Disneyland trip but this time in a chair

[disneyfan64]

We are surprising our 6 year old son with a trip to Disneyland in early December, as we did this back in 1998 with our daughters. This time our oldest daughter will bring her husband and their baby and our youngest daughter will be very newly married (15 days before the trip) so her and her husband will be joining us for two days. We will be arriving into John Wayne airport early afternoon so the first day will be relaxing and visiting Downtown Disney. We are also going to be staying at the Disneyland Hotel. My issue now is I will be in a wheelchair, so I need some ideas on how to make this a trip, one everyone will remember in a good way. I just want to let everyone know, I'm in this chair due to being severely injured while in the Air Force, not because I want to get easier access to the attractions. Thanks everyone

 

[Cheshirecatty]

We are surprising our 6 year old son with a trip to Disneyland in early December, as we did this back in 1998 with our daughters. This time our oldest daughter will bring her husband and their baby and our youngest daughter will be very newly married (15 days before the trip) so her and her husband will be joining us for two days. We will be arriving into John Wayne airport early afternoon so the first day will be relaxing and visiting Downtown Disney. We are also going to be staying at the Disneyland Hotel. My issue now is I will be in a wheelchair, so I need some ideas on how to make this a trip, one everyone will remember in a good way. I just want to let everyone know, I'm in this chair due to being severely injured while in the Air Force, not because I want to get easier access to the attractions. Thanks everyone

WELCOME to the Disboards!!!

I can't offer tips concerning using a wheelchair(others will have lots), but thank you for your service, and I hope you have a marvelous trip with your family!

 

[Zbugz]

We are surprising our 6 year old son with a trip to Disneyland in early December, as we did this back in 1998 with our daughters. This time our oldest daughter will bring her husband and their baby and our youngest daughter will be very newly married (15 days before the trip) so her and her husband will be joining us for two days. We will be arriving into John Wayne airport early afternoon so the first day will be relaxing and visiting Downtown Disney. We are also going to be staying at the Disneyland Hotel. My issue now is I will be in a wheelchair, so I need some ideas on how to make this a trip, one everyone will remember in a good way. I just want to let everyone know, I'm in this chair due to being severely injured while in the Air Force, not because I want to get easier access to the attractions. Thanks everyone

I think you will be pleasantly surprised at how well DLR accommodates wheelchair users. My dd is paralyzed and found most everything to be accessible. There were a couple of rides she simply could not transfer to (Roger Rabbit). We do not have to get a GAC, but she also is obviously in need due to having a custom wheelchair. YMMV.

We like to rent a small SUV to store the wheelchair and our luggage more easily.

I hope you have a wonderful time. Do you have specific questions?

 

[nikkislaght]

Hey there,
While in DL you will use the wheelchair enteries. I not sure how many people in your party will be able to accommodate you.

If you want to do finding nemo there is a platform for wheelchairs, so you don't have to worry about transferring at all.
with most of the other rides where you will have to transfer they have a separate loading area, so it will not disturb the flow of the ride while that person is transferring..
As for how many in you party will be able to accompany you, Im not really sure, as I use the GAC, (guest assistant pass) and with that you can have up to 6 people in your party accompany you on a ride.

In CA you will use the usual entery, due to CA being more disability compliant. there will be a few rides that you will have to use the wheelchair entery due to stairs at the end.. Toy story mania, Radiator springs to name two off the top of my head.


Hope you have a wonderful time..

 

[Malcon10t]

I just want to let everyone know, I'm in this chair due to being severely injured while in the Air Force, not because I want to get easier access to the attractions. Thanks everyone

Just a heads up, you will get access to rides, your access will be easier for you, but not necessarily faster in DIsneyland. (DCA lines are compliant so you will use the regular lines.) Make sure you take your injury into consideration before riding. I have a back injury, and Indy, Star Tours, Space Mountain, and Matterhorn are out. Can you transfer? You will have a party of 7 (limit is usually 6) but most rides will allow 7 in the HA queue. The exception is Fantasyland (but not IASW and STorybook.) For Fantasyland, have your daughters ride with their families, and you, your spouse and child ride together.

 

[Geemo]

You will find helpful hints for your trip here on the DIS board.

Early December is generally a low crowd time of the year. Plan away and enjoy your trip.

