Our experience with the GAC at Disney

[SueM in MN]

Just a question. Was it at Pirates that you were denied the alternate entrance? We were denied many times for an alternate entrance there. Then one time we went and a very nice CM took us a different way.

The only way to get into Pirates without going thru the regular queue is to go thru some backstage area, so they usually only use the alternate entrance there for Make a Wish trips or if there is absolutely no alternative to going thru the regular queue. For some attractions, people can be brought thru the exit if needed; that's not the case with Pirates.
Alos, because it involves a backstage area, they have to have enough staffing to accompany your party.

 

[JenJen]

Cast members are not allowed to ask why you have the card at all it is against the law!!! I just wanted to let everyone know that. They are allowed to ask Who the card is for because the pass is only valid if the guest that it was issued to uses it. If a cast member ask "What is the GAC for?" You have every right to say "None of your business."
JenJen

 

[JudithM]

Was it at Pirates that you were denied the alternate entrance? We were denied many times for an alternate entrance there. Then one time we went and a very nice CM took us a different way.

Interesting ... last January we took an alternate route through the inside of Pirates ... it was a guest area, but we were escorted by a CM.

Last week we were again escorted by a CM, but we went throught the backstage area. WE had never been that way before.

 

[SueM in MN]

Interesting ... last January we took an alternate route through the inside of Pirates ... it was a guest area, but we were escorted by a CM.

Last week we were again escorted by a CM, but we went throught the backstage area. WE had never been that way before.

The alternate way you went that was thru the inside of Pirates was probably part of the queue that was not being used - they have a regular maze in there. Without a CM to guide you, you could still be roaming around in there.
They can divide the area differently depending on how many people are in line - a more direct route for short waits and a lot more "switchbacks" for when they need to put more people in the queue.
Once we ended up in a dead end and had to backtrack. A CM we found told us that people sometimes "reroute" the line by re-clipping the chains that direct you thru the line. That's what happened to us - apparently messing the queues up is some people's idea of fun.

 

[SueM in MN]

While it does sound like this guest had some CM problems, there are other possibilities.

At Tarzan Rocks, the CMs may have been asking about her disability to best suit her needs, as you said. There is limited "front of theater" seating for wheelchair guests, so they probably asked to make sure your party of 8 didn't need that particular section. Also the way the theater is designed, the front row isn't always the "best" row for someone with limited sight, as they have to look "up" to see all the action, and sitting back just a few rows gives a much better view.

As far as being denied the alternate entrance...it also depends on the ride, perhaps the CM was trying to see if there was a "physical need" for the alternate entrance, as sometime those waits can be much linger than the regular queue, and they also sometime bypass a cute pr-show area that the CM thought your family may enjoy. Also occasionally, depending on the ride, there simply isn't room for a party of 8 to stay together in the alternate entrance area.

Of course, it's possible that you did simply get rude CMs, but without any of us hearing the conversation and tone of the responses, it's hard to say for sure. And the CMs should have started the conversation by explaining why they were asking, especially if this guest was was using the GAC for the first time and may have not known the reason for the questions.

I posted earlier, but it didn't register.
Anyway, you said what I was trying to say. But you did a better job of explaining what I was trying to say.

 

[JudithM]

The alternate way you went that was thru the inside of Pirates was probably part of the queue that was not being used - they have a regular maze in there. Without a CM to guide you, you could still be roaming around in there.

LOL!! Right you are ... we could still be walking around inside Pirates !!

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

I can see how at times they might need to ask what your "needs" are to better suit your needs based on like an alternative entrance stamp or something like that. But she said she had a front row stamp and he asked why do you need the front row? That seems in direct violation of their privacy considering they'd already explained their needs at guest relations and been given the stamp- at that point CMs really shouldn't be asking why do you need front row because you've already answered that, that's why you have the stamp. Perhaps in this case a better way to handle that (if the child wasn't in a wheelchair or other visible disability so the CM could 'guess' why the front row stamp was on there- or atleast try to) would be to ask, is there a vision need that needs to be met? I'm asking because the front row is lower than the stage and with a vision need it's sometimes easier to see the stage/show from a few rows back. That would probably be better received by someone with a front row stamp than "what do you need the front row for?".

That's my opinion on the matter anyway. LOL

 

[JenJen]

As a former attractions cast member we were told to accommodate the card without questions except for asking who the card is for. If the guest felt that there accommodations were not being met we were to ask "How can we accommodate your needs." But the last few times I have been in the park (Disneyland) There has seemed to be problems with this. There are a lot of new hires so I just brushed it off on that. If you have a front row stamp it is obvious you need the front row. I do not understand why the cast member would ask why you needed it? To me that is like asking "What is your disability?" To me it just sounds rude the way the cast member treated your daughter. The part of the training for attraction cast members for GAC's is very brief and leaves a lot of issues for a new hire. I can kind of understand why because it is more important that the cast member learns the safety aspect of the ride then the costumer service aspect of the ride. I would love to teach some Disability awareness classes at Disney it is needed!!!!!
((((((((((((((((hugs)))))))))))))))))))
Jennifer

 

[taximomfor4]

We hada problem at Tarzan.... dd7 has vision impairment (vision field defect). She gets front seating because of her limited field of vision. At Tarzan, they put us in the front row of the second section (which was fine) but then made us sit in the THIRD row of the second section. MomtoMJM was there and waved us down to much more accomodating seating, and spoke to a CM on our behalf. NObody ever did come along with GACs for that front row of the second section. Cannot for the life of me figure out why they had us move back to begin with. But thanks to MomtoMJM it all worked out anyway.

