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Man uses Cast Member iPad, bypasses lines, gives tours in park, per Orange County Sheriff

Sheriff
Credit: Orlando Sentinel

A man was questioned at Walt Disney World for having a Cast Member’s iPad in his possession and accessing an app to skip the lines for attractions.

The event happened on June 4, but the Orange County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) report has recently surfaced.

Credit: Orlando Sentinel

According to the OCSO report, a call was placed from Disney’s Hollywood Studios on June 4 in regard to a trespassing offense in the park.

When the deputy arrived, he was told by another off-duty deputy that a 30-year-old man was the subject of the call. The man had been taken into an office in the park by a Disney World manager so that he could be removed from Disney property.

The manager told authorities that in the days leading up to the call, his team had noticed several overrides in their reservations system–overrides that can only be performed by authorized Disney World Cast Members.

The problem was that the overrides were not authorized by park staff.

The reservations app that was used is one that Cast Members access in order to grant permission to qualifying Guests to experience an attraction without having to first stand in line and wait.

Reports haven’t said specifically, but the app sounds very much like the one Cast Members use as part of the current Disability Access Services Program, which allows Guests with certain disabilities to be granted a return time for an attraction, rather than having to wait in long lines if their disabilities preclude them from being able to do so.

The man accused of accessing the app to bypass lines was also accused of another big no-no in the parks: seemingly impersonating a Cast Member by giving “tours.”

The team manager who noticed the unauthorized overrides had also noticed the man leading a tour group at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Then he witnessed him lead the group to the front of the queue for an attraction within the park.

Slinky Dog Dash

The manager quickly canceled the reservations made for the attraction before the man boarded the ride vehicle. He then followed the alleged trespasser to the parking lot at Hollywood Studios along with the off-duty deputy.

When the manager asked if they could talk with him, the man accused of unauthorized use of the app and giving unauthorized tours replied that he worked for an “A-Class company.”

According to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office’s report, when he was asked about possession of an iPad or device that was belonged to Disney, he acknowledged that he did, indeed, have one, reached into the backseat of his vehicle and produced the iPad, only saying that he got the device from someone named “Tony” who owned the “A-Class company” to which he had previously referred.

When questioned by the Orange County Sheriff, the man said that he had no idea the iPad was stolen. It was later confirmed by Disney that the iPad was Disney property and that it had been taken without authorization, though no report had been filed about it being a stolen item.

For his part in that day’s events and in the events leading up to the manager’s call to authorities, the man was given a warning for trespassing. The warning was issued by Disney,  and though the man was caught at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, the warning included all of the property at the parks.

He was not charged with a crime.

 

 

About Becky Burkett

Becky's from the Lone Star State and has been writing since she was 10 and encountered her first Disney Park when she was 11. It was love at first Main Street Electrical Parade. Joy is blank lined journals, 0.7 mm pens, and all things Walt, Woody and Buzz, PIXAR, Imagineering, Sleeping Beauty (make it blue!), Disney Parks history and EPCOT. At Disney World, you'll find her croonin' with the birdies at the Enchanted Tiki Room or hangin' with Woody and the gang at Toy Story Land. If you can dream, you really can do it!