According to reports, some wealthy Manhattan families have discovered a new way to skip the long lines at Walt Disney World — and likely found a new way to be despised by the "99-percenters."
The New York Post is reporting some wealthy families are now hiring disabled people to pose as family members so they can jump ahead of the Disney masses.
"My daughter waited one minute to get on 'It's a Small World' — the other kids had to wait 2 1/2 hours," the Post quoted one mom, who hired a disabled guide through Dream Tours Florida.
The Post reports the “black-market” Disney guides can be rented for $130 an hour, or $1,040 for an eight-hour day. The guide will escort a family through the park in a motorized scooter with a “handicapped” sign on it. At each ride, the group was sent to an auxiliary entrance at the front of the attraction.
“You can’t go to Disney without a tour concierge,” said an unidentified mom in the Post story, “This is how the 1 percent does Disney.”
Dr. Wednesday Martin, a social anthropologist who is writing a book,"Primates of Park Avenue," discovered the tactic while doing research.
"Who wants a speed pass when you can use your black-market handicapped guide to circumvent the lines all together?" she told the Post. "So when you're doing it, you're affirming that you are one of the privileged insiders who has and shares this information."
According to the Post, Disney offers a VIP guide and fast passes for $310 to $380 per hour, far more expensive than the black-market guides.
The Post says passing around the Dream Tours guide service’s phone number recently became popular among Manhattan’s private-school scene during spring break.
The service apparently asks who referred you before they even take your call.
Disney has not returned The Post’s requests for comment.
