cupcake
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Aug 6, 2002
We just returned from DL. We had a great time, but did have some difficulties. I will try to sum them up in case they help anyone else. My perspective is that of a novice DL guest but very frequent WDW guest. I use a manual wc or ECV, can transfer and walk for short distances, and have medication related photosensitivity.
GAC I need assistance for the sun so rarely at WDW that I usually dont get one, I just ask a CM if theres an issue and either wait in a separate shady area or receive a card to come back later. I elected to ask for one as I am unfamiliar with the layout. I explained my needs and a very nice CM at DL said they did not have a stamp for me, but wrote in sun sensitivity. Didnt need to use it at the attractions I went to at DL that morning. Later that morning, I went to Disneys California Adventure (DCA). Most of the attractions have unshaded lines for significant parts of the line. CMs were nice but the GAC wasnt helping as if I waited in a shady area, guests went around me. Went to DCA guest services to see if there was a stamp that better met my needs and if not, to give them some feedback as I know the current GAC program there is new. Instead, I got a supervisor who told me that they did not list sun sensitivity as a covered accommodation, CA is sunny and if I am going to the park I should wear sunblock and bring an umbrella, and the first CM was trying to be nice but should never have given me a GAC. I then was told not to expect special treatment, I need to be prepared to wait in line with everyone else. !!! Cmon, I am a 38 year old woman in an obviously non-DL ECV (not that someone who rents at the park is suspect, but someone who takes the time/expense of renting offsite or bringing their own is so obviously not a cheater). I did not appreciate the inference that I was trying to skip lines. I said that I was seeking to wait out of the sun and was happy to wait the same or longer than any other guest as long as I was out of the sun. I also explained why I came back: to see if there was a different stamp and, if not, let them know about my experience. I seriously thought she was going to take my GAC away but she didnt. It was actually useful at shows as the CMs did walk me over to a shady part of the line. I think they saw the GAC and thus tried to help me and that w/o it I would not have gotten any help. It is not hard to do what WDW does (where it is also sunny!) if there is no place to wait, they give me a card and I return at the designated time and am not trapped in the sun. The tough luck attitude left me with a bad taste. So be warned, if you need a special accommodation, I am not 100% confident that they will try to help you or if they do, be able to meet your needs. My dh and I felt that their goal was straight ADA accessibility, not providing a magical vacation experience to those with special needs.
Comparison of WDW and DL I now appreciate WDW so much more. They run a tight ship! (1) beware, if you transfer, you may not end up near your wc at the exit. Ex: at Haunted Mansion, I asked how long the walk was if I left my ECV & was told a specific distance. But this was to board, the exit is nowhere near the entrance!! Tiki Room same thing. CM should have told us to exit from the entrance, but didnt. (2) CM directions for accessible boarding were non-existent most of the time. You are mostly on your own figuring out where to go and how to exit. Very confusing due to lack of signage & instruction, and my dh often went in search of help or we started asking ourselves at the entrance. Examples: at Indiana Jones you go thru the hc gate, up an elevator, across and then down an elevator to get into the boarding areathis is far from obvious. At Splash Mountain, we entered at the hc sign and went all the way in, only to be told to leave by a CM as we should have waited outside to be brought in. Huh? How were we supposed to know this? (3) CMs dont pay attention to where they put wc guests. Another Indiana Jones example: wc guests need to board last so we are able to exit the same side we got in. If you exit the normal way, you cant get your wc which is at the entrance side and have to stand to wait and then crawl across the car (not exactly easy) when it is empty again. This is not an isolated incidence. (4) CMs dont always pay attention to wcs properly in terms of parking for guests who transfer (parked wcs/wc exits/other wc guests get blocked bc we are not told where to park) and they repeatedly waved guests in front of me in a steady stream to load when I needed to get thru to exit. (5) parades CMs merely guard the entrance to the wc area. WDW would never have let kids stand on railings in front of wcs, etc. no parking/space management direction, so front spaces had lots of standing guests and many wcs were in back of them. (6) hc seating at shows is not handled well. mostly no preseating and again, no consistent directions re what to do. (7) weird decisions in newly built areas. Snow White show seating was especially poor, it is an area on the side thats mostly steps (!!) with folding chairs. I guess if you can transfer, you can do steps (not). We parked in the hc area at the Grand Californian Hotel, there was a short flight of steps to get out (!!) followed by a curb with nothing to hold onto for those on foot. For wcs, I guess we are meant to drive in the parking lot as theres no marked crossingunsafe. what were they thinking?
