fabfemmeboy
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 17, 2014
- Messages
- 769
My partner (mid-30s M) and I (mid-30s M, wheelchair-user) We were at the World for 3 weeks (!) so we could do both F&W and FOTH. We also had tickets to the first weekend of OI Meetups at Universal, which we had done last year and thoroughly enjoyed. Parts of the trip were great. Parts were...well.
The Good
-The last week, we had a few fantastic nights in a row. Perfect evenings. Getting to loop TSMM because there was no one else waiting to use the wheelchair car, for example. Riding BTMRR while the fireworks went off over the castle was awesome. Seeing Pandora for the first time at night.
-Eating some fantastic new-to-us treats.
*hot beef sandwich at Hops and Barley. It was so good we went back another night to get it for dinner!
*lots of Dole Whip the last couple days, including our new favourite I Lava You float. Mmmm, pop rocks...
*I will never turn down peppermint sundaes, and we got a bonus small-sized one for completing the cookie stroll we weren't expecting.
*Yukon Holiday Kitchen's beef bourguignon was our favourite last year and still great this year.
*Our first Mickey beignets did not disappoint!
- Our first stay at Port Orleans FQ was beyond lovely. Everyone was friendly, helpful, professional, everything a CM should be.
- The new DAS system, being able to pick my own attractions without needing to go to the entrance or find a blue umbrella, was excellent. I'm so glad that they made that change when they did all the G+ stuff.
- EPCOT's new lights and "Beacon of Magic" show - so moving and gorgeous. Whoever did that music needs to do all the Disney shows.
- Getting to ride the Hogwarts ride a few zillion times during the OI meetup - and their back entrance for wheelchairs was themed and decorated to look like it belonged! Such a nice change from so many wheelchair entrances that go through unthemed backstage areas.
The Bad
- We had stayed at CSR last year and really enjoyed it. This year was a different story.
*the busses were a disaster (see below)
*housekeeping. I knew it was only every other day and they weren't generally changing beds or anything, but they literally didn't empty the trash for a week...and after there had been a spill/stain on the top cover, we had to call them specially to ask them to change the bedding, which was met with basically eyerolling/annoyance
*bell services was just awful. 3-4 CMs standing around outside and no one getting bags. When we moved resorts mid-evening, it took over an hour for someone to come get our stuff. When Amazon was delivered, they kept insisting it didn't exist (finally a desk CM found it).
*food. Why in the world is it still grab-and-go QS? It's more expensive than any other QS on-property because it's by a third-party company, and you can't get anything specialized which is awful for food allergy issues (e.g. no cheese on that sandwich). So few options, none of them freshly-made, and very limited hours. (Their fries were good though)
- Merchandise was almost all gone, especially the 50th stuff and anything that wasn't a size XS/S. I originally wanted a particular shirt and held off on my second-, third-, and fourth-favourite alternatives in the hopes I would find the shirt I wanted. By the time I gave up on that a week later, I could no longer get the second- or third-favourites. Even the fourth favourite was completely gone. It seems absurd to me; you know this is an 18-month celebration, you know that resellers are a huge problem, why in the world would you order so little merchandise which only exacerbates the reseller problem?
-Everything about Genie. Genie- doesn't work worth anything. Genie+ meant everyone started the day exhausted and stressed, inflated wait times (which pushed out DAS times)...and had ridiculous lines/crowds as people tried to figure out how it worked!
-CMs were a lot snippier and more 'over it' than I'm used to. I can't remember ever seeing CMs just standing around and talking before, but this time it was all over the place. (Obviously not all of them, we had a few awesome pixie-dust experiences and plenty of all-around good CMs, but also a lot of people who seemed to just...not care.)
-I'm convinced that people have forgotten how to exist in public over the past year, because folks were just ridiculous. Entitled, refusing to wait in line, angry over policies they didn't understand that CMs couldn't explain to them clearly...which I'm sure contributed to the snippy CMs.
The Freaking Ridiculous
A total lack of accessibility 31 years after the ADA became law.
I use a lightweight electric wheelchair that is smaller than a standard push-chair and narrower than most self-propelled chairs. During past trips, this hasn’t been a problem. This trip was another story.
-The quick service restaurants with stanchion bars to funnel people from the register/order point to the pick-up counter. No wheelchair fits through them. Only Backlot at DHS even has one that can fit a chair on the end, where everyone clumps up so you can’t actually get through to order. But every QS at MK, I literally had to have someone bring my food to me or take my partner with me (instead of having him go scout for a table as he usually does). And sure, they were built before 1990, but all of them have been renovated/redone in some way since then. Why are the bars still there?
