changing disability practice

[2d_star_to_the_right]

Our son- age 4 on our next trip has cerebral palsy. He is able to walk with his braces quite well and we have never used any wheelchairs or requesting to head to the front of the line or anything like that.

The only thing we have used is the Handicapped seating at Fantasmic- since my son is very short- a wheelchair in the standing room only section would not help. By the end of the day his muscles are pretty fatigued and he likes to ride in his strollar or be carried. I can't imagine holding him through that performance as he is not a lightweight and his braces add extra weight in addition to be clunky.

My question is this- will we now have difficulty accessing handicap seating at Fantasmic?

thanks in advance.

 

[SueM in MN]

Welcome to disABILITIES.
WDW doesn't have any front of the line passes, except for Make A WISH kids. They do have Guest Assistance Cards (we abbreviate it as GAC), which are basically a tool to let CMs see what assistance a person with a disability needs. The GACs have not changed at WDW, but the Special Assistance Pass at DisneyLand is being changed to be more in line with how things are handled at WDW.
Since your child has braces, chances are that the CMs might notice them and let you use the wheelchair seating for Fantasmic with your stroller (although with as busy as it becomes at Fantasmic, they may miss it). To make sure you can do it, you might want to go to Guest Services in any of the parks and ask for a GAC that would allow you to use the stroller as a wheelchair. That would allow you to bring it into any lines, buildings or shows the same as a wheelchair. That would give you more options since you could park the stroller with the other strollers and have him walk in line if he's doing well. If he starts to tire out (or for Fantasmic) he could stay in the stroller. Just explain to the CM at Guest Services the way you explained it here; that he walks well with his braces, but sometimes his muscles become fatigued and he needs to use the stroller then. A GAC is usually given out for the person with a disability plus up to 5 members of their party, is good in all parks and is issued for your entire length of stay.