Rich Manhattan moms hire handicapped tour guides so kids can cut lines at Disney World

[lazyboy97o]

The whole thing of this that I'm sad about is my worry that dream tours will have to stop operating and business will slow. So a person with disabilities is out of a job (maybe a dream tour guide job they couldn't get the main stream way?) and people with special needs utilizing their tours genuinely will be out of luck too. Thanks media....

Again, Disney tends to not allow private tours of their parks.

 

[captainkidd]

Dude that's some critical information you left out! I thought you were just saying you can't sit still, as in you have a lot of energy or ADD and that was your reason! Phew, totally not the case man. Bad backs are bad news. My wife has mild scoliosis

Sorry about that. I thought I had posted about my back issues before. I've had 2 epidural steroid injections done this year, and the latest procedure attempted was to burn my nerves on the bottom of my spine. Yeah, that was fun. I've seen 3 specialists. This current one is the one doing these procedures, so I'm sticking with him. All 3 have said they would not recommend surgery, although realistically, it may be the only way to fix the problem long term.

It's awful. Not just at Disney. I can't stand at work and have a conversation with someone without having to sit down. I can't go to any more concerts, unless I'm going to sit the whole time. Don't get me wrong - My issues are peanuts compared to others who need the card, but you're right - Bad backs are no fun.

 

[flynnibus]

Yeah - What's so funny about it? I have 2 protruded discs in my back. If I stand still for more than 3 minutes, the pressure pushes straight into the nerves on the bottom of my spine, causing my back to give out to a point where I literally can not stand up. Do you find this amusing?

check out my back...

Lots of degeneration... arthritis on the bones.. lots of bulging discs.. and oh yeah, that massive ruptured disc I'm still recovering from the procedures...

 

[flynnibus]

What steps?

I would like to know how Disney is going to stop the abuse.

Simple... provide accommodations to fit people's actual limitation instead of giving out passes that equate to unlimited FP access. The abuse exists at Disney because Disney makes it too attractive by offering excessive accommodations.

You don't hear of disability abuse at your local grocery store do you? The reason is Disney's excess combined with their laziness.

 

[ddbowdoin]

That would be hard, since some of the GAC users are very sick and are literally going to die soon, and those people need to get on as soon as possible.

I could understand you're literally going to die soon so I'd like to go Disney World one last time but where I get lost is, I'm going to literally die soon so it paramount that I ride Tower of Terror... Despite all signs stating the required physical conditions be met, good heart and all that jazz. Your example isn't a practical reasoning to continue the GAC system as is. It would apply to some attractions but not the ones that people get ed seeing people stroll through.

 

[captainkidd]

check out my back...

Lots of degeneration... arthritis on the bones.. lots of bulging discs.. and oh yeah, that massive ruptured disc I'm still recovering from the procedures...

Which procedures did they do on you? Did it help?

 

[ddbowdoin]

I don't mean to add fuel to the fire, but while I was on the CP last fall, I knew a few CM friends who used a GAC card, especially during the Christmas season, so they wouldn't have to wait in line. Pure laziness in my opinion, I was never in a rush when I went to the parks after work.

but what drives me nuts are two things... peoples inherent nature to try and remain positive, and their naivety.

we can't keep trying to convince ourself that it's only a hand few of people doing this, it's just delusional.

 

[asc341]

I never vouched for the accuracy of the article

I've read the first few pages of this thread, and I know that the content written in this article is true, because I heard it first (well, second) hand. I work, in NYC, for one of those "wealthy Manhattan moms" that the article refers to. After I took a week long trip to Disney with my family in May 2012, my boss and I struck up a conversation about Disney, to which she said a good friend of hers (male mind you - not just Manhattan moms!) had just gone, and had hired a disabled person to get his family ahead of the lines.

If you actual read the article, the author was quoting what was heard from one of the "rich Manhattan moms" and her perception of the service. These are people who do not follow Disney message boards, are not aware of the ease of getting a GAC, and (believe it or not) would not want to falsely obtain the GAC, but would rather exploit someone who needs it for their own benefit. The average guest is often going to exxagerate the amount of time they waited in line...and are more likely to exxagerate a standby wait time if they were able to avoid it themselves. The article, I think, is perfectly believable, especially since I live on the upper east side, where these women would live.

Totally! Generally speaking, these are people who know close to nothing about Disney. Lines and discomfort for parents at the park is exaggerated, and for them it's worth it to pay for something that will take away the rumored stresses of Disney.

Those would be the wannabe el cheapo 1 percenters who are either too stupid to realize VIP guide services are available thru Disney who offer a much greater scope of service or they don't really have the means to afford such services. I've been in the Disney parks w/a relative who is handicapped. Um, it's not a benefit, really.

I don't think that Manhattanites hiring the disabled makes them "stupid." These people are, most certainly, not stupid. Uninformed of how Disney works perhaps, but not dumb - how do you think they earned their money?

 

[Violet]

I don't think that Manhattanites hiring the disabled makes them "stupid." These people are, most certainly, not stupid. Uninformed of how Disney works perhaps, but not dumb - how do you think they earned their money?

