A quick TR on taking DN5 with CP to see the Mouse

[kaffinito]

Hi all,

I thought I’d post real quick on my experiences taking DN5 (CP) on our trip to WDW. He doesn’t do stairs very well at all, and I was a bit worried about transportation, so I brought along our Convaid stroller/wheelchair for the trip. I packed plenty of diapers and wipes, and also a clear plastic backpack for ease in getting through bag checks. We did a split stay between Poly and AKL fro the trip and stayed CL since I thought it would make things easier feeding DN5 who is a tad impatient when it comes to food. Also with me were DS9 (ASD) and DS 17 (ASD). They aren’t any problem for me since they’re so used to going to WDW, but taking DN was a bit challenging.

The first thing I noticed was that the wheelchair ramps at the Poly can be a bit convoluted. For example, the wheel chair access to Hawaii from CC’s and the GCH is around the pool and then up a ramp to the front of the building. I found a short cut taking him through Samoa instead. Like I said, he gets very impatient, and it’s not fun with him when he decides to throw a fit so shorter is always better.

We had no trouble with wheelchair access at AKL and found it to be a very easy resort to get around.

We used the wheelchair for every restaurant we ate at and had no problems getting them to move one of the chairs out of the way for the stroller. This came in really handy at Askerhaus, Boma, and pretty much everywhere else. The only drawback is that the wheelchair was a little short for the table, but since he ate the kids meals it wasn’t a huge problem. We also got the GAC and the Stroller as Wheelchair tag since we were denied entrance to a few rides without it.

The problems came in when I realized (on the first day) that he really didn’t like anything at WDW other than the Bus, the monorail, and the beach at Poly. He liked the pool after I put him in it, but had a fit at first. Once he understood it was like a giant bathtub he was fine. I also brought a bucket with a shovel since I figured he might want that at the pool so that’s pretty much all he did. Having the zero entry pool was invaluable!

We stuck to the companion bathrooms in the parks, and found them to be easy to use with the exception of a few people who used them solo. We also ran into trouble on some of the elevators, since more than a few of the stroller brigade would push past me into the elevators leaving no room for us. I learned to be a bit more aggressive. Using the buses with the chair was a bit hit or miss, since a few of the bus drivers would allow everyone else to board before putting DN on.

One driver didn't want to let me on the lift with him, and I told him that unless he was going to do it then I was holding on to the wheelchair. On the whole though, the only problem we had was that a few of the drivers didn't recognize that it was a wheelchair and so didn't know that we needed assisted boarding. Not their fault, really, since it is a hybrid. One family got really mad at us because they had to move out of their seats after being boarded before us complained for the whole trip to AK. They had to move to the empty seats next to them, and apparently thought this was a huge imposition.


After the third night of staying in the room with DN5 (since he goes to bed at 7:00 PM no matter where he is), I ended up hiring the Fairy Godmothers to baby-sit him. It was really nice having that babysitter (Her name was Vivian) watching DN. She was great with him! She also enjoyed watching Wishes from our room one night. I ended up having her sit with him for the last few days of our trip, so I could do some things with my DS’s. They were a little upset that I couldn’t do anything with them because of DN.

The babysitting service was pricey, but well worth it, and DN really enjoyed being with her. I would have her in the afternoons after our pool time, and it all went very smoothly. I checked with the CL staff at both Poly and at AKL to make sure she could go to the lounge with DN and had no trouble with that arraignment either.

So that’s it! I’m so glad I did so much reading on here and asked so many questions before we left – otherwise things would not have gone as smoothly as they did. So thanks to everyone who has been so patient with me on this learning curve.

 

[mumto2]

Sounds like a great trip! Our dd has cp as the result of a stroke. We take her Maclaren special needs stroller with us. Like you, I've had some interesting CM conversations. My favorite was POTC. We took her chair all the way in, boarded the boat, had a great time and decided to do it again. A CM was walking right next to us as we came out of the ride, and was at the entrance as we came back in. The stroller had the red tape strip id'ing it as a wheelchair. CM nods at us as we walk through the entrance, then proceeds to chase us down, yelling "Maam, maam, you need to park that stroller" I show our GAC, and his response was "Can she walk? If she can walk, you have to park that stroller and make her walk - strollers won't go through the line properly." Um, yes, they will, we just got through without a problem. "Well, it's not really allowed - they shouldn't have let you." Ok, we are done with this conversation, you can either bring your manager for a lesson in GAC and ADA, or you can let us pass. Grrrrr.

Overall, though, WDW does an incredible job of making our vacations wonderful, which is why we keep going back. I don't know of another place that makes DD feel so welcome and accepted.

Glad you had a great trip!

 

[SueM in MN]

Thanks for the report.
It sounds like most of your problems were due to the Convaid not being recognized as a wheelchair.
In the waaaaaayyy past, there was actually less confusion. The special needs strollers looked more ‘medical’ and regular strollers were not generally big enough for kids over the age of 3. In fact, my DD got her first wheelchair when she was not quite 3 because she had outgrown her regular stroller - and she was always very small for her age.
Now, the special needs strollers have been designed to look more ‘mainstream’ and you can buy ‘regular’ strollers for kids up to 55 pounds.
Plus, there are people rent special needs strollers (some of which can hold someone up to 100 pounds) for their children without special needs.
So, it’s no wonder that CMs confuse a special needs stroller for a regular one at times. Most are looking for the sticker that designates a stroller as being used as a wheelchair, but sometimes they don’t see/notice it.