General comments: Warning for the mobility-impaired who are not using a wc, there are a lot of steps in queues where there are none in the WDW equivalent, likely to save space by having lines use vertical space. I mean big flights of stairs going up & down, not just a few. Inconsistent use of wc buttons to open doors generally. Everything is so close! You enter thru security and then are in a plaza where you can enter DL, DCA, or Downtown Disney. This means that crowd conditions at DL are different than the MK DCA closes pretty early and then guests pour into the already very crowded DL, making huge crowds build even late at night. On a Friday night in June, we felt crowds were as bad as we had ever seen at WDW (comparable to Christmas/New Years). Beware of Splash Mountain, the logs are super hard to get out of compared to WDW.
Fastpass: I found out that not all the machines are on system so you can hold multiple ones simultaneously (DL Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin, Star Tours/DCA Grizzly River Run, Muppet Vision 3D (DCA), It's Tough to be a Bug!). You can return at any point after your window begins, not just during the one hour window on the ticket.
Rental: I chose Alans Wheelchairs. Got an older ECV which died around 4:30 my first day. I said I did not think it was the battery when they offered to come with a new one as the ECV had been making a weird noise when moving. They were very nice and apologetic, told me that they were having availability issues due to a conference, & showed up in about 45 min. with a great brand new scooter w/ all the bells and whistles! (light, rear view mirror, everything adjustable, maybe from their sale showroom?). I *LOVED* the light. It was enormously helpful at night as people saw me. I am going to try to get a clip on battery flashlight for future WDW visits. I recommend Alans and would rent from them again.
Hotel: Stayed at the Fairfield Inn which was almost directly across the street from the main pedestrian entrance. The walk to get in was about the same as from the Beach to International Gateway. They guaranteed a hc non-smoking room and it was right by a hc spot. Plenty of room to park the ECV inside and a good bathroom.
Overall, we had a good time. It was really fun to experience DL & DCA. But we concluded that the overall goal was simple ADA accessibility, no more, no less. My dh is very mild mannered and he was getting quite irate by the 10th or so time we landed away from the wc upon exiting, got no directions, etc. So kudos to WDW. At DL you can get around in a wc, but you will likely feel pretty frustrated at times and if you have other needs, you may well not get the same kind of assistance that you do at WDW. And they definitely do not get points for how the GAC program, such as it is, is implemented. Memo to DL-- not everyone who asks for a GAC is trying to get a "go to the front of the line" pass, accommodating those with special needs is what makes Disney special, and it is indeed possible to accommodate special needs and still have mainstream access.
Cupcake
GAC I need assistance for the sun so rarely at WDW that I usually dont get one, I just ask a CM if theres an issue and either wait in a separate shady area or receive a card to come back later. I elected to ask for one as I am unfamiliar with the layout. I explained my needs and a very nice CM at DL said they did not have a stamp for me, but wrote in sun sensitivity. Didnt need to use it at the attractions I went to at DL that morning. Later that morning, I went to Disneys California Adventure (DCA). Most of the attractions have unshaded lines for significant parts of the line. CMs were nice but the GAC wasnt helping as if I waited in a shady area, guests went around me. Went to DCA guest services to see if there was a stamp that better met my needs and if not, to give them some feedback as I know the current GAC program there is new. Instead, I got a supervisor who told me that they did not list sun sensitivity as a covered accommodation, CA is sunny and if I am going to the park I should wear sunblock and bring an umbrella, and the first CM was trying to be nice but should never have given me a GAC. I then was told not to expect special treatment, I need to be prepared to wait in line with everyone else. !!! Cmon, I am a 38 year old woman in an obviously non-DL ECV (not that someone who rents at the park is suspect, but someone who takes the time/expense of renting offsite or bringing their own is so obviously not a cheater). I did not appreciate the inference that I was trying to skip lines. I said that I was seeking to wait out of the sun and was happy to wait the same or longer than any other guest as long as I was out of the sun. I also explained why I came back: to see if there was a different stamp and, if not, let them know about my experience. I seriously thought she was going to take my GAC away but she didnt. It was actually useful at shows as the CMs did walk me over to a shady part of the line. I think they saw the GAC and thus tried to help me and that w/o it I would not have gotten any help. It is not hard to do what WDW does (where it is also sunny!) if there is no place to wait, they give me a card and I return at the designated time and am not trapped in the sun. The tough luck attitude left me with a bad taste. So be warned, if you need a special accommodation, I am not 100% confident that they will try to help you or if they do, be able to meet your needs. My dh and I felt that their goal was straight ADA accessibility, not providing a magical vacation experience to those with special needs.
