Disability pass at Universal Orlando

[shosh1530]

We are making our first trip to Universal Orlando later this month so was happy to see this thread.

We already have our approval and case number, my question is do we have to check in with guest services every day to get the card they use for the return times? Or just our first day of the trip?

Our first two days is a park-to-park ticket to US and IOA and then our third day will be at Epic Universe.

 

[Keladry84]

We are making our first trip to Universal Orlando later this month so was happy to see this thread.

We already have our approval and case number, my question is do we have to check in with guest services every day to get the card they use for the return times? Or just our first day of the trip?

Our first two days is a park-to-park ticket to US and IOA and then our third day will be at Epic Universe.

For your 2 day ticket, for sure they will give validity dates to cover the length of the ticket, so you will only need to stop one of those days. For US/IOA note that you need to go to guest services at the front of the park (either before the entrance or there is a second one just inside the gates). You can't get it initially at the guest services located further inside the park (for example in HP lands), although those locations can usually assist you if you have problems once it is issued for those dates.

For Epic - note that I haven't been to Epic yet, but have been following closely on various forums.

How they will handle the Epic day is unclear. I've seen mixed reports. Some people have reported they were able to get it included on one AAP, others that they had to go each day individually to Epic guest services, and still others that initially had it included on one AAP at US/IOA but when they got to Epic were directed to guest services to get it replaced. You will probably not know for sure until you get there and pick up your US/IOA AAP. Also for Epic, I have heard that you can pick it up not only at the front guest services, but also at each one located by every portal entrance (which reportedly have shorter lines). I can't confirm this as I haven't been myself yet.

However it turns out, be sure to go to the dedicated line for those with a case number - it will be much more streamlined and a much shorter wait, even if the main guest services line initially seems like it would be shorter.

 

[Dancergirlmelody]

I just got back from Universal and wanted to share my experience getting the accessibility pass in case it helps anyone. The guest services line was long right when the park opened, so we did some of the short wait line rides first. Around noon, I went back to guest services where there was no line anymore. They asked me whether I'd gotten IBCCES first and when I said no, they said it wasn't a problem. They asked me: 1. Whether I was requesting the pass for a disability. and 2. What happened when I waited in a traditional line. They prefaced the conversation by telling me that they would not ask for medical diagnoses and when I asked question 2 with "I have panic attacks", they asked me again to rephrase my answer without using a medical diagnosis or teminology. I knew they'd ask that, but I was still flustered when I tried to describe a panic attack without using the word "anxiety" lol. After my stumbled explanation they asked whether I had any mobility issues and then asked whether I was able to wait in line at all or if I needed immediate access. In the end, they gave me the paper card and explained that for waits over 30 mins, the cast member would sign the card and give me a return time and for waits under 30 minus I could go right in. Either way, I'd go through the express line. I had the military year-long pass and they said the pass was only good for 2 weeks at a time, and after that I'd have to go through the requesting process again. I was only in Orlando a week, so that wasn't a problem for me.

I found the whole process very quick, easy, and respectful! I never had a problem with the cast members signing the card. When giving me a return time, I found that every cast member cut the time by 15-30 minutes. However, since even the express line usually had a 15-30 minute wait it all seemed very fair to me. Happy to answer questions!

 

[yourfriend2]

So here in LA Universal we have an app where my special needs son had to register IBCCES. (and despite recent reports this is still a requirement in Univeral Hollywood. We show that to the booth outside guest services and he gets his card where they write the return time down (unless the line is under 30 minutes then he goes right on). When I went today I asked if this app is also utilized for the Orlando Universal parks and surprisingly they didn't know.
So have things changed in Orlando? Do I need to bring a doctors note saying what accomodations he needs (but no diagnosis).
Universal and Six Flags now require a doctors note for their disability passes, it seems DIsney might do better with their if they required a doctors note about what accommodations are needed and with no diagnosis,
SO I ask how does the Orlando Universal system work now?

When is your Universal Orlando trip? If you went already, could you give us an update on how it works?

 

[mamaofsix]

Just wanted to give a report on getting the IBCCES for multiple children.

The app lets you have multiple "profiles," so I was able to apply for both children within one account on the app. You can simply toggle between profiles at the top of the page. It was a simple process to apply. I uploaded multiple pages of their reports from our psychologist, which listed their diagnosis as well as suggested accommodations.

*If you are from Canada, you can leave the section blank that asks for the registration # for the professional you are using. This only works in the U.S. *

In the end, we were approved for the pass in less than 24 hours. We also received an email from Universal at the time of approval. It said they would call us by phone at least 48 hours before our visit to Universal. I hope they call sooner than 48 hours ahead, as we'll have already left Canada by then.

