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A lawsuit is being filed against the Walt Disney Company regarding changes to their disability policy. According to the mothers of 16 children, and disabled young adults, Disney is not meeting sufficient requirements to cater to children with special needs (Diament, 2014). In previous occasions, guests with disabilities were able to bypass lines to the front, however, last fall, Disney made changes to their policy. The recent changes involve someone with disability to acquire a Disability Access Service Card. This process allows the guests with disability to return at a time that is most convenient for them, though it only permits guests one visit per attraction (Diament, 2014). The changes that Disney established last October were due to many guests taking advantage of the line bypass system. A problem that arises from obtaining this card is that an individual must wait in lengthy lines that cause irritation when with disabled children. Mothers are lashing out at Disney’s new changes by giving personal accounts of their experience at Disney parks with their disabled children. Additionally, Disney is being accused of having a “Magic List” where lucky guests are each given five special passes to skip lines without using a Disability Access Card as filed in the lawsuit (Diament, 2014). Although Disney is faced with a lawsuit, they say they are fully committed in providing accessibility for all guests.
Opinion
In
our opinion, we believe that this whole lawsuit against the Walt Disney Company
is unnecessary. A reason as to why,
Disney is usually a company that accommodates to its entire guests in the best
way possible. A lawsuit would just
complicate things even more, and the time being spent to dispute this case can
be used for Disney to implement the complaints to improve accessibility in
their parks. What Teresa and I noticed
was, that in a way the old system of having line bypass for disabled children
was flawed just as much as the new system of obtaining this Disability Access
Service Card. Disney dropped the old
system because people who had children with disabilities were continuously
taking advantage of this line bypass system by having many people accompany
them. As apparent in the article, the
new system is flawed as well because it makes the guests wait in longer lines,
and you must obtain a Disability Access Service Card to do so. I believe that
the mothers need to be more understanding of the fact that Disney Parks are a
worldwide attraction. The parks become
very crowded and are not always allowing all staff members to accommodate
everyone as efficiently as they would love to. If I were ever placed in that
situation, where my children were not given adequate accessibility at a
worldwide attraction, I would definitely understand all of the complications
associated as to why not. It does become harder for a company to efficiently
cater to everyone’s needs when the ratio of employee to guest can be an
estimated as 10:1. As for the “Magic List”, we believe that this list does not
exist. The reason being is that if Disney had such a list, it would destroy
their image and violate their policy. I believe that the lawsuit against Disney
will not succeed as Disney is a powerhouse which has many resources and legal
professionals that will surely be successful in court. Furthermore, Disney will
continue to adapt to the challenges they face on a daily basis with
accommodating their guests.Questions/Feedback
1) What system of accessibility do you feel is more flawed?
2) How do you think Disney can improve accessibility for disabled children?
3) Do you believe there is a “Magic List”?
Citations
Diament, M. (2014, April 8). Disney Sued Over Disability Access Policy. Disability Scoop. Retrieved on October 10, 2014, from http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2014/04/08/disney-sued-disability-policy/19263/
1. I think the new system is better and the old system is more flawed. As the park became more crowded, it is unfair for people queue up in the line for a long time then a large group of people can get through to the front line, other reason is the company has to come up with a situation that satisfy a larger group.
ReplyDelete3. Yeah, it is obvious, it happens anywhere.
Thanks for the reply! Really, do you have an example of where a magical/priority list is given?
Delete1. The newer system is more flawed because it involves another process where you have to line up to get an access card which wasn't required before and this irritates children with disabilities
ReplyDelete3. I believe there is because a lot of companies and clubs have priority lists.
Thank you for the response Kelsey. Other than there being that extra step of waiting in line to get the access card, is it still a pain? We think that they should offer guests to have the ability to print the pass online.
Delete1. The newer system is more flawed because it involves a line up to get an access card. The access card was not required before and irritates children with disabilities. The guests still have to wait in longer lengthy lines. In addition, the parks will still be crowded due to the line up.
ReplyDeleteThe general consensus has been that the wait in the long line to obtain the card is a hassle. In regards to your comment about the park being even more crowded due to the line up in effect, should the line up to obtain the access card be only open at a set time.
ReplyDelete