Pet Peeve

[Darksin]

I remember about ten years ago there was a problem with a few people printing out false Give Kids the World badges (When they where just the Lanyard with a paper card) but the design and process was quickly changed to make it easy to spot a fake. Today's MAW/GKtW badges look nothing like the old ones, so you'd have to go threw a pretty good process to create one yourself.

[Main Streeter]

That's a pretty strong accusation...do you have proof of that and if so, did you report it to MAW? I, for one, would be interested in more details because, as I said before, the majority of my contributions go to MAW...if they are being scammed, I and other contributors need to know.

Of course I have proof or it would not be a pet peeve, nor would I have posted, & Goofyer, I am not answering you in anger. I did not report the DL MAW scams to MAW as a MAW badge/hang tag was never used. The mother simply stated child is a MAW child. I had no reason to question or doubt. I always wondered why the child looked healthy, but again, I never believed a scam was taking place. More details will NOT BE GIVEN as the mother lurks on this site & her hate mail is an issue with me. Sad to say my C M friends & I are much less willing to be involed with guests now unless we know the facts, & who wants to really ask direct hard core questions when told a child has cancer or another horrid problem?

[DonutGoddess]

Of course I have proof or it would not be a pet peeve, nor would I have posted, & Goofyer, I am not answering you in anger. I did not report the DL MAW scams to MAW as a MAW badge/hang tag was never used. The mother simply stated child is a MAW child. I had no reason to question or doubt. I always wondered why the child looked healthy, but again, I never believed a scam was taking place. More details will NOT BE GIVEN as the mother lurks on this site & her hate mail is an issue with me. Sad to say my C M friends & I are much less willing to be involed with guests now unless we know the facts, & who wants to really ask direct hard core questions when told a child has cancer or another horrid problem?

Karma is a real bitch. If I had a child I would never say it was ill when it wasn't. You never know..

[DisneyMom]

Karma is a real bitch. If I had a child I would never say it was ill when it wasn't. You never know..

If your Mom is going around saying falsely you have a Terminal Disease for sympathy and perks, I'd say there is a Zero chance of you growing up to be a normal,functioning adult :mad:
Good Luck in the Future,"Mom"

[Darksin]

Of course I have proof or it would not be a pet peeve, nor would I have posted, & Goofyer, I am not answering you in anger. I did not report the DL MAW scams to MAW as a MAW badge/hang tag was never used. The mother simply stated child is a MAW child. I had no reason to question or doubt. I always wondered why the child looked healthy, but again, I never believed a scam was taking place. More details will NOT BE GIVEN as the mother lurks on this site & her hate mail is an issue with me. Sad to say my C M friends & I are much less willing to be involed with guests now unless we know the facts, & who wants to really ask direct hard core questions when told a child has cancer or another horrid problem?

Seriously. As someone who was a sickly child and still sickly as an adult, I'd never wish that on my hell-spawn if I had any. Hell I wouldn't wish my perpetual health issues on anyone! That's just ASKING for something bad to happen, don't tempt fate man.. she can be nasty.

[Big Wallaby]

Remember, more parents (usually moms) say their child is a MAW Kid when they really are not. This is my huge pet peeve. How they get the child in MAW organization is beyond me but they do. Been through this scam. :mad:

I know how much you cared for this child and their family. I had wondered how they had managed to be a part of MaW for that long as well, and I am glad that they actually weren't.

That's a pretty strong accusation...do you have proof of that and if so, did you report it to MAW? I, for one, would be interested in more details because, as I said before, the majority of my contributions go to MAW...if they are being scammed, I and other contributors need to know.

Of course I have proof or it would not be a pet peeve, nor would I have posted, & Goofyer, I am not answering you in anger. I did not report the DL MAW scams to MAW as a MAW badge/hang tag was never used. The mother simply stated child is a MAW child. I had no reason to question or doubt. I always wondered why the child looked healthy, but again, I never believed a scam was taking place. More details will NOT BE GIVEN as the mother lurks on this site & her hate mail is an issue with me. Sad to say my C M friends & I are much less willing to be involed with guests now unless we know the facts, & who wants to really ask direct hard core questions when told a child has cancer or another horrid problem?

