Travel

Disney World to Investigate Underground Tour Services Involving Persons with Disability

Disney World to Investigate Underground Tour Services Involving Persons with Disability
Bernadine Racoma

A research revealed that rich mothers from Manhattan have found a way to skip lines at Disney World. According to an article in The New York Post wealthy families hire persons with disability to pose as members of the family. A spokesman for Disney World has assured concerned groups and individuals that an investigation is forthcoming and that they will review the situation.

Since its publication the article has sparked mixed reactions and sparked an ongoing debate in social media platforms. While many are furious and outraged, some are insisting that the activity is helping persons with disability earn a living.

Underground scheme

This underground network is being dubbed, “the black market Disney tour guides” reportedly run at $130 per hour. For an eight-hour day, the service is worth $1,040. A social anthropologist Dr. Wednesday Martin discovered this scheme that “the one percent” of visitors engages in at Disney World. Martin was working on a book that would be called “Primates of Park Avenue” about the New York elite when she unearthed the scheme.

It only took a minute

One mother who requested anonymity revealed that her daughter got in “It’s a Small World” after waiting for only about a minute. The typical waiting time is around two hours for other kids. The mom said that they hired a disabled guide from Dream Tours in Florida as they were going around Disney. The Dream Tours company’s only response to the Post article is a post on their website advising the public that they are not currently offering VIP tours “due to inaccurate press and slander.”

First-hand experience

Martin herself experienced the scheme first hand when she visited the theme park with her family. The Dream Tours guide that they hired was in a motorized scooter for the handicapped. With the guide, she, her husband and their two children were ushered directly to the auxiliary entrance of each attraction they visited. Disney has an existing policy that allows guests to their theme parks who are in a motorized scooter or wheelchair and six companions at the most access to “a more convenient entrance.”

Only for the privileged few

Martin revealed that contact numbers of the underground service at Disney World is being passed around the Manhattan upper crust when spring break is around. She added that living among the Park Avenue elite has shown her many rather surprising practices of the privileged few. And being privy to the Disney World black market tour guide service is apparently a confirmation of one’s status in the exclusive upper crust. In the interview Martin added that it is not her job to judge.

Unacceptable

Speaking on behalf of Disney World, spokesman Bryan Malenius said that they are “reviewing the situation” and that the blatant abuse of accommodations meant for visitors with disabilities is unacceptable. Malenius assured the public that Disney World will “take the appropriate steps” to put an end to the practice.

Disney World offers VIP Tours and fast passes worth $310 to $380 per hour. Moms who have made use of the black market tour guide say that it is well worth the cost and definitely much cheaper than the VIP Tour packages.

Photo Credit: Disney World

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