, young, special needs creatures that The Powers that Be have entrusted to our care??? To an AMUSEMENT PARK, with 25,000 other milling people, screeching, blinking ride machines, and colorful displays that do WHAT...CHANGE !!!

THAT is just Brilliant!!! I am surprised that there hasn't been some Lawyer sueing the PARENTS for taking the kids, for "mental assault and battery".

So if all that CHANGE overstimulates your child - STAY HOME !!! Or is the point that you really just want an axe to grind !!

That said - I have nothing but the utmost respect for the parents that are pro-active enough to USE the experience to expand the child's boundaries. I wish we had more like you !!! and less with a "Hippie" mentality.

 

[asianway]

She lives in Florida and the lawyer is based out of LA and looks to be a class action specialist. So I am guessing he is doing this on his own or for some California based people and she just had herself added to the suit.

What a scumbag - wheres the tort if she hasnt even visited Disneyland....

 

[Gomer]

"Change for autistic children can be very difficult," quoted from post ## 2019.

Now. I may be wrong, and I will probably get crucified, but let's look at the LOGIC here.

"Change ...difficult" - so WHERE are we going to take these delicate, impressionable, young, special needs creatures that The Powers that Be have entrusted to our care??? To an AMUSEMENT PARK, with 25,000 other milling people, screeching, blinking ride machines, and colorful displays that do WHAT...CHANGE !!!

THAT is just Brilliant!!! I am surprised that there hasn't been some Lawyer sueing the PARENTS for taking the kids, for "mental assault and battery".

So if all that CHANGE overstimulates your child - STAY HOME !!! Or is the point that you really just want an axe to grind !!

That said - I have nothing but the utmost respect for the parents that are pro-active enough to USE the experience to expand the child's boundaries. I wish we had more like you !!! and less with a "Hippie" mentality.

Not quite how it works. There are (and this is over generalizing for the sake of making it clear) two types of folks with autism. Sensory seekers and sensory sensitive. Sensory sensitive people react negatively to most loud/extreme stimuli and would never last in a theme park. Sensory seekers find joy in the movement, music, and lights a theme park provides. The hyper-stimulation actually focuses them more than in normal life and you will sometimes see extreme advances in behavior as they try learn to communicate. My mostly (at the time)non-verbal son spoke one of his first full sentences at age 3 because we were walking by IASW and he wanted to go on it. From that moment on, we began taking him yearly, and every year he does something in WDW that he would never do at home. He speaks more coherently, interacts more typically, and is generally less stressed than he is at home (anxiety and intense stress are one of the unfortunate side-effects of autism). When we come back, his teachers note an uptick in his school performance for 3-4 weeks afterward.

So, quite the contrary to your point, it isn't something all people with autism would want to avoid, many see large benefits outside of the typical fun of a theme park and use it as educational therapy. I wouldn't give up my son's yearly trips for the world. WDW is one of the most effective ways we have found to improve his life skills in 7 years of dealing with his autism (and we have tried ALOT of different therapies).

 

[mergatroid]

Not quite how it works. There are (and this is over generalizing for the sake of making it clear) two types of folks with autism. Sensory seekers and sensory sensitive. Sensory sensitive people react negatively to most loud/extreme stimuli and would never last in a theme park. Sensory seekers find joy in the movement, music, and lights a theme park provides. The hyper-stimulation actually focuses them more than in normal life and you will sometimes see extreme advances in behavior as they try learn to communicate. My mostly (at the time)non-verbal son spoke one of his first full sentences at age 3 because we were walking by IASW and he wanted to go on it. From that moment on, we began taking him yearly, and every year he does something in WDW that he would never do at home. He speaks more coherently, interacts more typically, and is generally less stressed than he is at home (anxiety and intense stress are one of the unfortunate side-effects of autism). When we come back, his teachers note an uptick in his school performance for 3-4 weeks afterward.

So, quite the contrary to your point, it isn't something all people with autism would want to avoid, many see large benefits outside of the typical fun of a theme park and use it as educational therapy. I wouldn't give up my son's yearly trips for the world. WDW is one of the most effective ways we have found to improve his life skills in 7 years of dealing with his autism (and we have tried ALOT of different therapies).

I hope I don't sound patronising but you sound a fantastic parent and I wish your family all the best and hope you and your son continue to benefit from the parks in the future.

 

[JLipnick]

"Change for autistic children can be very difficult," quoted from post ## 2019.

Now. I may be wrong, and I will probably get crucified, but let's look at the LOGIC here.

"Change ...difficult" - so WHERE are we going to take these delicate, impressionable, young, special needs creatures that The Powers that Be have entrusted to our care??? To an AMUSEMENT PARK, with 25,000 other milling people, screeching, blinking ride machines, and colorful displays that do WHAT...CHANGE !!!

THAT is just Brilliant!!! I am surprised that there hasn't been some Lawyer sueing the PARENTS for taking the kids, for "mental assault and battery".

So if all that CHANGE overstimulates your child - STAY HOME !!! Or is the point that you really just want an axe to grind !!

That said - I have nothing but the utmost respect for the parents that are pro-active enough to USE the experience to expand the child's boundaries. I wish we had more like you !!! and less with a "Hippie" mentality.

Here is an idea for the autism hippie piece of work: go to the park when it isn't crowded. Living so close affords her that ability. She makes other parents of special needs kids look bad. I hope she not only gets counter sued but also banned from WDW!

 

[mergatroid]

Here is an idea for the autism hippie piece of work: go to the park when it isn't crowded. Living so close affords her that ability. She makes other parents of special needs kids look bad. I hope she not only gets counter sued but also banned from WDW!

Unfortunately her child would suffer then and it's not their fault so I hope that doesn't happen. I do however think she is giving parents of special needs children a bad name which is very, very sad.

 

[Tom Morrow]

Autism Hippie went in on October 9th with one goal and one goal only: make as big of a fuss as possible so Disney notices and makes her stop so she can turn around and sue Disney.

I really hope she's reading this thread so she can see what sane people who aren't entitled, spoiled, exploiting, sue-happy piles of trash actually think of her.

She's pretty much a living personification of "everything that's wrong with American society"

 

[pddmom]

"Change for autistic children can be very difficult," quoted from post ## 2019.

Now. I may be wrong, and I will probably get crucified, but let's look at the LOGIC here.

"Change ...difficult" - so WHERE are we going to take these delicate, impressionable, young, special needs creatures that The Powers that Be have entrusted to our care??? To an AMUSEMENT PARK, with 25,000 other milling people, screeching, blinking ride machines, and colorful displays that do WHAT...CHANGE !!!

THAT is just Brilliant!!! I am surprised that there hasn't been some Lawyer sueing the PARENTS for taking the kids, for "mental assault and battery".

So if all that CHANGE overstimulates your child - STAY HOME !!! Or is the point that you really just want an axe to grind !!

That said - I have nothing but the utmost respect for the parents that are pro-active enough to USE the experience to expand the child's boundaries. I wish we had more like you !!! and less with a "Hippie" mentality.

i am really going to try to show some restraint here, which i haven't always done in this thread, parents of the disabled sometimes have difficulty doing so (and just about everyone hates me for it) so...YOU!! know nothing about disabilities YOU have no right to judge me YOU seem like the one with the axe to grind YOU don't live my life and YOU can stay home...that is brilliant