"Rossen Reports" on Disney

[luv]

I'm back up north and everyone I meet is bringing this up. I had no idea how many people had heard about it! Way bigger than just Disney fans!

I actually wondered if Disney wasn't planning to make changes to the GAC when they roll out the wristbands and planted this story to make it seem like they were solving some kind of problem, lol.

It's just crazy how much PR this story has received.

 

[ddrongowski]

The biggest problem with them reporting on it is that it becomes main stream. Now more people will be looking to take advantage of this service or start their own scam.

That or Disney will have to actually do something to stop it.

 

[flynnibus]

I'm sure you can find it on line later tonight or tomorrow.

story runs tomorrow....

 

[ddrongowski]

I believe that NBC posts most of their shows on-line to Hulu.

But I do not want my brain made into alien foooooooooooooooood...................

 

[JIMINYCR]

Me personally I think the issue is more that, disabled or not, it is only fair for everyone purchasing a ticket to have the same experiences. Those who are disabled are able to gain instant access to an attraction where others cannot, regardless of the actual wait time... and to that end, those same folks, while benefiting from that, don't have the benefit of experiencing some of the awesome queues Disney has put together as a result. It should be fair across the board with no special treatment/experiences either way.

It would be great if everything was equal. As you say, If it was fair across the board. But Disney is trying to make the experience as magical as they can for any disabled individual and their families, no matter the level of disability. Some of the queues are not set up for access, some individuals cannot stand or move at a lengthy time in queues, some ride vehicles are not accessible. There cannot realistically be a fair across the board treatment/experience as you present. The issue is someone who is not disabled pretending to be disabled to get privileges they should not be getting. Period.

 

[ddrongowski]

I have an idea to make it fair for GAC folks. They can bypass the line, but one person (if others want to wait with them fine) from their party has to get in the normal line. Once that person or persons gets to the front to the line the CAG person(s) join up with them and get on the ride.

That is the only fair way.

Heck lets expand it. If you are with a group of folks, one or more waits in the line, then when they reach the front everyone else from the group can come in the back way in and join them. Isn't that basically what some guests are doing already. You know the ones that say, uhm my friend(s) are up ahead and called me that it was time to line jump. At least this way they would not be making others mad, and would not have to ever wait in the normal que line.

 

[Hot Lava]

Yeah, I posted a thread about this when I saw the tease this morning.

Seems easiest to give them a time to come back. No straight to the front of the line whenever you feel like it.

WDWVolFan said: ↑

Wasn't there a rumor that Disney was going to limit FP to those staying in their hotels or allowing you to get FP before you even left the hotel?​

I think that's going hand in hand with the RFID Magic Bands (the rumor that is) but I've yet to see anything official that the change is happening.

Rumor is that when the Magic + is up and running, the type and number of FPs you can get will not only be based on where you stay on property, but also how far in advance you book.

So if you book at the GF 200 days out, you get to have 8 FPs a day (my made up number for this example). But if you stay at GF and only book 2 weeks out, maybe you only get 5 a day.

Also if you stay at an All Star, maybe you only get access to 4 FPs a day, which may change based on how far out you book your vacation.

If you are an off property schmoe, maybe you only get access to 2 FPs a day AND you are not able to reserve times in advance (as you would be able to if you were staying on property).

 

[MOXOMUMD]

Maybe, just maybe, being a NBCUniversal program they'll highlight Disney's issues then promote the new Harry Potter project. Will be interesting.

 

[Hot Lava]

Maybe, just maybe, being a NBCUniversal program they'll highlight Disney's issues then promote the new Harry Potter project. Will be interesting.

HA! That had not occurred to me! Perhaps Disney should come out and claim conflict of interest with the report. B/c no matter how much they claim to firewall, it still is a CoI to me.

And look what happened with CNET naming Dish Network's the hopper its best gadget at CES. The parent company CBS came in and made them change it. This is an unfortunate wave of the future.

