<p>[Rich</a> Manhattan moms hire handicapped tour guides so kids can cut lines at Disney World - m.NYPOST.com](<a href=“http://m.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/disney_world_srich_kid_outrage_zTBA0xrvZRkIVc1zItXGDP]Rich”>http://m.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/disney_world_srich_kid_outrage_zTBA0xrvZRkIVc1zItXGDP)</p>
<p>I’m suspicious of that story, because I don’t believe anybody would wait 2 and half hours to get on “It’s A Small World.”</p>
<p>Not gonna lie, the best time we ever had at Disney World was with my grandfather who couldn’t have walked on his own the entire day. We rented him a wheel chair a few hours in. Every day after that we rented the chair as soon as we got in.</p>
<p>I chaperoned a cheer trip to WDW with an injured cheerleader. We got in faster on some rides, slower on others. (We had Fast Passes on Space Mountain, but they put us in the wheelchair line which moved much slower than the Fast Pass line.)</p>
<p>I will say that 15 months later, I still have a sore bruise on the back of my ankle from when one of the other cheerleaders carelessly rammed the wheelchair into me.</p>
<p>[Yahoo</a>! Shine - Women’s Lifestyle | Healthy Living and Fashion Blogs](<a href=“Disney World Scheme: Entitled Families Hire Disabled Guide to Bypass Lines, Says Report”>Disney World Scheme: Entitled Families Hire Disabled Guide to Bypass Lines, Says Report)</p>
<p>Manhattan moms. Sounds very much like the entitled attitudes of the upper-east sider set I’ve encountered in middle/high school. Only thing was they felt Disney was “too common” and “for the unrefined” back then. Either these mom’s aren’t part of the same stuck up snobby set I encountered or the upper-east siders have drastically “lowered” their own standards over the past 2+ decades. :D</p>
<p>Never went to Disneyworld until I was an early 20something. Decided to make it an outing with my immediate family to make up for the earlier “poorer years”. Enjoyed myself even while realizing it’s a fantasy themed amusement land targeted towards the younger set. :)</p>
<p>As outrageous as this is, I think parents who engage in this kind of behavior are only hurting themselves in the end. Kids who are raised with the type of values of buying your way to the front of the line will know nothing of delaying gratification, which is an essential ability to be independently successful. </p>
<p>So sure, someday my kids will wait a little longer in line while people like this game the system. But it will catch up to them someday when they raise little monsters. (At least, that’s what I tell myself.)</p>
<p>The reality is that they could BUY a VIP pass and jump the line in any case. This is just the cherry on top.</p>
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<p>Miracles happening at airports and Disney World. LOL.</p>
<p>But look at it from a different perspective - both employment and entertainment opportunity for handicap people :D</p>
<p>I wonder if the parents realize the lessons their kids are taking away from this. Or if they just don’t care.</p>
<p>I wonder if they tell the kids they are special because they are spending a day volunteering as a buddy to a disabled person. When they get older they can write college app essays about how meaningful it was to be raised in such a giving family. Gag.</p>
<p>I’ve heard of this happening before. I don’t think people necessarily hire a guide, they just get a wheelchair and sit in it. As the article says, Disney doesn’t ask about your disability. Outrageous either way.</p>
<p>When I was pregnant with S2, I was at high risk of premature labor and was not supposed to engage in any strenuous activity – even walking. Whenever we did an excursion (e.g., zoo, aquarium), we rented a wheelchair for me. Imagine people’s surprise when I’d get up from the wheelchair to help S1 with something, or to go to the ladies’ room. I was not trying to scam people – I genuinely needed the wheelchair, even though I could walk for short distances.</p>
<p>The take-home from this for me–I’m not the only person in the US who hasn’t been to Disney.</p>
<p>Oh for heavens sake. Go to Disney…just don’t go the week between Christmas and new years. DH and I were at Epcot the first week if December and there were NO lines…not for one single attraction.</p>
<p>garland, I’ve been to Disneyland once, in my 20s, Disneyworld never. But my kids claim they are the only ones in their high school who have never gone to either.</p>
<p>I’ve never been. I’m no good with crowds, and one Ferris Wheel ride at the county or state fair is more than enough for me. Happydad went many times as a child and has no desire to return. Two of my sisters took Happykid and the other niece who’d never been there as Happykid’s HS graduation present. They had a blast.</p>
<p>Every time I read an article along these lines (and I’ll admit I haven’t read this one, but I heard the story reported on the radio yesterday), I figure the writing consists partly of facts and partly of rhetorical strategies designed to fan the flames of readers’ (and probably the author’s) indignation.</p>
<p>If you can rush to judgment this fast, it’s a good bet the story has been written to help you do exactly that.</p>
<p>All that having been said, I think it’s a repugnant idea that reeks of entitlement.</p>
<p>I think this is an interesting ethical situation. Who is harmed by this behavior? I suppose the people in the big line are harmed, because they have to wait longer–but as long as very few people do this (and it’s likely that few do so), no one person is harmed more than by a couple of minutes over the whole day, if that much. Disney is harmed, because they don’t get the money these people would have to pay for VIP passes if they wanted to do this the “right” way. The family who does it is benefitted by not having to wait, and the disabled person is financially benefitted.</p>
<p>It still seems wrong, though. Still, the fact that you can buy almost the exact same benefit makes it seem slighly less wrong somehow. People who buy the VIP passes are also harming the people who have to wait longer, and they are just giving more money to Disney instead of a disabled freelancer.</p>
<p>Note: once we stayed at an on-site hotel at Universal, and (at least at the time) this gave you front-of-the-line privileges in the park. We used it, and I confess that I felt slightly guilty about it.</p>