-Rides that don’t allow wheelchairs through the queue or preshow if they have any kind of electronics. Disney rules divide ‘chair’ and ‘scooter’ based on motors, not based on their size or habitual use or anything else. Which isn’t what the ADA says - it says that a wheelchair is a wheelchair, regardless of its method of propulsion. It means that anyone using an electric wheelchair or even a manual chair with power assist has to transfer out of their own chair and into a Disney wheelchair (which is almost always bariatric-sized and therefore much wider than our own)...then either have someone push us or figure out a way to propel ourselves. I can’t self-propel, and my partner can’t push me, so this was obviously a big problem. The most egregious offender? Flights of Passage. Which is about a movie where the main character is in a wheelchair and enjoys being an avatar because he can run and jump and fly which he can’t do in his earthly body. (Also it was built in 2015-16.)
-And finally…the coach busses. The amount/percentage in circulation vary by destination, but at CSR where we started our trip it was a full 50% of all busses. Coach busses cannot and will not accommodate anyone who uses a mobility aid. No wheelchairs, no scooters, no walkers, no rollators, nothing. When I called to complain and try to figure out a solution after waiting literally an hour and 5 coach busses passing us up, I was given a number to call that literally didn’t work and eventually got a call back from someone at Magic Kingdom Transportation who said that it was “only” 20% of the total busses so another would be along soon and it was no big deal. One night we literally only got home because a Disney bus driver from a few stops away saw us get left and called dispatch to reroute himself to CSR (Thanks, Georgie!). We eventually had to move out of CSR over to POFQ because POFQ almost never uses coach busses (we saw a total of 2 in 10 days). The entire ordeal was exhausting, demoralizing, and inexcusable.
With the number of things I’ve seen people complain about that seem ridiculous and petty to me, and the response they have gotten from CMs, it baffled me how many CMs not only couldn’t fix the problem but couldn’t understand what the problem even WAS. They assume that everyone can walk and that mobility aids are there just to help with stamina or for convenience, not that they are necessary for people who can’t stand or walk more than a couple steps (or less).
Bottom Line:
-2 weeks is apparently our length limit at Disney
-We love the low crowds the weekend after Thanksgiving, which is when we’re used to going. But we really enjoyed F&W, so we may do a shorter trip earlier in fall instead.
-We bought APs this year because of how long our trip was, so we’ll end up taking a couple weekend trips before those expire…but it’s odd. When people ask “So how was your trip?”, I find myself saying “It was good. Except for the lawsuit that’s coming. But we had fun!...kinda…mostly?”
The Good
-The last week, we had a few fantastic nights in a row. Perfect evenings. Getting to loop TSMM because there was no one else waiting to use the wheelchair car, for example. Riding BTMRR while the fireworks went off over the castle was awesome. Seeing Pandora for the first time at night.
-Eating some fantastic new-to-us treats.
*hot beef sandwich at Hops and Barley. It was so good we went back another night to get it for dinner!
*lots of Dole Whip the last couple days, including our new favourite I Lava You float. Mmmm, pop rocks...
*I will never turn down peppermint sundaes, and we got a bonus small-sized one for completing the cookie stroll we weren't expecting.
*Yukon Holiday Kitchen's beef bourguignon was our favourite last year and still great this year.
*Our first Mickey beignets did not disappoint!
- Our first stay at Port Orleans FQ was beyond lovely. Everyone was friendly, helpful, professional, everything a CM should be.
- The new DAS system, being able to pick my own attractions without needing to go to the entrance or find a blue umbrella, was excellent. I'm so glad that they made that change when they did all the G+ stuff.
- EPCOT's new lights and "Beacon of Magic" show - so moving and gorgeous. Whoever did that music needs to do all the Disney shows.
- Getting to ride the Hogwarts ride a few zillion times during the OI meetup - and their back entrance for wheelchairs was themed and decorated to look like it belonged! Such a nice change from so many wheelchair entrances that go through unthemed backstage areas.
The Bad
- We had stayed at CSR last year and really enjoyed it. This year was a different story.
*the busses were a disaster (see below)
*housekeeping. I knew it was only every other day and they weren't generally changing beds or anything, but they literally didn't empty the trash for a week...and after there had been a spill/stain on the top cover, we had to call them specially to ask them to change the bedding, which was met with basically eyerolling/annoyance
*bell services was just awful. 3-4 CMs standing around outside and no one getting bags. When we moved resorts mid-evening, it took over an hour for someone to come get our stuff. When Amazon was delivered, they kept insisting it didn't exist (finally a desk CM found it).
