Wheelchair fraudsters fake disabilities at Tokyo Disneyland, get called “jerks” online

Pair of visitors get called “jerks” online, but we’d have picked a harsher label.

Tokyo Disneyland is a place of wonder and dreams, of magic and smiles, and of enchanting, adorable parades. Unfortunately, recently it was also a place of heartless scams pulled off by two visitors.

As part of the park’s 35th anniversary celebration, Tokyo Disneyland has been holding a year-long promotion called “Happiest Surprise,” in which employees hand out special pendants to guests and visitors. Each of these pendants also comes with some sort of present, like priority seating for the park’s always popular stage shows, passes to the front of attraction lines, or vouchers for merchandise or food.

Employees hand the pendants out at their own discretion, whenever they spot a visitor whose day they want to make extra special. On December 22, one of the recipients was a young man in a wheelchair, accompanied by a woman in a black jacket, and ordinarily this would be a heartwarming tale of Disney’s stellar hospitality and consideration towards guests with mobility issues.

However, Twitter user @milktea_sutella later spotted the pair receiving Happiest Surprises again later that same day, and while the photos she tweeted show they’re the same two visitors, you’ll notice one key difference.

昨日海インしたらハピエストサプライズ18個もらってた人がいたんだけどその人銀テで怪我したらしく車椅子のっててそのあとなんと一緒にいた女の人と交互に乗っててびっくりした。車椅子って色々と優遇されるから本当にありえない。それも車椅子で… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

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みるくてぃー@D垢 (@milktea_sutella) December 23, 2018

The man and woman have switched places. In the first photo, it’s the man who’s sitting in the wheelchair while the able-legged woman stands/walks, but in the second photo, they’ve reversed roles, as she’s seated in the chair and he’s pushing her around the park.

@milktea_sutella claims the pair received a total of 18 Happiest Surprises throughout the course of the day, and while she doesn’t have photographic evidence of each and every exchange, it seems pretty clear that the two are faking injuries or disabilities as a ploy to get preferential treatment, prompting sharp criticism from online commenters.

“Ugh, how low can you get?”
“I’m gonna keep my language family-friendly and say they’re being ‘jerks.’”
“How terrible. This might make people suspicious of people who legitimately require a wheelchair.”
“It’s sad, because doing this kind of thing changes how people react when they see someone in a wheelchair.”

On the bright side, it’s unlikely that two fraudsters are going to make a dent in Disney’s legendary commitment to customer service and accommodation. Still, it’s sad to see someone taking advantage of genuine kindness for something as petty as getting to cut to the front of the line at a theme park.

Source: Twitter/@milktea_sutella via Gogo Tsushin via Hachima Kiko
Featured image: Twitter/@milktea_sutella
Insert images: Tokyo Disney Resort

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