Guest Assistance Cards Are NOT Fastpasses!!!

[joanna71985]

Or then there's the groups who have someone who legitimately need the wheelchair, say Grandma, who would have a hard time walking and standing all day. Perfectly fine reason to rent a wheelchair, IMO. But other adults in the group are under the impression that a wheelchair = skipping all the lines. :mad: I can't even count how many times I had people yell and argue with me when I told them at Pooh that they could either get a FP or use the Stand-by line, which was completely wheelchair accessible. SG: But we have a wheelchair! We don't have to wait!

I had this happen a lot at TSM. People would argue that they shouldn't have to wait in the standby line because they had a wheelchair. I had to tell them that the line was wheelchair accessable.

[Moonliner]

Some questions for those City Hall Guest Relations CMs:

1) What is the process in obtaining a GAC? Do guests just come in and ask for a card? What questions do you ask? What are you allowed to ask?

2) Do you explain the difference between a 'bypass' card an a 'green light' card? Do the guests sign for the card indicating they understand its use?

3) Do you explain that the wait for an 'alternative entrance' may be just as long as the regular queue, or that the family may be asked to split up so the GAC uses the alternate entrance while the rest of the family uses the queue?

GR CMS do a great job and I want to help out by preventing any irate guests from coming back and hassling you.

My worst example was a group of about 12 people backdoored into the Princesses in ToonTown. They had poor old granny with them, who definitely needed the chair, she seemed so frail. So they wheel her in, followed by about 5 other adults and 6 kids, and then they park her in the corner as they get in line for the Princesses! I thought, "They'll get her when it was their turn", but no they went straight to Aurora and ignored the poor lady! I was fortunate to have some classy ladies to work with, as they left their locations to come over and fawn over Granny, giving her the attention she deserved. Only when they decided she had enough, did they go back to the rest of the family. Now I've seen those completely incapable of participating the experience used as an excuse to skip a line, but have never seen it so flagrant. Glad the Princesses saw it too, and made sure everyone knew who was the Queen in the room!

[BRWombat]

Please keep in mind that just because someone looks perfectly healthy they may not be. ...

Understood by all here, I'm sure. I'm guessing that most if not all guests with legitimate need of a GAC behave differently than those exploiting the system. It's never "no visible disability" alone that raises suspicion... It's "no visible disability" PLUS "raging case of condescension and unearned entitlement" (a/k/a jerks) that make others wonder if the GAC is truly needed.

Glad to have you here, HotsyTotsyKids!
:sgthello:

[Tinker Bell]

What bothers me about the GAC cards is the fact that the many folks that use it do not want to wait in line. They think that the card entitles them to skip the line when the card is not design for that. Over at TT there is a problem with that fact, but apparently it's not big, or important, enough to be listen too. The procedure at TT is that they need to take a number and we take them up. We do it as fast as we can but there is a limit to what humans can do. Apparently it's not good enough.

Most of the times we get people who come up and are outrage that they have to wait. Then you get the ones who come flashing the card and VERY LOUDLY saying how they have a GAC and they don't need to wait in line. If you are doing 10 other things and are forced to make them wait for any amount of time they come up the hallway reminding, rather rudely, how they are still waiting and to hurry up.

I don't judge if you have a card or not. I know that there are people with a disability that don't show it. I understand and I'm more than willing to help in any way I can, but I'm angry that the same consideration and understanding is not reciprocated.

The GAC DOES bothers me:

1.When you are advertising the card as a fastpast on TV.

2. When you come into a character line and get outrage because character lines don't have it, completely disregarding the rules of the park and then insulting me.

3. When folks use the perk and don't need it and yes I have heard, witness and even caught people doing so.

4. When parents of Autistic children come in and flash the card and want me to drop everything and 'chop, chop' get them in front of the line. I understand the autistic disability. I have many friends with children who have it and I'm more than sympathetic, I get your problem. However, unless it's MAW everyone does the line, and honestly many times it's not even that long. I'm following park regulations and human considerations try to understand.

5. It especially infuriates me when is time for Pluto to get a doggy treat and people flash the card and demand I let them see the character because they have a disability. Look if Pluto doesn't get his doggy treat he could end up with a problem himself. Can you be at least a tiny bit considerate?! Is it that hard?!

I slowly and rather shockingly fast loosing the sympathy for this card. I see them and I only expect to be yelled and abused by the user, because sadly is rarely I see anything else.

Edit:

2) Do you explain the difference between a 'bypass' card an a 'green light' card? Do the guests sign for the card indicating they understand its use?

