Peter Pan Cast Member Warning

[pigletliz]

Hi fellow Disers. I got back from my WDW vacation about 3 weeks ago and something is still bothering me.

One night at MK, as we were about to enter the Peter Pan standby line, a cast member working the ride stopped us. She went up to my friend who was in a wheelchair (broken foot) and informed her that if something were to go wrong with the ride, she would have to be able to climb down a 15 foot ladder. She then asked her if she would be able to do that. The 4 of us kind of looked at the CM mouth agape, unsure of what to say until my friend was like, um, probably not? The cast member then said ok, just something for you to think about. And let me tell you, think about it we did, lol. There were other wheelchairs behind us, elderly people in front of us, this CM went up to no one else to let them know of this apparent evacuation procedure.

And if my friend couldn't climb down a ladder in her state, and this was a real concern, why was she let on the ride?? I am so befuddled over this. I have been to Disney many times, and people in my party have had wheelchairs, or have been elderly, and i've never heard of anything like this before.

Has anyone else ever had this experience?

Not thinking it is any big deal. If it bothered me that much, I would have asked the cm why I was asked, stopped at guest services to ask/complain or asked for a supervisor while I was there. They didn't stop her from getting on the ride, just made her aware. (Although it seemed kind of random - or they were bored) The choice to ride it belonged to the friend in the wheelchair.

 

[Planogirl]

This seems pretty minor to me. But consider stopping at Guest Services if such things bother you. Peter Pan is apparently one of the more difficult rides for people to board and disboard.

 

[bryanb]

Not thinking it is any big deal. If it bothered me that much, I would have asked the cm why I was asked, stopped at guest services to ask/complain or asked for a supervisor while I was there. They didn't stop her from getting on the ride, just made her aware. (Although it seemed kind of random - or they were bored) The choice to ride it belonged to the friend in the wheelchair.

Cast members do need to be aware of which vehicles have a person with limited mobility, and in case of evacuation, if they could traverse stairs/ladders/etc. There are safety regulations that limit the number of passengers who require additional assistance at any given time. Perhaps this was just a misunderstanding or an awkward way for the CM to determine if that person fell within the safety restrictions, or if she would have to check if the previous wheelchair-using guest had cycled through the entire ride.

 

[anniemae]

Seems like a lot of break downs lately so maybe they are more aware of folks who may be impacted by a closure. We were there a couple of weeks ago and both mine train and pooh were broken down at the same time.

 

[BigAlsGal]

I agree. It's weird. I wouldn't have let it bother me though. Some people are just weirdos.

 

[BalooFan]

I would report this to Disney. I seriously doubt that this is a question Disney wants their CMs to make to guests. I know that breakdowns and evacuations happen, but they should be rare enough that CMs shouldn't have to ask this question. Besides, there are a lot of people who aren't in wheelchairs who board this (and other) rides who wouldn't be able to climb down a 15 foot ladder. Small children, the elderly, parents with infants in arms, and people who are afraid of heights might all have issues with descending a ladder and I doubt that any of them were asked this question. Also, this comment, if heard by other guests, could cause a bit of concern, if not downright panic.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Wow that kind of sucks all of the magic out of the ride. Not sure I want to ride it anymore!

 

[minnie mum]

I would report this to Disney. I seriously doubt that this is a question Disney wants their CMs to make to guests. I know that breakdowns and evacuations happen, but they should be rare enough that CMs shouldn't have to ask this question. Besides, there are a lot of people who aren't in wheelchairs who board this (and other) rides who wouldn't be able to climb down a 15 foot ladder. Small children, the elderly, parents with infants in arms, and people who are afraid of heights might all have issues with descending a ladder and I doubt that any of them were asked this question. Also, this comment, if heard by other guests, could cause a bit of concern, if not downright panic.

Did you read any of the posts on this thread? 2 or 3 of us have explained the rationale for the question.

 

[Jarmo]

Hmmm, on Friday we saw a mother carry her disabled teenage son onto Peter Pan and nobody said a word. He certainly was not mobile, but there didn't seem to be any concern with the Cast Members

 

[mom25kiddos]

I would chalk it up to a CM who is being overzealous, and likely not meaning to be weird, or any of the other adjectives. I wonder if the CM hadn't had a situation recently where a person with a similar injury got stuck on the ride and had a difficult time getting off the ride.

 

[MinnieSweetheart]

Cast members do need to be aware of which vehicles have a person with limited mobility, and in case of evacuation, if they could traverse stairs/ladders/etc. There are safety regulations that limit the number of passengers who require additional assistance at any given time. Perhaps this was just a misunderstanding or an awkward way for the CM to determine if that person fell within the safety restrictions, or if she would have to check if the previous wheelchair-using guest had cycled through the entire ride.

Just quoting in hopes that people can read this again! Also, infants or clearly disabled people CLEARLY can't walk as you said, so they would include them in the tallies without asking.

I would feel really awkward if I were the one asked, but I'm thinking it was just a CM who was in the zone running the ride and it came out very awkward. I can come off very rude if I'm in my head. I hope that's what it was.

If you are still bothered, however, I do think you should report it to Disney. Maybe they could remind the CMs to make sure they focus on the guest experience when asking questions and not just safety numbers.

