Attractions With Alternative Waiting Areas

[Disneylvr]

I know that some, but not all, attractions have alternative waiting areas for guests with certain special needs. DD has autism and we may need to make use of those areas with the GAC especially since we are visiting WDW for Memorial Day week. What attractions have alternative waiting areas for special needs? I would like to plan ahead. Thanks!

 

[princess mom of 4]

The easiest way to get the whole story is to download the "guidebook for guests with disabilities" on the WDW website...have an awesome trip!

 

[SueM in MN]

The easiest way to get the whole story is to download the "guidebook for guests with disabilities" on the WDW website...have an awesome trip!

Unfortunately, the guidebook for guests with disabilities doesn't address this (there is a link to download a copy in one of the posts in the disABILITIES FAQs thread near the top of this board).

One thing you may find helpful is the new Passporter book (Passporter's WDW For your Special Needs ).
It also doesn't actually list the attractions with alternate waiting areas real specifically, but it does have pretty good info for people with concerns about autism.

 

[Nik's Mom]

My ds has autism. I recently purchased the new passporter book and it is excellent. They even rate the hotels for specific disabilities!

 

[Disneylvr]

Thank you everyone! I bought the book you mentioned but it doesn't list alternative waiting areas/entrances for specific attractions. But I think I have enough information to plan our days. I guess what worries me the most is that we are visiting Memorial Day week which I know will be VERY CROWDED. It is the only time we can go since dd has ESY.

 

[SueM in MN]

Thank you everyone! I bought the book you mentioned but it doesn't list alternative waiting areas/entrances for specific attractions. But I think I have enough information to plan our days. I guess what worries me the most is that we are visiting Memorial Day week which I know will be VERY CROWDED. It is the only time we can go since dd has ESY.

Yep, I was one of the peer reviewers, so I know it doesn't have any specific info about the alternative waiting areas.
If there are some particular attractions you are interested in, please ask. Someone might have used it and know.

There are some attractions that have particularly difficult waiting areas - such as the Voyage of the Little Mermaid has a large, sort of dim room where you wait for what seems like about 15 minutes with other people - no separation. Some others - like the Muppet 3D and the Circle of Life movie at Epcot, have a roped off area of the larger room where people with wheelchairs/ECVs and special needs wait in the smae room, but a separated space, from others.

 

[Disneylvr]

Thanks Sue! How about the Haunted Mansion? I am concerned the stretch room might freak her out with all those bodies so close together. Playhouse Disney at the Studios?

 

[SueM in MN]

Thanks Sue! How about the Haunted Mansion? I am concerned the stretch room might freak her out with all those bodies so close together. Playhouse Disney at the Studios?

That's her in the picture, right (a cutie!)

Especially since she is little, I would probably ask the CM about avoiding the stretching room altogether. You can avoid some of the people so close together by staying near (but not touching) the side walls (ask the CM where to stand). The preshow is dim, with a scary voice, some scary words ("there is no door or windows") and lightning and thunder at one point. After the preshow, a hidden door opens opposite of where you came in. Wait until almost everyone has left the room. The next room is the boarding area. It is very (VERY) dark and the pathway gradually narrows so that you are in a single file line. Could be very scary for a child without any special needs.

My DD can't stand so we have to board at the exit of HM. By doing that, we miss the stretching room. They can board people who would freak out from that room there too.

We have not been to the Playhouse Disney, so I can't help you much with that.

 

[LisaBi]

I can't offer much help here - the only thing I can recall specifically was Playhouse Disney. I approached the CM just as they were letting the crowd in (and the line was way to long to expect everyone was going to get in).

She told me to come back for the next show and wait by the side door. She gave me a specific time to be there - I think it was 15 or 20 minutes before showtime.

I wanted to say thanks for the thought about the stretching room. We have ridden that in many years because the stretching room freaked DS out. I think he'd enjoy the ride if he could skip that part. I'll remember to ask if we can skip it. (We do usually get a GAC).

LisaB

 

[Nik's Mom]

I didn't know that about the stretching room. Our ds hated the stretching room, but loved the rest of the ride!

