The Unhappiest Place on Earth
Earlier this year, I wrote a blog about The Happiest Place on Earth, aka Disneyland, and how much I loved it and appreciated the Guest Assistance Card (GAC) they offered because it helped ease the stress of dealing with stairs on rides and getting in and out of difficult rides. In case you haven’t heard, as of October 9th, Disneyland and Disney World restructured this program. They were forced to make changes after groups of wealthy families in Orange County were hiring disabled guides to go with them so they could get the GAC card and skip the lines. Needless to say, the old system was being severely abused.
I went to Disneyland for the first time since this new system was implemented on October 10th, one day after the new system had begun. I won’t go into all the details here as I am writing several letters to submit to Disney Corporate for that but with the new system, I was basically treated like a liar and a fake by not one, but 5 different cast members at their park, including my first point of contact at City Hall where you used to go to get the GAC card. I was even lied to because their staff looked at me and determined on their own that I was not disabled enough to deserve the new card they have (called the DAS card). I also ended up falling in line for The Haunted Mansion because of all the physical and emotional strain they put me through.
I was so distressed that I was treated so horribly from a place I loved so much. A place I’ve been going to since I was a baby. A place I rave about to other people who are complaining about the high cost of admission or food prices, etc. I’ve especially praised their staff to others because before this new system was in place, they had been nothing but gracious and understanding. The entire day afterwards I sat at my desk at work and cried; crying which continued into the next day as well.
For able-bodied people, this probably seems like a strong response to poor treatment. But for someone who has been dealing with not only being disabled their whole life but not being “disabled enough” because people look at you and think there’s nothing wrong if you’re standing, it was overwhelming (I can’t even count the number of times someone has asked why I’m using a handicapped parking spot). My spirit has been totally crushed. I’m considering not even going back to Disneyland again or renewing my annual pass.
I wish that I had some positive words of wisdom to give here like I usually do, but the truth is, this has been one of the hardest incidents for me to deal with in my 29 years of having MD. I’m still trying to put the pieces of my crushed spirit back together. One thing that I am doing though, is standing up for myself and for my right to fair treatment, something I may not have done just a few years ago. As I mentioned earlier in the post, I’m writing letters that I intend on sending out to all levels of Disney that I possibly can. This new system is not only unfair to me; it’s not fair others who have disabilities like autism, or other physical disabilities that don’t necessarily require wheelchairs.
Having any kind of disability is unfortunately something not everyone is going to understand. People can be extremely ignorant as my experience at Disneyland proved. The one thing we can do to combat that though is to raise awareness - whether it be by blogging, by talking to people about our struggles, by writing letters. Every little bit counts and the more we raise awareness, hopefully the less people will have to deal with being discriminated against or treated unfairly because of something they were born with. Hopefully we can effect change and lead to improvements in systems like Disney’s new DAS system. So keep on blogging all you wonderful MDA Transitions bloggers!
I went to Disneyland for the first time since this new system was implemented on October 10th, one day after the new system had begun. I won’t go into all the details here as I am writing several letters to submit to Disney Corporate for that but with the new system, I was basically treated like a liar and a fake by not one, but 5 different cast members at their park, including my first point of contact at City Hall where you used to go to get the GAC card. I was even lied to because their staff looked at me and determined on their own that I was not disabled enough to deserve the new card they have (called the DAS card). I also ended up falling in line for The Haunted Mansion because of all the physical and emotional strain they put me through.
I was so distressed that I was treated so horribly from a place I loved so much. A place I’ve been going to since I was a baby. A place I rave about to other people who are complaining about the high cost of admission or food prices, etc. I’ve especially praised their staff to others because before this new system was in place, they had been nothing but gracious and understanding. The entire day afterwards I sat at my desk at work and cried; crying which continued into the next day as well.
For able-bodied people, this probably seems like a strong response to poor treatment. But for someone who has been dealing with not only being disabled their whole life but not being “disabled enough” because people look at you and think there’s nothing wrong if you’re standing, it was overwhelming (I can’t even count the number of times someone has asked why I’m using a handicapped parking spot). My spirit has been totally crushed. I’m considering not even going back to Disneyland again or renewing my annual pass.
I wish that I had some positive words of wisdom to give here like I usually do, but the truth is, this has been one of the hardest incidents for me to deal with in my 29 years of having MD. I’m still trying to put the pieces of my crushed spirit back together. One thing that I am doing though, is standing up for myself and for my right to fair treatment, something I may not have done just a few years ago. As I mentioned earlier in the post, I’m writing letters that I intend on sending out to all levels of Disney that I possibly can. This new system is not only unfair to me; it’s not fair others who have disabilities like autism, or other physical disabilities that don’t necessarily require wheelchairs.
Having any kind of disability is unfortunately something not everyone is going to understand. People can be extremely ignorant as my experience at Disneyland proved. The one thing we can do to combat that though is to raise awareness - whether it be by blogging, by talking to people about our struggles, by writing letters. Every little bit counts and the more we raise awareness, hopefully the less people will have to deal with being discriminated against or treated unfairly because of something they were born with. Hopefully we can effect change and lead to improvements in systems like Disney’s new DAS system. So keep on blogging all you wonderful MDA Transitions bloggers!
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