*cue the Entourage theme song*

Image: Disney

When guests press Disney to explain why celebrities receive such special treatment, they do have a viable defense. Few famous visitors to the Happiest Place on Earth travel alone. They have entourages on most occasions. As if the chaos of Katy Perry visiting Disneyland isn’t enough – and social media suggests she goes a lot – she also has a team of assistants and bodyguards who follow her wherever she goes. A group that large with security demands counter to those of park officials is a risk to other guests. Giving them unique access to the front of the line at Disney attractions makes some sense.

In an extreme example, consider the case of a visiting Arabian prince (not Aladdin) who visited Disney with his team of bodyguards and family members (not Jasmine, Iago, Abu, or the Sultan). Approximately 40 of them moving from line to line at Walt Disney World is an exercise in chaos. This is a real situation that comes up several times a year and not just with Arabians. Remember that the royal family of Morocco paid for and had a hand in designing their Epcot Pavilion. They enjoy visiting it from time to time.

Disney has several concerns with such wealthy, powerful, and globally significant entourages. The royal family’s sworn protectors don’t get to bring weapons into the theme park, of course, but they do get to glare at any strangers who stare too long at the entourage. Disney very much wants to satisfy their royal guests just as they don’t want to upset the onlookers wondering if those garments are made of silk and gold (they are). So, they must maintain a balance between the safety and the happiness of all park guests, the ones who are paying admission prices for a single day as well as those who are paying for multiple VIP tours at $2,800 each. Backdoors to the front of the line solve part of the logistics issue. But I want to add that the Tour Guide in charge of finding available table service for 50 VIPs on short notice must be the most stressed person at Disney.

Modern problems aka Tweet this!

Image: Disney

As you can see, the backdoor pass addresses this problem of mob rules, at least somewhat. The catch is that celebs still have to walk around the park to reach the rides. In the days before social media could spread the word instantly about a star’s presence, this wasn’t a huge deal for all but the biggest stars. Today, all you need to do is follow @DisneyParkCeleb to learn about famous park guests visiting that day. At Disneyland, rarely a day goes by without an update from such newsfeeds.

Disney faces an additional challenge with some celebs. These famous people want to act like they’re normal when they’re at Disney. So, they eschew special passes in favor of enjoying the parks the same way that the rest of us do. They simply walk about the place as if they’re normal ol’ Gwen and Blake rather than two world-famous musicians with multiple #1 singles and a hit television series. That path leads to madness for park officials. Even so, it’s not the most aggravating one.

While they’d never admit it publicly, Disney can’t stand the celebs like Steven Tyler who make a day at Hollywood Studios all about them. Tyler notoriously caters to the crowd, relishing in the excitement from the public witnessing the Aerosmith star jumping on the Aerosmith ride. It’s an exercise in anarchy that’s needless, feeding only the ego of Tyler.

Image: Disney

Then again, if you’re not a cast member but merely an observer, this turn of events is also a lot of fun. Having seen it firsthand, I love that Tyler still gets jazzed about the Aerosmith roller coaster more than 17 years after its debut. He’s nearly 70 and still causing a frenzy when he sprints (yes, *sprints*) to his ride. It’s exactly what Disney doesn’t want yet guests can’t help but get caught up in the wake when Tyler makes his presence known.

Sure, the lead singer of Aerosmith could use the back entrance to Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. What fun would that be, though? Some celebrities like Tyler want everyone to know that they’ve made an entrance. This is the meta problem Disney faces with VIPs. People who are camera-shy and avoid unwanted attention rarely become famous. It’s the ones who desperately seek out the limelight who are most likely to find it.

No matter what they try, Disney cannot overcome this difficulty with celebrities. And that’s disappointing since Walt Disney explicitly desired the presence of the Hollywood elite at his theme park. After more than 60 years, the company still hasn’t come up with anything better than backdoors. Those aren’t anywhere near enough to overcome the instantaneous dissemination of news on social media. Artists with millions of followers are Tweeting and Snapping about their park visits, causing a massive deviation in traffic patterns from what Disney had projected for these days.