misty sue
I would actually say ds social and communication problems are far trickery than his physical issues to overcome.
in one way his wheelchair means people are more accommodating as it s very obvious
yet again in uk the big rides have a card and means you use exit and if wait time is 90 mins you can not ride any of the other say 5 big rides for 90 mins .which i can accept they don`t add a travel time between rides as they aware it takes longer get around the park and you can still do some other inbetween .But this will not work for everyone as parks very crowded so can not have a break
But yet again im still preffering wdw attitude because my physical issues wont stop me riding
in uk you must have a carer ot two ride with any GAc no matter what the problem are ( which kicks **** in my case as my only issue is i can not walk )but they see wheelchair and use H&S to refuse to ride anyway .Why uk i no longer go and so lookin forward t it
lets face it no matter what system in place it can be open to abuse by someone and other people moral code that lie and cheat is more the issue so maybe blame them instead of those that need GAC for what ever reason
I have been to
Disneyland Paris twice and the biggest difference between it an WDW is that WDW is much more accessible.
Most lines at WDW are accessible.
Most lines at DL Paris park are not (which is why they give exit passes - it is the only way in). The Studio part at Paris is quite accessible and has mostly mainstream lines.
The difference is when the disability actually prevents one from getting there early enough for a FP versus just not getting there in time because of other stuff going on.
That is true for many people (us included).
In our situation, I have to physically get DD up and do all the things that are involved in getting ready for the day (bathing, toileting, dressing, brushing teeth, hair, feeding). She can't do any of those things herself.
And because we are away from home and don't have all of her familiar equipment and bathroom designed for her needs, most of the things take a lot longer or take 2 people.
Plus, the time difference means everything is one hour earlier for us in Florida.
If we try to get DD up and ready without enough rest, she may only last a few hours in the park. And, I'm getting older and it is my vacation too - if DH and I get worn out caring for her, no one will be ble to do anything.
There are also people like her, who because of their medical condition, are really not able to function well early in the morning. Some have issues with things like stiffness, that may get better as the day goes on and they loosen up.
Some people may do well for rope drop because they have more energy early in the day and kind of deteriorate as the day goes on. My DD is the opposite of that and is pretty much non-functional many days in the morning, but gets better as the day goes on.
Combine that with bathroom breaks that take 1/2 hour (or more, if we have to wait for the Companion Restroom) and mealtimes that on average take twice as long as most people and we can't get anywhere near as much done in a day as the average person.
We plan by going at less busy times of the year and by using touringplans.com and easywdw.com to find out which parks are least busy and which part of that park are least busy. That helps us to have shorter waits and we do get Fastpasses and use them when we can. We are not 'slaves' to a touring plan, but knowing a few things helps tremendously and is actually as useful as a GAC is to us.
Doing all that, we only use DD's GAC when we actually need to use it (like insurance).
And, we never know when she will have a seizure or muscle spasms that knock her out and will mean we are done touring for the day (even if we were only in the park for 2 hours).
I don't think it is realistic to go during the busiest times and expect the same accommodation -it is not realistic if you go during Christmas and expect not to wait. But, I have seen people expecting that.
Even during those busy times, it is possible to get in most attractions with a short wait by getting there early. When we have been there when it was busier, we send some of our party to the park at opening so they can go on things.
DD and the rest of our party join later and we realized there would be things they could not do.
But those without disabilities have the options to wait in the stand-by line when this occurs.
Those with disabilities may not, depending on their disability.
So requiring them to get FPs would not provide equal access.
That is where it would be helpful if they could issue a Fastpass for the time equal to the current Standby line time.
We have sometimes had that happen and it was helpful for those attractions where DD could just not tolerate the line. One good example was the old Test Track line. She has sensory issues that made that line very difficult for her, with all the crash test things suddenly moving, hitting and banging. It was just too much stimulation if the wait was long.
She also has issues in some lines, not with the waits, but with the other people in lines, especially children who are hanging on or swinging chains or bars. They bang into her wheelchair or her body and she feels trapped (plus has gotten chains banged into her face on more than one occassion). This can happen in narrow lines, but often even more in wider lines, where people are squeezing past to enter and leave the line.
I see some ways that Fastpass + use ( even by OTHER people) might help this.
On our last 2 trips, they were enforcing Fastpass return times. This meant people could no longer get Fastpasses early in the morning to use whenever they felt like it later in the day.
The effects we saw included:
- Fastpasses ran out later in the day, so there was still a possibility of getting Fastpasses later in the day.
- The Fastpass return time was shorter. For example, previously by 10 am if there were still Fastpasses left, the return time might be 8pm or later and we would have no idea whether or not we could still be in the park to use it.
What we saw on our last 2 trips were Fastpass return times only an hour or 2 in the future - a much more manageable time for us.
- With people who want to ride xxxxx at a certain time able to reserve a Fastpass for that time ahead of time, there should be other times available that had been used in the past by people who took Fastpasses, never intending to use them at that time.
I think Fastpass + will also be useful for those who know what their personal best and worst times will be - they will have a chance to get a Fastpass time that fits better with their condition.
It will also be helpful for people who need a schedule. I've seen many posts over the years where people indicated their child with autism had a breakdown because they came to a ride and could not get on right away. (This is one of the reasons many people whose children have those issues feel a touring plan and using Fastpasses help them more than a GAC - more predictable.)
With Fastpass + there would be a possibility of planning a day around Fastpasses that were already chosen ahead of time. Social stories or schedules would be much more easily made around a schedule that was at least partially pre planned.
So, besides, some of the other things that MIGHT be available with 'blue sky' dreams of what might be possible, even the things we do already know will be possible with Fastpass + will help many people in ways that a GAC currently can't.