Just wanted to add that Guest relations does not give the Green color or Make a Wish card. As I understand it, and was explained, only the people at Give kids the World or the organization that they are staying can give them that 'Green light' since they are the ones that know the condition of the child.

[dawn]

I'm not a Guest Relations CM, but I've gotten a few GACs. I had whooping cough with lingering cough syncope, which meant that I would occasionally start coughing and be unable to stop until I passed out, sometimes vomiting along the way. Any sort of inhaled irritant made it worse, so I was getting halfway through queues and then catching a lungful someone's perfume and struggling my way blindly back out of the press of people and struggling not to make a mess.

Some questions for those City Hall Guest Relations CMs:

1) What is the process in obtaining a GAC? Do guests just come in and ask for a card? What questions do you ask? What are you allowed to ask?
The first time I was asked a lot of questions, not specific to my condition, but specific to what needs I had and what I thought might help. There was a great deal of "You're asking for something we can't do" which really amounted to me having no idea what options were available or what might help. My condition was much, much worse in the Florida heat and humidity, so I didn't have the coping skills to know what would moderate it.

I think we were both very frustrated by the experience, and I felt very much as if the CM thought I was making the whole thing up. And given how unusual it is - I couldn't really blame her. And while I did get a GAC with several stamps (including alternate entrance) - there were still several attractions that I was unable to withstand the queues for, and others that exhausted me completely enough that I'd recover for an hour afterward while the rest of my party went on.

The next time I just showed my old GAC and explained how my needs had changed (I needed fewer accomodations). I may have given a brief explanation, but there was no long discussion and it was assumed that I knew how to use the GAC.

2) Do you explain the difference between a 'bypass' card an a 'green light' card? Do the guests sign for the card indicating they understand its use?
No. In fact, "green light" cards (I've seen them and know how they work, although I didn't have one, and didn't ever feel one was appropriate) aren't mentioned to people at all as an option. Its not like you get a menu - I explained my needs and they gave me some stamps. There's no explanation of what options you didn't get (or a mention that they exist), and you don't sign anything.

In fact, I've always felt like I never knew what the threshold for misusing a GAC was, and tended to feel guilty when I used it in a way that might appear to be excessive. At the same time, I felt bad collecting FastPasses when I knew that the alternate entrance for a ride was the FP line. Like I was keeping someone -else- from getting a FP.


3) Do you explain that the wait for an 'alternative entrance' may be just as long as the regular queue, or that the family may be asked to split up so the GAC uses the alternate entrance while the rest of the family uses the queue?
I don't recall it being explained that the alternative entrance wait might be as long as the regular queue. However, I read the GAC which said it wasn't intended to shorten waits. I found that some waits were reliably shorter than the regular standby queue, and some were reliably longer. However, they were longer in a way that accommodated my needs.

It was certainly never mentioned that our party might be split to use the GAC. And it never happened, either. To be honest, that would cause consternation in our group, and we might chose not to ride. Not because we mind waiting, but because we have members who don't adjust well to things happening differently than expected and not-going is easier than going-differently.


GR CMS do a great job and I want to help out by preventing any irate guests from coming back and hassling you.

Do people go back to GR and complain? There were times I had to ask for a different alternative because the attractions CMs first suggestion wouldn't work and there were things that we just couldn't make work for me - but I never, ever, ever had the impression that CMs weren't doing their level best to make sure I had a wonderful time within their operational limitations.

[Cheshire Figment]

1. At GR the CM is not permitted to ask to see a doctor's note. However, if the Guest offers one it can be read.

2. A doctor's note that only gives a diagnoses is useless, as the same diagnoses can have different needs. A doctor's note that asks for FOTL access or asks "please extend all courtesies" or similar words is also useless.

3. The disabled Guest must be present, although a different member of the party can do the requesting (especially for a child).

4. The Guest can be asked basically two questions. (a) Are you (or the named person) disabled? and (b) What are the needs?

5. The "Green Light" (FOTL access) GAC is only given for a child who is on a Wish Trip, funded by MAW or a similar organization which is for children who either have a terminal illness or who are medically fragile. This physical condition has been medically confirmed by the outside agency.

6. The normal and official response for any need that refers to stamina or mobility problems is the suggestion that a wheelchair or ECV be used.

And, last year when I was working an attraction, if people came and flashed their GAC I stopped them and asked to see it. I did look at both the stamp and the dates. To many people (CMs included) just automatically see the GAC and allow immediate access, which is not the intent of the GAC and it so states on the card itself.

