Disneyland issues golden tickets to VIPs

Disneyland issues up to 10 VIP FastPasses on an average day to “extremely high-profile guests” enabling Hollywood celebrities, professional athletes and state and federal politicians to skip long lines at some of the Anaheim theme park’s most popular rides and attractions, officials said.

“High-profile guests are generally accompanied by larger groups – which can include a security detail – that have the potential to disrupt the experience of our other resort guests,” Disney spokesman John Nicoletti said. “The security teams for high-profile guests often prefer that they not be in the midst of large crowds for an extended period of time, allowing for a greater opportunity for them to be recognized.”

Issued sparingly on a case-by-case basis to VIPs and their entourages, the “Multiple Attraction FastPasses” are good for unlimited, all-day, front-of-line admission to popular rides like Indiana Jones Adventure, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain and Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters.

For non-VIPs, the free FastPass ride reservation system allows visitors to return at a designated time and enter through a shorter line for a single ride on a single attraction.

Because the Multiple Attraction FastPasses have no face value and can’t be purchased by the general public, politicians are not required to report the perk as a gift and Disney does not report the tickets as lobbying expenses, Nicoletti said.

The Orlando Sentinel reported that Disney World, which instituted a similar VIP program last fall, issues fewer than 25 of the “unique” passes daily.

Find the latest amusement and theme park news at the
Los Angeles Times Funland blog: www.latimes.com/funland.

— Brady MacDonald, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

[Image: Disney]

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This entry was posted on Thursday, April 10, 2008 at 10:45 pm by Brady MacDonald and is filed under Disneyland, Family & Kids, San Diego, Theme Parks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.