The Children of the One Percent
The following is the Mia's Space article from the Summer 2013 Making a Difference magazine, talking about a controversial issue where people with disabilities were being hired as "tour concierges" at Disney World. Click here to read the entire magazine.
The Children of the One Percent
By Pat Nobbie, PhD, Mia's Mom
A couple of weeks ago, my friends, colleagues and I got riled up at a report aired on CNN about the "one percent" in New York City, who were hiring people with disabilities to accompany them at Disney World in Orlando as "tour concierges" so their children wouldn't have to wait in the lines. There appeared to be an underground network of knowledge and contacts that this elite group of parents passed among each other.
The company that provided the service, Dream Vacations, is in the business of organizing vacations FOR people with disabilities and was fairly well regarded. Dream Vacations charged $130 an hour, or $1,040 for an eight-hour day, for someone who used a wheelchair to accompany these families as members of their party. Disney World offers a VIP guide and fast passes for $310 to $380 per hour, so the disabled tour concierge is quite a bargain.
Who is offended by this practice? Families who really do have a member with a disability? The families who pay Disney's higher fee to avoid the lines? People with disabilities who can't afford to go to Disney World themselves? People with disabilities who are unemployed? The thousands of people who do wait in lines and are fine with a person who has a disability going to the front of the line if their challenges make waiting difficult, but I imagine would resent this type of cheating? Everyone who was raised to believe in fairness and waiting your turn?
Disney, to its credit, issued this statement, "It is unacceptable to abuse accommodations that were designed for guests with disabilities. We are thoroughly reviewing the situation and will take appropriate steps to deter this type of activity."
When we were living in the Virgin Islands (VI), Mia and I took four other families who had children with Down syndrome to the International Down Syndrome Conference
held at Disney World. The VI Human Services agency gave us a small grant that paid for registration, airfare, hotel, food, babysitting and 'camp' for the kids so the parents could attend the conference.
On the last day, we went to the park. Mia walked two blocks into Magic Kingdom, sat down on a curb and refused to budge. It was just too much walking. My mom was also with us and suggested we get a wheelchair. I didn't even realize Disney had that service. I protested. She could walk. Some other kids couldn't. I felt guilty. But my mom insisted I just get it so Mia could see the park and I could get a break. So I pushed, Mia rode and we got around and had the most amazing time.
There are more questions than answers in this little story – questions about fairness, cheating, entitlements and transactions. In the end, I'm thinking about the children of the one percent, whose parents took care of their waiting problem by using people with disabilities to help them cheat. They probably didn't give them a second thought when the day was done.
Exactly.