 

[nemofanatic]

You can have your doctor write you a letter for disney guest relations to give you a disability pass to go to the front of the line. My doctor did this for both of my kids who have anxiety disorders.

 

[SueM in MN]

You can have your doctor write you a letter for disney guest relations to give you a disability pass to go to the front of the line. My doctor did this for both of my kids who have anxiety disorders.

The card is called a Guest Assistance Card (GAC) and it isn't really a pass (even though it may have seemed that way). It doesn't allow you to go to the front of all lines, just is a tool to let the CMs know what sorts of accomidations someone with a disability needs. For some attractions, there are no special accomidations available, so having a GAC would not really help. You also don't need a letter from the doctor (although some people feel more comfortable asking for a GAC for invisible disabilities if they have a letter. The CMs frequently do not want to see the letter.)
If you check out the disABILITIES FAQs thread, there is a section about GACs that WDW CMs have told me is pretty accurate.

 

[KathyRN137]

Our family has been to WDW three times with DS, who is autistic, and we always get the GAC. We have never been directed to any "alternative entrance" other than the Fastpass Queue. Sometimes even that seems too long, so we just skip the attraction and try again some other time.

Let me caution you that the GAC, while EXTREMELY helpful, is not a "magic pass" that will give your family absolutely no wait time. (Too bad! Wouldn't that be awesome! ) It just realistically can't work that way.

You still have to use common sense and plan your itinerary so that you are touring during the less crowded times of the day/week for each park and build lots of rest into your plan.

Kathy

 

[taximomfor4]

We avoid the stretching room at Haunted Mansion...they take us in as the people are LEAVING the stretching room -- we just follow the crowd down the hall to the ride vehicles.

As for Playhouse Disney, we did it once each trip but will skip it from now on. There are no "seats" at all -- everyone sits on the floor, wherever they want. My tip for you : Do Not try to sit up front. The stage is pretty high up, and the characters come up out of the stage floor so when we were close, we could only see the taller characters. Also, people are wiggling, dancing, and moving around so it was too hard to keep a "bubble" around our dd. The other attraction that this was a huge problem was Crush at Epcot. The kids sit on the floor. They let dd, who is vision impaired, in right before the crowd to get an up-front seat. When other kids came in, most sat behind and beside her (she is tiny) but then a ton of kids' parents had their kids move right in front of her. She freaked out when a boy about 10 yrs old sat down right on her knee. Needless to say, she was done with the parks for the day. At 1pm. With a GAC for front-row seating.

Wow, I got long-winded, didn't I? I will shush now!

 

[Talking Hands]

Taximom, I know exactly hpw you feel. Met Bonny, MJ and Andrew at Belle's Storytime to see the interpreted show. MJ and I both use sign language and the interpreter is placed on the right at the top of the ramp. We were on the benches closest to that area and for the most part people asked if they would be in the way and we said yes that the interpreter stood there and please not to sit directly in the wall in front of him/her. Well it was crowded and the castmembers that help Belle come out and tell everyone the move up on the wall closer to Belle. Needless to say, MJ and I were blocked from seeing the interpreter. The interpreter asked the adults to move but they weren't happy about it at all and kept trying to move back to where they were blocking us. Big problem with that location for the interpreter in this show.

 

[taximomfor4]

Taximom, I know exactly hpw you feel. Met Bonny, MJ and Andrew at Belle's Storytime to see the interpreted show. MJ and I both use sign language and the interpreter is placed on the right at the top of the ramp. We were on the benches closest to that area and for the most part people asked if they would be in the way and we said yes that the interpreter stood there and please not to sit directly in the wall in front of him/her. Well it was crowded and the castmembers that help Belle come out and tell everyone the move up on the wall closer to Belle. Needless to say, MJ and I were blocked from seeing the interpreter. The interpreter asked the adults to move but they weren't happy about it at all and kept trying to move back to where they were blocking us. Big problem with that location for the interpreter in this show.

Funny that you should bring up Bonny and MJ, etc. We had trouble getting the proper seating at Tarzan Rocks, too, that trip. Thank goodness I knew Bonny was supposed to be at that show...she figured out who we were and got us re-seated appropriately.