They inherited it.

 

[71jason]

A person who was abusing the system and profiting off of that dishonesty will be out of a job.

Just as so we are clear here....

The article implied, if not outright stated, that the tour guide in question is the company owner's girlfriend. This isn't a big-scale operation, it sounds like it's two people who learned to work the system for profit

 

[71jason]

Again, Disney tends to not allow private tours of their parks.

HaHaHaHaHaHa ... oh wait, you were serious? A quick Google search will reveal private tours are a cottage industry here in Orlando.

I will say, of the largest two private VIP tour companies in Orlando, I'm good friends with one owner, and have met the other. Neither would put up with a blatent abuse of the system like this. Personal theory, haven't been able to prove it yet, is that the joker behind this worked for one of them (his M.O. and event he language of his website tracks theirs pretty closely), he decided to set off on his own, realized this was the only way he could compete with their superior service.

 

[tahqa]

i don't know about them, but I don't doubt it. I'll bet that 95% of locals who visit the parks use them.

Other than me (and possibly you and others on this forum), I know exactly one other person IRL who doesn't. I know Disney employees do it. It's crazy and so far out of control.

No, 95% of the locals are not using the GACs.

I personally know of three people that get them. One absolutely needs the card due to multiple health issues... the other two use BS anxiety issues as their excuse. As for the rest of my friends -- none of us have ever entered attractions with our friends that have the cards nor will we in the future. And we've outright told the two with "anxiety" that they're abusing the system.

Note that I'm not saying people don't have legitimate anxiety issues, but I just know that these two people don't. And, yes, if you're curious one of them is a lifestyler.

 

[jklakeview]

The easiest way to fix this is to make a waiting area for someone that has a disability. The rest of the party goes through the regular line. When you get to the front of the line, your entire party gets loaded. If you're alone or a party of two, you must wait in the waiting area with a buzzer that goes off when its your turn. If the ride breaks down for some reason, your pager goes into a waiting period just like how the people in line are waiting as well. Easiest fix, problem solved, underground scheme destroyed....

 

[Californian Elitist]

I could understand you're literally going to die soon so I'd like to go Disney World one last time but where I get lost is, I'm going to literally die soon so it paramount that I ride Tower of Terror... Despite all signs stating the required physical conditions be met, good heart and all that jazz. Your example isn't a practical reasoning to continue the GAC system as is. It would apply to some attractions but not the ones that people get ed seeing people stroll through.

How do you know if these people have heart conditions? Not every sick person has health problems like that.

It does apply. This one woman, with cancer, asked her family to take her to Disneyland before she passed. She went and told CMs she had the greatest day of her life. Guess what, the next day, she didn't wake up. I don't think it's that big of a deal to give dying people the right to get on as soon as possible. They're about to die, for Pete's sake. Count your blessings.

 

[ddbowdoin]

98.5 FM The Sports Hub, Boston's major sports channel, just had about a 40 minute conversation about this! It's really spreading!

Apparently one of the hosts is just like us.

They're all getting into the ECV issue with people chugging Cokes and slamming turkey legs.

 

[Mad Stitch]

The easiest way to fix this is to make a waiting area for someone that has a disability. The rest of the party goes through the regular line. When you get to the front of the line, your entire party gets loaded. If you're alone or a party of two, you must wait in the waiting area with a buzzer that goes off when its your turn. If the ride breaks down for some reason, your pager goes into a waiting period just like how the people in line are waiting as well. Easiest fix, problem solved, underground scheme destroyed....

I know people don't like it, but this would probably be very easy to do with the RFID system. When someone with a disability arrives at an attraction, their RFID bracelet would be read along with the last person to enter the line which creates a virtual place in line. The disabled person goes to the waiting area and when their virtual place in line makes it to the front; they would be allowed to ride.

 

[captainkidd]

98.5 FM The Sports Hub, Boston's major sports channel, just had about a 40 minute conversation about this! It's really spreading!

Apparently one of the hosts is just like us.

They're all getting into the ECV issue with people chugging Cokes and slamming turkey legs.

It was on WAAF Tuesday for about an hour too.

 

[Killnme]

As a husband of a handicapped person, I find this disgusting and I would spit in those rich people faces if I ever heard them talking about it. When we go to Disney with friends we express to them that my wife ISN'T a fast-pass for the whole group and we will have no problem waiting for them when we get split up. I would give anything to have my wife be able to walk freely, and wait in line for "2 1/2 hours" for the Haunted Mansion (never for It's A Small World). I have expressed to Disney in the past that they really need to think about reducing the number of guests allowed with handicapped people and I have a feeling now with this dark secret coming to light it will finally happen.

 

[Patrick_Ears]

This topic is on our local radio station here in New Orleans.

As I stated before this has been going on for a long time.

 

[asc341]

They inherited it.

Haha don't we all wish! That sure would make it easier for us to vilify the NYC elite, but sadly for us, most of them get their money by swapping any sort of personal life for 80-100 hour office work weeks.