A Florida mother has lost a court battle against Disney following a dispute over the updated allowances given to autistic guests through the Walt Disney World Disability Access Service.
Ms. Donna Lorman, who is the President of the Autism Society of Greater Orlando, has lost the legal claim she was seeking, following Disney’s refusal to allow her adult son, who suffers from autism, to skip lines at the theme parks. According to the Tampa Bay Times, Lorman was in disagreement with the resort’s Disability Access Service policy. As it stands, this program enables qualifying guests and their parties to obtain a return time for individual rides, so they can enter the FastPass queue at a later time, rather than wait in the long lines.
Lorman was not seeking a financial settlement from Disney, and was instead wanting to increase the number of re-admission passes her son would receive from approximately five, to ten.
The court battle was lost by Lorman, with US District Judge Anne Conway declaring the request ‘unreasonable’. According to the Orlando Sentinel, the Judge explained that “requiring the modification, based on the history of the former system, would lead to fraud and overuse, lengthen the wait times significantly for non-disabled guests, and fundamentally alter Disney’s business model.” Thus, implying that a more relaxed system would only result in the abuse of the access service, which would not be fair to other guests.
A similar lawsuit was filed and went to court earlier this year, when a man with autism also filed for more lax allowances using the Disability Access Service.
See also: Walt Disney World’s Disability Access Service Will Not Change Amid COVID-19 Precautions
I feel like a broken record. Disney should be ashamed. I fell in the park last December. I wanted nothing but a refund on my Fantasmic ticket. I fell because Disney DID NOT secure a GATE on Disneyland property! I went home early due to the fall.. I asked for a credit of $55.00, not the $100+ for a park pass i never used.. I could have sued. But I have the damn Mouse tattooed on my body/… Really? Sue? why? to never go back and return? Disney “magic” is wiped from my data bank.. will i return? Of course. It’s my ONLY happy place.. BUT… DISNEY, DO BETTER!!! IF NOT FOR THE PHYSICALLY IMPAIRED, BUT THE LOVE OF GOD, PLEASE, DO RIGHT FOR THE ONE’S WHO CAN’T KNOW RIGHT FROM WRONG!!! just my 2 cents…
What an incredibly offensive comment. First of all, you falling through a gate is your fault. Gates don’t spontaneously swing open and suck people through them. You must have been leaning against it and that is your problem. Stand up straight and support your own body weight rather than expecting structures to fulfill roles they were not intended to fulfill and you won’t have an issue.
Second, it’s people like you who create massive problems and discrimination for the autism community. Do right for the ones who can’t know right from wrong?? What the hell is wrong with you? Autism does not remove a person’s morality. In extreme cases, yes, the person will not be able to process thought and experience, but the vast majority of people with autism not only have a moral compass, but it is more developed and stringently adhered to than people without it. Do some actual research. And before you decide to thump your chest and say I’m the one being offensive — I have autism and so do all three of my siblings. We don’t need your pity or you looking down on us.What Disney does for the Disability Access is above and beyond (and we never use it. We stopped asking for any accommodation when my service dog retired.). It is ridiculous to try to shame them because parents choose to bring their children (adult or otherwise) knowing the policies and then get upset when those policies are upheld. Other guests have value. Their time has value. They shouldn’t have to wait longer and be inconvenienced or under-served because a slim segment of the guest population demands excessive accommodation. 5 passes is generous.
Yeah, we don’t care about your off topic grievance.