 

[Todd L]

Jeff Rossen is a reporter for NBC. He does a segment for the Today Show called "Rossen Reports." Basically, the point of his segment is to expose scams or fraud of all kinds. Tomorrow the segment will focus on Disney and how people are "beating the system" and skipping lines. My guess is that it will focus on GAC abuse, but have to wait and see. If you guys want to watch, the segment normally airs around 7:30am est during the Today Show.

I saw a Woman get her entire family (7 or 8 people) to the front of the line at Tsmm multiple times on my last trip....People were getting pretty upset .

She was on a first name basis with all the cast members and They were not concerned at all that people were getting upset that they allowed this to go on over and over.
Id imagine that she was either an Employee or well know to the employees....They were all real chummy and cracking Jokes.

Shed come off the ride, go right back to the cast member at the entrance and after a few minutes he would let em all back on the fast pass line.

 

[MOXOMUMD]

After doing a little research on this segment I found he is going to be using a "disabled tour guide" to show how they do what they do. There was a Rossen story about this on the Today website earlier but now it keeps showing error when you try to access it.

 

[Tom Morrow]

It would be great if everything was equal. As you say, If it was fair across the board. But Disney is trying to make the experience as magical as they can for any disabled individual and their families, no matter the level of disability.

And this is exactly the problem, they are giving an "unlimited access" card as the end-all, be all answer for pretty much anything. Actually disabled or not, anyone with a card is able to ride much more than those without a card, which in turn is making the wait times longer for everyone else. They are giving people with disabilities (real or forged) special, privileged treatment, when the ADA is all about equal treatment.

 

[Mark In KY]

If people are so sleazy as to need to "beat the system" then I say to H E double hockey sticks with them. I'll stand in lines, use FastPass, use "single rider" lanes and at the end of the day still have some self-respect that I didn't lie and cheat to get "special treatment" that I don't need or deserve. This is no different than the people who gripe when some kid who is there from "Make A Wish" gets to meet the characters before they do. Sleazy is as sleazy does and karma is a powerful force.

 

[Hot Lava]

Not jsut a story, but undercover! But it was at DL, not WDW. I also wondered if they filmed it on Memorial Day weekend to make sure it was very crowded Ok, cool. But Disney's response is complete BS.

Basically they said they would send "strongly worded letters" to any of these companies advertising this as a service. ooooooooooooooh! That'll show'em!

In addition, Disney said that anyone they catch doing this will have their GAC revoked and not be let back in the park again. uh-huh. And how will the catch these people when they do not even ask for proof of disability (don't even get me started on the twisted mess the ADA has become).

And what about all the people abusing this that are not doing it for profit? How are they going to "catch" and deal with those people under their current system?

Disney needs a complete overhaul. I think they are hoping the hub-bub will just die down and they will not have to deal with it. Waiting for their RFID system to kick in is not a solution either.
The thing is, after the NY Post article and now this, I think that both DL and WDW may start having issues with ticked off people in lines becoming very vocal, and possibly physically belligerent.

 

[MOXOMUMD]

I just watched it too. Those tour guides were ."I have no remorse over the situation." It's all about the money. But I agree this must have been filmed on the holiday because the lines were atrociuos!

 

[Hot Lava]

I just watched it too. Those tour guides were ."I have no remorse over the situation." It's all about the money. But I agree this must have been filmed on the holiday because the lines were atrociuos!

Unfortunately this seems to be the attitude of a lot (dare I say, majority) people today. Only concerned with getting what they want. They were both deplorable, especially the guy.

I don't want to set off another debate about "looking" disabled, but both of them, outside of their weight, looked completely able bodied. I guarantee my mother has far more knee issues than that female guide. I'd even say that I have worse knee issues! But the fact that it appeared there was nothing wrong with them made that report that much more biting.

I also noticed there was no mention of why it is so easy to abuse the situation - that Disney cannot ask for proof. That seems like a very important point that was left out.

The fact that both those guides did not seem to be riding the rides themselves only underscores the abuse. So another issue should be that if a person that has the GAC is not riding, why should all the other members of their party get that privilege? You can argue it is hard for the GAC holder to wait, but it is just seems like another abuse issue.

More and more it does seem Disney needs to at least go to a FP type system for the GACs.