Fortunately, Goofyer, as others have said, MaW has gone to some great lengths to make sure it is very difficult to use them as a scam. They have several things in place that I won't go into here. I have run into one family that turned it into a scam in my four years, and they were pretty blatant, and refused to wait so I could have a manager "help" them. Nice description was sent to Security. It isn't something I would worry about, because even if there is a family that is coming up through their toilet, for that one family there are thousands who do deserve what they are receiving from MaW and GKTW. To pull off that scam, a guest would have to have a lot of I's dotted and T's crossed, and there is proprietary information that not even the families who are in the program have. If someone is scamming MaW/GKTW and the theme park companies that way, they won't make it for long. Unless they do what Main Streeter is talking about and not actually using the system, but only the sympathy of the Cast Members. But that is why we are trained not to believe everyone that just comes up. We are even supposed to check the dates and information on the GAC, just like we would with any other guest who has a "standard" GAC. And we all do it, right? <looks for nodding from other Cast Members> It takes us all of an extra three seconds, and then we have them on their way or we get them exactly the assistance they need.

Oh, and the other thing I've concluded, most MaW and GKTW families are not fully informed of their privileges. Now, when I have encountered them in the past I have always worked to help them make the most of their time with whatever company I work for, and will continue doing so in the future.

I am pretty sure I have told my MaW story here, probably several times by now, from July 2009, so I won't repeat it now. Suffice it to say, this was one moment that carried me through a very dark time in my life that started a mere couple hours later. If I had had to deal with ten scammers to be able to make that child's night special, I would do it in a nanosecond.

If your Mom is going around saying falsely you have a Terminal Disease for sympathy and perks, I'd say there is a Zero chance of you growing up to be a normal,functioning adult :mad:
Good Luck in the Future,"Mom"

And really, when it comes right down to it, what good is sympathy? It is much better to be on the giving end than the receiving end.

[shilohmm]

If your Mom is going around saying falsely you have a Terminal Disease for sympathy and perks, I'd say there is a Zero chance of you growing up to be a normal,functioning adult :mad:

My cousin's son was a MAW child (he's currently in remission and his future looks good, yay!), and she was always struggling to give the kid as normal a life as possible and worrying that he'd be spoiled.

[DisneyMom]

And really, when it comes right down to it, what good is sympathy? It is much better to be on the giving end than the receiving end.

There is a Psych Disorder called Munchausen's Disease by Proxy. The Parents get some sort of satisfaction from the attention given to their child,and to them....they will actually make their child ill in order to gain this attention. Sometimes Hospitals put in a camera or a Security Guard in the room if they suspect this kind of behavior. Again. anyone who would exploit their child to get attention has something terribly wrong with them :mad:

[felinefan]

I've seen in the news--not recently, but a few years or so ago--where one mother taught her son to act as if he were mentally retarded so they could get more government assistance that they otherwise didn't qualify for. The other case was where a mother shaved her kid's head and told everyone the child had cancer, just to play off of people's sympathy--and get goodies and money they didn't deserve. I'm not sure if people like that have MSBP, are total scammers/welfare queens, or someone who's too lazy to get a job and work hard for the necessities of life. Sad that there are people who make their kids victims of this kind of thing.....

[Tinker Bell]

Allow me to make some points here:

*MAW familes extra time is not 15 or 20 minutes, in fact their so called 'extra time' consists on probably at most a minute or two more. Are folks that desperate that can't wait a minute more? It is impossible for the characters to spend 15 or 20 minutes because let's be real that's how much time, in some cases, the character has on set. The most time I have seen a character spent with a kid on set while their was a long line was with a child who had some sort of seizure while meeting Donald and the character wouldn't let go of the child's hand hand trying to calm him down. The whole thing took 6 minutes, it was the first time I cried on set. Saddest thing I have ever seen.

*Most of the jerks that complaint about them spending time are usually well... just jerks. People who are really, really nasty and ask 'Cinderella' to 'squat' or 'want to know how much is it for a date with one of the princess (right in front of their wives BTW)

*Most folks have no problem letting a MAW ahead of them. I mean really most of this kids are sick, so what's the problem? I think a guest said it better than I could:

"I rather wait in the line for an hour at least knowing that there is nothing wrong with my child. I bet those people would love to be in my shoes instead of where they are."

*Most of those kids their dream is going to WDW not meet a certain character. Some of the kids love the idea of Disney as a 'world of characters' they don't think as one specific character, they have the global idea of Disney, if that makes sense. We have had MAW kids that have asked to meet Ariel, Cinderella or whatever character and MAW has arranged for them to spend a longer time with that specific character. Their dream is not to be in WDW but to meet Ariel and so if that's their wish they will arrange for them to spend more time.

I hope that sheds some light into the debate.