Boat Launch transport question

[Dimmsdale]

We'll be going in two weeks with a person using a scooter. Can anyone tell me if the MK resort boat launches can accommodate the scooter/wheelchairs. I would think they have to to keep Disney in compliance with the ADA but from the pics I've seen (granted not many) they don't look like they do.
Thanks for any info you can share.

 

[looo33]

Yes they do. They have a metal ramp that is placed down so the person on the ECV can enter the boat.

 

[Dimmsdale]

Thanks much. Can you stand another launch question? How many are there at each resort? Lined up like NYC taxis or one goes out and you wait for the other one on its run bacK?

 

[DebbieB]

Thanks much. Can you stand another launch question? How many are there at each resort? Lined up like NYC taxis or one goes out and you wait for the other one on its run bacK?

They come and go one at a time. Depending on the boat size, they hold alot of people. The ones at the Boardwalk resorts hold 75 I think.

 

[MinnieLee]

You can also board the launch by the back of the boat. If it's a nice day, sitting outside is nice (just a little noisy with the boat engine). I have seen the boats stack up after Fantasmic - one is boarding and the other is waiting a little down the canal. Normally they run every 20 minutes so the wait is not bad at all.

 

[disneyranger]

We'll be going in two weeks with a person using a scooter. Can anyone tell me if the MK resort boat launches can accommodate the scooter/wheelchairs. I would think they have to to keep Disney in compliance with the ADA but from the pics I've seen (granted not many) they don't look like they do.
Thanks for any info you can share.

I think the OP is talking about the boat launches at the Magic Kingdom resorts which are not the same as the boats for the Boardwalk area. The boats that service the Magic Kingdom are smaller and I am not real sure they can take a scooter. Maybe I am confused or they changed boats since I last visited the Poly.

 

[pumpkinboy]

I think the OP is talking about the boat launches at the Magic Kingdom resorts which are not the same as the boats for the Boardwalk area. The boats that service the Magic Kingdom are smaller and I am not real sure they can take a scooter. Maybe I am confused or they changed boats since I last visited the Poly.

Disneyranger, you are right. The little launches out fo the MK and MK resorts are not all accessible: some are, others are not. When we stayed at Wilderness Lodge over Labor Day, they would take DS's wheelchair on the larger boats, but not on the little launches. I am not sure how large the boats headed to the Polynesian or Grand Floridian are or whether you can get a wheelchair or ECV on them..

One place to find out is over on the DISabilities board, where there are plenty of families with ECV and wheelchair conveyance experience at WDW. (MOD, do you want to move this over, or perhaps SueMinMN will come over and answer here)

Good luck!

 

[HappyDznyCamper]

MK area boats come in 3 sizes. The largest are the ferry boats from the TTC to MK, they accomodate wheelchairs, ECVs and strollers. The 3 cruisers serve FW(2) to MK and WL(1) to MK, they can accomodate wheelchairs and strollers easily, ECV most of the time, but occasionally water levels may not allow this(there should be a ramp available though ). The smallest are the launches, these would be the boats between GF, Poly and MK, 1 that runs from WL to MK and 2 that run between CR, WL and FW, the launches have a step down and can only accomodate people who can make that step and who's chairs/strollers can fold. There is no room on the launches for ECVs. Because other option exsit for people to get from WL(a bus), the Poly and the GF(the monorail) the boats don't have to accomodate wheelchairs. The only direct way from FW to MK is the boat, so all it's boats will accomadate mobitlity assistance devices.

 

[kirbsam]

i agree that the launches from poly and gf to mk, can not accomodate scooters.

 

[SueM in MN]

MK area boats come in 3 sizes. The largest are the ferry boats from the TTC to MK, they accomodate wheelchairs, ECVs and strollers. The 3 cruisers serve FW(2) to MK and WL(1) to MK, they can accomodate wheelchairs and strollers easily, ECV most of the time, but occasionally water levels may not allow this(there should be a ramp available though ). The smallest are the launches, these would be the boats between GF, Poly and MK, 1 that runs from WL to MK and 2 that run between CR, WL and FW, the launches have a step down and can only accomodate people who can make that step and who's chairs/strollers can fold. There is no room on the launches for ECVs. Because other option exsit for people to get from WL(a bus), the Poly and the GF(the monorail) the boats don't have to accomodate wheelchairs. The only direct way from FW to MK is the boat, so all it's boats will accomadate mobitlity assistance devices.

We were at WL once when the cruiser could not get level enough with the dock to roll DD's wheelchair right on even with the ramp (we lifted her in the wheelchair to get on; luckily she was not very heavy, even in her wheelchair). There have also been posters to the disABILITIES Board who ran into the same problem.

This doesn't happen often and the boat captains have lots of ways to deal with things. If they need the boat to be floating higher in the water, they might load the person with the ECV first. If the boat is too high, they would load the other passengers first so their weight lowers the boat.
And, as HappyDznyCamper mentioned, there are other ways to get from most of the resorts to MK.

 

[Endeavour105]

Yes they do. They have a metal ramp that is placed down so the person on the ECV can enter the boat.[/QUOTE]

The above in red is totally incorrect for boats at the MK area. Ramps are used at EPCOT for the Friendship boats.

None of the WDW Watercraft servicing the resorts on Bay Lake and Seven Seas Lagoon use ramps to accommodate wheel chairs or ECVs. However, all of the motor launches (smallest of the WDW Watercraft) can accommodate folding wheel chairs as long as the user can walk onboard. Launches cannot/will not accommodate ECVs under any circumstances.

 

[SueM in MN]

Yes they do. They have a metal ramp that is placed down so the person on the ECV can enter the boat.[/QUOTE]

The above in red is totally incorrect for boats at the MK area. Ramps are used at EPCOT for the Friendship boats.

None of the WDW Watercraft servicing the resorts on Bay Lake and Seven Seas Lagoon use ramps to accommodate wheel chairs or ECVs. However, all of the motor launches (smallest of the WDW Watercraft) can accommodate folding wheel chairs as long as the user can walk onboard. Launches cannot/will not accommodate ECVs under any circumstances.

For clarification - I think that the person posting about the ramps was talking about the big cruisers that go between WL, FW and MK.

Those do accomodate wheelchairs/ECVs (if the water level is OK). They are very similar to the boats at Epcot, Studio and the Ecpot area resorts. They do use ramps.
The small launches only accommodate wheelchairs that can be folded and carried on board (that is assuming that the wheelchair user is able to walk on board). I don't know how recent this picture is, but the small launches look like this:

 

[Endeavour105]

For clarification - I think that the person posting about the ramps was talking about the big cruisers that go between WL, FW and MK.

Those do accomodate wheelchairs/ECVs (if the water level is OK). They are very similar to the boats at Epcot, Studio and the Ecpot area resorts. They do use ramps.
The small launches only accommodate wheelchairs that can be folded and carried on board (that is assuming that the wheelchair user is able to walk on board). I don't know how recent this picture is, but the small launches look like this:

Sorry, you are incorrect.

We do NOT use ramps for the motor cruisers. Any ramps you see at any of the resort docks at the Poly, GF, WL, CR, and FWC are used only on the very very rare occasions ferry boats dock at these locations - for special events.