Is Universal handicap friendly?

[Anna_Marie]

We are planning on going to Universal next year. One of my coworkers said that they thought Revenge of the Mummy had stairs you had to climb. Does anyone know? Also any info on their other rides would be helpful as far as climbing. I have a bad right knee and there is no way I could climb a flight of stairs.

[rewardsinlife]

Below is directly from the site. It is friendly...but not as much as DL. Especially difficult is getting elevator ride to top or bottom when it is constantly being used by those with strollers.


ADA Information
How do you accommodate guests with disabilities?
Universal Studios Hollywood prides itself on providing complete and convenient access for all our guests with disabilities. Many rides, shows, attractions, escalators and parking structures are designed to comfortably accommodate guests in a wheelchair or guests with other disabilities depending on their condition. There are designated guests-with-disabilities entrances for all our attractions in the park; don’t hesitate to stop by Guest Relations or ask a team member for more information.

At the Guest Services window, we provide detailed printed informational guides for persons with disabilities. Assistive listening devices and TDD phones for the hearing impaired are also provided at Guest Relations. Wheelchair and stroller rentals are available in the park for a $12 charge. There is a $20 deposit for manual wheelchair rentals.

For more information, please see the Guest Assistance and Restrictions guide.

If you go to the universal website...( take out spaces in between): Www. Universal Studios Hollywood . Com / faqs / Ada-information

It gives a link to a detailed guide on what you exactly need to have ability wise to ride the ride ( ie..ability to grasp handlebars...etc.)

Have fun!



*

[crashbb]

Originally Posted by Anna_Marie

We are planning on going to Universal next year. One of my coworkers said that they thought Revenge of the Mummy had stairs you had to climb. Does anyone know? Also any info on their other rides would be helpful as far as climbing. I have a bad right knee and there is no way I could climb a flight of stairs.

There is an accessible way to get onto the Mummy ride - through a gate partway through the line (I accidently ended up using it the first time I rode as it was very early in the morning and there was no one else in the line and I got totally confused).

[traceyg]

Are you going to US Hollywood or Orlando?

We just got back a few weeks ago and while I love and adore all things Disney, I truly think US/IoA was a little more handicap friendly than WDW.

There is an elevator for the Mummy in Orlando.

Make sure you stop at Guest Services first thing and get a pass that says you're handicapped. For extreme wait times there is an option of coming back later so that you're not stuck standing in a horrendous line. The wait time for Harry Potter was like 180 minutes. We got there at 9. The person handling the pass stamped it and said to come back at 12. We didn't have to stand in line but we didn't go straight to the front either. Once you are waiting on your time to come up (ie from the 9 to 12 so we could ride HP) you cannot go to another attraction and have your card signed again. You can however "stand" in line at another location. While we were waiting for HP we went over to Dueling Dragons. It had a ten minute stand-by. We went through the handicap access and got right on.

[bedogged]

Originally Posted by Anna_Marie

We are planning on going to Universal next year. One of my coworkers said that they thought Revenge of the Mummy had stairs you had to climb. Does anyone know? Also any info on their other rides would be helpful as far as climbing. I have a bad right knee and there is no way I could climb a flight of stairs.

I did not think that Universal Orlando was handicapped friendly at all! None of their CMs seem to know what to do. I was there with my ECV. I can put your mind to rest regarding Revenge of the Mummy. There is an elevator you can take to avoid the stairs. You will have to watch for the elevator because, chances are, there will not be anyone who will tell you about it or where it is, but is does exist.

[disneymarie]

Originally Posted by bedogged

I did not think that Universal Orlando was handicapped friendly at all! None of their CMs seem to know what to do. I was there with my ECV. I can put your mind to rest regarding Revenge of the Mummy. There is an elevator you can take to avoid the stairs. You will have to watch for the elevator because, chances are, there will not be anyone who will tell you about it or where it is, but is does exist.

I agree, it was the most difficult place I went to. Especially when instead of taking my dd up an elevator to ride the crazy train through Suess area, they had me push her up the incline on my rollator.

Difficult day and trip. We have not been back since.

[aubriee]

When we were there in early Nov we were not allowed to bring my mom's ECV into Olivander's for the wand show. We were told that there was not room for any ECVs and if she couldn't walk and stand that long, she just couldn't go in. She told us to go on in and she waited right outside talking to the CM. When we came out, he apologized again, but said that absolutely no ECVs were allowed in there due to the space being so small. When we got back, I asked about it here on the DIS and was told that the CM was incorrect and that ECVS were allowed in there. Also if you want to go through the line for Forbidden Journey, you have to transfer out of an ECV to a wheelchair. No ECVs are allowed in that line, even if you are just going to do the castle tour. You also miss part of that queue as they take you up an elevator. I didn't know they had an elevator for the Seuss train though. We too had to go up the incline.

