Worth Knowing!!!!

[Guest guest]

Claim: Disney theme parks have stopped providing Special Assistance Passes to

special needs guests.

Status: True.

Examples: [Collected on the Internet, 2004]

For years, Disneyland and Disney World have offered a special assistance pass

for people with disabilities, both physical and mental, when their disabilities

created a problem severe enough they would be unable to stand in the normal

Disney lines. Autism has always been one of those disabilities. They've now

changed their policy. Now, only people w/ " physical mobility issues in

wheelchairs or with canes " will be able to use the handicapped lines, everyone

else will wait through the standard line.

I took my 5 year old autistic son Tyler to Disneyland in October 2003. We used

the special assistance pass and had a wonderful time. Tyler could NOT have

handled the regular lines, he had a meltdown if the handicapped lines were

greater than 10 minutes. He'd either lie on the floor crying, or start taking

his shoes/clothes off and flinging them at people. But he loved the magic, loved

the rides. We were so thankful to Disney for providing that opportunity for him.

Now they've discontinued that pass. I would have found a way to stay longer if

we'd have known it was the only time we'd be able to take him. It seems to me

this goes against everything the BAF stands for, in that it's now made it

impossible to include thousands of children w/ autism, downs syndrome, and other

developmental disabilities from enjoying the magic of the Disney kingdoms.

I've contacted both parks to make sure this isn't just a rumor. It's not. There

is an online petition going on at

http://www.petitiononline.com/BPparent/petition.html if you are willing to sign.

If you are like me, and are willing to complain in a phone call (I think it's

harder to ignore thousands of phone calls than an online petition) the telephone

number for Disneyland is (714) 781-7290 and Disney World is (407) 939-6244. Stay

on the line to talk to someone at the Disney World number.

Disney World also has an address you can write to and complain:

Disney World Guest Communications

P.O. Box 10040

Lake Buena Vista FL 32830-0040

Origins: Citing -->abuse of the previous system as the reason for the

limitation, in December 2003 Disneyland decided to curtail the provision of its

Special Assistance Passes. Under the old system, special assistance passes were

available to most park guests who asked for them, with those chits entitling

holders and their immediate parties to be placed on rides ahead of other guests.

As we verified with a Disneyland Guest Services representative in February 2004,

a new program to assist the disabled is in the works, but it won't be unveiled

until April or May. In the meantime, Special Assistance Passes are no longer

available to anyone, whether the guest's need for such a pass stems from a

condition apparent to the naked eye or not. Lest anyone still think this

curtailment pertains only some classes of special needs guests, we specifically

asked about those who have mobility problems and were told the passes no longer

exist even for them.

Visitors to the Disneyland and WDW Magic Kingdom parks are now asked to present

themselves at Town Hall (where guest services personnel are based) to discuss

their special needs with guest services representatives. In some cases those

representatives will issue Special Assistance Cards, but these new cards are not

line passes; they are cards that allow their holders to wait in quieter

specially-designated holding areas at each attraction, and to request assistance

of cast members at points along the lines where those advancing towards an

attraction have to climb stairs or otherwise navigate around obstacles. In those

latter instances, guests will be assisted by cast members to another route or

entrance to the queue. Those so assisted don't go to the head of the line; they

are merely moved past the insurmountable parts to the next point in the

advancing queue.

Prior to this crackdown, anyone holding a special needs pass or seated in a

wheelchair could go to the front of a line in the company of up to six people

and quickly board an attraction with his or her entire party. The laxness of the

system prompted some guests to take advantage of what was seen as an easy way to

get on rides quickly — why wait in line for an hour and a half with hundreds of

other guests when, for the price of a wheelchair rental, you and your five best

friends can skip from attraction to attraction, each time being ushered to the

head of the line? According to the Associated Press, " In the past, visitors

insisted on hopping to the front of the line by saying 'I have a bad back' or 'I

have a handicapped parking placard.' Sometimes, groups of teenagers would flip a

coin to see who would rent a wheelchair, then use the chair to get a pass to the

front for a group of six. "

Some customers are very unhappy with Disney for making this change. An online

petition entreats Disney to change its policy and solicits " signatures " from

those of like mind. (The " Fast Pass " to which the petition refers is a free

service offered at Disneyland and Walt Disney World under which riders can book

appointments to be seated on the more popular attractions without the need to

wait in long lines. A full explanation of the FastPass system is available

here.)

Beside the confusion about FastPass being a service park visitors are charged

for (which has prompted those who house the petition to preface it with a

correction), the petition also presents Disney's policy change as affecting only

those whose special needs aren't so readily apparent. Yet those who cannot walk

unassisted are also affected by this shift — the passes are gone for everybody,

not just the autistic or otherwise mentally challenged.

It's sad to realize this curtailment has come about because of acts of the

unscrupulous.

Barbara " remembrance of things pass " Mikkelson

Additional information:

Internet Petitions: Why They're a Waste of Your TimeLast updated: 8

February 2004

~ " We all take different paths in life, but no matter where we go, we take a

little of each other everywhere. " ~

~ " If I could reach up and hold a star for every time you've made me smile, the

entire evening sky would be in the palm of my hand. "