 

[LuLaSue]

In case you missed it...

http://www.today.com/news/undercover-disney-deplorable-scheme-skip-lines-6C10131266

 

[Master Yoda]

Not jsut a story, but undercover! But it was at DL, not WDW. I also wondered if they filmed it on Memorial Day weekend to make sure it was very crowded Ok, cool. But Disney's response is complete BS.

Basically they said they would send "strongly worded letters" to any of these companies advertising this as a service. ooooooooooooooh! That'll show'em!

In addition, Disney said that anyone they catch doing this will have their GAC revoked and not be let back in the park again. uh-huh. And how will the catch these people when they do not even ask for proof of disability (don't even get me started on the twisted mess the ADA has become).

And what about all the people abusing this that are not doing it for profit? How are they going to "catch" and deal with those people under their current system?

Disney needs a complete overhaul. I think they are hoping the hub-bub will just die down and they will not have to deal with it. Waiting for their RFID system to kick in is not a solution either.
The thing is, after the NY Post article and now this, I think that both DL and WDW may start having issues with ticked off people in lines becoming very vocal, and possibly physically belligerent.

From my understanding DL has more issues with GAC abuse than WDW. DL's client base is made up of a considerably larger percentage of regulars that know how to work, and sadly, abuse the system. There was a big hub bub about this when RSR opened as the FP lines were almost getting longer than the stand by line because of GAC cards.

I can't really speak for DL, but with NextGen's launch being right around the corner, WDW is going to have to address the issue. One of the critical things that Disney needs for the FP system to work it to be able to accurately control the number of guests using FP going through per hour. The GAC as it is now can really throw a monkey wrench into that calculation.

I do not know the exact limitations that are listed on a GAC card, but there are 2 things that either need to be enforced and/or added.

1. The GAC card can not be used by tour guides not employed by Disney.
This should fix the hiring a tour guide problem we have seen exposed in recent weeks, but it should not be up to front line CMs to police this. Disney is going to need to go undercover, hire these guides, catch them red handed, then trespass them from property. Do this to a few and it will stop.

2. Limit the number of times it can be used per hour.
There is no reason that someone with a GAC should be able to do a continuous circle on the attractions. Make the GAC card an RFID card and scan it. Limit the use to something like once per hour per attraction and/or make it follow the fast pass window.

 

[MattC]

From my understanding DL has more issues with GAC abuse than WDW. DL's client base is made up of a considerably larger percentage of regulars that know how to work, and sadly, abuse the system. There was a big hub bub about this when RSR opened as the FP lines were almost getting longer than the stand by line because of GAC cards.

I can't really speak for DL, but with NextGen's launch being right around the corner, WDW is going to have to address the issue. One of the critical things that Disney needs for the FP system to work it to be able to accurately control the number of guests using FP going through per hour. The GAC as it is now can really throw a monkey wrench into that calculation.

I do not know the exact limitations that are listed on a GAC card, but there are 2 things that either need to be enforced and/or added.

1. The GAC card can not be used by tour guides not employed by Disney.
This should fix the hiring a tour guide problem we have seen exposed in recent weeks, but it should not be up to front line CMs to police this. Disney is going to need to go undercover, hire these guides, catch them red handed, then trespass them from property. Do this to a few and it will stop.

2. Limit the number of times it can be used per hour.
There is no reason that someone with a GAC should be able to do a continuous circle on the attractions. Make the GAC card an RFID card and scan it. Limit the use to something like once per hour per attraction and/or make it follow the fast pass window.

I like the ideas Yoda.

I know this probably sounds bad, but everytime I see a GAC pulled out I wonder if its legit. Watching this report did not help my suspicions.

 

[Master Yoda]

I like the ideas Yoda.

I know this probably sounds bad, but everytime I see a GAC pulled out I wonder if its legit. Watching this report did not help my suspicions.

I think all of us who know how the system works do this. It is just human nature. It is what we do after that is what matters. I know plenty of people who need a GAC that do not even remotely look like they should. Most feel embarrassed to even use one. For that reason alone, I don't judge.