Yes, and Disney coasts on the masses not knowing about the abundance of people that get away with scamming, whether it be GACs, Fastpasses, child swaps, or attempts to get free merchandise/meals/hotel nights/tickets. I'm guessing the logic is "we want everyone to return here and spend more money", but you can only shove these problems under the rug for so long before the problem gets so out of hand that honest people have a significantly more negative experience and stop coming.
Ah, the good old days when there was one line and an alternative line. Three times I escorted a wonderful man that was afflicted with CP. He could walk short distances with a helping hand, but had to be brought around the park via wheelchair. You would be amazed at the degree of the grades in WDW when pushing a chair up them.
We would go to regular lines when we could, and they would direct us to alternative entrances when we couldn't get in the regular line. We sometimes had to wait, in fact most of the time, in that place until an appropriate ride vehicle arrived. We would go to shows like The Lion King and the wheelchair position was in front near the stage. You could get neck cramps looking up at the stage and miss some of the action just because you couldn't see it from there. But, we saw everything, and rode everything that he was physically able to do. He didn't speak well because of his illness but he had a way of expressing his joy over being able to just go. Until I took him, he had never even been out of the state of Vermont.
It was a lot of work but something that I am proud to have been able to do for him. He helped me too, because he insisted on paying my way as well as his own. He knew that I didn't have to do it and he wanted to thank me. When I hear of people that purposely misrepresent themselves as having handicaps to rake in whatever benefits that they perceive to be there it does two things. First, it makes me angry and surprised that people so readily defy karma and Second that people now, thanks to the originally good intent of the ADA laws, have made people with disabilities feel self conscience about people thinking that they are cheating a system. The way it was, was never a deterrent to people with disabilities, now there is a mental deterrent that shouldn't be there.
People with problems and disability need to know that these are there own problems and not societies. Some things are just not attainable by people with disability. If a person is unable to move his/her legs then they cannot expect to be able to climb Mt. Everest. If there wasn't a natural limitation then there wouldn't be a disability would there? Society should do whatever they can to help people overcome as many road blocks as they possibly can, but they should not be expected to solve all of them. For example, a person with anxiety problems that causes them to panic in a large crowd, couldn't possibly pick a worse place to be then a theme park. I know, I wouldn't even want to be in one under those conditions. Not everything is doable for everyone.
If ADA would lighten up just a little and realize the not requiring any proof of disability (some are obvious, some are not), then they could once again take advantage of the extras that are put in place to help them without having to feel like everyone is looking at them with a judgmental eye. It is a simple requirement, doesn't cause any embarrassment and would eliminate the evil eyes of people making judgements. People with disabilities know they have them and the very idea that this should somehow be kept as a secret, is an insult to those with the disability. It's like saying, we don't want you to be looked down on because you are disabled as if there is some shame associated with it. Instead if verification is available people will understand that you have a disability and who cares. Enjoy your life.
