Disneyland overhauls rules as tourists ‘pretending to be disabled’

Disneyland announced it is overhauling its rules because visitors are abusing the system by pretending to be disabled in order to skip lengthy queues.

The theme park’s Disability Access Service (DAS), which handles the accessibility needs of guests, is rolling out new procedures.

These will require disabled guests to go through a more rigorous registration process and will limit which disabilities qualify for quicker access to rides.

In the past five years, the number of Disneyland-goers who have requested help from DAS has tripled, the park said.

Len Testa, the president of the trip-planning website Touring Plans and co-author of the Unofficial Guides to Walt Disney World and Disneyland, said: “The system has always had some level of questionable use, if not abuse.”

The system currently allows guests to reserve a time to arrive at a ride and to skip the queue when they get there, avoiding waits that can be more than an hour.

Until now, the programme granted access to those with a breadth of needs and was not explicit in its wording.

Disney said it was intended for “guests who have difficulty tolerating extended waits in a conventional queue environment due to a disability”. But the new guidelines, posted this week, say that the disability access programme is “intended to accommodate a small percentage of guests who, due to a developmental disability like autism or similar, are unable to wait in a conventional queue for an extended period or time”.

Mr Testa said that Disney “knew that the system was under more stress than it could handle”.

He referenced an incident where he overheard a man recommend DAS to a friend, reassuring him that Disney did not ask guests requesting the service “too many questions”.

Disney has warned that there will be consequences for those caught misusing the DAS programme.

“The guest will be permanently barred from entering Walt Disney World Resort and the Disneyland Resort, and any previously purchased Annual Passes, Magic Key passes, tickets and other park products and services will be forfeited and not refunded,” the park stated on its website.

Park officials will now require guests to attend a virtual video meeting with Inspire Health Alliance experts ahead of their trip in order to enrol in the programme.

Health professionals will then evaluate whether the guest meets the requirements for a DAS pass. (© Telegraph Media Group Ltd 2024)