So sometimes, the CMs really DON'T understand the specific reason for the needs and make decisions that are less helpful. I am betting, in our situation, they assumed dd had general low vision. Then, a couple of rows might not have made much difference in the CMs eyes. But with her vision field defect, it just takes one person's head in the right spot to make her miss most of the action completely. Err on the side of the CM just trying to decide how best to accomodate, since the VIP seating is SEVERAL rows, not always the front one.

 

[PrincessasMommy]

Just wanted to add that I too have a legally blind light sensitive daughter (albinism), who was 9 when we went to WDW last April. I too received a GAC for Front of the Line and alternate entrances. We only needed to use them for the shows and all the CM's were amazing!

To the pp - My daughter was born with this condition, has lived with it her entire life and still wouldn't explain it to strangers comfortably and why should she? She's a little girl, just 9, on vacation in the most magical place on earth. As her mother I feel that if we provided adequate information to be provided a GAC then why should we explain why repeatedly? Children with disabilities are very aware and sensitive of how they are "different", the last thing they need is it pointed out for them.

Had to add my $.02

 

[taximomfor4]

To the pp - My daughter was born with this condition, has lived with it her entire life and still wouldn't explain it to strangers comfortably and why should she? She's a little girl, just 9, on vacation in the most magical place on earth. As her mother I feel that if we provided adequate information to be provided a GAC then why should we explain why repeatedly? Children with disabilities are very aware and sensitive of how they are "different", the last thing they need is it pointed out for them.

Had to add my $.02

True, very true. DD7 asks why her hands shake every time she lifts them. She also (*sniff*) wants to know why she NEVER, and I mean NEVER, gets a medal in the Irish Dance competitions. She loves dancing so much, never stops, practices several hours every day. I feel terrible that she is realizing other kids are getting medals. I let her compete, just because she loves to perform, but we pretty much avoid the score boards. Didn't realize she knew about them. OUCH.

On a good note, she just got her certificate of participation from a competition several hours away from here, that she did in August. It showed the points for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place dancers. She only missed 3rd place by ONE point. Apparently knowing she has "issues", she decided that for her to get CLOSE to winning a medal is every bit as impressive as a child with probably no physical limitations winning 1st place.

Beth

 

[Lives4Disney]

True, very true. DD7 asks why her hands shake every time she lifts them. She also (*sniff*) wants to know why she NEVER, and I mean NEVER, gets a medal in the Irish Dance competitions. She loves dancing so much, never stops, practices several hours every day. I feel terrible that she is realizing other kids are getting medals. I let her compete, just because she loves to perform, but we pretty much avoid the score boards. Didn't realize she knew about them. OUCH.

On a good note, she just got her certificate of participation from a competition several hours away from here, that she did in August. It showed the points for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place dancers. She only missed 3rd place by ONE point. Apparently knowing she has "issues", she decided that for her to get CLOSE to winning a medal is every bit as impressive as a child with probably no physical limitations winning 1st place.

Beth

That breaks my heart.

My daughter is vision impaired and LOVES to draw/paint, anything crafty and artsy. She isn't the best at this by any means, but she enjoys it so much and has such pride in what she makes! I HATE HATE HATE the stupid "art" awards at our grade school because she NEVER gets one. She notices, too. It would make my day if teachers would start recognizing EFFORT vs. the final product. Most are great, but some ......

Anyway, just had to add my .02!! It's so unfair!! I know it's off topic, but I am feeling - miffed - about my SON's (ADD issues) school right now and needed to vent!! His school is another story. Ugh.

Lives4Disney

 

[riu girl]

I can totally relate. DD so wanted to enter the cross country race for her school. They only picked a few kids from each grade to enter. She was not picked (her gross motor skills were at one time behind but now are at low end of normal).
She said "I know I would have been picked if it was based on motivation! I was much more motivated then the girls who were picked".

I felt so bad for her. She is usually so happy but moped around for a day over this.

The same gym teacher who didn't pick her put her on time out today for not following the instructions. DD told me that she couldn't understand the instructions so just sat down and did nothing. So the gym teacher put her first on time out and then made her put away all of the gym equipment.

 

[PrincessasMommy]

It's too bad that we all experience the same problems - my daughter has played soccer for 5 years and is the only one of her friends who hasn't scored a goal. It's o.k. it's just setting them up for life, we teach her that the MOST important thing is being there for her team, about getting exercise and about having fun and that is what she is doing. She was voted most sportmanlike this year because even though she misses the ball, she always is cheering and smiling! Also wanted to mention that this is a child that they gave a braille book to at 2 years old and told me that she will never do much. She is a straight A student (we do alot of homework together) and she is a figure skater - as in 2 blades and jumping on the ICE! And she's good at it, it takes her longer to learn the moves as it's hard for her to see the details the coach is showing her but she won a silver medal in January! She found that sport, I thought she should learn to skate so I felt more comfortable and she embraced it. Maybe our Irish dancer and Artist just need more time. or maybe the Irish dancer is in fact a coreographer instead?

Us GAC Moms have to stick together and teach some people that kids are kids - not short adults!