Possible Changes coming to the Guest Assistance Cards (GAC)

[arko]

I had spinal surgery in May 2012 and I sometimes walk with a cane (depending on the day, weather, how many errands I had to run that day, housework, etc.). I am considering a GAC because standing or sitting for long periods of time is tough. With walking, I can take breaks here and there but I am really just kind of worried all around since we go to Disney every year and this year will be the first time since the surgery.
I've read some awful stories about people being harassed for using the GAC because their "disability" is not visible and now I'm second guessing whether I should get one or not. Should I bring my medical records to show?

We have been using the GAC for my son who is autistic for almost 9 years and we have never been harassed. His handicap is not visible and he is verbal, so if anyone could be mistaken for abusing it we certainly could.
I have always found the CM's to be helpful and the only questions we get asked are which one is my son to confirm that the GAC holder is indeed doing the ride, which is totally reasonable.

That being said if they changed it we would have to drop our annual passes as we would not be able to take him. He has a very limited ride selection, and if we were told to come back in 90 minutes he would not grasp that concept and full blown meltdown would ensue.
I would be more than happy to provide medical evidence. He is now 13 but over the years Disney has been great therapy for him, in learning to deal with noise and crowds. We even tried the Nemo show at AK last trip and waited in line without using the GAC to see how he would do, 20 minutes was his limit, the last 10 minutes before they let us in was not pleasant, thankfully they let us in before he decided to bolt and leave the situation, which is his defense mechanism. the only reaosn he lasted the 20 minutes was he had his Ipod to play on but even that will only hold him for so long.

 

[Florida Bill]

I had spinal surgery in May 2012 and I sometimes walk with a cane (depending on the day, weather, how many errands I had to run that day, housework, etc.). I am considering a GAC because standing or sitting for long periods of time is tough. With walking, I can take breaks here and there but I am really just kind of worried all around since we go to Disney every year and this year will be the first time since the surgery.
I've read some awful stories about people being harassed for using the GAC because their "disability" is not visible and now I'm second guessing whether I should get one or not. Should I bring my medical records to show?

You should not feel guitly about using the GAC at all, I've had 6 operations on my back and 2 on my neck all since 2001. My wife, 17yr old Stepson and I have season passes and we've been to WDW about 12 times or so in the past 11 months. I've gotten the GAC every time we've gone, I have the same issue as you, some days are way worse than others but the GAC has been a life saver. I've found that most of the time you just ask a cast member at an attraction which line to go in and every single time they've sent me through the Fast Pass line. I haven't heard any rude comments or had anyone give me dirty looks or anything when using the card.
I have had some moron make a comment to me when I was parking in a handicapped spot at the store. I have the handicapped placard through my doc. who had no problem doing the paperwork for it, this guy at the store walking by me said "how do I get one of those fake handicap placards like you have"! I was really to stunned to say anything about it, I thought I heard him wrong! My wife and I looked at each other like "did we just hear him say what we thought he said"?!
You get ignorant people everywhere, don't let anyone ruin your vacation.

 

[hiptwinmama]

I am having the same issue with guilt. We are heading to WDW in just a few weeks and my daughter just got her cast off. She had a double spiral fracture of the tibia, with a full hip to toe cast. Her MD said to expect a limp and discomfort for a few months. He said she absolutely did not need to be standing in long lines, but understood that we couldn't cancel. So he wrote her a note. So it will 1)allow us to use a stroller in long lines and 2) not "stand" in long lines. She looks fine on the outside and I am afraid everyone will think we are "working the system". Plus, I plan on letting her start the day walking and see how she does.

 

[disneysince71]

I am having the same issue with guilt. We are heading to WDW in just a few weeks and my daughter just got her cast off. She had a double spiral fracture of the tibia, with a full hip to toe cast. Her MD said to expect a limp and discomfort for a few months. He said she absolutely did not need to be standing in long lines, but understood that we couldn't cancel. So he wrote her a note. So it will 1)allow us to use a stroller in long lines and 2) not "stand" in long lines. She looks fine on the outside and I am afraid everyone will think we are "working the system". Plus, I plan on letting her start the day walking and see how she does.

No guilt its what it is for..

 

[Neverland]

Everything I have heard about on this subject:

Rumblings about GACs (in the RFID of the MagicBand) indeed having to return after waiting the amount of time the standby queue is at.

Rumblings about MagicBand GAC uses being limited to once a day per attraction, or once every allotted amount of time. (Remember that your FP is not removed from your MagicBand until you hit the second touchpoint; if you leave before then to run to the bathroom (etc), your FP/GAC is still in your band and reusable. Rider Swap is also built into the FP+ system at every attraction that has it.)

