A complaint for handicapped guests.

[KarenT]

HI all,
Last weekend we had a very nice visit to Disneyland. It was a very bittersweet time since this will most likely be my mother's last visit to "The Happiest Place on Earth". She has been very weakened by Ovarian cancer and the effects of chemo therapy. Anyhow, my mother is mobile, but gets very exhausted when she has to walk more than 30 or 40 feet. We parked in the TImon parking lot and took the tram to the tram stop, but it was still quite a trek to get through the gates over to the wheelchair rental. That was okay, but by about 5:00 she was exhausted and asked me to take her back to the hotel. I was very surprised (and annoyed) that when we dropped off the wheelchair we had to walk accross the whole front of Disneyland to leave (to the gates by the newstand). They would not let her out of the gate closet to the tram stop (and closest to the wheelchair drop-off). It seems absolutely rediculous that she had to walk so far then turn around and walk all the way back across to get to the tram. I asked a CM (an older gentleman) why it is situated that way and his exact words were, " Don't tell me about it. I didn't set it up like this." That is a direct quote. I'm not a complainer, but my mom looked so hurt that I wanted to slug him. Is there someone I can talk to about the way this is set up? She had to stop and rest for awhile before making it to the tram stop. It really left a sour taste on what really was a perfectly enjoyable day. Should I just let it go? It's been bugging me for the past week. I know it's only a small minority of people that this affects, but it really broke my heart to see my mother so tired and having to walk so far (for her). Any ideas?



KarenT

 

[roymccoy]

I feel for you and your mother. My grandmaother enjoyed her last trip to Disneyland a week before she passed and I think it really cheered her up! I think that they have special vans that they will pick-up and drop off right at the ticket booths. They did for my dad.
You might look into it!

Roy

 

[teri]

I saw this post during a search, and wanted to bump it with this information, which I hope will help someone in the future. This is from the Laughingplace.com site disabilities access page. Apparently, the CM on duty didn't know about this, or something has changed. That was unacceptable.

"Disneyland offers closer parking for anyone displaying a handicap plate or placard
(in state or out of state). A tram is required to get from most Disneyland parking
lots to the main entrance. If for any reason you are unable to use the tram, a van is
available for transportation to and from the main entrance. Just notify any parking
lot Cast Member and they will summon it for you. If you are wheelchair bound we
recommend taking the van even though the tram can accommodate wheelchairs."

 

[tammyh-oregon]

The van in question picks up people at the tram stops.

If you rent a wheelchair or ECV from Disney you are still required to walk to the tram stop. If you are in the situation addressed in this post, I would suggest talking to the people at the wheelchair rental place about taking the wheelchair out to the tram and then returning it back to the park. They can get real picky about having their wheelchairs taken outside the gates but will work with you depending on the situation.

As a side note, we have always wondered upon the exits at Disneyland. You would think that they would be closest to the tram pickup point. However, that really depends on which parking lot you are parked in. The exit on the left closest to DTD is closest to the parking structure tram where most people are parked. If you in Timon, this exit is far away from the tram stop resulting in the situation described.

I guess the moral of this story is to always ask for help from everybody you encounter because you never know what you will get. Most of the CMs will go out of their way to help if they are able to.

Thanks for mentioning this on the board as it is the little things like this that can ruin a trip and others may encounter this but because you brought it up here they have information to help deal with it. (WOW talk about a run on sentence!)

 

[princessKT]

I'm so sorry that happened to you, what a horrible experience. We took my brother there a few weeks before he passed, but luckily we rented and took a wheelchair with us for the whole trip. I have a friend who works at Disneyland, and I could email her and ask her where your complaint can be best heard. I have a feeling you aren't the first who has experienced this..

 

[dletz]

before DCA the exit was always on the left (looking at Disneyland) and the cast memeber entrance was on the far right, with the regular entrances in the middle. The rentry was either on the far left near the exit, or with the cast memeber entrance depending on the time of day (when more people are reentering it would be on the left, otherwise cast member entrance).

Anyway, after parades and such if it was really crowded they would open the middle gates and let you out that way.

Since DCA they've changed everything, exit is usally on the far left, CM's, reentry and new entry all use the same entrances, no more having to go to special lines. (at one time AP's had a special entrance only (there was only one turnstyle available to them and it was also used for gen public so usually had the longest line).

I have not figured out the logic, but there are times when you have to exit through the center, and not at the left (usually when I go around the train station on the left) and times when you exit at the left side (usually when I go around the train station on the right, just to make me walk farther I think). So actually the do have two exits, that I've seen used at different times.

DCA has exits on both sides, the one on the right is always open with the one on the left also being open at peak exit times.