GAC changes at the MK

[LockShockBarrel]

I had a very long arguement typed out on here and just deleted it because I don't think that people are ready to agree to disagree on how autism and GACs are handled. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, of course, but I don't think there's enough people who can objectively look at both sides of the coin and come to a reasonable conclusion.

As far as the differences in boarding rides, hasn't it always been said that the GAC can and will be handled differently based on staffing, park and ride attendance and individual need? Maybe that needs to be clarified and reinforced by the CMs who issue them. That being said, if there is an absolute NEED (by which I mean there is no other way to go about it, not "well this one time we did it this way and the star aligned and it was great"), then the NEED should be met.

 

[Mom2six]

I had a very long arguement typed out on here and just deleted it because I don't think that people are ready to agree to disagree on how autism and GACs are handled. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, of course, but I don't think there's enough people who can objectively look at both sides of the coin and come to a reasonable conclusion.

As far as the differences in boarding rides, hasn't it always been said that the GAC can and will be handled differently based on staffing, park and ride attendance and individual need? Maybe that needs to be clarified and reinforced by the CMs who issue them. That being said, if there is an absolute NEED (by which I mean there is no other way to go about it, not "well this one time we did it this way and the star aligned and it was great"), then the NEED should be met.

Yes, then the need should be met. The real problem is that every person on the planet feels they have right to judge what your need is and that they should be able to voice their precious opinon about it whenever they want. It doesn't matter if they are being rude or insulting, because it is their opinion and they have a right to say what they want. It doesn't matter how it hurts people...they might have to wait an extra minute. And their obsession with people maybe getting SPECIAL TREATMENT is all that matters. My son, even though he is not really verbal yet understands what people are saying with their precious opinions.

Yep, everyone can have their opinion, and if people think that using a GAC to try to allow your children to enjoy a magical experience are trying for SPECIAL TREATMENT. Yes, there are two sides of the coin. One side is freaked out because maybe they have to wait in longer line (and by all accounts, the alternate entrance has a LONGER line...yes, we all know you think it must be shorter...and there will be nothing that will convince the people on the other side of the coin that they aren't being cheated out of a minute of their live.) Maybe the people on that side of the coin should consider that not watching your child suffer is something SPECIAL. Having an alternate entrance is nothing compared to knowing that your child isn't in mental anguish, that your child isn't scared all the time, that your child isn't being overwhelmed by sensory input. Having an alternate waiting area cannot compare to not seeing your daughter cry because she just wishes her brother could come too, or one of her parents having to miss her Christmas Pageant because the church scares him too badly and you have to leave.

Yes there are two sides of the coin and we can just agree to disagree. One side doesn't get an alternate entrance, and the other side might have to say I'm sorry we just can't go because there is no way he can handle it. I don't see how they are equal at all, but the people on the other side of the coin don't agree and think there problem of seeing you have an alternate entrance is just as traumatic as your child's autism.

This is the attitude he is going to have to face his whole life and it breaks my heart everyday. When I read that Disney World was really good at accomadating special needs children, I was so happy. He's only a little boy.

 

[Mom2six]

Wow, I can't speak for her, but it would seem as if your post came across as rude too. Name calling took it to another level . I kind of understand what she is getting at but at the risk of mis-interpreting her, I think I will pass on explaining what it is I think she's asking

You are right, my post did come across as rude. Which is why I changed it before you posted this. Absolutely, my saying that a person (who was knowingly rude and insulting about disabled children and their families) did indeed sound rude was extremely rude on my part. However, she did say she knew she sounded rude so that couldn't have been a surprise to anyone.

I'm not sure that I agree that stating she sounded ignorant is totally on another level than insulting my disabled children and my family. The word ignorant means:
ig·no·rant   /ˈɪgnərənt/ Show Spelled[ig-ner-uhnt] Show IPA
adjective
1. lacking in knowledge or training; unlearned: an ignorant man.
2. lacking knowledge or information as to a particular subject or fact: ignorant of quantum physics.
3. uninformed; unaware.

I do think that stating something that is lacking in knowledge about a topic or problem, based only on your limited personal experience does sound ignorant. She says that she knows all children with autism are different and have different needs, and then proceeds to say that people using a GAC must do so only because the line must be shorter despite the claims of the people using the GAC - which sort of implies they must be lying. That is extremely insulting and lacking in knowledge about a topic.