 

[GPC0321]

Kidding aside (since my previous post was silly), this wouldn't be something I'd probably report or whatever. That said, it is kind of poor form for cast members to randomly remind guests with mobility issues that the rides they're about to board could break down and leave them in a precarious situation. I guess it's the reality of the situation though, and reality isn't something most people want to be reminded of when they're about to board a flying pirate ship to Neverland.
All that said, in this day and age, it wouldn't be unbelievable for a guest with a physical limitation to file a lawsuit against a park like Disney if they found themselves in an awkward or physically compromising situation due to a ride malfunction. Common sense should tell people that if you cannot walk or have severe physical limitations that you're risking being in a very difficult situation if something does go wrong. Of course, common sense should tell people that coffee is really hot too, and we all know what happened there.
Maybe the cast member had recently dealt with a guest in a similar condition who got in a bind and blamed Disney for it. Who knows?
Makes Peter Pan a little more intense. Guests never know if it'll morph into "Escape From Peter Pan's Flight!" at some point.

 

[psiprez]

Sorry you are still bothered so long after your visit. (Maybe it was a bad attempt to flirt??)

In this day and age, anything that makes you uncomfortable should be reported... but of course in the moment, you are so busy trying to figure out what just happened that you are just glad it's over!

 

[valeriemouse]

Thank you all for your responses and I can understand the explanations about safety. Like I said, I've traveled with people in wheelchairs before and have never been stopped to have evacuation procedures explained before so it was off-putting. I'm not "keeps me up at night" bothered by it still, I just occasionally remember it and think "what was THAT about". At this point I have no idea who the CM was, so I'm not going to report anything.

 

[DisneyOma]

The CM just walked away after she told us to think about it. She was standing above us by the loading area, leaning over the railing. She walked back to the ride after she spoke to us. That's why it felt like a hit and run. I wasn't going to chase her down to ask. I started the thread to see if anyone else had been in this situation.

I don't remember having to go up any ramps at Peter Pan - I can't picture this scenario. Also, i have no idea why this bee is under your bonnet, but if being warned about a safety issue bothers you, sure, report it.

 

[GPC0321]

Imagine the complaints and threads if something HAD happened on the ride and a disgruntled guest was all, "Nobody TOLD me this could happen!"

I would bet they've had a recent breakdown on a ride that required an evacuation and it involved some folks with physical limitations who expressed something close to what I quoted above. I envision a meeting of cast members to address this and maybe encourage them to issue a "heads up" to guests they notice who might not be comfortable with the evacuation procedures of a ride. Can they personally tell every guest who may have an issue about this possibility? Of course not.
Like I said, darned if they do and darned if they don't. Stay quiet and guests will fault CMs for not warning them of the risk. Say something and CMs get reported for being inappropriate. Yikes.

 

[disneyfantotheend]

However, I saw people in line who were small children, elderly, highly overweight, etc who should've probably been given the same warning as well.

This is what I do not get. There are probably MANY people who could not get down a 15 foot ladder, not just for mobility issues. Fear of heights being a big one that comes to mind. My parents have gone on Peter Pan MANY trips. Both use mobility scoters and neither would be able to climb down a 15 foot ladder. The most that was ever asked of us is if they were able to board while the ride moved. Which we are aware Peter Pan can not be stopped for loading, so that question never surprised me. I am also aware that rides need to be evacuated during breakdowns, but never really took great consideration into exactly how they did that with people who are mobility impaired. Guess it gets pretty complicated, but yet not once on any ride were we made to feel like we had to second guess our choice to ride. Then again, my mother is pretty selective of what she rides and father was fairly good mobility wise on our last trip, Not so much any more.

ETA: Never really thought about it, but it would make sense that certain people are obvious that they would need assistance evacuating. Thanks to those who pointed that out. Still weird that they never asked my Dad, cause even I am not sure if he could or couldn't have done it without assistance.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

Frankly I think the CM was doing her job........if there was a stoppage or a FIRE!, then people would complain why weren't they told in advance. The CM was doing the job ....I would be thanking them for the warning and the just no get off then.

Thank to the CM for putting safety first!

AKK

 

[Maus79]

Hi fellow Disers. I got back from my WDW vacation about 3 weeks ago and something is still bothering me.

One night at MK, as we were about to enter the Peter Pan standby line, a cast member working the ride stopped us. She went up to my friend who was in a wheelchair (broken foot) and informed her that if something were to go wrong with the ride, she would have to be able to climb down a 15 foot ladder. She then asked her if she would be able to do that. The 4 of us kind of looked at the CM mouth agape, unsure of what to say until my friend was like, um, probably not? The cast member then said ok, just something for you to think about. And let me tell you, think about it we did, lol. There were other wheelchairs behind us, elderly people in front of us, this CM went up to no one else to let them know of this apparent evacuation procedure.

And if my friend couldn't climb down a ladder in her state, and this was a real concern, why was she let on the ride?? I am so befuddled over this. I have been to Disney many times, and people in my party have had wheelchairs, or have been elderly, and i've never heard of anything like this before.

Has anyone else ever had this experience?

This has happened to our family with a wheelchair member twice while at MK. Perhaps we are too European, but the first time this happened, we immediately asked the CM why we were the only ones asked this question. The CM explained that he was bound to notify us about safety concerns in the event of an emergency. The second time around we were less offended, and made some joke about having pixie dust with us.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

it has been a few years but I remember a wheelchair guest who was unhappy with the time it took to get them off Small World. everyone who could walk was removed in a few minutes but it took over 30 minutes for fire department to get them off. granted not something that we want to think about but it does happen esp us special needs guests