Christmas party with a wheelchair view

[NELDEE]

I have never been to Disney since terminal cancer put me in a wheelchair. We are thinking of attending the 2nd Christmas party night and wondered how this might be from a wheelchair users view?. I'm wondering about the whole trip actually but determined to have a wonderful time with my amazing family to make some good memories from a nightmare

 

[Christine]

I have never been to Disney since terminal cancer put me in a wheelchair. We are thinking of attending the 2nd Christmas party night and wondered how this might be from a wheelchair users view?. I'm wondering about the whole trip actually but determined to have a wonderful time with my amazing family to make some good memories from a nightmare

We will be going to the first party, with my aunt in an ECV, so I've been reading up on similar threads. I don't readily have the links to them but if you scroll through the pages on this particular forum, you'll see at least one thread/topic on viewing parades.

For the Christmas party, there will be designated viewing areas for handicapped persons that should offer unobstructed views of the parade. There have been a thread or two here about how there were random incidents of "rudeness" where someone in front stood and then the wheelchair users' views were blocked. I don't think this is the norm. There is a sticky at the top of the forum where there is a map showing where the viewing areas are located.

My only concern in reading about these Christmas parties is how PACKED Main Street will be as opposed to a normal park day and I am concerned for her ability to navigate easily through the crowds.

 

[RaySharpton]

I have never been to Disney since terminal cancer put me in a wheelchair. We are thinking of attending the 2nd Christmas party night and wondered how this might be from a wheelchair user's view?. I'm wondering about the whole trip actually but determined to have a wonderful time with my amazing family to make some good memories from a nightmare

Hi, NELDEE. I hope to go to a Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party this December, too.

I have been before in a mobility scooter and now a wheelchair.

I make plans and back-up plans for every day for the parks and the resort and downtime for myself.

And it is not unusual to change my plans and go with the flow most of the time.

Talk to your family to see what their plans are. If you have additional plans, see how they compare with yours.

Maybe some days, if you have young grandchildren in your group you could ask if they could do something that you might like to do at a slower pace instead of a very fast pace of your grandchildren.

As far as the Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. I am assuming it will be very crowded.

I like to see the shows and parades and fireworks, so I will find a handicap spot pretty early in my wheelchair and I make sure I have Fast Passes+ for attraction rides.

But I usually go solo. It will be different with family.

Meals could be good quality time with your family if all of you allow more time than just eat and go.

In my signature, I have links to handicap viewing spots in the kingdom for parades and fireworks.

But my main suggestion for a happy, memorable time with your family is to communicate and allow separate times for kids to run to attractions. And to communicate with your family to see if they could make time for you at a slower pace at certain times instead of all day. Or maybe something outside the park for the whole day.

Here is the MK Disability Map:

https://secure.cdn1.wdpromedia.com/...guests-with-disabilities/MK_1019_GFGWD_os.pdf

Here is last year's Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party Guidemap.

Here are the three handicap areas to view the parade.

At the front of the park near the Fire Station. Not many folks today as the cast members play hula hoop and jump rope with the guests. On the far right are the fire station and the entrance ramp to the bathrooms to its left. You can see the shady tree and at least one white pole along the corner of the red sidewalk area. I see another pole that will be roped off for the parade that is not part of the handicap viewing area.

In the area of the center circle from 0300 to 0600 is an area designated to watch the parades. This is an older photo. As mentioned before, I think they only allow one other guest per wheelchair or mobility scooter. They fill up fast. It looks like the ropes were taken down.

This last parade area is a nice spot to watch from in Liberty Square.

As far as watching the fireworks, here are areas for handicap wheelchairs.

I did stay in this area. In the foreground, the grassy park area is used for the Dessert Party viewing and beyond that is a walkway in front of a fenced off garden and water fountain area. The area is not roped off yet but is you see the gentleman in the white shirt and dark shorts in the pathway that is where the roped area will be from the left column to the center column. It may not look like much space but they had a roped off area for three or four rows of wheelchairs and mobility scooters.

The photo is where I would have been sitting in front of my wheelchair in front of the fenced garden to watch the fireworks. A little too far to watch the stage show, but nice and relaxing for waiting for the fireworks. This photo is at the closing of the park so no guests. My favorite time.