Disney World changes to disability policy could hurt autism lawsuits | Commentary

[Disney4me]

Disney World will now allow guests with moderate to severe autism to book return times for attractions without standing in line, a change from recent policy, but a guest columnist wonders why this wasn't policy before two lawsuits were filed against the company.

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In this April 2019 photo, Magic Kingdom guests use motorized scooters to navigate the park in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Scooters are as visible at Disney parks as Mickey Mouse ears and turkey legs, and they provide a lifeline for people, some with hidden disabilities, who can’t walk the massive grounds. (Charles King/AP)

 

Disney’s recently announced alterations to its advanced reservation systems hurt the company’s defense in ongoing disability lawsuits.

On Thursday, Disney Parks & Resorts announced that the free Fastpass service is being replaced by Disney Genie+. Disney Genie+, a paid service, will allow guests to enter a shorter line for an attraction at a specified time.

Certain high-demand attractions will not be eligible for Disney Genie+, but guests will be able to purchase a return time for two of these attractions for an additional fee. These new services create a two-tiered Fastpass service, accessible only to those who can afford the privilege of shorter lines.

Kevin T. Mintz is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications of Genetics and Genomics at Stanford University’s Center for Biomedical Ethics. He was born with cerebral palsy and specializes in disability bioethics. (Courtesy photo)

Changes are also coming to Disney’s Disability Access Service. The service provides people with disabilities who have difficulty physically waiting in line with a return time comparable to an attraction’s published standard wait time.

At the specified return time, a guest and their party can enter the attraction through an alternate entrance. Being a wheelchair user does not automatically qualify someone for the service; a guest must demonstrate that they have difficulty waiting in a standard queue.

Disney’s revisions will enable guests to register for the service in advance of their visit, and allow them to book two return times during registration. These changes give guests who use the service greater flexibility in planning their day and effectively provide two Fastpasses in advance, free of charge.

Guests with moderate to severe autism, a group of whom are currently suing Disney, stand to benefit from the modified disability program. The plaintiffs allege that the current Disability Access Service fails to accommodate their need for shortened wait times. The first of these cases went to trial in February 2020 and is currently on appeal. The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments on Sept. 22.

Before the trial, I wrote a guest commentary recommending that Disney allow these individuals to book reservation times in advance of their visit. You might think that I am about to praise Disney for making steps in the right direction. There may indeed be cause for cautious optimism. Alas, these changes reinforce how deeply flawed Disney’s defense was.

Disney made two arguments at trial that are now dubious. First, the company’s industrial engineers testified that if users of the disability service were given additional Fastpasses as a modification, wait times for nondisabled guests would increase, causing Disney to lose customers.

Second, Alison Armor, now Vice President of Resort Operations, testified that the main reason Disney instituted the Disability Access Service was to discourage nondisabled guests from abusing the priority access to attractions that Disney formerly provided to guests with disabilities.

With Disney’s announcement, I question why the company claimed that it couldn’t provide additional Fastpasses for all disabled guests. Apparently, Disney has now decided that it is possible to provide additional reservation times as a blanket modification. The company can clearly institute whatever disability policy it wants. This spurious argument was a way for Disney to discourage people with moderate or severe autism from visiting the parks.

By making advance ride reservations a paid service for nondisabled guests, Disney has also made the current disability policy just as susceptible to abuse as its predecessor. Instead of paying for Disney Genie+ and priority access to “E Ticket” attractions, a nondisabled guest could bring someone with a disability with them to get free reservation times.

I do not say this to discourage Disney from making the announced changes. My point is that any disability modification is susceptible to abuse. Efforts to prevent abuse of disability policies should not come at the expense of denying support to those who really need it. That is exactly what happened when Disney first introduced its current disability program in 2013.

Moving forward, Disney should work with the plaintiffs to grant additional advance reservation times on top of the two now being given to all users of the disability program. In order to prevent abuse, they should enhance their screening procedures to ensure that guests requesting more advance reservations are those who actually need them.

I am disappointed that now, more than ever, Disney will become a playground for the rich. But if the company works with the plaintiffs to resolve their concerns, Disney’s disability service can become a system that works for all customers with disabilities.

Kevin T. Mintz is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications of Genetics and Genomics at Stanford University’s Center for Biomedical Ethics. He was born with cerebral palsy and specializes in disability bioethics.