Disneyland limited mobility

[justafem]

We are planning disneyland for Aug 27-Sept 3 (2006), problem is, is one of our travelers was hurt last Dec (2005). When we planned the trip, it was expected that she would have no problems as her surgery was in May (2006). Jump forward to now... she had her second post op today, and the prognosis is not what we expected. She fell during physical therapy, and reinjured the knee. Anyhow, it looks like she will not be able to walk without support (wheelchair) during the vacation. The Dr. wrote a quick note stating that she was unable to bear weight.


Do we need documentation to show that she is really limited? Or will Disney accept the Dr's note? Are there any special preperations we should make to accomodate her? I've heard that genuinely disable persons receive special treatment in the park, such as front of the line pass, does this include the whole party (of 4)?

Sorry for all the questions, but we've already paid for the trip, and I hate to cancel!

[MammaSilva]

Do we need documentation to show that she is really limited? Or will Disney accept the Dr's note? Are there any special preperations we should make to accomodate her? I've heard that genuinely disable persons receive special treatment in the park, such as front of the line pass, does this include the whole party (of 4)?

Sorry for all the questions, but we've already paid for the trip, and I hate to cancel!


I wouldn't cancel the trip, you can either rent a manual wheelchair or an electric convienance vehicle, if you and your party are staying at a hotel within walking distance my advice is to rent from an off property company so you have the use of the chair for your entire visit not just while inside the parks proper. As for special treatment, that's an urban myth that creates lots of anguish for many folks. There is no such thing as a front of the line pass other than those they extend to Make a Wish or Starlight guests and I don't know about anyone else but I don't want a FTL pass badly enough to have a child that was ill enough to be offered that perk. With a wheelchair or ECV there are alternative entrances in many of the queues becuase the regular queue can not accomodate the chairs and people in a regular line see that and assume wrongly that those folks got special treatment, if special treatment is a longer wait in most cases so that they can board an attraction safely then yep those folks got special treatment.

[DianeM]

Anybody can get a wheelchair or a motorized vehicle, and they really make it easier to move for people with limited mobility. Keep in mind that if your friend has knee problems, there may be rides she simply can't get in and out of - like Splash Mountain. When I travelled with my mother, who has trouble with her knees, we were able to do most everything without using the handicapped access (she rented an electric vehicle), but we did use disabled access for Space Mountain, because I knew she would be very, very slow getting into and out of the cars, and it would really mess up the ride flow. They have side tracks for disabled access on SM, now. You get into the cars and then they move the cars onto the track.



Do we need documentation to show that she is really limited? Or will Disney accept the Dr's note? Are there any special preperations we should make to accomodate her? I've heard that genuinely disable persons receive special treatment in the park, such as front of the line pass, does this include the whole party (of 4)?

Sorry for all the questions, but we've already paid for the trip, and I hate to cancel!

[annieb727]

A great place to rent either a manual wheelchair or an ECV is Century Medical (562-280-2840). They have great rates and they deliver to disneyland area hotels for free. My latest quote (for September) for an ECV was $105/week (or $35/day) with a $50 refundable Deposit.

Enjoy your trip!!

[Malcon10t]

Do we need documentation to show that she is really limited? Or will Disney accept the Dr's note? Are there any special preperations we should make to accomodate her? I've heard that genuinely disable persons receive special treatment in the park, such as front of the line pass, does this include the whole party (of 4)?

Sorry for all the questions, but we've already paid for the trip, and I hate to cancel!No, you don't need documentation. Anyone can rent a wheelchair.

Front of the line pass is, as Mama said, a myth. With the wheelchair, the person in the wheelchair and 5 of their party can used the handicapped access (HA) line.

The "line assistance" dosn't really save you any time. It helps the CMs load easier an dkeep track of the number of people needing help during an evacuation. Rides have limits on the number of wheelchair guests on during a particular timeframe (ie while the ride can hold 900 people at any moment, POTC can only have 6 whelchair guests on at any one time.) In POTC, you will wait standing. In the regular queue, you move every few seconds. In the HA queue, you stand until they move a group forward. Lately, the line is 2-3x longer than the regular queue. I truely wish we could use the regular queue. Space Mountain is nice because you can wait sitting down. But you wait just as long as you would in the standard queue. Jungle Cruise is one of the few where the line is actually shorter. HM you wait in line til you reach the hearse, then you walk up the ramp. You wil be escorted in when there is an opening (only one to two groups allowed up at once from the HA) and then you wait til buggy 5 comes around. When it does, they will empty buggy 5 of the prior family and load you.

I guess what I am saying is some of the queues are more comfortable to wait in, but you usually arent looking at a shorter queue time, usually, your wait is about the same as the standard queue, and right now, POTC and Space Mountain are longer.

[cactusgirl]

I feel your pain. In 2005 our family was supposed to go to WDW. However, a month before the trip my father-in-law feel off of a 21 foot roof. It was a miracle that he did not die. To prove to himself that his life was not over, he wanted to try the trip. We waited until last month and decided on DL (it is easier to navigate with limited mobility.) He did not bring his wheel chair from home because we knew we could rent one where ever we went. At some parks you can reserve them in advance, but not DL. Here is my advice RENT A WHEEL CHAIR or EVC FROM AN OFF SITE LOCATION. Why? They ran out of wheel chairs and EVCs while we were there. The only way to guarantee we had one was to be there before opening and if we went to DTD, we could not take the EVC or wheelchair with us. If we left the park and came back later, they was no guarantee a chair would be available. There was one day where everything was rented out. They had a few wheelchairs, but they were on a "wait" list. Now, I did find a wonderful CM. I told him our story and he worked a miracle.

As far as the "front of the line pass", no such luck. In fact, since there were 15 of us, we alwasy had to go in separate groups. The SM one really stunk. Everyone had fast passes, but we still had to wait for over 1 hour in the wheelchair line. (The other group just used our passes and went twice before we went once.)

I am not complaining. I think it is laudable that DL makes such an effort to accomodate guests with special needs. Just rent an EVC off-site and your life will be lovely.

In regards to the "special pass"--You can take your note to city hall and they can give you a voucher to use the handicapp access. However, if your special condition is readily apparent--such as you are riding in a wheel chair or on an EVC--you don't need a pass. Your vehicle serves as your pass.

I hope this helps!
Deanna:)

[justafem]

Thanks for all the great information, it was definately needed. We have decided to postpone the trip for a couple of months, mostly because I start a new position on Monday.

Luckily we had trip insurance, and were able to cancel the motel without any loss, and Disney really came through on the tickets after we explained the situation, they will not expire until the end of 2007.

Thanks again!

[nmjohnston874]

A great place to rent either a manual wheelchair or an ECV is Century Medical (562-280-2840). They have great rates and they deliver to disneyland area hotels for free. My latest quote (for September) for an ECV was $105/week (or $35/day) with a $50 refundable Deposit.

Enjoy your trip!!

Wow, that is good news. In the past, I rented from Scoot-Around.com. They charged over $200 a week and their equipment was lousy. The first time I rented from them, I got a wheelchair with a wheel that wobbeled terribly. We thought it was going to come off. Another time I rented an ECV. It didn't work and we wasted valuable time away from the park waiting for someone to fix it.