Changes at POC

[Cheshire Figment]

This is to replace a long thread with rumors and questions.

I went over to Pirates today and had a long conversation with a couple of the people there, including one who has worked the attraction for many years.

Yes, they have changed some procedures.

If a person is in a power chair the user may go all the way to boarding and leave the chair in freewheel. They will have a CM take the chair to the unload area.

If a person is in an ECV they must park in a special parking area and either walk to use one of the provided attraction wheelchairs to get to the boarding area.

If a person is in a rented (Disney or otherwise) or personal wheelchair they may either transfer to an attraction wheelchair or take their chair to load. If they take their wheelchair to load, once they are on board the boat their chair will be taken back to the special parking area.

When a person, other than a power chair user, gets to unload they have a choice to either walk about 50 yards to the special wheelchair/ECV parking area or use an attraction provided wheelchair to get back to the special parking area.

This process has been in effect for a few weeks, and it works better than the older methods because it is actually faster to get wheelchairs to or from the special parking area than it would have been to get a wheelchair from load to unload.

The people that I spoke with did say that things are really running much more smoothly with the new methodology.

And as far as a solo in an ECV (or with children) who cannot manage a wheelchair; a lot will depend on the time of day, time of year, and staffing. In other words, they might be able to have someone push you, but don't bet the house on it.

 

[KPeveler]

thanks cheshire - that is very helpful! i guess the best thing to do if you leave your wheelchair/ECV in the parking area and use one of the disney ones is to let a CM know you will need a chair provided at the end of the ride. when i was there a few months ago (yes, before the change) there was not a disney wheelchair at the end of the ride and i had to walk a ways, which i was not exactly prepared to do... thanks for clearing all of this up.

 

[SueM in MN]

Thanks.
It sounds like 2 differences
1) They established a specific parking area
2) They are no longer putting wheelchairs into the boats.

Does that kind of sum it up?

 

[Figaro]

I am a bit confused. I use my own personal wheelchair and prefer to stay in it in the line because transferring to the WDW wheelchairs is difficult for me to do and those chairs are usually very uncomfortable for me. When I stay in my personal wheelchair to the boarding area, where is my personal wheelchair going to be now? Before, it would be at the end of the ride. Now it sounds like it is going to some special wheelchair area and I can't tell if that area is at the end of the ride (where people are disembarking) or is back out at the beginning of the ride where the ECV's are left!

Thanks for checking it out for us!

 

[lovetoscrap]

I am a bit confused. I use my own personal wheelchair and prefer to stay in it in the line because transferring to the WDW wheelchairs is difficult for me to do and those chairs are usually very uncomfortable for me. When I stay in my personal wheelchair to the boarding area, where is my personal wheelchair going to be now? Before, it would be at the end of the ride. Now it sounds like it is going to some special wheelchair area and I can't tell if that area is at the end of the ride (where people are disembarking) or is back out at the beginning of the ride where the ECV's are left!

Thanks for checking it out for us!

It sounds like they have made a new ECV/WC parking area that is now much closer to the exit area than it was before. And probably also will keep us from having to trip over the strollers when we are getting back to our stuff.

 

[BCV23]

There's been a specific parking area for as long as I can remember. It used to be at the back of the courtyard on the the left hand side. For a few years it has been at the front of the courtyard but again on the left. Is it still there?

 

[Schmeck]

thanks cheshire - that is very helpful! i guess the best thing to do if you leave your wheelchair/ECV in the parking area and use one of the disney ones is to let a CM know you will need a chair provided at the end of the ride. when i was there a few months ago (yes, before the change) there was not a disney wheelchair at the end of the ride and i had to walk a ways, which i was not exactly prepared to do... thanks for clearing all of this up.

There could have been the chance that others were using the available wheelchairs at that time?

So, have they dedicated a CM to move all the wheelchairs and ECVs, or is this on top of other duties? I'm asking because it sounds very time consuming, and wheelchairs might not be available immediately when needed. They might have to put in some bench seating for those that might have to wait for a transport wheelchair to become available?

 

[Camster0307]

When a person, other than a power chair user, gets to unload they have a choice to either walk about 50 yards to the special wheelchair/ECV parking area or use an attraction provided wheelchair to get back to the special parking area.

Ok, I'm just trying to get a visual with this. The "special wheelchair parking area" - is it on the same level that you exit the ride; or is it up on the ground floor, therefore necessitating getting on the elevator or up the ramp? As I mentioned, I have carried my daughter on this ride and certainly don't do it alone - usually have another adult to help. But I certainly couldn't stand there holding her - I love every ounce of her, but 60 pds. gets heavy after awhile!- while waiting for her chair. I guess I'm not remembering very well but I can't recall an area off to the side (like HM) where wheelchairs would fit w/out getting in the way.

