Hiring disabled people to beat the lines at Disney world

[GuitarStv]

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/

[Jamesqf]

Once I manage to get past the oxymoron of "Disney attraction", it sounds like a win-win to me.  People with (obviously) too much money (& too little of things like imagination & good taste) transfer some of their surplus to people who might otherwise find it hard to make a decent living. 

[Nothlit]

Not that Disney World is the most mustachian place in the world, but I did go there a couple of months ago on vacation with some friends. I found that entering via the "single rider" entrance on most of the roller coaster-type rides was very fast (10 minute wait or less). You don't have to be literally by yourself to use this line. It just means you won't be guaranteed a seat next to the person (or people) you are waiting in line with. They pull from the single rider line to fill in gaps when they have an odd empty seat somewhere, and it moves pretty quickly. So, even if you don't get to sit next to the person you're in line with, you'll probably still end up on the same vehicle (maybe a few rows apart) or the next vehicle at least.

[Milkman666]

It'll be fantastic when the Make-A-Wish kids have to wait for all the rich families who hire a "concierge" in front of them at the entrances reserved for those with actual challenges.

[boy_bye]

Just go to the thrift store a get a stabilizer boot and some crutches. Bob's your uncle.

[Cecil]

Not that Disney World is the most mustachian place in the world, but I did go there a couple of months ago on vacation with some friends. I found that entering via the "single rider" entrance on most of the roller coaster-type rides was very fast (10 minute wait or less). You don't have to be literally by yourself to use this line. It just means you won't be guaranteed a seat next to the person (or people) you are waiting in line with. They pull from the single rider line to fill in gaps when they have an odd empty seat somewhere, and it moves pretty quickly. So, even if you don't get to sit next to the person you're in line with, you'll probably still end up on the same vehicle (maybe a few rows apart) or the next vehicle at least.

We often do the same thing when we go skiing, if the line is really long.

[NumberCruncher]

Seems there's some question about how true (or at least far-reaching) this story really is:
http://www.xojane.com/issues/new-york-post-rich-manhattan-moms-renting-disabled-people-to-skip-lines-at-disney-world


Also, apparently you can get the royal treatment at Disney World for the low, low price of $300/hour

[Forcus]

Less to do about being anti-mustachian and more about being a human piece of garbage. Disgraceful.

[gdborton]

Less to do about being anti-mustachian and more about being a human piece of garbage. Disgraceful.

A few years ago I might have agreed with you here, but now I feel it's more gaming the system than anything else.

[NumberJohnny5]

Less to do about being anti-mustachian and more about being a human piece of garbage. Disgraceful.

Yeah, I agree. I'm really pissed off at how these disabled people are being treated. If I were disabled and someone offered to pay me to go to Disney World, I'd tell them where to shove it. Walmart door greeter is a much more respectable job...less fun and lower paying, but still....