I have not heard anything about Guest Relations cracking down on who gets GACs. What appears to be happening is that the GAC policies will be tightened, making them less appealing to fakers and abusers.

 

[Tom Morrow]

So in other words, they just might be doing exactly the right thing!

 

[rct247]

Everything I have heard about on this subject:

Rumblings about GACs (in the RFID of the MagicBand) indeed having to return after waiting the amount of time the standby queue is at.

Rumblings about MagicBand GAC uses being limited to once a day per attraction, or once every allotted amount of time. (Remember that your FP is not removed from your MagicBand until you hit the second touchpoint; if you leave before then to run to the bathroom (etc), your FP/GAC is still in your band and reusable. Rider Swap is also built into the FP+ system at every attraction that has it.)

I have not heard anything about Guest Relations cracking down on who gets GACs. What appears to be happening is that the GAC policies will be tightened, making them less appealing to fakers and abusers.

This sounds like great news so far!

 

[RSoxNo1]

Everything I have heard about on this subject:

Rumblings about GACs (in the RFID of the MagicBand) indeed having to return after waiting the amount of time the standby queue is at.

Rumblings about MagicBand GAC uses being limited to once a day per attraction, or once every allotted amount of time. (Remember that your FP is not removed from your MagicBand until you hit the second touchpoint; if you leave before then to run to the bathroom (etc), your FP/GAC is still in your band and reusable. Rider Swap is also built into the FP+ system at every attraction that has it.)

I have not heard anything about Guest Relations cracking down on who gets GACs. What appears to be happening is that the GAC policies will be tightened, making them less appealing to fakers and abusers.

While some of the tightening makes sense, I don't think it really addresses the issue. All it really succeeds in doing is annoying the people that actually need it. I definitely understand limiting usage to once per day, especially at select attractions. I could even see them saying that if the Standby wait exceeds 60 minutes you'll get a time to return. This makes more sense if you can schedule this on your phone as opposed to having to double back to the attraction. When many of these limitations are physical in nature, I would hope any modification would come after the mobile Fastpass+ booking is in place.

 

[arko]

Everything I have heard about on this subject:

Rumblings about GACs (in the RFID of the MagicBand) indeed having to return after waiting the amount of time the standby queue is at.

Rumblings about MagicBand GAC uses being limited to once a day per attraction, or once every allotted amount of time. (Remember that your FP is not removed from your MagicBand until you hit the second touchpoint; if you leave before then to run to the bathroom (etc), your FP/GAC is still in your band and reusable. Rider Swap is also built into the FP+ system at every attraction that has it.)

I have not heard anything about Guest Relations cracking down on who gets GACs. What appears to be happening is that the GAC policies will be tightened, making them less appealing to fakers and abusers.

Lets hope they make the changes before I have to renew our AP's, because if they are too restrictive, we will simply not renew as they would become a waste of money for us.

 

[Tom Morrow]

Anything that makes the "alternate entrance" GAC less like an unlimited Fastpass is a step in the right direction.

Lets hope they make the changes before I have to renew our AP's, because if they are too restrictive, we will simply not renew as they would become a waste of money for us.

It honestly sounds perfectly reasonable and accommodating. You'd still be able to ride as much as everyone else.

Remember, once again, that Disney doesn't have to offer any kind of service like this at all. As long as they are ADA compliant, which they are, they don't need to do anything else.

 

[arko]

Anything that makes the "alternate entrance" GAC less like an unlimited Fastpass is a step in the right direction.It honestly sounds perfectly reasonable and accommodating. You'd still be able to ride as much as everyone else.

Remember, once again, that Disney doesn't have to offer any kind of service like this at all. As long as they are ADA compliant, which they are, they don't need to do anything else.

I understand this completely but you have no idea how my child experiences Disney. A trip to Magic Kingdom for him may entail riding Buzz Lightyear twice and he is done. Our total time in the park would be 2-3 hours, and you could explain to him ad nauseum how your way is fair, and to come back in 90 minutes and he would simply ask why he can't go back on again. It's also become the routine which he is used to, and changing routine is not easy for him. In the end it may just be less stressful for him and us for us not to come. again that all depends on how restrictive it is and if we can prepare him. Annual passes for any family is a significant investment, and we already only use part of the benefit because of the limited amount of things he wants to do.
I'm sorry my child doesn't fit into your dying child scenario, and I am not about to spend hours explaining to you how the mind of an autistic child works, because nobody really does.
Understand I am as angry as you are about people abusing the GAC, and i certainly consider the GAC a privilege and not a right. But the fact remains its what allows us to enjoy WDW without worrying about a melt down etc. and the kinds of things you see as reasonable restrictions might not work for us.

