3DisneyBuggs
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 29, 2005
Is this still an option? I love the HM but actually getting to the Doombuggy is very stressful.
I'm visually impaired and it's actually not safe for me to walk trough the foyer, stretching rooms, and corridor to the load area, and yet I've still been refused every single time I've asked to skip the stretching room.
I'm visually impaired and it's actually not safe for me to walk trough the foyer, stretching rooms, and corridor to the load area, and yet I've still been refused every single time I've asked to skip the stretching rooms.
It's 100% at the whim of the CM's on duty, and in my experience Haunted Mansion CM's are the least accommodating, and have the worst attitudes and worst customer service skills on Disney property.
I've read mostly reports of experience similar to mine, but a few who happened to catch a nice CM, so it's worth asking. But it's not something you can count on or plan on ahead of time.
For what it's worth, we asked and were able to bypass the stretching room twice on our trip a few weeks ago. My DD4 has anxiety issues- loves the ride but often gets very panicky in that room. It wasn't an issue either time. Now they weren't very friendly about it at all but it may just have been that they were staying in character.
If you cannot do the stretching room at all and you are told no, my suggestion is to always ask for a lead and then a manager if you are still told no.
That being said, here are the accommodations that we generally request when with someone that has Panic Attacks due to the crowds in the room:
- Please load fewer people in the stretching room, because they have panic attacks when it's too crowded.
- We need the alternate loading area, as the queue to the standard loading area is too confined and causes panic attacks.
We have never been denied when making these requests, as they are perfectly reasonable requests to make and accommodate the issue. Which is exactly what they are required to do by law.
They also will usually have us enter either first or last and have us wait by either the entry or exit door to further minimize the impact of the crowd.
I have also had it where we were the only party in the stretching room as a result of this request, so that may be a viable option as well.
Providing an alternate entrance, i.e., avoiding the stretching room is reasonable. Bringing fewer people into the room, thus negatively affecting attraction operations, is not. I would hope that this isn't something that they start doing at WDW, as it would slow down things considerably for everyone.
Providing an alternate entrance, i.e., avoiding the stretching room is reasonable.
Bringing fewer people into the room, thus negatively affecting attraction operations, is not. I would hope that this isn't something that they start doing at WDW, as it would slow down things considerably for everyone.
The back entrance to the HM is very poorly lit so when they open the door to let CMs in and out it doesn't break the mood of the dim loading area. In addition, the CMs tend to move quickly through that area, and those that couldn't see in the dark might run into them. I'd bet the CMs felt it was less safe for the visually impaired than the stretching room.