Before I get hate mail....

[DisneyKevin]

I'm sorry but even a quadriplegic is more capable than a 9 month old. How is that not good enough to use a handicap stall? Why are some handicaps "better" than others?

Is being 9 months old considered a handicap?

 

[Stitch_lover_Sith]

What about those of us with children too small to walk. When I am alone with DD (9 months) I have to take her stroller in if I want to go to the bathroom. What else could I do with her?

I have to say. I hate when the changing area is in a handicapped stall. I feel dumb going in there just to change her and am afraid someone who needs it will walk up.

This reason is why Disney needs to have dedicated family restrooms. Also during my year as a CM I saw parents do all sorts of creative things with their little ones. Like the baby bjorn, or the slings, or the baby backpack. There are other options to taking the stroller into a area that was never designed to have that much traffic.

 

[Jazcat]

Is being 9 months old considered a handicap?

Is not being able to:

Walk
Use your arms effectively
talk
understand all but the most basic language
control your bladder/bowels

NOT considered a handicap?

 

[DisneyKevin]

Is not being able to:

Walk
Use your arms effectively
talk
understand all but the most basic language
control your bladder/bowels

NOT considered a handicap?

I would assume most 9 month olds are not alone in the park.

I would also assume most 9 month olds would not feel the indignity of not being able to maneuver into a stall, because of a necessary device.

I would assume most 9 month olds would have someone able to transport them, speak for them, make decisions for them and be wearing a diaper. This would negate the need for any handicapped accessibility.

9 month olds are not considered handicapped.

I realize I mis-spoke on the show out of frustration, but the argument that a 9 month old should be considered handicapped doesn't hold water.

There need to be more accessible, family restrooms and then this wouldnt be an issue....even for a 9 month old.

ETA: Julie reported on the show that all of the Disney theme parks have well equipped Child Care Center specifically designed to fit the needs of children from infancy on.

 

[SamSam]

ETA: Julie reported on the show that all of the Disney theme parks have well equipped Child Care Center specifically designed to fit the needs of children from infancy on.

I plan on making use of these when Dh and I take our 2 1/2 year old twin grandsons in a couple of months, thank you for the reminder.

Still, I understand the need of single parents to use whatever is available if nature calls. Single parents with a toddler or younger are in a hard situation, more family friendly restrooms would help with that problem.

Although the Child Care Centers are wonderful, they can sometimes be quite a ways from where you when you or your children need a restroom...NOW!

 

[Jazcat]

I would assume most 9 month olds are not alone in the park.

I would also assume most 9 month olds would not feel the indignity of not being able to maneuver into a stall, because of a necessary device.

I would assume most 9 month olds would have someone able to transport them, speak for them, make decisions for them and be wearing a diaper. This would negate the need for any handicapped accessibility.

9 month olds are not considered handicapped.

I realize I mis-spoke on the show out of frustration, but the argument that a 9 month old should be considered handicapped doesn't hold water.

There need to be more accessible, family restrooms and then this wouldnt be an issue....even for a 9 month old.

ETA: Julie reported on the show that all of the Disney theme parks have well equipped Child Care Center specifically designed to fit the needs of children from infancy on.

All said by someone who's never had kids and therefore assumes what he knows about the situation. Instead of just accepting that other people have problems and difficulties in life you just move yours and the ones you know to the top of the list.

Of course a nine month old is handicapped. If someone that's not handicapped is with someone that is handicapped, they're still considered handicapped.

It's the argument that someone in a wheelchair can't wait 5 minutes to use a restroom when others must wait 20 minutes or more that doesn't hold water. Why can't they just wait?

If there was one handicapped restroom in the middle of the park, there would be a huge uproar about the lack of handicapped restrooms.

I understand you misspoke at first, but the more you argue this the more you're making it seem like you want your problems (again, the ones you know) to take priority over everyone else's.

 

[robinb]

I'm sorry but even a quadriplegic is more capable than a 9 month old. How is that not good enough to use a handicap stall? Why are some handicaps "better" than others?

Wow. Just wow. My father was a quadriplegic. There is absolutely no comparison of someone with a disability with a 9-month old infant. The use of a handicapped restroom by someone with a 9-month old is a convenience. The use of a handicapped restroom by someone with a disability is a necessity.

 

[Tigger1221]

Wow. Just wow. My father was a quadriplegic. There is absolutely no comparison of someone with a disability with a 9-month old infant. The use of a handicapped restroom by someone with a 9-month old is a convenience. The use of a handicapped restroom by someone with a disability is a necessity.

Hmmm so when I mentioned taking my stroller into the restroom so I could go I didn't mean the handicapped stall. I have learned to squeeze her stroller in most regular stalls (It can be a very tight fit). I do have a carrier but I can't use the bathroom with her in it (I'm not that coordniated and don't use it a lot). At some local stores and restaurants the changing thing is in the handicap stalls. If this is the case and its possible I change her in stroller (not in the stall).

Being 9 months old is not a handicap thats why I try every way possible to stay out of those stalls. My step-dad has Parkinson's thats a handicap being 9 months old isn't. I do agree 100% that there needs to be more family restrooms at Disney.

