Hiring The Disabled: No Longer The Ultimate Fast Pass At Disney Parks


Waiting in line at Disney Parks can be avoided by a number of legitimate strategies. Get to the park early, stay late, legally use a free system in place that speeds things up and more. But nothing quite beats the instant access to rides granted to the disabled, a practice that had wealthy park visitors hiring savvy wheelchair-bound “guides” to bypass everyone else.

Paying over $100 per hour — $1,000 or more for the day — able-bodied park visitors posing as relatives of a handicapped went straight to an auxiliary entrance reserved for those with special needs. “My daughter waited one minute to get on ‘It’s a Small World’ — the other kids had to wait 2 1/2 hours,” said one mom in a New York Post article last May. Misuse of Disney’s Guest Assistance Card [GAC] program was so widespread that the theme park operator is discontinuing it in October.

In the new system, visitors with disabilities will be given an assigned return time equal to the estimated wait, one attraction at a time. Called the Disabled Assistance System [DAS], visitors with disabilities will still get “back door” access to attractions but will lose the time advantage they had under the old system vs. actually waiting in line.Does this sound a lot like Disney’s FastPass system? It’s not.

FastPass is a virtual queuing system that allows a limited number of guests per hour to go to the front of the line on certain attractions. Disability card users get a return time based on the actual wait time for the ride.

Video Of The Day: Disneyland, A Whirlwind Tour

If someone says “Disneyland” or “Disney World,” the words “quick trip” rarely come to mind as a follow-up. Yet two filmmakers have managed to provide a desktop Disneyland experience, showcasing Disneyland, Disney California Adventure and Downtown Disney in about a minute and a half. So now, sit back, relax and enjoy a quick journey to Anaheim.

We’d love to feature your photos and videos on Gadling, so please add them to our Flickr Pool (with Creative Commons licensing!), tag @GadlingTravel on Instagram or email us at OfTheDay@gadling.com.

Behind-The-Scenes At Disney’s Haunted Mansion

If you’ve ever wondered what goes on behind-the-scenes at Disney, well, it’s not always very glamorous. The photo above from Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion shows that on the other side of the spine-tingling ride is a simple, stale command center with some ancient monitors. The picture, from 2002, was found on an anonymously run Tumblr chronicling areas of the attraction that aren’t typically seen by guests — and judging by this photo, that’s for good reason. The only thing scary here is how low-tech and boring everything seems.

[via BoingBoing]

Adventures By Disney Announces New Options For Europe And Beyond

Adventures by Disney has announced that it is expanding its catalog of travel itineraries for 2014 with new options to Europe and several tours specifically created for the teen traveler. These new additions to the line-up will expand on the company’s already diverse group of tours that are designed to provide adventure travel options for families while delivering a distinctly Disney experience.

New to the Adventures by Disney portfolio is a nine-day escape to Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic that includes visits to the vibrant and cosmopolitan cities of Salzburg, Prague and Vienna. While on the tour, travelers will experience ice caves in the Alps, visit wondrous castles, tour a marionette workshop and get a private after-hours tour of the famed Vienna Zoo – the oldest in Europe.

If Italy holds more appeal over Central Europe, then the new Enhanced Italy tour may be more to your liking. This classic family escape will take travelers to the streets of Rome, Tuscany, Venice and Florence, offering VIP treatment along the way. Highlights include an after-hours visit to the Vatican and Sistine Chapel, a private pasta-making class and of course a special gondola ride through the canals of Venice.

Finally, ABD has announced three new adventures designed specifically with teenagers in mind. These options include escapes to Peru, Costa Rica and Arizona and Utah, and feature activities intended for teenagers at each of those destinations. In Peru, for instance, they can go stargazing around a campfire in the foothills of the Andes. In Costa Rica, they’ll take in the exotic and diverse wildlife of the rainforest and in Arizona and Utah, they’ll have the opportunity to go on a bike ride through Boynton Canyon in Sedona. Each of these itineraries was specifically crafted to engage teenagers and allow families with teens to travel together.

Since its inception eight years ago, Adventures by Disney has been providing high quality adventure travel opportunities for the entire family. These new offerings will only expand on the company’s award-winning service while offering more choices for customers. If you’re looking to introduce a little adventure into your next family escape, they can definitely help you accomplish that in a unique and well-crafted manner.

New Disney World Attractions To Bring Immersive Experience

Walt Disney World in Florida has some new attractions on the way. The new Fantasyland at Magic Kingdom park will be home to the Enchanted Forest, a new park within a park, inspired by the popular Disney films “The Little Mermaid” and “Beauty and the Beast.” The Enchanted Forest officially opens December 6, 2012, but we got a sneak peek during dress rehearsals last weekend, open to the public.

Eventually hosting lush landscapes, roaring waterfalls and two new castles, guests will be able to ride under the sea with a little mermaid, dine in a beast’s castle and even join a “beauty” for a retelling of the “tale as old as time.”

On our visit, we stopped by Enchanted Tales With Belle, an interactive experience (as opposed to a “ride”) that begins when an enchanted mirror transported us from Belle’s house to Beast’s library, where Belle and Lumière invite guests to become part of a lively retelling of the “tale as old as time.”

Unique here is that groups are small and many are invited to participate in the experience that brings guests up close and personal with live action characters from Beauty and the Beast. This is not a passive, sit around and watch attraction.Steps away, Gaston’s Tavern was also open, serving LeFou’s Brew, Roasted Pork Shanks and other snacks. LeFou’s Brew looks like a mug of beer but is actually a “non-alcoholic no-sugar added frozen apple juice with a hint of toasted marshmallow, topped with all-natural passion fruit-mango foam,” we were told. Roasted pork shanks, so popular they ran out while we were there, fit right in with the tavern designed to look like a comfy lodge in the French countryside.

Not all attractions are open as work progresses. A Be Our Guest Restaurant will soon invite guests to savor the classic cuisine of France. Ariel’s Grotto is close to Under the Sea~Journey of The Little Mermaid attraction where Ariel will be on hand to meet new friends, sign autographs and pose for photos. In the same area and opening in 2014, a massive Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, will take guests through the Dwarfs’ diamond mine, along the countryside and on to their cottage to meet up with Snow White and her pals.

New Fantasyland is opening in phases for the largest expansion in the history of Magic Kingdom park, nearly doubling in size and offering more immersive enchantment and interactive experiences.




[Flickr photos by ChrisCruises]