But you are completely right that I may have misinterpreted her, which is why I edited my post. This topic isn't just a topic in some forum. It's my life and my families life. It isn't something I saw at a park somewhere. I may just be extra sensitive about this topic because I love my children dearly and I hate to see them suffer. And I hate that people think they have the right to make comments about them as if they were deaf and couldn't hear, or roll their eyes or just be rude to them. They are human beings with just as many feelings as everyone else. Why do people think they can be mean? Why is everyone so afraid that someone might get something that they didn't get that they are willing to be mean to a child?

I am actually sorry that I was a bit snippy.

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

I think some of here can not complete understand everyone's reasons for wanting to use an alternate entrance, but is it possible that some of the time when people get steered away from them by Cast Members that the alternate line or waiting area may not actually be the best fit at the time. Take for example the previous post about how someone was directed to the alternate area for pirates and encounters some people who had been waiting for over half an hour. Or another example space ship earth being a walk on but still going to the exit to board and having to wait for wheelchairs and ECV users to board ahead of you, or just walking on which would be easier in that situation?

 

[LockShockBarrel]

mom2six, you're kind of proving my point. You experience autism every day and the way you keep posting makes it sound like you've forgotten what it's like to not have to deal with it. You're acting like the other side of the coin is wrong. It's not wrong, it's just misinformed. You are always going to argue, and rightly so, that people are going to judge and not get it. You can't escape that. We are never going to experience a world in which everyone understands each and every difference between each other. It's a defeatist point of view, I get that, but in my very humble opinion it's ignorant to expect everyone to know and accomedate things they don't understand. Someone could come back to you and say you don't know what it's like to be blind, or deaf, or an amputee, or to be fed through a tube in your stomach. Are you wrong for not knowing what its like? Of course not. Are you wrong for thinking things are a certain way, maybe because of a very basic experience you've had with any of those, or maybe how its been portrayed in movies or on tv? Of course not. It just goes back to being misinformed.


As far as Disney goes, I don't disagree that the inconsistancy in handling is frustrating. I've experienced it too. If the CMs are rude or hurtful, we can report it. If something is in violation of the ADA, we can report it. There's always room for things to be fixed and improved. We as a whole can't say "Well we should need to report it, it shouldn't happen", if there was a mouse in your box of cereal, would you not report it because "it shouldn't have happened?" Disney employees are human, and they make mistakes, they do things wrong, the people teaching them can do things wrong. It sucks, but it happens. We should take the opportunity to help them fix it rather than condemn them for it.

 

[Mom2six]

mom2six, you're kind of proving my point. You experience autism every day and the way you keep posting makes it sound like you've forgotten what it's like to not have to deal with it. You're acting like the other side of the coin is wrong. It's not wrong, it's just misinformed. You are always going to argue, and rightly so, that people are going to judge and not get it. You can't escape that. We are never going to experience a world in which everyone understands each and every difference between each other. It's a defeatist point of view, I get that, but in my very humble opinion it's ignorant to expect everyone to know and accomedate things they don't understand. Someone could come back to you and say you don't know what it's like to be blind, or deaf, or an amputee, or to be fed through a tube in your stomach. Are you wrong for not knowing what its like? Of course not. Are you wrong for thinking things are a certain way, maybe because of a very basic experience you've had with any of those, or maybe how its been portrayed in movies or on tv? Of course not. It just goes back to being misinformed.

You are right that you can't understand how other people feel or what they experience. I have no idea what being blind is like or what blind people need to accommodate their issues. That is so true. However, I don't ever question what a blind person says they need. I have never said that is not fair for a blind,deaf, amputee with a feeding tube to have certain accommodations, or commented about the way they act or what they need. I would never presume to do that...which is I guess what bothers me. If you don't know, then why judge it? You are right though. I think a lot of time people don't realize they are judging something they don't know about or even if they do know about it, I guess sometimes people don't realize how their attitude is coming across.

I know I must seem highly emotional and a bit irrational about this topic. It's just been kind of a bad day.

 

[buffettgirl]

I think we should not forget that a GAC is not one thing. Depending on the needs of the guest it can be any number of different accommodations. Alternate entrance isn't always what's needed or isn't always what's on the GAC. So when people say "I had a GAC and xxx happened" to me that doesn't really tell me much. Was the GAC for alternate entrances and you were denied that? Was the GAC for a quiet waiting area and that was denied?

I know we don't like to mention what stamps are used and I totally see the point for that, but sometimes the talk of GAC turns into "I had one and my needs weren't met." but when we're not talking about what the GAC actually said, and what the needs were, we devolve into this back and forth like we see going on here, where someone assumes that GAC means skipping lines, and others are trying to defend their use a GAC. Because we could be talking about apples and oranges.