Comparison of WDW and DL I now appreciate WDW so much more. They run a tight ship! (1) beware, if you transfer, you may not end up near your wc at the exit. Ex: at Haunted Mansion, I asked how long the walk was if I left my ECV & was told a specific distance. But this was to board, the exit is nowhere near the entrance!! Tiki Room same thing. CM should have told us to exit from the entrance, but didnt. (2) CM directions for accessible boarding were non-existent most of the time. You are mostly on your own figuring out where to go and how to exit. Very confusing due to lack of signage & instruction, and my dh often went in search of help or we started asking ourselves at the entrance. Examples: at Indiana Jones you go thru the hc gate, up an elevator, across and then down an elevator to get into the boarding areathis is far from obvious. At Splash Mountain, we entered at the hc sign and went all the way in, only to be told to leave by a CM as we should have waited outside to be brought in. Huh? How were we supposed to know this? (3) CMs dont pay attention to where they put wc guests. Another Indiana Jones example: wc guests need to board last so we are able to exit the same side we got in. If you exit the normal way, you cant get your wc which is at the entrance side and have to stand to wait and then crawl across the car (not exactly easy) when it is empty again. This is not an isolated incidence. (4) CMs dont always pay attention to wcs properly in terms of parking for guests who transfer (parked wcs/wc exits/other wc guests get blocked bc we are not told where to park) and they repeatedly waved guests in front of me in a steady stream to load when I needed to get thru to exit. (5) parades CMs merely guard the entrance to the wc area. WDW would never have let kids stand on railings in front of wcs, etc. no parking/space management direction, so front spaces had lots of standing guests and many wcs were in back of them. (6) hc seating at shows is not handled well. mostly no preseating and again, no consistent directions re what to do. (7) weird decisions in newly built areas. Snow White show seating was especially poor, it is an area on the side thats mostly steps (!!) with folding chairs. I guess if you can transfer, you can do steps (not). We parked in the hc area at the Grand Californian Hotel, there was a short flight of steps to get out (!!) followed by a curb with nothing to hold onto for those on foot. For wcs, I guess we are meant to drive in the parking lot as theres no marked crossingunsafe. what were they thinking?
General comments: Warning for the mobility-impaired who are not using a wc, there are a lot of steps in queues where there are none in the WDW equivalent, likely to save space by having lines use vertical space. I mean big flights of stairs going up & down, not just a few. Inconsistent use of wc buttons to open doors generally. Everything is so close! You enter thru security and then are in a plaza where you can enter DL, DCA, or Downtown Disney. This means that crowd conditions at DL are different than the MK DCA closes pretty early and then guests pour into the already very crowded DL, making huge crowds build even late at night. On a Friday night in June, we felt crowds were as bad as we had ever seen at WDW (comparable to Christmas/New Years). Beware of Splash Mountain, the logs are super hard to get out of compared to WDW.
Fastpass: I found out that not all the machines are on system so you can hold multiple ones simultaneously (DL Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin, Star Tours/DCA Grizzly River Run, Muppet Vision 3D (DCA), It's Tough to be a Bug!). You can return at any point after your window begins, not just during the one hour window on the ticket.
Rental: I chose Alans Wheelchairs. Got an older ECV which died around 4:30 my first day. I said I did not think it was the battery when they offered to come with a new one as the ECV had been making a weird noise when moving. They were very nice and apologetic, told me that they were having availability issues due to a conference, & showed up in about 45 min. with a great brand new scooter w/ all the bells and whistles! (light, rear view mirror, everything adjustable, maybe from their sale showroom?). I *LOVED* the light. It was enormously helpful at night as people saw me. I am going to try to get a clip on battery flashlight for future WDW visits. I recommend Alans and would rent from them again.
Hotel: Stayed at the Fairfield Inn which was almost directly across the street from the main pedestrian entrance. The walk to get in was about the same as from the Beach to International Gateway. They guaranteed a hc non-smoking room and it was right by a hc spot. Plenty of room to park the ECV inside and a good bathroom.
Overall, we had a good time. It was really fun to experience DL & DCA. But we concluded that the overall goal was simple ADA accessibility, no more, no less. My dh is very mild mannered and he was getting quite irate by the 10th or so time we landed away from the wc upon exiting, got no directions, etc. So kudos to WDW. At DL you can get around in a wc, but you will likely feel pretty frustrated at times and if you have other needs, you may well not get the same kind of assistance that you do at WDW. And they definitely do not get points for how the GAC program, such as it is, is implemented. Memo to DL-- not everyone who asks for a GAC is trying to get a "go to the front of the line" pass, accommodating those with special needs is what makes Disney special, and it is indeed possible to accommodate special needs and still have mainstream access.
Cupcake