*food. Why in the world is it still grab-and-go QS? It's more expensive than any other QS on-property because it's by a third-party company, and you can't get anything specialized which is awful for food allergy issues (e.g. no cheese on that sandwich). So few options, none of them freshly-made, and very limited hours. (Their fries were good though)
- Merchandise was almost all gone, especially the 50th stuff and anything that wasn't a size XS/S. I originally wanted a particular shirt and held off on my second-, third-, and fourth-favourite alternatives in the hopes I would find the shirt I wanted. By the time I gave up on that a week later, I could no longer get the second- or third-favourites. Even the fourth favourite was completely gone. It seems absurd to me; you know this is an 18-month celebration, you know that resellers are a huge problem, why in the world would you order so little merchandise which only exacerbates the reseller problem?
-Everything about Genie. Genie- doesn't work worth anything. Genie+ meant everyone started the day exhausted and stressed, inflated wait times (which pushed out DAS times)...and had ridiculous lines/crowds as people tried to figure out how it worked!
-CMs were a lot snippier and more 'over it' than I'm used to. I can't remember ever seeing CMs just standing around and talking before, but this time it was all over the place. (Obviously not all of them, we had a few awesome pixie-dust experiences and plenty of all-around good CMs, but also a lot of people who seemed to just...not care.)
-I'm convinced that people have forgotten how to exist in public over the past year, because folks were just ridiculous. Entitled, refusing to wait in line, angry over policies they didn't understand that CMs couldn't explain to them clearly...which I'm sure contributed to the snippy CMs.
The Freaking Ridiculous
A total lack of accessibility 31 years after the ADA became law.
I use a lightweight electric wheelchair that is smaller than a standard push-chair and narrower than most self-propelled chairs. During past trips, this hasn’t been a problem. This trip was another story.
-The quick service restaurants with stanchion bars to funnel people from the register/order point to the pick-up counter. No wheelchair fits through them. Only Backlot at DHS even has one that can fit a chair on the end, where everyone clumps up so you can’t actually get through to order. But every QS at MK, I literally had to have someone bring my food to me or take my partner with me (instead of having him go scout for a table as he usually does). And sure, they were built before 1990, but all of them have been renovated/redone in some way since then. Why are the bars still there?
-Rides that don’t allow wheelchairs through the queue or preshow if they have any kind of electronics. Disney rules divide ‘chair’ and ‘scooter’ based on motors, not based on their size or habitual use or anything else. Which isn’t what the ADA says - it says that a wheelchair is a wheelchair, regardless of its method of propulsion. It means that anyone using an electric wheelchair or even a manual chair with power assist has to transfer out of their own chair and into a Disney wheelchair (which is almost always bariatric-sized and therefore much wider than our own)...then either have someone push us or figure out a way to propel ourselves. I can’t self-propel, and my partner can’t push me, so this was obviously a big problem. The most egregious offender? Flights of Passage. Which is about a movie where the main character is in a wheelchair and enjoys being an avatar because he can run and jump and fly which he can’t do in his earthly body. (Also it was built in 2015-16.)
-And finally…the coach busses. The amount/percentage in circulation vary by destination, but at CSR where we started our trip it was a full 50% of all busses. Coach busses cannot and will not accommodate anyone who uses a mobility aid. No wheelchairs, no scooters, no walkers, no rollators, nothing. When I called to complain and try to figure out a solution after waiting literally an hour and 5 coach busses passing us up, I was given a number to call that literally didn’t work and eventually got a call back from someone at Magic Kingdom Transportation who said that it was “only” 20% of the total busses so another would be along soon and it was no big deal. One night we literally only got home because a Disney bus driver from a few stops away saw us get left and called dispatch to reroute himself to CSR (Thanks, Georgie!). We eventually had to move out of CSR over to POFQ because POFQ almost never uses coach busses (we saw a total of 2 in 10 days). The entire ordeal was exhausting, demoralizing, and inexcusable.
With the number of things I’ve seen people complain about that seem ridiculous and petty to me, and the response they have gotten from CMs, it baffled me how many CMs not only couldn’t fix the problem but couldn’t understand what the problem even WAS. They assume that everyone can walk and that mobility aids are there just to help with stamina or for convenience, not that they are necessary for people who can’t stand or walk more than a couple steps (or less).
Bottom Line:
-2 weeks is apparently our length limit at Disney
-We love the low crowds the weekend after Thanksgiving, which is when we’re used to going. But we really enjoyed F&W, so we may do a shorter trip earlier in fall instead.
-We bought APs this year because of how long our trip was, so we’ll end up taking a couple weekend trips before those expire…but it’s odd. When people ask “So how was your trip?”, I find myself saying “It was good. Except for the lawsuit that’s coming. But we had fun!...kinda…mostly?”
