Disney World is one of my favorite places to go. I love letting my imagination run wild as I travel from world to world, meeting both heroes and villains from Disney’s latest and greatest films and television shows. But sometimes, the villains at Disney are not the ones in costume.
Disney is implementing a new rule that will take effect on Oct. 9. Yahoo Shine reported, “people with disabilities will no longer be ushered to the front of lines.” This change was brought about due to reports of park guests bending the rule that allows disabled park guests to go to the front of the line for rides. The New York Post reported that anthropologist Wednesday Martin discovered a line-hopping secret while researching for her upcoming book, Primates of Park Avenue. According to the New York Post, “Some wealthy Manhattan moms have figured out a way to cut long lines at Disney World – by hiring disabled people to pose as family members so they and their kids can jump to the front.”
I do not remember having to be taught not to take advantage of a person’s disability, probably because this isn’t a lesson people should need to be taught. One woman, whose identity was not revealed, told the New York Post, “My daughter waited one minute to get on ‘It’s a Small World’ – the other kids had to wait 2 ½ hours. You can’t go to Disney without a tour concierge,” the concierge being a paid disabled person posing as a friend or family member. “This is how the 1 percent does Disney.” I imagine after the interview, she had Mickey Mouse and his friends carry her and her family to Cinderella’s Castle where they were served a feast by living household items a la Beauty and the Beast.
Disney has a legitimate tour concierge of its own. According to the New York Post, “Disney Tours offers a VIP guide and fast passes for $310 to $380 per hour.” On the other hand, the “black-market Disney guides” are cheaper, running at “$130 an hour, or $1,040 for an eight-hour day.” Either way, guides are still expensive. The idea of paying such a high rate to bypass the line, black market or not, is ridiculous. Like most, I have never been a fan of lines, but at least at Disney, the rides’ lines usually provide some visual entertainment. Last spring when I was at Disney while waiting in line for Thunder Mountain, I got to look at boxes of fake dynamite from the “Lytum and Hyde Explosives Company.” Splash Mountain had a variety of colorful animal characters to see. Plus, you can always talk with friends or whip out your phone and play Candy Crush.
Still, long lines are not an option for some guests at Disney. Michael Rosen, a spokesperson for Autism Speaks, has a son who is autistic. “He would start crying and screaming when we stood on a line, because he didn’t realize that in 25 minutes he would go on a ride,” Rosen told Yahoo Shine. “He had no idea why he was standing on a line, and that really takes away from the fun.”
One of the most frustrating parts about this situation is that people, like the unnamed mother from earlier, do not think about how their actions could affect others or, even worse, they don’t care. If you do not take a moment to think how your actions could hurt others, you can end up causing a lot of damage and grief. Because of this mother and other people like her, she ruined a privilege that helps those who need it.
Disney has been in touch with Autism Speaks and other disability groups trying to think of a solution. According to a report by the Associated Press, “Visitors will be issued tickets with a return time and a shorter wait similar to the FastPass system that’s offered to everyone.” While this may stop guests from hiring disabled people to pose as family members by lessening the incentive to get an assistance pass, this hurts disabled people and their families and friends who are not trying to play the system. Martin told Yahoo Shine, “While it’s admirable that Disney seeks to address abuse of and profiteering from their policy of the disabled by those who got disability passes unfairly, the park’s ‘solution’ penalizes disabled children and adults, who were supposed to be served by the policy in the first place, by revoking their ability to go to the front of the line.”
I do not see how Disney can prevent people from abusing the rule without penalizing those who are innocent. Unless Disney can somehow create a device that stops people from being as wicked as the villains in their movies, I do not see a proper solution anytime soon. At least Disney can use this incident as inspiration to create the villain for a new animated movie.
Jake Koniszewski can be reached at John.Koniszewski@spartans.ut.edu
