- Joined
- Aug 23, 1999
I think that the title of this blog is causing much of the discussion/concern as well as some of the content - I mean "let the battle begin"?
I found out abou the blog when I saw a link posted here and agree with the other posters on this thread that there are many problems with it.
First, Disneyland is a much different place than DisneyWorld.
Many of the attractions at Disneyland are NOT accessible thru the regular line.
At WDW, most attractions are.
Second, there is not one thing that Guest Assistance Cards do there are different stamps put on the card to meet the needs of the person. In some cases, it is to wait in a different area. In some cases, it is to use the wheelchair entrance.
At WDW, that usually means the regular line. There is sometimes a different boarding area, but the bypass that goes there is usually very close to the regular boarding area.
For example, at Buzz Lightyear, the whole line is accessible, but at the boarding area, walking guests make a 180 degree turn to get into their ride car. When guests who cant board in the regular boarding area get there, they are directed straight ahead down a hallway to the exit to board.
A lot of people report what they experience without understanding it.
First example: my family includes a child using a wheelchair who has multiple disabilities and cant walk. We were in the regular line at Mission Space, and after getting deeper into the building, we were right behind a person who was using an ECV. She started talking to us, then showed us her GAC and said we should get one for our DD because she had used it and I got right into this line without waiting at all.
Well, so did we. The standby line we were in had a 10 minute posted wait and we basically walked right in.
We saw the same woman multiple times at Epcot that day and at other parks during our trip. She made multiple comments to us about how glad she was to see we had gotten a GAC and how it was saving do much time. ONLY THING is we had not used a GAC on any of those times. The standby waits were short and what she took as a short wait because of the GAC was just a short wait. PERIOD.
Second example: Ive seen threads where people posted they used a special door or line to get into a show (like Mickeys Philharmagic , Tiki Birds, Monsters, Inc). They reported they went past other guests who were waiting and went to the front of the line. The parts they did not understand was that they were getting into the same show as those other guests and WHY they were waiting there (because there are limited numbers of wheelchair spots or limited numbers of guests with special needs allowed in at one time).
So, again, they thought they had an advantage they really did not have and almost all of their posts about how the GAC gave them Front of the Line access were things like that where their perception was not fact.
Third example: I have seen people reports that they got into the special line at Small World and because the line is shorter, they felt they did not wait as long as they would have otherwise. Well, that line may be less people, but our experience is that the wait is usually longer. In fact, on one of our last trips, my husband got in that line with DD while I was doing something else. I know when they got in line because he texted me. I was going to join them later, but that area was crowded and I could not get thru, so I got in the regular line. They ended up being loaded a few boats ahead of me (if I remember right, 3 boats). I had waited 20 minutes before boarding. They had already been in line 25 minutes before I got into line, so they waited a bit less than 25 minutes longer than me.
Someone posted either that they were asking at Jungle Cruise where to park the wheelchair and were directed to go into a wheelchair entrance, which bypassed part of the lines. How this ride works is that there is a parking area for wheelchairs and ECVs to the left of the regular line and boarding area. Guests who are able to walk in the line are usually inserted back into the regular line at that point. They might think they got ahead, but there were guests who were moving ahead in line while they were waiting for the CM to instruct them, moving the wheelchair/ECV, etc, so by the time they actually get into the line, they will usually be close to where they would have been otherwise ( we know because we have watched). People like my DD, who cant walk, dont get on right away. We have to wait for the special wheelchair boat. Some wait in their wheelchair in the same area where we do, but dont board right away on the next boat that comes.
We usually are aware of what the wait in the standby line is and when there is a separate boarding area for users with disabilities, we often se people who were in line just ahead of us getting off while we are still waiting at the exit to board.
People who have really been watching how their wait relates to the wait in the regular line often find their wait might be less about 25 % of the time, longer 25% of the time and the same 50%.
I found out abou the blog when I saw a link posted here and agree with the other posters on this thread that there are many problems with it.
First, Disneyland is a much different place than DisneyWorld.
Many of the attractions at Disneyland are NOT accessible thru the regular line.
At WDW, most attractions are.
Second, there is not one thing that Guest Assistance Cards do there are different stamps put on the card to meet the needs of the person. In some cases, it is to wait in a different area. In some cases, it is to use the wheelchair entrance.
At WDW, that usually means the regular line. There is sometimes a different boarding area, but the bypass that goes there is usually very close to the regular boarding area.
For example, at Buzz Lightyear, the whole line is accessible, but at the boarding area, walking guests make a 180 degree turn to get into their ride car. When guests who cant board in the regular boarding area get there, they are directed straight ahead down a hallway to the exit to board.
A lot of people report what they experience without understanding it.
First example: my family includes a child using a wheelchair who has multiple disabilities and cant walk. We were in the regular line at Mission Space, and after getting deeper into the building, we were right behind a person who was using an ECV. She started talking to us, then showed us her GAC and said we should get one for our DD because she had used it and I got right into this line without waiting at all.
Well, so did we. The standby line we were in had a 10 minute posted wait and we basically walked right in.
We saw the same woman multiple times at Epcot that day and at other parks during our trip. She made multiple comments to us about how glad she was to see we had gotten a GAC and how it was saving do much time. ONLY THING is we had not used a GAC on any of those times. The standby waits were short and what she took as a short wait because of the GAC was just a short wait. PERIOD.
Second example: Ive seen threads where people posted they used a special door or line to get into a show (like Mickeys Philharmagic , Tiki Birds, Monsters, Inc). They reported they went past other guests who were waiting and went to the front of the line. The parts they did not understand was that they were getting into the same show as those other guests and WHY they were waiting there (because there are limited numbers of wheelchair spots or limited numbers of guests with special needs allowed in at one time).
So, again, they thought they had an advantage they really did not have and almost all of their posts about how the GAC gave them Front of the Line access were things like that where their perception was not fact.
Third example: I have seen people reports that they got into the special line at Small World and because the line is shorter, they felt they did not wait as long as they would have otherwise. Well, that line may be less people, but our experience is that the wait is usually longer. In fact, on one of our last trips, my husband got in that line with DD while I was doing something else. I know when they got in line because he texted me. I was going to join them later, but that area was crowded and I could not get thru, so I got in the regular line. They ended up being loaded a few boats ahead of me (if I remember right, 3 boats). I had waited 20 minutes before boarding. They had already been in line 25 minutes before I got into line, so they waited a bit less than 25 minutes longer than me.
Someone posted either that they were asking at Jungle Cruise where to park the wheelchair and were directed to go into a wheelchair entrance, which bypassed part of the lines. How this ride works is that there is a parking area for wheelchairs and ECVs to the left of the regular line and boarding area. Guests who are able to walk in the line are usually inserted back into the regular line at that point. They might think they got ahead, but there were guests who were moving ahead in line while they were waiting for the CM to instruct them, moving the wheelchair/ECV, etc, so by the time they actually get into the line, they will usually be close to where they would have been otherwise ( we know because we have watched). People like my DD, who cant walk, dont get on right away. We have to wait for the special wheelchair boat. Some wait in their wheelchair in the same area where we do, but dont board right away on the next boat that comes.
We usually are aware of what the wait in the standby line is and when there is a separate boarding area for users with disabilities, we often se people who were in line just ahead of us getting off while we are still waiting at the exit to board.
People who have really been watching how their wait relates to the wait in the regular line often find their wait might be less about 25 % of the time, longer 25% of the time and the same 50%.