 

[MayMay]

The cards are not supposed to be valid for more then 2 months. I have not seen one valid for longer. Could you please share where you saw on for this long ? I know someone in guest services who would like to know.

I was issued one in November at Hollywood Studios that was good for a year. I upgraded my park ticket to an AP, and asked for a new GAC at the same time. Usually they ask how long we're staying, but this time she just wrote it for a year.

 

[MayMay]

If the line is moving then he isn't standing still.

I've had a condition where walking was ok and standing was painful, and slow/intermittent moving lines were excruciating. Having stand still, but still be aware of minding the gap ahead of me actually made me much more conscious of my pain than I was when I just had to stand. I wouldn't be able to do it for 30 minutes.

But, there's a lot of standing and waiting outside of queues at WDW, especially when you're traveling with a group of six. So I got a manual wheelchair, and when we were stopped, or in stop/go, I sat in it. I could wheel it reasonable distances, I could foot-walk it, sometimes my family pushed me. I could take a courtesy chair out to the bus, then leave it at the bus queue when I boarded. It was a much better solution (IMO) than the alternate access GAC for the issue of pain when you're standing/moving slowly. Renting in the parks every day meant that I didn't have to fuss with it on the bus, or at the resort (where I really didn't need it.)

 

[MayMay]

I do have an honest question for GAC users. Do you face issues when it comes to receiving similar assistance at restaurants, gift shops, transportation, meet and greets, or other areas where lines and crowds form? Do you feel that there should be ways to accommodate you at these locations, is it even needed, or do you think its a fair balance? I do ask this with all good intentions so I hope no one feels like they are under attack. I very curious to hear how families live through the rest of their vacation at a busy theme park resort.

We don't do meet and greets (other than character spot, and Mickey at MK). The GAC works for both of those locations, and my daughter finds that the stress of waiting for meet and greet at other locations, and the cascading effects through her day aren't worth it.

She hates shopping and restaurants, too. I've never been sure if that's a sensory thing or not, I suspect it is, because some days she can enjoy them - but only in some circumstances and when she's not already stressed. Transportation hasn't ever been an issue for us. First thing in the morning, the bus waits are usually short, and she can wait in an open space then join the rest of the party when our bus gets there. We're usually out of the parks by noon, so the park-closing waits aren't an issue.

She'll wait in the hotel room while I go down to the food court and get dinner. If we happen to be eating at a park - she goes with another adult (either outside or to a table) while we wait in the lines and to get our meals. All the resorts have a "quiet pool", so we haven't had much issue finding her a quiet/splash-free space if she's up to leaving the room for the pool.

So the answer is really "My child uses up all of her ability to deal with people at the theme park, then becomes a virtual hermit for the rest of the day" And there's still a cumulative effect through the vacation.

We went to legoland last summer without any assistance, as a trial. She rode about three attractions a day, we left by noon each day - and after the second day, she said she couldn't go back. We spent the rest of our week's vacation digging in the sand so she could recharge. With a GAC, at WDW, we average about 5 rides per day, and she can sustain it for 8-9 days.

 

[Genie of the Lamp]

Since we are discussing GAC's here I'll throw in my limited experience and only encounter that I have personally dealed with. So on my last WDW trip 2 years ago the week before christmas, me and my older sister decided to go on M:S Orange cause we wanted to try it out and cause it was only 30 min fastpass which really ended up being like 20 min. Anyhow there was a latino group (twosome) in front of us and the teenage girl (looked to be late teens early 20s) was in a wheelchair utilizing the GAC but she managed and wanted to wait in fastpass cause she didn't want special priviledge. Anyhow as they loaded us into the area outside before you go into the ride vehicle/"spaceship" she got wheeled over to the pilot spot on the number pad. They said the instructions and all was going well then as they open the doors to let us enter our ride vehicle she literally just threw the wheelchair off to the side and walked her merrily normal non injured way into the ride vehicle with a cm ride operator stareing right at that s.o.b. I went over to the cm and said "did you see what just happend". He said "yeah we get that quite a bit occassionally". I then said "why don't you guys start enforcing the fact that guests can't abuse the system like that and take advantage over people who actually have a chronic disability/illness?". He just said "I'm a minimum wage like cm and I honestly don't even want to put up with an arguement with these folks". I then said "you really ought to be ashamed of yourself for not caring and setting the quality standards around here". He then told me to off and go suck some/it. I am being dead serious he said this to me right at my face. Luckily I was able to get his name and report it to a higher level cm that happend to be in the giftshop and apologized saying this doesn't normally happen WDW cm's are the greatest blah blah blah and said they will look into this and question the employee. Never heard from them since but I tell ya what that really just shows what a diffucult subject this is to handle properly and the fact that they really just brush off many issues like this off to the side and only focus on the magical pixiedust rainbow/unicorn fantasyland stuff. Probably should've complained at city hall like that one did who got made fun of on the jungle cruise for texting on her iphone the whole time discussed in another thread which would've gotten me some serious sweet incentives for my next WDW trip like free Hotel stay at GF or something.