 

[shosh1530]

We are back from our Universal Orlando trip and thought I'd share a few notes from our first experience using the AAP across all the parks, including Epic Universe.

We already had been approved for a visit that we ended up cancelling last year, so we already had a case number assigned. We updated my son's registration through IBCCES before this visit and confirmed via email with Universal that no other action was needed.

Our first park was Universal Studios Florida, but we did not pick up our AAP that day because we already had an Express Pass from a deluxe hotel stay and using Express met my son's needs (wait times of 10-20 mins in the Express line). The next day at IOA, we stopped at guest services after entering the park. They had a dedicated line for those already registered and there was only one family in front of us. We got the pass quickly and they confirmed it would also work at Epic Universe the next day. We still had Express from our one night Deluxe hotel, so we really only used the AAP that day for Hagrid's.

On our final day at Epic Universe, we did not have Express Passes, so the AAP worked well for accessing all the attractions my son wanted to ride. It helped that my husband was able/willing to walk around the park to secure return times in different areas of the park. We used the AAP for riding BatM, Donkey Kong, Mario Kart, and Hiccup's. There were shorter waits for other attractions during early entry and the first hour the park was open so we took advantage of that to ride Curse of the Werewolf, Monster's Unchained, Constellation Carousel, and Stardust Racers for my DH with either walk on or very short waits. Some attractions went down when we we came back for our return time due to rain and we were given a printed Express Pass for doing another ride in the park (not BatM or DK). That was a pleasant surprise.

One thing I noticed is that at Epic the app was often incorrect about whether a ride was truly operating. This led to a lot of extra walking. For example, we headed to Dark Universe first thing in the morning as the app said Monsters Unchained had a 20 minute wait, but it actually was not operational and they would not give us a return time for it. The same was true several other times that the app said there was a wait time for a ride but it was actually down when we got there. My kiddo often has a hard time when things don't go as expected, so that was something I wished I had been more prepared for. We also had rides go down while we were in the queue, sometimes adding to the overall wait time and other times we elected to exit the ride and try again later.

All in all though we had a great time across all 3 parks. My son really enjoyed all the Harry Potter worlds and was excited to buy a wand and try out the spells.

 

[Mamabun]

We are back from our Universal Orlando trip and thought I'd share a few notes from our first experience using the AAP across all the parks, including Epic Universe.

We already had been approved for a visit that we ended up cancelling last year, so we already had a case number assigned. We updated my son's registration through IBCCES before this visit and confirmed via email with Universal that no other action was needed.

Our first park was Universal Studios Florida, but we did not pick up our AAP that day because we already had an Express Pass from a deluxe hotel stay and using Express met my son's needs (wait times of 10-20 mins in the Express line). The next day at IOA, we stopped at guest services after entering the park. They had a dedicated line for those already registered and there was only one family in front of us. We got the pass quickly and they confirmed it would also work at Epic Universe the next day. We still had Express from our one night Deluxe hotel, so we really only used the AAP that day for Hagrid's.

On our final day at Epic Universe, we did not have Express Passes, so the AAP worked well for accessing all the attractions my son wanted to ride. It helped that my husband was able/willing to walk around the park to secure return times in different areas of the park. We used the AAP for riding BatM, Donkey Kong, Mario Kart, and Hiccup's. There were shorter waits for other attractions during early entry and the first hour the park was open so we took advantage of that to ride Curse of the Werewolf, Monster's Unchained, Constellation Carousel, and Stardust Racers for my DH with either walk on or very short waits. Some attractions went down when we we came back for our return time due to rain and we were given a printed Express Pass for doing another ride in the park (not BatM or DK). That was a pleasant surprise.

One thing I noticed is that at Epic the app was often incorrect about whether a ride was truly operating. This led to a lot of extra walking. For example, we headed to Dark Universe first thing in the morning as the app said Monsters Unchained had a 20 minute wait, but it actually was not operational and they would not give us a return time for it. The same was true several other times that the app said there was a wait time for a ride but it was actually down when we got there. My kiddo often has a hard time when things don't go as expected, so that was something I wished I had been more prepared for. We also had rides go down while we were in the queue, sometimes adding to the overall wait time and other times we elected to exit the ride and try again later.

All in all though we had a great time across all 3 parks. My son really enjoyed all the Harry Potter worlds and was excited to buy a wand and try out the spells.

Thank you for this update. I’m so happy to hear y’all had such a good time. Our child also has a really hard time when things don’t go to plan, so knowing some of the possibilities is really helpful. Thanks again.