Recently this note was posted on the DVCtalk egroup and with the authors permission I have copied and posted here. Our next trip will be the first with our service dog so I especially found that section helpful.
Linda
Subject: Wheelchairs & more about disabilities in general
I was in a wheelchair during two visits to WDW as I had back surgery and knee
problems, and just couldn't manage the walking. For the most part, you don't
move to the head of the line any more, and in some cases it is actualy a
longer wait if you are in a wheelchair.
Also, being is a chair makes it very difficult to fully see and appreciate
some of the attractions, especially at the AK. I was in the petting zoo area
at AK, and a goat pulled a sticker off the chair and began trying to eat it.
The animals are extremely attracted to the chairs.
Disney does do a great job of accomodating disabilities. I have visited WDW
with friends who were visually impaired, hearing impaired and mobility
impaired, and always found them to be great.
In the case of my visually impaired friend, I always asked that we be seated
up front at the shows, as he does have a small amount of vision. It was
really funny, at the Hunchback Show, his service dog wanted to go up on stage
and play with D'jali!!
Also, they were really accomodating about the dog. Every restaurant the
servers would bring food for the dog--at Yachtsman, they brought out a STEAK!
At Mama Melroses it was a bowl of dry (cooked) pasta. At 50's PrimeTime is
was turkey! The dog ate better than we did! There is a place backstage at
each park to take the dog for potty breaks, most CM;'s know where it is, but
if you find one that doesn't, just go to the next. best to find out when you
first enter the park, sometimes you need to walk a bit to get to the "spot".
The only time we had an issue was at Peter Pan in the MK. The CM's didn't
want to let the dog on the ride. Ultimately she did go, but they weren't
happy about it. At Alien Encounter service animals are NOT allowed inside,
but the CM's allowed my friend to be escorted in by the dog with a CM
following, then the CM took the dog and waited outside. He told us to just
wait when the show was over, and he would be back in with the dog for us to
exit. He was back right away, and said the dog had been very occupied
getting pats and scratches from all the CM's during the show.
All of the parks have guides in braille at guest services. They are only for
borrowing, they do ask that they be returned when you leave. They are fairly
thick (about an inch or so), so it's not something you can fold up into your
pocket.
For the hearing impaired, many of the attractions have either a script that
you can read along with, or some offer the system where you hold a mirror in
your lap and it reflects the words from a backwards LCD screen mounted in the
back wall. Like at the opera. I understand that Disney is slowly moving in
that direction for all of it's attractions that they can do this with. The
servers are very accomodating, and will readily supply paper/pen for writing
questions, etc.
Hope this helps!
Anne
Linda
Subject: Wheelchairs & more about disabilities in general
I was in a wheelchair during two visits to WDW as I had back surgery and knee
problems, and just couldn't manage the walking. For the most part, you don't
move to the head of the line any more, and in some cases it is actualy a
longer wait if you are in a wheelchair.
Also, being is a chair makes it very difficult to fully see and appreciate
some of the attractions, especially at the AK. I was in the petting zoo area
at AK, and a goat pulled a sticker off the chair and began trying to eat it.
The animals are extremely attracted to the chairs.
Disney does do a great job of accomodating disabilities. I have visited WDW
with friends who were visually impaired, hearing impaired and mobility
impaired, and always found them to be great.
In the case of my visually impaired friend, I always asked that we be seated
up front at the shows, as he does have a small amount of vision. It was
really funny, at the Hunchback Show, his service dog wanted to go up on stage
and play with D'jali!!
Also, they were really accomodating about the dog. Every restaurant the
servers would bring food for the dog--at Yachtsman, they brought out a STEAK!
At Mama Melroses it was a bowl of dry (cooked) pasta. At 50's PrimeTime is
was turkey! The dog ate better than we did! There is a place backstage at
each park to take the dog for potty breaks, most CM;'s know where it is, but
if you find one that doesn't, just go to the next. best to find out when you
first enter the park, sometimes you need to walk a bit to get to the "spot".
The only time we had an issue was at Peter Pan in the MK. The CM's didn't
want to let the dog on the ride. Ultimately she did go, but they weren't
happy about it. At Alien Encounter service animals are NOT allowed inside,
but the CM's allowed my friend to be escorted in by the dog with a CM
following, then the CM took the dog and waited outside. He told us to just
wait when the show was over, and he would be back in with the dog for us to
exit. He was back right away, and said the dog had been very occupied
getting pats and scratches from all the CM's during the show.
All of the parks have guides in braille at guest services. They are only for
borrowing, they do ask that they be returned when you leave. They are fairly
thick (about an inch or so), so it's not something you can fold up into your
pocket.
For the hearing impaired, many of the attractions have either a script that
you can read along with, or some offer the system where you hold a mirror in
your lap and it reflects the words from a backwards LCD screen mounted in the
back wall. Like at the opera. I understand that Disney is slowly moving in
that direction for all of it's attractions that they can do this with. The
servers are very accomodating, and will readily supply paper/pen for writing
questions, etc.
Hope this helps!
Anne
