I heard Abbey Curran, 25, talk last night after the premiere of Miss You Can Do It. The HBO documentary is named after the nonprofit beauty pageant she started for girls and young women with disabilities, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. I'll share more about the movie, which is all sorts of wonderful, on Monday (it airs that evening).
Abbey, a former Miss Iowa 2008 who has cerebral palsy, did a Q&A with journalist/disability advocate John Hockenberry. She shared everything from wanting to be the "Martin Luther King" for people with disability to her desire to create a line of sexy shoes for women with cerebral palsy. And then, John asked her to name an instance when she'd faced intolerance. Abbey paused. From the back of the room a few people who seemingly knew her shouted "Disney! Disney!" And then she told.
Abbey had landed an internship at Disney World, at the Magic Kingdom. It was a dream job, she told us, and she was assigned to work at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. Abbey wanted to wear black Crocs, the only shoes she could comfortably wear all day (her feet splay out from the CP, and she walks with a pronounced swagger-limp). Abbey said she was informed she couldn't, because the rubber could catch on the floor. Then she said she had to park her car, which she had brought in from Illinois, in an area where she needed to board a shuttle bus to get to the gates of the Magic Kingdom, then walk to work. She joked about it feeling like miles, and John sympathetically said he'd had to do it with two kids.
At some point, according to Abbey, a supervisor had a talk with her about how she was arriving to work "all sweaty," Abbey told us. "She said she didn't know what to do with me." And so, Abbey said, the supervisor asked Abbey to stay in her apartment for the next three weeks of her internship. "I got seven dollars an hour to sit in an apartment," Abbey remarked. Abbey said her "final straw" was the night she decided she wanted to eat dinner at one of the parks. She drove there and tried to valet park. Except, she recounted, she was told that she couldn't use it because she was an employee.
After that, Abbey packed up her stuff and went home.
We are longtime fans of Disney World in our family. We all love it there, and the resort has been incredibly accommodating to Max the two times we've been there; I've heard the same from other parents of kids with special needs. So listening to this was particularly disappointing.
Given the fact that I did not contact Disney for a comment (no investigative journalist am I), take this for what it's worth. As can be the case with these sorts of matters, that supervisor may have been one bad Bibbidi Bobbidi apple sticking too closely to Disney dress code. And parking challenges for people with disabilities happens; Abbey also told of another job where she was informed she had to park in an area four blocks away from her building.
But when a go-getter like Abbey Curran tells a story like this to a roomful of people, ending on "Disney is not magic!", it's a shocker.
Image: Flickr/Loren Javier
Wow. So disappointing to read this.
ReplyDeleteIt's unclear from the anecdote whether Disney was aware of her disability or if she raised the issue with HR when she got push-back about the shoes, etc. As you said, it may simply be a case of one clueless manager and a young woman who was, at that age, unaware of her rights? I'd be curious to know more. I do know from people who have worked for Disney, many years ago, that there is a very strict set of guidelines and expectations for all "cast members" (people who are seen by the public in any capacity) and the manager may have just been going a bit hard-line.
ReplyDeleteAbbey's disability is pretty apparent. It was unclear why she didn't report this to HR.
DeleteWow although I am simply assuming that it was just one bad employee and not the entire company having been to Disney before and them being VERY accommodating with both my hearing loss(they made sure I could hear the show) and my sister's gluten allergy which was nearly not as well known back in 2003.
ReplyDeleteWalt was known for being Anti-Semitic, but he kept those views out of his films. With Abby being only 25 this happened fairly recently. Proof of the need for people to unite to right wrongs.
ReplyDeleteI feel so bad for Abbey people with CP have enough challenges without being treated this way. Disney, in this case, was not magic.
ReplyDeleteI worked in the Magic Kingdom for a bit - the dress code there is extremely strong and unforgiving. I was almost sent home once b/c my shorts were a half-inch too short! I understand why they are like that, as so many families with young children especially visit the MK and they want to keep it family friendly and costumes exactly like what the children know. I'm just curious if the employer knew about her CP? The manager did not handle this one well, but hopefully Disney is doing better about awareness now.
