Excerpts from a
New York Post story:
Some wealthy Manhattan moms have figured out a way to cut the long lines
at Disney World — by hiring disabled people to pose as family members
so they and their kids can jump to the front, The Post has learned.
The “black-market Disney guides” run $130 an hour, or $1,040 for an eight-hour day. “My
daughter waited one minute to get on ‘It’s a Small World’ — the other
kids had to wait 2 1/2 hours,” crowed one mom, who hired a disabled
guide through Dream Tours Florida.
“You can’t go to Disney without a tour concierge,’’ she sniffed. “This is how the 1 percent does Disney.” The
woman said she hired a Dream Tours guide to escort her, her husband and
their 1-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter through the park in a
motorized scooter with a “handicapped” sign on it. The group was sent
straight to an auxiliary entrance at the front of each attraction.
The New York Post is admittedly not the best choice for a source. Via
Reddit, where the thread included these comments:
"Former Disney employee here. The only thing new here is the way people are getting to bypass
lines. To me, this is actually more honorable than what I usually see.
Typically, average joes and obese people complain they can't walk or
stand in line due to some BS medical reason. Disney doesn't want to look
bad so they give away wheelchairs. People fuck the system like the
liars they are to wait less. I know most redditors aren't rich and I'm sorry to bring another side
of the argument to people, but think about it like this; these moms are
hiring people who want a job, and are taking them to fucking DISNEY
WORLD. Ya it may be a shitty sounding tactic, but it's a lot more honest
than other people I've seen while working. "
"It is actually shady for
the handicapped person. They are selling ADA access. Kind of sick,
when the ADA is there for them to function in society, not exploit for
money. My guess is disney will just start logging these people and banning
them from the park, since they are undermining the VIP access that
disney sells."
"It sounds like a secretive and highly sketchy operation with folks
pulling in quite a lot of cash. If the disabled tour guides are paying
FICA and income taxes, fine. They might only have a problem with Disney.
If they are working under the table while collecting disability
insurance payments they might have a bigger problem. Social Security
Disability Insurance (and Medicare coverage before age 62) require
people to be unable to work. Income from work would have to be disclosed
and might disqualify them from disability benefits, not to mention the
problems with the IRS. "
Here is one that is worse. Abusing wheelchair privledges at airports so you don't have to wait in line. The airline staff call them "Miracle" flights. People show up for their flight needed a wheelchair to the gate, which lets them bypass the TSA line. Then when they arrive at the destination, they stand up and walk off the plane with their own power. No wheelchair needed. Miraculously cured while in air!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/04/nyregion/a-few-passengers-use-wheelchairs-to-avoid-airport-lines.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&
http://blogs.wsj.com/middleseat/2013/02/21/the-airport-wheelchair-imposters/
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324503204578316110013488332.html
It's unfortunate that people missuse handicap privledges, but keep in mind that there are people out there---like myself---who can walk, but have difficulty standing in long lines or walking long distances. A wheelchair to the gate would be neccesary in my case.
DeleteDon't you have to be mentally handicapped to want to go to Disneyland in the first place? It is ideal though for children with so much junk they never had a chance to exercise imagination or simply play in the woods, an ideal way for their parents to pretend they care. One day at Disneyland is used to make up for the fact that a grandparent so rarely gets to see the child.
ReplyDeleteMy inlaws, my husband, and I are taking my two kids to Disney next month. Are you saying I don't care about my children because I am taking them there instead of letting them play in the woods for a week? Or are you saying that because my inlaws live many states away, they have to "make it up to my kids" and buy them off with Mickey Mouse? I just thought we were going on vacation and picked a place that was family friendly and generally safe for 2 and 4 year olds.
DeleteI don't get your animosity. While I understand it is a bastion of commercialism and Americanism, I don't appreciate you equating that with me "not caring."
I think that it is more to do with being unable to entertain and/or connect with today's children. Parents and Grandparents yarns about the good old days and playing cards or dominoes simply cannot compare to what the playstation, satellite dish, and internet have to offer ~ so they spend some money on something more interesting than they are and bask in the collateral joy for a day even if it means the kid enjoys their money more than them.
DeleteI truly hate to admit it, but it took a certain perverse genius to have come up with this idea. Bizarre.
ReplyDeleteHere's what I find confusing: I'm mostly ambulatory ( I wear leg braces), but I have to use a wheelchair when I go to theme parks. About 98% of the time, I have to wait in line like everyone else. The lines ARE wheelchair accessible, afterall. It's rare that I'm able to jump to the front of the line. So, how the hell did they do it?
ReplyDeleteI want all of you to realize that not every disability that requires a wheelchair is visible. People with heart or breathing problems, people with fatigue issues (such as from chemo as one example), people with back issues in which standing and walking are excruciating, and a huge gamut. Regardless of what these people in the article are supposedly doing, you cannot visually judge if anyone using a wheelchair is "cheating" or not.
ReplyDelete