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By Beth Stibal |

Disney Wins “No Wait” Lawsuit Against Woman with Autistic Son

A federal judge has ruled in favor of Walt Disney World, after a disability advocate from the Orlando area sued the company on behalf of her adult autistic son.

Donna Lorman, who serves as president of the Autism Society of Greater Orlando, sued Disney in 2014 to get her son immediate access to the FastPass lines at the theme parks.

“Disney Parks have an unwavering commitment to providing an inclusive and accessible environment for all our guests. We are pleased with the court’s decision,” Disney spokeswoman Andrea Finger said in a statement.

Lorman filed the lawsuit came after Disney World changed its policy seven years ago in response to reports of tourists hiring people with disabilities and terminally-ill children to help them skip long lines and ride multiple times.

Disney subsequently created its new system the Disability Access Service Card, or DAS, which allows people with disabilities get return times for rides, similar to a FastPass, so they do not need to wait in a line.

When filing her complaint, Lorman said she wanted 10 passes to the Magic Kingdom, so her son could ride his favorite attractions quickly by getting directly into the FastPass line.

Otherwise, he would have had to get an advance reservation to come back later.

The extra waiting was difficult for her son, who did not understand the concept of time, according to his mother.

She accused the parks of not accommodating his disability.

However, Disney argued that it is not required to provide unlimited, front-of-line passes for every ride under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

If disabled guests received two more re-admission passes, the standby line at Magic Kingdom’s popular Seven Dwarfs Mine Train coaster would increase by 39 minutes, from 69 to 108 minutes, the company argued in court documents.

In a decision reached June 22, U.S. District Judge Anne Conway sided with Disney, ruling that it was “unreasonable” for the company to give such access to Lorman’s son. It would make Disney’s system ripe for abuse again, he wrote.

“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,” Conway explained.

Conway said Disney could “recover its cost of action.”

“To say that I am disappointed would be an understatement. I really truly believe in what I was fighting for,” Lorman wrote to a reporter after the ruling.

During the trial, she testified that her son, who was 22 when she filed the lawsuit, has moderate to severe autism that makes communication difficult and following a routine essential.

Otherwise, her son could melt down. For example, he needed to visit the Disney rides in a particular order, she said.

In response, Disney’s defense team said Lorman should have planned her visit better, in order to adjust to the new rules.