We are thinking of planning a trip to DL in the next year or two that would include my brother. He is 29, and in a wheelchair with cerebral palsy. I'm looking for any information or experience anyone has had with handicapped individuals at Disneyland. He uses a power wheelchair. Which of the rides are set up to accomodate transfers from a wheelchair? He is a pretty solid, heavy adult, but my dh and I are able to move him around. Once on a ride, if he had a lap bar or something to hang on to, and one of us next to him for stability, he would be just fine. He has pretty good upper body strength. I know things like Space Mountain, etc., are out of the question, but I was wondering more about the Fantasyland rides, or Monsters, Inc.

Also, hotels suggestions would be great. I would like to plan on staying somewhere very comfortable for him, with a large wheelchair accessible bathroom. Ideally, we would probably want two connected rooms to accomodate five people.

It's funny - we are going to DL this October with just our small immediate family - myself, husband, and two children - and we are very excited. But, thinking of planning this trip with my brother is even more exciting for me. :) It's something I know he would absolutely looove. He is a huge movie buff, and loves Disney. He was able to go to DL once on a school trip when he was very little, and I'm sure he doesn't remember much. He is such an amazing guy, a great brother, and a wonderful uncle to my kids. Our mother passed away four years ago, and I'm something of a second mother to him. He and my father live on the same property as us, so we are able to stay close and give him emotional and physical support, while at the same time giving him a feeling of independence. He works at a local movie theater one day a week taking tickets. He is just somebody that everyone loves. We would love to give him a great trip and make it as special as possible. And we would get so much in return being able to experience it with him and watch his face. :)

Okay, now that I've made myself cry... :crying: :rolleyes: :) ...any help, information, or tips that anyone may have would be very appreciated!! Thanks!

I moved your thread to the Theme Park Access Forum. There are many people here who have a variety of experiences with taking children and adults with special needs to DLR who I'm sure will have a lot of information to share.

May I ask why you think Space Mountain will be out of the question? Are you considering your brother's physical inability to handle the ride or are you considering loading issues? Because if it's the later, they have "solved" the loading issue problem with Space for transferring out of a chair.

Adrienne

I think you will be very surprised at what he will be able to do. The biggest issue though will be you and your husband will have to move him, CMs can't help except to hold or move chairs.

Space Mountain would actually be one of the easier ones to get him on. Now, if he can't ride it due to health issues, ignore this. But they even have a slide board to help load him from his chair. The rocket is on the side of the ride, so you can take your time loading him.

Rides that will be an issue will be Big Thunder and probably Screamin'. We have done Screamin', but you have to know your timing. My son and brother know the split second Screamin' stops, they jump out and each have an arm under my s-dad and are lifting him out. You have limited time on that one. Most of the other rides you will have time to load and unload.

Hotels - Homewood suites usually has gorgeous HA rooms, as does Doubletree.

Thank you, Adrienne, for moving this to the right spot. Sorry I didn't notice this forum before - it's great!

I just mentioned Space Mtn as an example because I think it might be a bit too much for him physically. But, it would probably be best for me to gather as much info about the rides as I can, and then once we get there we can start to gauge his tolerance of them and go from there.

My husband and I would be fine transferring him on our own, but I don't think we would be quick enough for rides like Screamin'. So it's good to know the different aspects of each ride. Thanks!

I will definitely make a note of Homewood Suites and Doubletree to research as we get closer - thank you. Does anyone know what the HA rooms would be like at the Grand Californian?

Well, I'm off to explore this forum I didn't notice before - I'm sure there's lots of good info here.

I will definitely make a note of Homewood Suites and Doubletree to research as we get closer - thank you. Does anyone know what the HA rooms would be like at the Grand Californian?

The word I would use for my experience in one was: Pathetic.

I remember that I was in one that someone had booked for the purpose of writing about it and what I remember was not good. It was too small for an HCA room. The person I was with was ambulatory and it was a really good thing because it would've been very difficult to have to use a chair in the room.

Adrienne

We book into the Homewood Suites a lot, and since we travel with service dogs, and mark it on the web, we always end up in a HA room (which we don't need, but try telling them that...) What I do like about it, the bathrooms are HUGE. The kitchen area is designed for a chair, although some cabinets were out of reach from a chair. Doors were plenty wide, and what I did love was the alarms for the door and smoke alarm were the heavy flashers that could catch MDMs attention! I think this trip, just for the heck of it, I am going to investigate the HA rooms at Residence Inn.

