Welcome to disABILITIES.
For the parking, the regular parking lots have tram service which stops at the end of each row and delivers you to an area close to the park turnstiles. There is no tram service from the handicapped parking area to the turnstiles. The Handicapped (they call it "Medical") parking is the closest parking to the entrance, but they are not that close and the lots are rather large (so if you end up in the farthest part of the lot, you will have a walk to ge to the front). They do have a limited number of wheelchairs available that can be used to get from the parking lot to the park entrance, but these are not always available. Handicapped parking lots are more suited for people who have brought wheelchairs/
ecvs with them. WDW actually suggests that the best option is to park in the regular lot and ride the tram if you don't have a wheelchair with you and you are able to get on board the parking tram. You can tell each parking lot CM that you come to that you have someone with a mobility problem and need to park near the tram stop. They do save spots on the ends of rows for that purpose.
One of things to think about is whether your MIL would do well to rent an
ecv (electric
scooter) or wheelchair. The distances between things in WDW are immense (Just the distance around the WS lake in Epcot is 1.3 miles). With a wheelchair or ecv, she would be able to get around without undue exertion and also, she would be able to bring it into lines and have a place to sit while waiting. Having an ecv or wheelchair (at least IMHO) would be much more useful for her than having a GAC.
Here is some general information about GACs. You can go to Guest Services in any of the parks and request a Guest Assistance Card (we call them GACs to avoid typing so much). In general, people who use wheelchairs or ecvs don't need and won't be given a GAC because just having the wheelchair/ecv alerts the CM that they need an accessible entrance. If that meets your needs, you don't need a GAC. But some people need a quieter place to wait, a place out of the sun, a place away from other people or to be able to bring a stroller into line and have it treated the same as a wheelchair. The GAC is a tool to alert CMs of that sort of invisible need. It is not meant to (and usually won't) shorten or eliminate your wait in line.
To request a GAC, go to Guest Services in any of the parks with the person with a disability and explain your needs. Just saying, "I have angina" does not help much, because some people with that diagnosis will have minimal problems waiting in line and others will have lots of problems. You need to be able to explain what sorts of behaviors/problems you expect to encounter. The GACs have different messages stamped on them, depending on what the needs are. GAcs issued in one park are good in all parks and are usually valid for your entire length of stay (You don't need to get a new one each day).GACs are usually issued for the person with a disability plus up to 5 members of their party - there may be times when you are asked to split into smaller groups because of attraction capacity in the special needs area for that ride.
