Curious Question

[DakotaDisney]

Last week I was at Disneyland and I noticed something I had not seen before. On several rides there were people that would walk up to the exit of the ride and show a special ticket and get to skip the line and get on the ride.
It didn't look like a Fastpass and they weren't handicapped, so what kind of pass or ticket allows them to do that. I saw different types of people using them.
I am not upset about it. I didn't mind them skipping the line, I'm just curious, because I hadn't seen that before.

[Pirate Granny]

They were handicapped....just unable to tell

[BrerGnat]

They were using a service provided by Disneyland called "Guest Assistance". It is offered to those guests with "invisible disabilities" who may have a difficult time waiting in the standard line queue for various reasons.

The little ticket is called a Guest Assistance Card.

We use one when we go for our older son, who has Autism. As a very general example of how it is helpful to us, our son, along with many people with Autism, has sensory issues that cause him to have problems with crowds of people, darkness, claustrophobia, and anxiety. Some queues are too much for him, sensory wise, and so we use the pass to wait somewhere else, then often enter through the exit.

Even though it sometimes looks like people using a GAC are "skipping" a line, often that's not the case. In many instances, we are told to wait X number of minutes and come back at a specified time. THEN, when we come back, we are put on the ride through the exit. So, most of the time, we wait the same amount of time, just somewhere else other than in the queue.

[DakotaDisney]

Thanks for your answers.

Just to be clear. I had no problem with what they were doing. I figured there was a good and legitmate reason and I didn't think that or mean to say they were just "skipping the line". I apologize if it sounded that way.

I just didn't know what was going on. I am glad they have that option for people.

[meldan98]

The CM's also have special cards that they can issue in special circumstances that they can provide to a guest. I received one last year that was good for up to 6 people for Splash Mountain. The cast member handed it to me and my friend and walked us from the end of the line to the front of the line. He had given it to us for a snafu with the fastpass line. We had returned to the fastpass line about 3 or 4 minutes early and he was kind of snotty about it. I could tell he was just having a rough day. When he got snotty about it, I responded and made a joke and actually made him laugh a little. We hung out and waited and the fastpass line got really long because a huge group came up. By the time we got to him again, he made a joke about missing our window and handed me the pass and walked us to the front of the line.

I'm not sure what the pass was, but I think it is just an opportunity for the CM to provide a little extra magic.

[TwinPrincesses]

We actually got one on our next to last visit in December. We were walking from dinner outside the park back towards Disneyland when we were stopped by an older gentleman who asked me how many children I had with me. I was really weirded out by this and almost turned away, but he looked harmless and when I answered four, he asked if we would go back to Disneyland that night and I said yes. He then said "I would like you to use this" and handed me a piece of paper with handwriting on it. It was a pass for any attraction to board with no wait for up to 6 people. Honestly, we didn't think it was real, I had no idea what it was. We debated what attraction we should try and my husband finally said "Peter Pan" We walked to the exit, handed it to a castmember and I am still amazed that we were boarded without a minute's wait. Such an amazing experience! Definitely extra magic! I wish I could go back and thank that gentleman properly instead of looking at him like he was a crazy person. A friend and fellow Disney enthusiast told me later it was a special pass given out by castmembers.