In a culture that outsources everything, it was inevitable some well-heeled Americans would find a way of skipping the tedium of lining up to get into a Disney attraction — especially during the recent Spring Break.
Wealthy mothers from Manhattan are hiring disabled people, who pose as family members, to get onto rides and other attractions at Disney World, the New York Daily News reports.
The hired helpers — given the fancy name of “tour concierge” — are obtained through Dream Tours, a company that helps organize vacations for people with special needs.
The Celebration, Fla.-based firm offers “quality-based, memorable and affordable 24-hour supervised vacation services … to people with special needs,” according to its website.
The company allegedly takes advantage of a Disney rule that allows guests who need a wheelchair or motorized scooter to bring up to six more people to a “more convenient entrance,” the Post says.
Dream Tours reportedly provides a disabled “escort,” who accompanies the family around the park and to the front of the line at busy rides.
“You can’t go to Disney without a tour concierge,” said one mother who used its services to zip to the front of the line with her children.
“This is how the 1% does Disney.”
The woman said she hired a Dream Tours guide to escort her, her husband and their one-year-old son and five-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.
“My daughter waited one minute to get on ‘It’s a Small World’ — the other kids had to wait 2 1/2 hours,” she added.
The “black-market” guides run $130 for an hour, and $1,040 for an eight-hour day, the Post reports.
Not only is the Dream Tours’ service more efficient than Disney World’s VIP Tours, it’s cheaper.
Disney Tours offers a VIP guide and fast passes for $310 to $380 per hour.
The company’s phone number was in hot demand over Spring Break. The service asks who referred you before they even take your call, the newspaper said.
The New York mother indicated Jacie Christiano, who works at Dream Tours and is the girlfriend of the tour company owner, Ryan Clement, was the family’s guide. Mr. Clement told the Post Ms. Christiano doesn’t use her disability to bypass lines and says she has an auto-immune disorder.
http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/05/14/how-to-skip-disney-world-lines-hire-a-disabled-escort-1040day/