Oh dear. Words fail me with this one. If you are ever in Disney World and can’t bear to queue, there is a way around it – you can pay a premium and enjoy preferential treatment. Disney Tours offers a VIP guide and fast passes at rates ranging from $310 to $380 per hour. I think that’s fair enough if people are prepared to pay the extra.
However, The New York Post has revealed an alternative and utterly shameful tactic that’s apparently being employed by wealthy Manhattan Mums – employing a disabled tour guide so you can jump the queue. Yes, despicable though it is… I’m sorry to say you read that right. What’s more, if you can live with your conscience, this method actually costs a lot less with these ‘black market’ guides charging around $130 an hour or around $1,000 for a full day
Disney understandably allows each guest who needs a wheelchair or motorised scooter to bring up to six guests with them and gain more convenient access to the rides. Instead of waiting hours, they can be on in a matter of minutes.
But to employ a disabled tour guide simply so you can jump the queue leaves us lost for words. What do you think?
Paul Johnson is Editor of A Luxury Travel Blog and has worked in the travel industry for more than 30 years. He is Winner of the Innovations in Travel ‘Best Travel Influencer’ Award from WIRED magazine. In addition to other awards, the blog has also been voted “one of the world’s best travel blogs” and “best for luxury” by The Daily Telegraph.
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3 Comments
This is free market capitalism gone mad and totally plays on the good will of the parks. Disgraceful – although the disabled person gets to go as much as they want! Presumably they are selling ‘their services’ – and are profiteering from this cynicism too . Personally, I have nothing but gratitude for parks who have disabled access. Without it my child, who had terminal cancer, would not have had such a brilliant time in Disney and Legoland. Shame on those Manhattan Mums.
People are ruining it for the ones that are disabled and can’t ride some of the rides. If the disabled did not have that special pass then they would be waiting for their family to ride the ride and they would be by themselves. Disney is all about being together but people who abuse it will ruin it for those that truly need it.
When we read this post in May of 2013, we were in disbelief.
Over the summer, the press really caught hold of this misuse of the theme park privileges and Disney have been left with no option other than to totally revise their disability policy.
The result being, that guests that require assistance may still receive it, including preferential access to attractions, but, the inevitable changes make things far less practical for guests that genuinely deserve a better chance to visit the parks.
Disney are without doubt, class leaders when it comes to customer care, but they have been forced to take a tougher stance by an incomprehensible minority.
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However, The New York Post has revealed an alternative and utterly shameful tactic that’s apparently being employed by wealthy Manhattan Mums – employing a disabled tour guide so you can jump the queue. Yes, despicable though it is… I’m sorry to say you read that right. What’s more, if you can live with your conscience, this method actually costs a lot less with these ‘black market’ guides charging around $130 an hour or around $1,000 for a full day
Disney understandably allows each guest who needs a wheelchair or motorised scooter to bring up to six guests with them and gain more convenient access to the rides. Instead of waiting hours, they can be on in a matter of minutes.
But to employ a disabled tour guide simply so you can jump the queue leaves us lost for words. What do you think?
However, The New York Post has revealed an alternative and utterly shameful tactic that’s apparently being employed by wealthy Manhattan Mums – employing a disabled tour guide so you can jump the queue. Yes, despicable though it is… I’m sorry to say you read that right. What’s more, if you can live with your conscience, this method actually costs a lot less with these ‘black market’ guides charging around $130 an hour or around $1,000 for a full day
Disney understandably allows each guest who needs a wheelchair or motorised scooter to bring up to six guests with them and gain more convenient access to the rides. Instead of waiting hours, they can be on in a matter of minutes.
But to employ a disabled tour guide simply so you can jump the queue leaves us lost for words. What do you think?
This is free market capitalism gone mad and totally plays on the good will of the parks. Disgraceful – although the disabled person gets to go as much as they want! Presumably they are selling ‘their services’ – and are profiteering from this cynicism too . Personally, I have nothing but gratitude for parks who have disabled access. Without it my child, who had terminal cancer, would not have had such a brilliant time in Disney and Legoland. Shame on those Manhattan Mums.
People are ruining it for the ones that are disabled and can’t ride some of the rides. If the disabled did not have that special pass then they would be waiting for their family to ride the ride and they would be by themselves. Disney is all about being together but people who abuse it will ruin it for those that truly need it.
When we read this post in May of 2013, we were in disbelief.
Over the summer, the press really caught hold of this misuse of the theme park privileges and Disney have been left with no option other than to totally revise their disability policy.
The result being, that guests that require assistance may still receive it, including preferential access to attractions, but, the inevitable changes make things far less practical for guests that genuinely deserve a better chance to visit the parks.
Disney are without doubt, class leaders when it comes to customer care, but they have been forced to take a tougher stance by an incomprehensible minority.