 

[DisneyKevin]

All said by someone who's never had kids and therefore assumes what he knows about the situation. Instead of just accepting that other people have problems and difficulties in life you just move yours and the ones you know to the top of the list.

Of course a nine month old is handicapped. If someone that's not handicapped is with someone that is handicapped, they're still considered handicapped.

It's the argument that someone in a wheelchair can't wait 5 minutes to use a restroom when others must wait 20 minutes or more that doesn't hold water. Why can't they just wait?

If there was on handicapped restroom in the middle of the park, there would be a huge uproar about the lack of handicapped restrooms.

I understand you misspoke at first, but the more you argue this the more you're making it seem like you want your problems (again, the ones you know) to take priority over everyone else's.

You are correct. I have no children of my own, but I was entrusted with 20 - 30 5 year olds each year for ten years. I've dealt with my share of emergency bathroom runs. Not one of them ever used a handicapped accessible bathroom.

I hope this fits your criteria of having experience with dealing with children.

As far as moving a person needing an accessible bathroom ahead of someone for whom it's a convenience....yes, I believe that should be the case.

I have also come to find your argument about a 9 month old being handicapped to be distasteful.

I truly hope you never find yourself or a loved one in the position of trying to maneuver a wheelchair into a too small space because a 9 month old wearing a diaper has a parent that feels that because of their child's age, that they are handicapped.

As far as understanding someone else's problems, try to understand the frustration of someone that has traveled across the park to the one and only bathroom for quite a while that will accommodate a wheelchair or ECV, only to find that a mother and her perfectly able 3 year old are using it because "it's easier".

 

[Justin Jett]

All said by someone who's never had kids and therefore assumes what he knows about the situation. Instead of just accepting that other people have problems and difficulties in life you just move yours and the ones you know to the top of the list.

Of course a nine month old is handicapped. If someone that's not handicapped is with someone that is handicapped, they're still considered handicapped.

It's the argument that someone in a wheelchair can't wait 5 minutes to use a restroom when others must wait 20 minutes or more that doesn't hold water. Why can't they just wait?

If there was on handicapped restroom in the middle of the park, there would be a huge uproar about the lack of handicapped restrooms.

I understand you misspoke at first, but the more you argue this the more you're making it seem like you want your problems (again, the ones you know) to take priority over everyone else's.

Your comments are very offensive. Infancy is a stage of life, not a disability.

The day may come when you are using a wheelchair, and then all your questions will be answered.

 

[SueM in MN]

Your comments are very offensive. Infancy is a stage of life, not a disability.

The day may come when you are using a wheelchair, and then all your questions will be answered.

 

[Mindy5767]

it seem to me the solution would be for more bathrooms to be designed with families in mind, particularly single parents. This could mean a stall and the access to it designed for a stroller or more of those baby seats in bathrooms. I've seen many bathrooms that include one. I think the vendor calls them kangaroos. But if you have more than one baby you need to take with you, then you're still stuck.

In my opinion, the accessible bathroom stall is for whomever needs it for whatever reason. Sometimes there are several of them in one large bathroom complex and other times there are few. However, it doesn't mean somebody won't have to wait. If there is only one or two, and 5 people are waiting for it, for whatever reason that they need it, someone will end up waiting.

Maybe Disney or Disboarders, could make a bathroom access map showing not just where the bathrooms are but how many stalls in each and how many accessible stalls each has. My personal favorite bathrooms at Disney are the Odyssey Building bathrooms and the America Host Pavilion at EPCOT.

 

[mrsksomeday]

Your comments are very offensive. Infancy is a stage of life, not a disability.

The day may come when you are using a wheelchair, and then all your questions will be answered.

Great post!! I also find the statement about a 9 month old being handicapped completely offensive. That argument is ridiculous.

 

[Jazcat]

You are correct. I have no children of my own, but I was entrusted with 20 - 30 5 year olds each year for ten years. I've dealt with my share of emergency bathroom runs. Not one of them ever used a handicapped accessible bathroom.

I hope this fits your criteria of having experience with dealing with children.

As far as moving a person needing an accessible bathroom ahead of someone for whom it's a convenience....yes, I believe that should be the case.

I have also come to find your argument about a 9 month old being handicapped to be distasteful.

I truly hope you never find yourself or a loved one in the position of trying to maneuver a wheelchair into a too small space because a 9 month old wearing a diaper has a parent that feels that because of their child's age, that they are handicapped.

As far as understanding someone else's problems, try to understand the frustration of someone that has traveled across the park to the one and only bathroom for quite a while that will accommodate a wheelchair or ECV, only to find that a mother and her perfectly able 3 year old are using it because "it's easier".

The fact that you would even equate raising a five year old to a nine month old actually proves that you don't have the experience. They are light years apart.

You still haven't provided one reason why you can't wait five minutes. I honestly cannot comprehend your argument. You were slightly inconvenienced because it is NOT POSSIBLE (there is often no other changing table to change the child anywhere else) for me to use a different stall. Now I, and any other parent, am offensive for using the handicap stall?