 

[SueM in MN]

Ok, I'm just trying to get a visual with this. The "special wheelchair parking area" - is it on the same level that you exit the ride; or is it up on the ground floor, therefore necessitating getting on the elevator or up the ramp? As I mentioned, I have carried my daughter on this ride and certainly don't do it alone - usually have another adult to help. But I certainly couldn't stand there holding her - I love every ounce of her, but 60 pds. gets heavy after awhile!- while waiting for her chair. I guess I'm not remembering very well but I can't recall an area off to the side (like HM) where wheelchairs would fit w/out getting in the way.

There is a small area, but not big enough for many wheelchairs to be there waiting right at the exit.

 

[BillSears]

I guess I'll have to drag myself on the ground to the wheelchair parking area? I can't transfer into a WDW wheelchair from the boat because the footrests are not removeable. So unless my chair is at the exit I'm stuck. I can drag myself out of the boat and onto the ground and I'm able with a lot of effort to get from the ground back into my own wheelchair but not from the ground into a WDW wheelchair. Maybe they'll make an exception and treat my chair like a power chair.

 

[KPeveler]

if i'm there on my own, they will have to treat my chair as a power chair - i cant push a WDW chair on my own. however, if my parents are there with me, i can use a WDW one. or i will bring my folding canes and walk back out to the wheelchair parking area if i can walk that day...

 

[Absimilliard]

Disneyland POTC goes up the waterfall and you actually exit on the opposite side of the loading dock. The wheelchair entrance in this case is the exit. Disneyland Paris POTC is the same. Tokyo Disneyland POTC is setup like WDW version.

 

[SueM in MN]

Disneyland POTC goes up the waterfall and you actually exit on the opposite side of the loading dock. The wheelchair entrance in this case is the exit. Disneyland Paris POTC is the same. Tokyo Disneyland POTC is setup like WDW version.

I recently went to Disneyland Paris and wished that WDW was set up like that!

 

[mykidsintow]

When we were at WDW a few weeks ago we rode POTC.

My dauhter is in a power chair. We can easily carry her (25lbs), but as you can imagine she gets heavy quckly as she is, for lack of better phrasing, dead weight. She is much too small for their chairs, its not safe. They had us park her chair in the designated area, after showing the CM how to "drive" her chair. We picked her up and walked around to the side of the building (to the left) and sat on benches there (there were 3 or 4 lined up). In about 3 or 4 minutes a CM came and took us through the gate and into a side door. We walked straight in and onto the ride. When we left her chair was waiting for us.

I know on our previous trip they INSISTED she ride in their chair. I sat in the chair and held her in my lap (for lack of a better solution).

Sounds like they are working on a better system.

 

[Absimilliard]

Sue, the reason why DLP version is set-up like this is that they built the ride brand new when the park opened. The ride itself is in a single large soundstage/warehouse and is on 3 levels: caverns, loading dock, blue lagoon, beach/shipwreck is the bottom level. You then have the chain lift to the top of the building, with the exclusive stuff: the assault on the fort and the dog with the key scene. You then have a drop to the middle level. The pirate ship/village take this whole level and interestingly, when you get to the burning city, you have a drop to the bottom level.

The reason why they made the ride with larger drops and a longer ride is that it was meant to replace Splash Mountain. Originally, with the weather during winter, they didn't a huge water ride no one would ride!

Disneyland Paris recently relaxed its rules for wheelchair users. When I worked there in 2000-2001, Space Mountain, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril and Peter Pan's Flight were completely off limit to anyone not able to walk the length of the station on their own. Last year, that rule was removed from Space Mountain, Indiana Jones, but still in place at Peter Pan's Flight and Crush Coaster.

In the case of an evacuation at Peter Pan's Flight, they sometime need to bring portable ladders, set them up in the middle of the scenery and then they get you down! For Crush Coaster, the rollercoaster portion is a fairground ride and so, uses small ladders to access the evacuation platforms.

 

[SueM in MN]

Sue, the reason why DLP version is set-up like this is that they built the ride brand new when the park opened. The ride itself is in a single large soundstage/warehouse and is on 3 levels: caverns, loading dock, blue lagoon, beach/shipwreck is the bottom level. You then have the chain lift to the top of the building, with the exclusive stuff: the assault on the fort and the dog with the key scene. You then have a drop to the middle level. The pirate ship/village take this whole level and interestingly, when you get to the burning city, you have a drop to the bottom level.