[SueM in MN]

Post 9 of the disABILITIES FAQs thread is about Universal. It includes direct links to the Universal Orlando website, ADA information and Rider's Guide that was mentioned by a poster above.
You can find that thread near the top of this board or follow the link in my signature.

Two things to be aware of about Universal:

NONE of their lines are ECV or power wheelchair accessible. Anyone using powered mobility devices will need to transfer to a manual wheelchair to be in line for any attraction.
This apparently includes things like Olivanders to some of the staff there because they consider it an attraction, rather than a shop. It is not listed as an attraction in the Rider's Guide.
I noticed on a recent trip to IOA that many of the shops were quite tight and would be very challenging to get around in with a wheelchair -especially those in the Harry Potter area.

MOST of the attractions have at least some warnings. Some seem silly - there is a whole list of warnings for theHigh in the Sky Seuss Trolley, which is basically a very slow elevated train ride.
But The Cat in the Hat, which has similar warnings is VERY rough and whips you around quite quickly and unexpectedly.

Neither Universal park (IMHO) is particularly accessible for people using wheelchairs who need assistance from their party with transfers. The Universal parks, especially IOA, are more thrill oriented than the WDW parks, so anyone with limitations on how rough of rides they can do will find less to do at Universal.

[aubriee]

Originally Posted by SueM in MN

Two things to be aware of about Universal:

NONE of their lines are ECV or power wheelchair accessible. Anyone using powered mobility devices will need to transfer to a manual wheelchair to be in line for any attraction.
This apparently includes things like Olivanders to some of the staff there because they consider it an attraction, rather than a shop. It is not listed as an attraction in the Rider's Guide.
I noticed on a recent trip to IOA that many of the shops were quite tight and would be very challenging to get around in with a wheelchair -especially those in the Harry Potter area.

When we got back and I posted the comment on here, I was told the CM was incorrect, but when we were down there, we asked if my mom could transfer to a wheelchair to go into Olivanders and was told that neither wheelchairs, nor ECVs were allowed in there. We had just come out of FJ, where we had used a wheel chair to get her through, so thought we could do the same thing for Olivanders and was surprised when the CM said the only way she could get in there was if she could walk in and then stand throughout the show. We specifically asked about her transfering to a wheelchair and was told no, that neither was allowed.

[SueM in MN]

Originally Posted by aubriee

When we got back and I posted the comment on here, I was told the CM was incorrect, but when we were down there, we asked if my mom could transfer to a wheelchair to go into Olivanders and was told that neither wheelchairs, nor ECVs were allowed in there. We had just come out of FJ, where we had used a wheel chair to get her through, so thought we could do the same thing for Olivanders and was surprised when the CM said the only way she could get in there was if she could walk in and then stand throughout the show. We specifically asked about her transfering to a wheelchair and was told no, that neither was allowed.

Some people were told they could - which could mean they saw it as a shop - and Universal's information says all their shops are accessible. But, as I mentioned, some are small enough with narrow aisles that would be hard to walk through.

Some of the other staff are probably considering it an attraction - and Universal's overall rule is that none of their attractions are ECV accessible, but some are wheelchair accessible.

Their literature doesn't give any information about Olivanders, so the best that can be said is that it varies and they probably will not allow ECVs or wheelchairs in. Not even making allowance for wheelchairs is kind of thumbing the nose at the ADA.

[bedogged]

Originally Posted by disneymarie

I agree, it was the most difficult place I went to. Especially when instead of taking my dd up an elevator to ride the crazy train through Suess area, they had me push her up the incline on my rollator.

Difficult day and trip. We have not been back since.

Things were complicated for me because we stayed on site. At the time, you had to have your room key scanned before entering the special line. That meant the CM had to come really close to scan it. I had a teenage CM scan my card and motion me forward on my ECV. I slowly pulled forward right onto her foot. It was not pleasant for either of us. It made me really appreciate WDW CMs. At least they have sense or training to take a step out of the way before directing you forward!

[catra121]

I thought they were for the most part pretty accessible...assuming their employees knew what they were doing which wasn't always the case. At the despicable me ride/show we got sent into 4 different lines because they kept changing their mind about where we "should" be. Then we ended up having to lift my walker over seats and railings because we did not end up in the right spot...AND they miscounted so someone didn't get to ride. These things happen...but it was clear after we were in there that it was set up to be accessible...they just didn't know where to have us go.

Definitely go to guest services and get their card. It was very helpful. All queues with stairs had elevators...at least all the ones that I went on. Even the haunted houses at Halloween horror nights were accessible. You do not NEED the card from guest services but one of the employees there told me about it and it did help.

The shops were often tight though and I did wait outside many of them. I would find myself sort of trapped and it made me very uncomfortable. The shops in Harry Potter were the worst I though but ran into this in many other areas as well.