Wealthy hiring handicapped to get to front of line at Disney World

[jeffrey]

It appears that the best way to cut the long lines at Disney World or Disneyland is to hire a handicapped tour guide -- and that is what some wealthy people are doing to get their kids onto rides without having to wait in lines. These so-called "black-market Disney guides" cost about $130 an hour which ends up being over $1,000 for an eight-hour day. While this may seem expensive, it is less than the standard way to get to the front of the line at Disney through a VIP guide and Disney fast pass that costs about $300+ per hour:

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/disney_world_srich_kid_outrage_zTBA0xrvZRkIVc1zItXGDP

[disneysteve]

That's a bunch of BS. This topic comes up regularly in discussions on the Disney forums and podcasts. Being handicapped doesn't get you to the front of the line. In many cases, it results in a longer wait than you would have if you were in the regular line. Many attractions have special ride vehicles for handicapped guests but they only put them in service when needed. For example, Small World has a boat that can accommodate a wheelchair or scooter so they send one out when necessary but you have to wait for that to happen while dozens of folks from the regular line get to board the standard boats.

Besides, Fastpass is free to all guests. Anyone can get a timed return ticket to get into some of the most popular attractions with little if any wait time.

If anyone truly is using a wheelchair or scooter fraudulently to bypass lines, I'll leave it to karma to get them what they deserve.

[disneysteve]

The article was ridiculous anyway. The mom said the wait for Small World was 2-1/2 hours. The wait for that attraction is NEVER 2-1/2 hours even at peak season.

Also, over the years, Disney has redesigned many of the queues so that guests in wheelchairs can actually go through the regular stand by line.

[creditcardfree]

I agree with you DS, my neighbor's went with their handicapped wheelchair bound daughter and actually had more waiting than we did at the same time of year. I recommend TourGuideMike for information on avoiding lines. Worked for us during the peak season of July.