The reason why they made the ride with larger drops and a longer ride is that it was meant to replace Splash Mountain. Originally, with the weather during winter, they didn't a huge water ride no one would ride!

Disneyland Paris recently relaxed its rules for wheelchair users. When I worked there in 2000-2001, Space Mountain, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril and Peter Pan's Flight were completely off limit to anyone not able to walk the length of the station on their own. Last year, that rule was removed from Space Mountain, Indiana Jones, but still in place at Peter Pan's Flight and Crush Coaster.

In the case of an evacuation at Peter Pan's Flight, they sometime need to bring portable ladders, set them up in the middle of the scenery and then they get you down! For Crush Coaster, the rollercoaster portion is a fairground ride and so, uses small ladders to access the evacuation platforms.

I was not at DL Paris with my DD and her wheelchair; I did look at access there for different attractions and picked up a disability guide. I thought the POC and HM were just awesome!

I also have the book published a few years ago about POC. It includes information and plans for all the different versions of Pirates. According to the book, the Imagineers were not happy with the way that the DL boats went back up the waterfall at the end of the ride. One of the 'improvements' they made in Florida was to have the boats go back up the waterfall after guests have exited, which takes care of the 'up the waterfall problem', but creates problems for wheelchair users that they were not aware even existed when the attraction was built.

 

[cmwade77]

I still maintain that to be fully ADA compliant if someone were in an ecv they would have to provide a CM to push them back to their ecv if it can't be at the unload area.

Out here if they tried something like that, the various agencies in charge of theme arks would shut the ride down until they figured it out, as there can be reasonable accomadations made here.

 

[dclfun]

Well, none of the attractions have to be fully ADA compliant and many are not accessible to those of us who cannot transfer, for instance. There are too many liability issues for a company to provide a CM to push a chair for a guest or assist a guest in any way and that has always been a "no go". Universal is the same- their CM's are not allowed to push a manual chair for a guest or assist. The parks do state that if someone needs personal assistance then it's our responsibility to bring someone with us to provide it.---Kathy

 

[SueM in MN]

I still maintain that to be fully ADA compliant if someone were in an ecv they would have to provide a CM to push them back to their ecv if it can't be at the unload area.

Out here if they tried something like that, the various agencies in charge of theme arks would shut the ride down until they figured it out, as there can be reasonable accomadations made here.

If someone needs that type of assistance, the ADA does not require the company to provide it. That is up to the person who needs the assistance to decide what they themselves need to provide. If it was required, every business (stores, restaurants, theme parks, etc.) would be required to provide someone to push wheelchairs. That is an unfair expense/burden on the companies.
The guidelines for the ADA require a clear, wheelchair accessible path and certain distances for transfers. It is the same as Service Dogs - the individual is in charge of making sure that they or someone in their party is able to/available to take the animal for toileting and to care for it while they are on the ride. Requiring a company provide someone to do that is not considered to be part of reasonable accomodation.

There is also no requirement/specification/allowance for shutting something down if it is not accessible. The possible 'penalties' for not being compliant include fines, but not shut downs. So, it would not be legal to require something to be shut down because it is not totally accessible.
The ADA also doesn't require things to be totally wheelchair accessible, just to comply with the guidelines. There are also exemptions for older things that are not able to be totally accessible because they were designed before the ADA came into effect and are not able to be retrofitted to make them accessible.
In fact, the only rides that are totally accessible are those that have a wheelchair car. And, even those are not accessible to every person using a wheelchair who wants to use the accessible car. Some are too wide, too long or have things sticking out that make them not fit into the space; the size of the space is specified in the guidelines.

If anything that was not totally wheelchair accessible was shut down, there would only be a few operating attractions in MK - the shows like Tiki Birds, Philharmagic and rides like Small World, Aladdin's Magic Carpets and Jungle Cruise that have wheelchair cars. Anything else would not be totally accessible.

 

[Camster0307]

If anything that was not totally wheelchair accessible was shut down, there would only be a few operating attractions in MK - the shows like Tiki Birds, Philharmagic and rides like Small World, Aladdin's Magic Carpets and Jungle Cruise that have wheelchair cars. Anything else would not be totally accessible.

A little OT here - but quick question. Jungle Cruise has a wheelchair boat? Good grief - that's another ride I'm always lifting and holding my daughter onto! I guess I'm guilty of not paying attention to guide maps pointing these things out. We just go to the rides we want to ride and figure out a way to get my daughter on them.