[DisneyMom]

Tinker Bell, I agree with you on #4- It is not an inalienable right for ANYONE to have zero wait for rides! I always worry about what the future holds for kids with Autism-what good is it to learn that they never have to wait for even a moment? Real Life Skills include learning to be Patient! I say this of course for the kids on the spectrum who actually do have the capabilities to learn same skills, there are some who cannot.
Never had to use a GAC for my kid-he was made to wait patiently in line, and if I thought the line was too long, well, we did something else. It didn't take him long at all to figure out that at the end of the wait was something really fun! ;)

[Tinker Bell]

Tinker Bell, I agree with you on #4- It is not an inalienable right for ANYONE to have zero wait for rides! I always worry about what the future holds for kids with Autism-what good is it to learn that they never have to wait for even a moment? Real Life Skills include learning to be Patient! I say this of course for the kids on the spectrum who actually do have the capabilities to learn same skills, there are some who cannot.
Never had to use a GAC for my kid-he was made to wait patiently in line, and if I thought the line was too long, well, we did something else. It didn't take him long at all to figure out that at the end of the wait was something really fun! ;)

You know I sometimes wonder if that was a good thing or a bad thing. I understand that there are kids who don't understand it at all, and parents have a hard time handling them. Ironically those parents are the ones that most of the time are the more understanding! I had a couple once he came in and had a GAC but pick to do line instead. Apparently they thought the kid was old enough and now he needed to understand that waiting had to be done. Like your kid he also learned it was fun. He talked a lot with the people behind them watch some TV and had a blast.

Sometimes I wish people would discover that having fun is not about what they offer but what you do. How you feel, and how you handle the situations.

[Tobi]

I have lurked on this site for a month or two now. I find it very refreshing from when I look at other sites and everyone there wants people to answer all their questions without looking for themselves. I had planned to continue to only lurk, but that is not going to happen.

I had not been on the site in a couple of weeks, but had been debating on asking some questions here about the GAC. I already know that it was not a “front of the line” pass and that wait times can be longer. I also know that you are to suppose to inform them of your needs/issues and they will issue based on what they feel can be granted. I have read that if you have an EVC or wheelchair, if mobility is your only issue, you do not need a GAC as that is a visible sign. Also, fast passes are very useful if lines are long.

Questions:
Q1. Although I know this probably is a yes, I would just like confirmation. A rollator, walker with seat and wheels, would be considered similar to a wheelchair and EVC and would not need a GAC?

Q2. If someone has trouble waiting in the sun, is there really anything that can be done for them?

Q3. Has anyone ever seen something like anxiety about separation as a list on their GAC?

Information on why my questions specifically:
My parents, sister and I are going to be at WDW next month. My sister (31) is high functioning special needs and does look it due to cranial deformations as part of her syndrome. Although we have been to WDW before, the last time all of us went was 15 years ago and she did not need special concessions. She now has arthritis to the point she has infusions (chemo-like) every so often, including just two days before we head down to WDW. She will be using a rollator as much as possible with the wheelchair or EVC being worst case scenarios. She also has become very anxious lately about being lost or separated entirely from the people she is with. As long as she is with one of us, she will be fine.

I guess I did not have as many questions as I thought, so sorry for the longish post. I know I had more before I started, but common sense is kicked in. I feel like if I am going to have a stupid guest moment, then I would rather have one here were it can be pointed out than in the park and not have the opportunity to apologize once I realize what I did. I had that happen once; I did not hear the employee correctly and made a comment that was off the wall. Later, I realized what was said and I could not find the person again when I went back to apologize.

FYI: I tried to explain to her that the rollator would probably be enough to not need a GAC, but she did not agree as she said she had other issues. Since I hurt her feelings by asking what they were, big sis should have known better, she will be getting one if they will issue it. This will be my 10th visit, but as most of those were without my family, I did not pay attention to what could be problems for my sister. Now, I am wishing I had paid better attention.

[ifoundnemo]

My worst example was a group of about 12 people backdoored into the Princesses in ToonTown. They had poor old granny with them, who definitely needed the chair, she seemed so frail. So they wheel her in, followed by about 5 other adults and 6 kids, and then they park her in the corner as they get in line for the Princesses! I thought, "They'll get her when it was their turn", but no they went straight to Aurora and ignored the poor lady! I was fortunate to have some classy ladies to work with, as they left their locations to come over and fawn over Granny, giving her the attention she deserved. Only when they decided she had enough, did they go back to the rest of the family. Now I've seen those completely incapable of participating the experience used as an excuse to skip a line, but have never seen it so flagrant. Glad the Princesses saw it too, and made sure everyone knew who was the Queen in the room!

Excellent work ladies! How was the reaction from the family???