This argument is beyond ludicrous. Again, why is one handicap "better" than another? I am suggesting that two parties have different but valid reasons to use needed equipment. You are suggesting that your problems trump everyone else and that certain groups should never use your facilities no matter the situation. Do you see how one suggestion is FAR more reasonable than the other? If not than your emotions are clouding your judgement.

 

[Jazcat]

Wow. Just wow. My father was a quadriplegic. There is absolutely no comparison of someone with a disability with a 9-month old infant. The use of a handicapped restroom by someone with a 9-month old is a convenience. The use of a handicapped restroom by someone with a disability is a necessity.

So if the only baby changing station is in the handicap stall, and WDW restrooms don't even have toilet lids so I can have the indignity of placing my nine month old on a toilet (for Pete's sake) to change them, then that is a CONVENIENCE? Really. I'm expected to change my child on the bathroom floor? That is the argument you want to go with?

 

[mrsksomeday]

There is a baby care center in every Disney park.

 

[Justin Jett]

Personally, I have no problem with a parent with a baby using the wheelchair stall or family restroom, as needed. I also have no problem waiting for a child to use the wheelchair stall if all the regular stalls are occupied. I also have no problem waiting my turn in a crowded restroom.

My main frustration with restrooms is an able-bodied adult with no children uses the wheelchair stall when all the regular stalls are empty.

If a regular stall is unoccupied/available, and a person is capable of using the unoccupied regular stall.....Please leave the wheelchair stall available for people who really need it.

 

[Disney Enabler]

The fact that you would even equate raising a five year old to a nine month old actually proves that you don't have the experience. They are light years apart.

You still haven't provided one reason why you can't wait five minutes. I honestly cannot comprehend your argument. You were slightly inconvenienced because it is NOT POSSIBLE (there is often no other changing table to change the child anywhere else) for me to use a different stall. Now I, and any other parent, am offensive for using the handicap stall?

This argument is beyond ludicrous. Again, why is one handicap "better" than another? I am suggesting that two parties have different but valid reasons to use needed equipment. You are suggesting that your problems trump everyone else and that certain groups should never use your facilities no matter the situation. Do you see how one suggestion is FAR more reasonable than the other? If not than your emotions are clouding your judgement.

Here are my credentials -- I am the mother of two. I have a son who is a single parent to a little girl. I understand the inconvenience of having a baby that needs to be changed, or a small child that needs to be changed or use an opposite sex restroom, or take a child in stroller to the restroom. In addition, I have cancer and a rare disease called Pulmonary Hypertension. I take significant amount of medicine that requires me to use a restroom suddenly and urgently with little notice. I use an ECV because I had a cancer tumor eat through a bone in my leg and I am on oxygen.

I have walked in your shoes caring for an infant. I have also walked in the shoes (or ridden an ECV) of a disabled person who desperately needs to use a restroom and it is not available. I need the space and the bars in the handicap stalls. I try to patiently wait for the user to exit mindful that if I have an accident it will be significantly larger mess than a 9 month old or any other small child.

I believe that in this discussion all can agree that more options for family friendly stalls.

As for the rest, I am hopeful that as human beings we can stop and imagine ourselves in each other's shoes and do unto others as we would have them do unto us.

Carol
It's a great day to be alive!!!

 

[Justin Jett]

The fact that you would even equate raising a five year old to a nine month old actually proves that you don't have the experience. They are light years apart.

You still haven't provided one reason why you can't wait five minutes. I honestly cannot comprehend your argument. You were slightly inconvenienced because it is NOT POSSIBLE (there is often no other changing table to change the child anywhere else) for me to use a different stall. Now I, and any other parent, am offensive for using the handicap stall?

This argument is beyond ludicrous. Again, why is one handicap "better" than another? I am suggesting that two parties have different but valid reasons to use needed equipment. You are suggesting that your problems trump everyone else and that certain groups should never use your facilities no matter the situation. Do you see how one suggestion is FAR more reasonable than the other? If not than your emotions are clouding your judgement.

Kevin does have experience traveling with someone in a wheelchair. Ok....he has traveled with 2 people in a wheelchair. While you are alleging Kevin's lack of baby experience, it is very obvious you have very little experience with disabled people or being disabled

As someone with Cerebral Palsy, and other disabilities.....Please allow me answer your 5 minute wait question. I have waited 5, 10, even 15 minutes for the wheelchair stall. Only to discover an able-bodied person emerges with no children at all.

Instead of seeing a 9-month old as disabled, you should be thankful for a healthy child or children. If your child is truly disabled, there will be more challenges ahead, and your experiences may change your opinions.

Please spend time with a disabled person or take a disability sensitivity class.

 

[Cyrano]

Personally, I have no problem with a parent with a baby using the wheelchair stall or family restroom, as needed. I also have no problem waiting for a child to use the wheelchair stall if all the regular stalls are occupied. I also have no problem waiting my turn in a crowded restroom.

My main frustration with restrooms is an able-bodied adult with no children uses the wheelchair stall when all the regular stalls are empty.

If a regular stall is unoccupied/available, and a person is capable of using the unoccupied regular stall.....Please leave the wheelchair stall available for people who really need it.

Perfect post... looking for the Like button