 

[Tom Morrow]

If he really told you to " off"... well, I dunno, sounds like someone that doesn't really care about keeping their job anyway, but who are you to tell him to be ashamed of something that is completely out of his control? What exactly has given you the slightest notion that a frontline minimum wage CM can do anything about that situation?

I mean, while you're at it, you should have told him "you know, you should really lower the ticket prices" and then telling him to be ashamed of himself when he tells you that he can't do anything about that.

 

[Genie of the Lamp]

If he really told you to " off"... well, I dunno, sounds like someone that doesn't really care about keeping their job anyway, but who are you to tell him to be ashamed of something that is completely out of his control? What exactly has given you the slightest notion that a frontline minimum wage CM can do anything about that situation?

I mean, while you're at it, you should have told him "you know, you should really lower the ticket prices" and then telling him to be ashamed of himself when he tells you that he can't do anything about that.

Looking back on it I probably shouldn't of said that but in was in the heat of the moment I guess. I just wish he would've pulled her aside and basically let her off with a warning and tell her not to pull a stunt like that again. Would've suspected that he went/report to a higher level cm about what happend there to tell his side of the story and not get in trouble. Relax man all is good/cool here.

 

[Tom Morrow]

But the thing is, that is the same reason they can't -not- give someone a GAC - you can't be sure that there wasn't something wrong with the girl. Maybe she could stand and walk for short distances. Whether she was faking it or not, even suggesting that they are faking it could result in big trouble.

 

[Genie of the Lamp]

But the thing is, that is the same reason they can't -not- give someone a GAC - you can't be sure that there wasn't something wrong with the girl. Maybe she could stand and walk for short distances. Whether she was faking it or not, even suggesting that they are faking it could result in big trouble.

Yeah true. If I really went all ape crap on their rear ends I guess I would've been treated like Adam the Woo and be forbidden to step on WDW property and spend some time in the cell/brig. Would of reunited with some of my homies/souja boys. I'll shut up now.

 

[MayMay]

Anything that makes the "alternate entrance" GAC less like an unlimited Fastpass is a step in the right direction.It honestly sounds perfectly reasonable and accommodating. You'd still be able to ride as much as everyone else.

I've been thinking about this statement all day, and I don't agree with it. I think it tiers GACs based on ability, which is counterproductive to the point, and encourages more people to scam the system.

Currently, we follow the recommendations we've gotten from CMs - you ride with the GAC, then don't get back in line with it until the standby line has passed. We ride first instead of waiting first because the standby lines build pretty quickly, and this ensures that (barring a very bad day) we always do at least one thing.

If you change it to (effectively) one FP per FP attraction per day, then you penalize:

People who can't experience all the FP attractions. Why should one group, where the GAC-holder can experience everything, get 6 disability passes; while my group gets 1 disability pass, and then is out of luck?

People who have limited stamina for heat/crowds/noise/etc. A group that can stay in the parks all day long gets much better "utilization" out of the GAC than one that can only stay for a few hours. This is true even if both groups can ride the same number of FP attractions and are limited to one FP per attraction - as long as you make them wait the length of the standby queue/some arbitrary time between re-rides.

People who have complex issues. If you have an issue that precludes you being in the regular queue, AND an issue that means you unexpectedly need food/bathroom/quiet space/etc - you have a good chance of blowing your FP return window. Enforcing FP windows already makes these groups rely more on the GAC than they used to.

Who benefits most from these proposed GAC policies?

People traveling in groups who are willing to lie. Send 4 people into guest relations and have them each get a GAC. Oh look - your group can wait once, and ride 4 times in a row. Or "stand in line" for four different attractions at once. Repeat all day long, from open until close. They have the most ability to maximize whatever system is created, and have already demonstrated that they're willing to game the system to their advantage.