My husband and I would be fine transferring him on our own, but I don't think we would be quick enough for rides like Screamin'. So it's good to know the different aspects of each ride. Thanks!Indy would be one you should probably avoid, as it is very jerky. Same with Star Tours. Space mountain is fairly smooth. Just fast. Matterhorn is pretty jerky. Splash wouldn't be bad, but I think it would be hard to give him support. The rides in Fantasyland would be fairly easy.

MAKE SURE YOU STOP AT CITY HALL and get a "Guests with Disabilities" pamplet or go to this link (http://disneyland.disney.go.com/disneyland/en_US/help/gsLanding?name=GuestServicesLandingPage) and on the right side, download ahead of time. It will explain where you will enter rides and shows. The park is very accessible.

Malcon: are you going to be in DL on Sunday? If so, I am going with friends and will look for you guys! I would love to meet you . . . .

Cheryl

The rides that will allow him to ride without transfers:

Buzz Lightyear -

the many adventures of winnie the pooh

The Disneyland Railroad has an accessible car but you can't load/unload at the Main Street Station. You can load at any of the other three stations and just enjoy the ride.

Jungle Cruise has a boat that is accessible to his chair but it's not always out, you might have to ask them about it and it might take a bit for them to bring it out.

I would say that Big thunder would be tricky because if it did break evacuating him would be impossible, he'd have to sit and wait for them to get the train he's on back to the station due to the stairs. Not to mention they have a very small window to load/unload before it causes problems for the entire ride.

On the dark rides in Fantasyland the CM"s know how to 'stack' the vehicles to allow a bit extra time to avoid the stops that can create problems for the rides.

I'd say that you might want to avoid Indy for several reasons...time to load and unload is tight, the vehicles are pretty high up so you would have to step/lift him into the outside seat then one sit next and one behind so when you got to the end you could get him offloaded in time. I'd suggest you check it out on your family visit and make a judgement call there.

Haunted Mansion is one of the best set up for transfers. When you get to the queue the CM's will ask you if he needs to transfer, you tell them yes...you have to wait for the special buggies...5, 6, 7, 8, 9 I think are the ones with the special accommodations, they'll let him drive his chair to the edge you guys help him transfer then you ride thru the exit and behind the scenes and come back out to the load zone where they stop the attraction and bring his chair out for you to transfer him back, you'll go back to the stretching room and ride up and out. The CM's at the Haunted Mansion rock and rock HARD in my opinion, we've never had a bad experience with them in all our trips.


Edited to add, I don't know how well you can lift your brother but I'd make a point of riding pirates on your family trip to make the judgement call there as well. The load/unload time isn't as tight but it's a pretty big step UP to get out of the boat. The same with the Storybook Canal boats in Fantasyland.

I'm sure I'll think of more in Disneyland....

DCA all the queues are accessible but I'm not a big fan of the attractions over there. Soaring over California and the new Toy Story Mania are my personal favs but I do enjoy the muppets show, the animation building with the Turtle Talk with Crush, even the little Monsters INC ride is cute and that one is another that has a ride vehicle that will accommodate his chair.

The new toy story mania ride is da BOMB for anyone using a wheelchair or needing extra time to transfer, they took the technology they used at space and improved it ...they have a vehicle that will accommodate the chair but if he wants to transfer there's plenty of time for that as well.

I'd think that if you and your husband are practiced at lifting him then soaring would be an awesome ride.

MAKE SURE YOU STOP AT CITY HALL and get a "Guests with Disabilities" pamplet or go to this link (http://disneyland.disney.go.com/disneyland/en_US/help/gsLanding?name=GuestServicesLandingPage) and on the right side, download ahead of time. It will explain where you will enter rides and shows. The park is very accessible.

That might be a good thing to pick up on your family visit, too (sometimes those type of things are a lot easier to read on a hard copy). Or get it at the beginning of your trip, and take notes in it as you're going around to the attractions!

I was also going to suggest getting the Guidebook For Guests With Disabilities at the Guest Realtions Offices both at City Hall and in DCA.