 

[aggordon2]

THIS! I have a 6 year old son that is Autistic (High Functioning). He does though get overwhelmed/overstimulated very easily. He also has a hard time waiting for long/unknown amount of time. When he gets overstimulated/upset he yells/makes loud "squealing" noises sometimes it gets to the point where you can't even communicate/get through to him. It is quite upsetting for everyone. When we go to an amusement park near our house..most of the time we will wait in a regular line...no problems. . I think what makes it extra hard for a child on the spectrum in Disney to wait in a regular line is that the lines keep going and going and going (its not very easy to say to your child...can you see the front of the line?) and there is so much "entertainment" around that it can get very overwhelming very quickly..and once a child gets so overstimulated/overwhelmed...(my child anyways)..the only way of "resetting him"--that's what I call it when he calms down--is removing him completely from the situation..which could even mean leaving the park. Nobody wants to have to not experience a ride or the Walt Disney World Parks because every ride/attraction is a nightmare. I am very very greatful for the GAC. If we didn't have it..We wouldn't be able to enjoy the parks in the way we would want to.

I completely agree, my child gets the same way with the "squealing". For my son it is not a squealing sound but more of a high-pitched whine. The GAC has helped us immensely. My DS also has a hard time standing still, I don't mean being fidgity, I mean he has to move. Sometimes it takes all my strength to hold on to him. Then he has a melt down right there. At this point, either I force the issue of staying where we are (not a good thing), or we have to leave the attraction (or the park).

For us the GAC has been a godsend.

 

[I Love Pluto]

I agree that some CMs are not polite - bordering on rude.

I also must state that I had an issue at HM in April that was handled by 2 VERY POLITE CMs. No one at the moment could have cared about me more.
They were outstanding in their representation of Disney.

Yes, I went to Guest Services - to PRAISE these people for a job well done!

I hope your issues resolve also. There ARE some GREAT CMs out there!

 

[scottmel]

OP I don't mean this towards you at all. But I think in general GAC is a little to widely distributed in general and my GUESS is CM's have seen there share of "GAC cases" and they are almost immune to reacting to them. Meaning when you see someone that DOES deserve it, they aren't treated properly. I will never forget 2 years ago seeing a 80 plus year old grandma in a wheelchair ASLEEP while 8 members of her party were pushing her up the walk for RnR waving their GAC. It was quite interesting to see the conversation tht happened afterwards....Grandma was awoken and asked was she riding this ride? No they were going to do Parent Swap with her Needless to say Grandma, her GAC and the 8 members of her party were sent to the back of the line. You gotta feel for what these CMs see all day.

 

[Mom2six]

OP I don't mean this towards you at all. But I think in general GAC is a little to widely distributed in general and my GUESS is CM's have seen there share of "GAC cases" and they are almost immune to reacting to them. Meaning when you see someone that DOES deserve it, they aren't treated properly. I will never forget 2 years ago seeing a 80 plus year old grandma in a wheelchair ASLEEP while 8 members of her party were pushing her up the walk for RnR waving their GAC. It was quite interesting to see the conversation tht happened afterwards....Grandma was awoken and asked was she riding this ride? No they were going to do Parent Swap with her Needless to say Grandma, her GAC and the 8 members of her party were sent to the back of the line. You gotta feel for what these CMs see all day.

You make a good point. And poor Grandma...that must have been sort of shocking for her to wake up like that.

 

[utterrandomness]

OP I don't mean this towards you at all. But I think in general GAC is a little to widely distributed in general and my GUESS is CM's have seen there share of "GAC cases" and they are almost immune to reacting to them. Meaning when you see someone that DOES deserve it, they aren't treated properly.

Your example aside, how do you know who deserves it? Many disabilities are invisible, that's the point of the GAC. You may see someone, or a CM may see someone that they think doesn't deserve it because they don't see anything visibly wrong. I know this is a somehow unpopular opinion, as I keep getting verbally abused for it, but the fact is that you do not know what is going on in someone else's life. Less people fake than people seem to think, because why on earth would you willingly subject yourself to bad or more complicated treatment? It's like saying people choose to be gay, yeah, no thanks.

 

[scottmel]

Your example aside, how do you know who deserves it? Many disabilities are invisible, that's the point of the GAC. You may see someone, or a CM may see someone that they think doesn't deserve it because they don't see anything visibly wrong. I know this is a somehow unpopular opinion, as I keep getting verbally abused for it, but the fact is that you do not know what is going on in someone else's life. Less people fake than people seem to think, because why on earth would you willingly subject yourself to bad or more complicated treatment? It's like saying people choose to be gay, yeah, no thanks.