Sounds like a great trip! Our dd has cp as the result of a stroke. We take her Maclaren special needs stroller with us. Like you, I've had some interesting CM conversations. My favorite was POTC. We took her chair all the way in, boarded the boat, had a great time and decided to do it again. A CM was walking right next to us as we came out of the ride, and was at the entrance as we came back in. The stroller had the red tape strip id'ing it as a wheelchair. CM nods at us as we walk through the entrance, then proceeds to chase us down, yelling "Maam, maam, you need to park that stroller" I show our GAC, and his response was "Can she walk? If she can walk, you have to park that stroller and make her walk - strollers won't go through the line properly." Um, yes, they will, we just got through without a problem. "Well, it's not really allowed - they shouldn't have let you." Ok, we are done with this conversation, you can either bring your manager for a lesson in GAC and ADA, or you can let us pass. Grrrrr.

Overall, though, WDW does an incredible job of making our vacations wonderful, which is why we keep going back. I don't know of another place that makes DD feel so welcome and accepted.

Glad you had a great trip!

That CM sounded rude, but that attraction has some special design problems I thought it may be good to explain. Those make it difficult to bring someone’s own wheelchair/special needs stroller into the attraction. Although it is not ‘forbidden’, they do try to have everyone walk in, carry a small child in or have people use one of the attraction wheelchairs if at all possible. We have been asked if DD can walk, even though her wheelchair includes things like foot straps to keep her feet in place. We also get asked each time if she is able to transfer to one of the attraction wheelchairs.
They also have looked at her wheelchair before letting us take it into line and checked with CMs at both the boarding area and unload area to make sure it was OK before letting us into line.

The reason for this is that boarding area is in one building and the unload area is actually in another building, down one floor. It is not possible to board at the exit, like at many rides because once guests have gotten off, the boats go thru an area that is just high enough for the boats to go thru.
If the guest can walk/be carried in or use one of the attraction wheelchairs, it is much easier to make sure a wheelchair is waiting at the exit. If it has to be that guest’s own personal wheelchair, it’s harder to make sure that particular wheelchair gets to the exit on time. We have been there when DD’s wheelchair was arriving just as our boat reached the exit and there have been people who posted they got to the exit and then had to wait for their wheelchair.
There is no requirement in the ADA that everything be accessible, just new things being built. There are also some requirements to try to make things accessible, but there are ‘loopholes’ in the ADA and guidelines for things that it is not technically feasible to make accessible (for example, Swiss Family Robinson’s Treehouse is not accessible and can’t be made accessible).

 

[ratlenhum]

Just a quick reply because I was supposed to be offline 10 minute ago LOL

When you get your GAC, ask them to stamp it with the stamp that lets you use your stroller as a wheelchair. Then you can go as far as a wheel chair goes. They also gave us a red band to put around the hand of the stroller that made it identifiable to CMs.

 

[kaffinito]

Thanks for the report.
It sounds like most of your problems were due to the Convaid not being recognized as a wheelchair.
In the waaaaaayyy past, there was actually less confusion. The special needs strollers looked more ‘medical’ and regular strollers were not generally big enough for kids over the age of 3. In fact, my DD got her first wheelchair when she was not quite 3 because she had outgrown her regular stroller - and she was always very small for her age.
Now, the special needs strollers have been designed to look more ‘mainstream’ and you can buy ‘regular’ strollers for kids up to 55 pounds.
Plus, there are people rent special needs strollers (some of which can hold someone up to 100 pounds) for their children without special needs.
So, it’s no wonder that CMs confuse a special needs stroller for a regular one at times. Most are looking for the sticker that designates a stroller as being used as a wheelchair, but sometimes they don’t see/notice it.

That CM sounded rude, but that attraction has some special design problems I thought it may be good to explain. Those make it difficult to bring someone’s own wheelchair/special needs stroller into the attraction. Although it is not ‘forbidden’, they do try to have everyone walk in, carry a small child in or have people use one of the attraction wheelchairs if at all possible. We have been asked if DD can walk, even though her wheelchair includes things like foot straps to keep her feet in place. We also get asked each time if she is able to transfer to one of the attraction wheelchairs.
They also have looked at her wheelchair before letting us take it into line and checked with CMs at both the boarding area and unload area to make sure it was OK before letting us into line.

The reason for this is that boarding area is in one building and the unload area is actually in another building, down one floor. It is not possible to board at the exit, like at many rides because once guests have gotten off, the boats go thru an area that is just high enough for the boats to go thru.
If the guest can walk/be carried in or use one of the attraction wheelchairs, it is much easier to make sure a wheelchair is waiting at the exit. If it has to be that guest’s own personal wheelchair, it’s harder to make sure that particular wheelchair gets to the exit on time. We have been there when DD’s wheelchair was arriving just as our boat reached the exit and there have been people who posted they got to the exit and then had to wait for their wheelchair.
There is no requirement in the ADA that everything be accessible, just new things being built. There are also some requirements to try to make things accessible, but there are ‘loopholes’ in the ADA and guidelines for things that it is not technically feasible to make accessible (for example, Swiss Family Robinson’s Treehouse is not accessible and can’t be made accessible).

Thanks for the info! I wasn't told about any of this at the ride, just that his wheelchair couldn't go in the line. If I could have put him in a different wheelchair, that would have worked for us. But it does sound like the loading/unloading might have been a bit tricky. As it turned out though - he was afraid of everything so it's just as well we didn't go on the ride.

Just a quick reply because I was supposed to be offline 10 minute ago LOL

When you get your GAC, ask them to stamp it with the stamp that lets you use your stroller as a wheelchair. Then you can go as far as a wheel chair goes. They also gave us a red band to put around the hand of the stroller that made it identifiable to CMs.

Thank you! I did get the GAC and the sticker, but still got some flak from some of the CM's at the rides we did try to go on. Oh well, live and learn!