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SALT LAKE CITY — Getting to the front of the line as soon as possible has always been of utmost importance at Disney World. For all the whimsy floating around at the Magic Kingdom, the rides are really what it's all about.
But some upper-crust Manhattan moms have allegedly invented a scheme that far surpasses the Fast Pass for getting your kids to the front of the line: paying people with disabilities to pose as family members so that they can be sent directly to the head of the queue.
The New York Post reports that those willing to pay roughly $130 per hour or $1,040 for eight hours can have access to a disabled person on a motorized scooter to pose as a family member. They are allowed, per Disney rules, to take up to five guests to an alternate entrance on rides.
The post reports that a social anthropologist uncovered the practice while researching a new book.
"It's insider knowledge that very few have and share carefully," Dr. Wednesday Martin told the Post.
Though the Post provides no definitive proof that the practice is happening, Disney appears to be taking the accusations seriously, with spokesperson Bryan Malenius telling the newspaper "We are thoroughly reviewing the situation and will take appropriate steps to deter this type of activity."
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The post singled out Dream Tours Florida as the company that runs the "black-market" service, though they have denied the claims.
Pilar Clark, a mother with a 7-year-old boy who had a stroke in utero, leaving him with physical disabilities as well as autism, was outraged at the practice and posted a lenghtly blog on Babble decrying the practice.
"Stop pretending to be something you're not, and think about the families who eat, sleep and breathe disabilities every single day," she wrote.
