Clearly Disney views this behavior as an issue or they wouldn't be trying to curb it. To believe that the few people on these boards that actively talk about this stuff are the only people who know about it is pretty egotistical. To think that TAs aren't using these techniques on a much larger scale for money is naive . To think that no one else is being effected is willful ignorance. And to assert that it is okay because you are getting away with it or must not be wrong because no one is catching you and stopping you is just unethical.
I think it is pretty clear that using the onsite booking window for offsite guests is against the rules, especially if they aren't in your traveling party, but if we just give it a cute name like the umbrella then that makes everything ok. You know a TA or Disney planner can fit hundreds or thousands of people under an umbrella.
The fact that WDW is trying to change the system to stop the abuse means that it is abuse. If you have to go and find a new way to cheat because Disney stopped the last one, then I think we can all throw the argument that it isn't cheating out the window.
Feel free to keep justifying it anyway you want. The fact that Disney views it as an issue and is trying to stop it is the only evidence I need that it is having a negative impact on the system and is against the rules, but I guess if there is one thing I have learned from my years on these boards it is that we all know better than Disney, am I right.
I'm going to step away from this thread now because it is depressing and upsetting. Happy "strategizing" folks. I hope Disney cancels your FPs and locks your
MDE and your next trip is filled with the long standby lines your shenanigans make the people who play by the rules have to wait in.