Autism, Disney's FastPass+ and the Guest Assistance Card: What Will the Future Hold?

Rumors about the future of the Guest Assistance Card have been swirling on Disney discussion forums and blogs for the past year and have reached a feverous pitch since Tom Skaggs announced plans for the FastPass+ ticket this past January. As you may or may not have heard, FastPass+ will be a "NextGen" system that allows guests staying at a WDW resort to reserve multiple ride and show times in advance of their visit, instead of having to collect individual FastPass paper tickets on the day of their visit. Visitors will make their reservations via Disney World's new My Disney Experience website and mobile app, using a process that Disney calls MyMagic+.

I have been anxious to discover how this will affect families like ours who have relied on the Guest Assistance Card to make our Disney vacations do-able.  As I’ve noted many times, the GAC has been a true lifesaver for our family, helping my son with autism to negotiate the theme parks despite his numerous sensory and communication difficulties. In fact, I honestly doubt that our family could manage Billy’s autism symptoms while at Walt Disney World without the accommodation provided by the GAC.

Unfortunately there are reports that abuse of the GAC has reached epidemic proportions at Walt Disney World. Unscrupulous members of the public have caught on to the fact that Cast Members cannot legally question whether or not a guest has a disability, making it an easy system to exploit.

When you take the growing concern on the part of Disney regarding abuse of the GAC and add it to speculations that MagicBand GAC uses will be limited to once a day per attraction, or once every allotted amount of time, you end up with one very nervous Disney-loving spectrum mom! 

Thommy Sandvick wrote an interesting blog on this topic on DISunplugged titled, Guest Assistance Cards Vs. FastPass+: Let the Battle Begin.

The idea behind FastPass+ is having a very controlled guest flow for the attractions which is why FastPass return times are now being enforced.  So the new restriction on return times in coordination with guests reserving attraction times in advance potentially create a well-managed, positive experience for the guests (and Disney’s bottom line because less time in line means more time in gift shops).  But there’s one variable in this tight knit system, and that’s the GAC.  Just how much of a variable is it?

When Radiator Springs Racers opened in Cars Land at Disney California Adventure, the large amount of annual pass holders utilizing GACs created a reduction of fast passes available at the popular attraction by as much as 33%.  Additionally, Guest Relations’ cast members were stationed outside the entrance of the attraction, giving people with a GAC a return time based on the current stand-by wait time.  So if the wait time was 2 hours, they were given a hand written pass to come back in 2 hours and then enter the FastPass return queue.  Eventually this reached the desk of George Kalogridis who commissioned the Guest Relations team to come up with a way to reduce the expectations of those using the GAC and create more restrictions around it.

Naturally, as a family member of a legitimate GAC user, I am concerned by this. I consider the accommodations that Disney has made for my son to be a privilege and not a right and I appreciate the difficulty that Cast Members face when attempting to distribute the GAC fairly.

But this FastPass+/MagicBand thing has me nervous. Our next WDW vacation is in June and I do not like planning our trip with such a huge unknown variable looming on the horizon.  So, I decided to go straight to the horse’s mouth, so to speak, and ask the experts. I posted this question to the Walt Disney World Moms Panel:

Hello! For many years we have used a Guest Assistance Card at WDW so that our son with autism can better tolerate his sensory issues while in the theme parks. Our next trip is in June. How will the GAC work with the new MagicBand technology? Thanks!

I received an upbeat, albeit vague, reply from Angelo (a Moms Panel Dad):

Hello there Kathleen,

Having used the Guest Assurance Card (GAC) on a few of our visits, I know how worthwhile it is for those people who truly require it. As of right now, the use of the card is the same as in the past. The MagicBand technology has not been rolled out 100% just yet and is still in testing. I do not see any major changes to the GAC for you or your son with the technology before your trip in June. Thank you, Kathleen for your question! Maybe we'll see you in June! We'll be there the second week! Have a magical day!

Thank you, Angelo; I appreciate your prompt reply. Honestly, though, I think I’ll have a much more magical day when reliable information becomes available about FastPass+ and the Guest Assistance Card. I have a feeling that it will make or break our future Disney vacations.