ReplyDeleteOh Ellen I just wanted you to know I got my accomadations for the PSAT/SAT/AP/any college board test in the next three years. My guidance consuler faxed my IEP to the college board disability servies people and they sent me a letter saying its all taken care of. I just have to bring the paper when I take the tests.
ReplyDeleteKathryn, that is SO great to hear! Go you!
DeleteThanks I just want other people to know that it does not need to be stressful and hard. You can share it but without my name please.
DeleteThis is the opposite of my experience. I had a wonderful experience at Disney World. This is unfortunate. Now Disney is going to get a bad rep and its so awesome.
ReplyDeleteI don't know about the dress code but it is not surprising that an employee could not park in the valet/guest parking.
ReplyDeleteI worked at a well known teaching hospital where the garage was reserved for visitors, doctors and patients. I tried to park there once when I was pregnant and was refused entry.
@Anonymous: Your post is a half-hearted, obvious attempt on behalf of some Disney marketing person to quickly respond to bad PR on blogs. Stop it, and respond properly or go away.
ReplyDeleteThis story doesn't surprise me. We love Disney and go 2-3 times a year, and I agree wholeheartedly that the service for those with disabilities is top-notch. However....a former cast member friend of mine injured herself a few years ago. Prior to that time, she had won MANY awards including one biggie - the highest award a WDW cast member can receive - for exemplary guest service and cast excellence. I don't want to give away too many details, because it's not my story to tell, but...she had never been written up for anything before, but was dismissed for a minor infraction after the injury with no warning.
ReplyDeleteMy friend has loved Walt Disney World since the 1970s and it broke her heart. I would probably have written WDW off after their treatment of her, but she bought an annual pass and still continues to visit the parks regularly despite their treatment of her, so...if she can forgive, I guess I can, too. We still go because they treat my two special kids well, but a lot of the lustre was lost for me after that incident.
So, no....not surprised. Disney is a business and the magic doesn't just happen - it's mandated.
My two nieces worked at Disneyland. I will ask them if they saw any of this behind the scenes. Disturbing. Very disturbing.
ReplyDeleteWay too expensive for us--we'd spend in a day there what we'd spend on our two week vacation, if we included airfare. Now I don't feel bad that we never have tried to go--I'd rather go camping by a lake anyway.
ReplyDeleteHello! I've been reading your blog for some time but have never commented. This does not have anything to do with this post but I wasn't sure where else to put it. I thought you might be interested in this Kickstarter project: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kligman/shirts-to-drool-over-literally -- they are trying to start a clothing line specifically designed for people that have trouble managing their saliva.
DeleteI can absolutely believe they would treat someone this way. We took my sister there because we'd heard about how great it is supposed to be for people with special needs. My sister has extremely varied and severe disabilities, but she loves most things Disney. This should have been a trip of a lifetime for her and it was ruined by the purposefully rude and unprofessional conduct of Disney employees. We stayed in the park less than 3 hours and were furious by the end of it. We spent more time preparing ourselves for the day than we did in the park. It was ridiculous and I haven't been back since. I may never go back given how terrible it was no matter how many stories I hear about of people who had a positive experience. It was a colossal waste of money and energy. Thankfully Universal was a much better experience the next day. They were very kind and professional.
ReplyDeleteIt's quite a difference when you're dealing with a "cute kid" to be sympathetic to and pat their head to make youself feel better, than when you have an adult who needs to earn money as much as the next person and do actual stuff for you.
ReplyDeleteThis same tendency shows itself when you do an experiments where you have two actors pretend to be an abusive spouse and their partner. When the wife stops looking like a damsel in distress (young, attractive, helpless-looking and conservatively dressed), people show they true colors... This case is just the same.
We met Abby one night about midnight after the Monorail was struck by lightning and the only way out of the park to the parking lot was via. ferry with an hour wait and huge crowds in line. She was pushing a stroller instead of a walker for balance and used my youngest son as a counter weight. Her story is accurate - no parking allowances or dress code. She was still upbeat at the time but apparently things continued to go downhill after our visit.
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