Nope no idea but am sure it was not the sound asleep grandma that needed it for Rock and Roller Coaster. I am sure she is not the only ABSURD case the CM's run into on a daily basis....

 

[utterrandomness]

Nope no idea but am sure it was not the sound asleep grandma that needed it for Rock and Roller Coaster. I am sure she is not the only ABSURD case the CM's run into on a daily basis....

That isn't my point. My point is that you think they are too widely distributed, and you would judge who does and does not need one. I never said that the case with the grandma was invalid, I said that you, and the CMs, do not know what is going on with people and they may see cases that seem absurd to them but the people concerned really do need it.

 

[I Love Pluto]

Question - involving "Grandma"

If the rest of the party want to ride one of the thrill rides - but can't leave Grandma alone for too long - isn't it OK to use the GAC then? Grandma will benefit from her family being back to take care of her -- in less time than it would have taken on the "regular" line. Is the GAC geared to helping families get back to caring about the loved one?

Really...this is a good question. The 2 hour wait - the 20 minute wait - Grandma is alone for too long. Isn't she?

 

[Hannathy]

Question - involving "Grandma"

If the rest of the party want to ride one of the thrill rides - but can't leave Grandma alone for too long - isn't it OK to use the GAC then? Grandma will benefit from her family being back to take care of her -- in less time than it would have taken on the "regular" line. Is the GAC geared to helping families get back to caring about the loved one?

Really...this is a good question. The 2 hour wait - the 20 minute wait - Grandma is alone for too long. Isn't she?

With 8 people in the party why would she have to be alone ever?

Here's a news flash maybe someone would have to be a responsible person and stay back with grandma. or they could split into two groups and have go and then when they come back the other half go.

Don't see why they would need to use a GAC for that instead of just being responsible. That would be an abuse of the GAC as far as I"m concerned.

I think people need to stop and think about if people continue to over use and abuse the GAC, IMO Disney will pull back from what they have nicely offered above and beyond the legal minimum and stick with only what they legally have to provide.

 

[aggordon2]

Question - involving "Grandma"

If the rest of the party want to ride one of the thrill rides - but can't leave Grandma alone for too long - isn't it OK to use the GAC then? Grandma will benefit from her family being back to take care of her -- in less time than it would have taken on the "regular" line. Is the GAC geared to helping families get back to caring about the loved one?

Really...this is a good question. The 2 hour wait - the 20 minute wait - Grandma is alone for too long. Isn't she?

Isn't one of the stipulations on the GAC say that the person who the GAC is named for has to be the one using it? Otherwise anybody can say that the person who is named on it is sitting right ouside.

 

[aggordon2]

Don't the CM's at Guest Relations always suggest not getting a GAC if someone is in a wheelchair?

 

[scottmel]

Isn't one of the stipulations on the GAC say that the person who the GAC is named for has to be the one using it? Otherwise anybody can say that the person who is named on it is sitting right ouside.

yes it is! GAC holdee must ride the ride. ELSE use fast pass. Grandma would never be alone and maybe she used that GAC on small world or pooh or whatever - but come on - rock and roller coaster asleep??

Earlier I said I felt they were too widely distributed. May or may not be the case but I will hold my ground that they are abused....grandma being case in point. I know there are short term situations that necessitate a GAC (I was one of them last summer) and obvious long term issues that necessitate it. But there is also abuse in the system. Where there are humans, where a system of any type exists, there will be abuse. So my original point being, CMs see it day and in and day. Grandma was probably one of how many that day of obvious abuse....

 

[ttintagel]

yes it is! GAC holdee must ride the ride. ELSE use fast pass. Grandma would never be alone and maybe she used that GAC on small world or pooh or whatever - but come on - rock and roller coaster asleep??

Earlier I said I felt they were too widely distributed. May or may not be the case but I will hold my ground that they are abused....grandma being case in point. I know there are short term situations that necessitate a GAC (I was one of them last summer) and obvious long term issues that necessitate it. But there is also abuse in the system. Where there are humans, where a system of any type exists, there will be abuse. So my original point being, CMs see it day and in and day. Grandma was probably one of how many that day of obvious abuse....

So... ONE group out of the hundreds of throusands of people who attend WDW parks every day proves that the GAC is "too widely distributed?" Sorry, but that's nowhere near the realm of statistically significant.

No matter what system is in place for any given situation in any society, SOMEBODY is going to figure out a way to abuse it. For my money, any establishment worth existing is going to err on the side of helping a few people who don't actually need it rather than err on the side of not helping any number who do.