Toy Story Midway Mania is 100% accessible, and a power chair may be driven directly into two of the ride vehicles. Also, the "cannon" in the accessible position has a large button on it for firing if the person finds use of the pull cord difficult.

You may want to take some time before your October trip to make up a list of the possible places to stay. Then when you are there visit those locations and speak with a manager and possibly see the available rooms. Who knows; you might even be given special offers when you inspect in person.

My husband and I would be fine transferring him on our own, but I don't think we would be quick enough for rides like Screamin'. This will sound odd, but we recommend that you practice transferring in and out of a bathtub to get an idea of what ride transfers may be like from the roller coasters.

Does anyone know what the HA rooms would be like at the Grand Californian?Miserable. Quite honestly, I would never recommend them to someone who is not ambulatory. My husband and I stayed in one a few weeks after the hotel opened, and found the doorway too narrow, the bathroom poorly designed and the room less than ideal for wheelchair use.

AVP

at least the ones i encountered on sunday having to use a wheelchair for the first time. I easily was able to get into peter pan, haunted mansion (awesome cast!), alice in wonderland--did not try any others because mr motomickey had to travel on monday so did not want to wear him out pushing me around, but we had a really good time (except for the guests who just walk out in front of the chair and STOP DEAD--good thing mr motomickey was quick on his feet and able to keep us from crashing into anyone but i did feel like giving some of them a nudge with my crutch (heehee)

There are also lots of shows, parades, etc that are easliy accesible--I know your brother will have a great time!!!!

Just a few things not mentioned. Does your brother have seizures, my CP daughter does and that can help you with what you want to go on. We skip somethings becaue we do not want a seizure to ruin our day. For us it does not seem to be dark rides or fast rides but it does make a difference with lighting, Roger Rabbit is out, Winnie the Pooh is actually a no go for her, to many spinning colors I think.

As for hotels, we like DL over GC for a w/c although it has been years since we had to deal with a w/c. The pluses for us, is after transfering all day long, we are more tired and muscles are sore, so we are close and do not have to worry about getting back to the room. We find the buses are quite rediculous at times, although we have not had to use a w/c since ART took over. Before that we had many bus drivers who did not know how to do w/c's or were so slow it would take a half hour or more to hook them up and others were mad and rude to us because of it. It was hard to sit close to her at times and she was a young teenager then and did not want us sitting far away from her. To us it was just not worth it after a long day of transfering her all day and walking all over the place (her w/c was not electric). We liked just jumping on the monorail and going to the hotel. A peaceful way to end the day. It does cost more.

We also like RI maingate. The rooms are big, easily accommodate a party of 5.
We have been in studio, 1 bedroom and two and they are all easy to move around in. We also like the spa and pool there, my daughter found it very easy to transfer into and out of, much easier than some of the others. Back then they transfered her over to the park by there own van, which I do not think they do anymore. But we had to take apart her w/c and that was a pain since it was not a fold up w/c, we had to take it apart piece by piece.

I do not suggest the other RI because of the elevator, and others may be able to answer a little more about some other hotels that only have one elevator or two like RI. We did not have a w/c when we went there but a stoller and sometimes especially morning and night there were so many people waiting for elevators it would take 1/2 an hour before you got your turn and then the people around were mad because the stoller or w/c took up so much room. Making for unpleasent rides up to your room.

Also, after you go with your family this year, remember how tired you are and sore you are after walking and playing all day and triple it when you have to transfer your brother and also stop and waste time for those who are rude and will step in front of his w/c and make you all stop short or those who want to squeeze in front of you because after all you are leaving an inch between the w/c and others so it is free space for them to step in front of you. (Many people are really great with w/c but we find many who are very rude). So my suggestion is after you visit start to walk 2 or more miles a day and also lift weights to build your muscles. It has been years since we had to transfer our daughter but I still walk 3.7 miles 4 days a week just to be in shape for my visits to disney. Our disabilities have changed over the years, my daughter can now walk but I am blind, but they next time we go my granddaughter who is 3 will be in her new w/c, my daugher with CP had a daugher who was a preemie and also has CP. So we are now starting to build our muscles for transfering her, she is still light but it is a lot of work to transfer all day long. We hope she will only be in a w/c for a year or less, since her surgery should make her able to walk soon.

I hope these suggestions help.