Geemo

 

[disneyfan64]

We are surprising our 6 year old son with a trip to Disneyland in early December, as we did this back in 1998 with our daughters. This time our oldest daughter will bring her husband and their baby and our youngest daughter will be very newly married (15 days before the trip) so her and her husband will be joining us for two days. We will be arriving into John Wayne airport early afternoon so the first day will be relaxing and visiting Downtown Disney. We are also going to be staying at the Disneyland Hotel. My issue now is I will be in a wheelchair, so I need some ideas on how to make this a trip, one everyone will remember in a good way. I just want to let everyone know, I'm in this chair due to being severely injured while in the Air Force, not because I want to get easier access to the attractions. Thanks everyone

I guess what I need is how to make this a great vacation my wife and kids will always remember. Being in a wheelchair is stressful, but not knowing where to go to enter the attractions just make it more of an headache. Is there anything out there to tell me where I need to enter a ride since I'm in a wheelchair? I have read about the ones charging people the use of their disability, and DO NOT want people to think this is all we are doing. How does the Fastpass work for me? We don't want to be labeled as one of those people just using a wheelchair to get into the attractions with standing in line, we want to do this right. Will I have to go to City Hall to get some type of pass to say I need to use a wheelchair? I want to make sure the rest of the family is having a great time. I would like to know some of the in's and out's of Disneyland and California Adventure. We will have our 6 year old son and our oldest daughter and husband and their 7 month old baby in tow. As I said before, our youngest daughter will be newly married and they will spend two days with us and we want to make this special for them also. We want to have one special dinner all together, so we will need ideas on this please. Again, thank you for all your help.

 

[Dot2Vegas]

You'll have a wonderful time!!!

I spent a Disney day in a wheelchair a few years ago, when I shattered three of my toes a day before we left!
It really didn't affect our plans much. We made sure to arrive early to rent the chair. DH handled all of this and brought the chair to me.
We used the handicap entrances for rides. It was fairly easy to do. CMs were very helpful with directing us to where we needed to go. Sometimes it shortened our wait time for rides and other times it made our wait slightly longer. I'll add that DH and our three young kids were all able to accompany me through the special entrance.
Getting through the crowds was tricky! Lots of people bumping into the chair and not making room for us to get around, that and having DH responsible for wrangling three small kids while pushing me around, was the worst part of things!
All in all it was an easy experience and it was a pleasant as it could be, considering the circumstances. We will be doing the same for our upcoming trip in October, as I will be recovering from back surgery.

 

[Zbugz]

I guess what I need is how to make this a great vacation my wife and kids will always remember. Being in a wheelchair is stressful, but not knowing where to go to enter the attractions just make it more of an headache. Is there anything out there to tell me where I need to enter a ride since I'm in a wheelchair? I have read about the ones charging people the use of their disability, and DO NOT want people to think this is all we are doing. How does the Fastpass work for me? We don't want to be labeled as one of those people just using a wheelchair to get into the attractions with standing in line, we want to do this right. Will I have to go to City Hall to get some type of pass to say I need to use a wheelchair? I want to make sure the rest of the family is having a great time. I would like to know some of the in's and out's of Disneyland and California Adventure. We will have our 6 year old son and our oldest daughter and husband and their 7 month old baby in tow. As I said before, our youngest daughter will be newly married and they will spend two days with us and we want to make this special for them also. We want to have one special dinner all together, so we will need ideas on this please. Again, thank you for all your help.

In Disneyland you almost always head to the ride's exit. At the ride's entrance look for the wheelchair symbol with an arrow pointing you in the right direction. There is usually a CM at the ride's entrance that will point where you need to go. The only place that I can remember a fastpass being helpful in DL is Star Tours. That helps you bypass the outside queue, otherwise you have to wait in it before you branch off to a wheelchair accessible area. POTC tends to get overwhelmed by GAC, so you may want to hit that one earlier. Space Mtn also gets backed up.

In California Adventure, the CM at the entrance will direct you if other than the entrance. Usually you just go thru the normal queue and maybe branch off to a different loading area. Use fastpasses as normal. We found California Adventure to take longer than normal due to having to wait for the green train which has a transferable seat. The WOC seating area is a good view, but there isn't a lot of space for your mobile family members. Aladdin has some wheelchair seating, but it is limited. I would definitely get there early to be able to sit together as much as possible.

Not knowing what your injury entails, you may want to request the vehicles with "tabs" to ease transferring. These are regular ride vehicles with a folding tab that allows one to transfer more smoothly. The CMs will help you.

I don't know if you will need the GAC. If you are in your own chair, you might not need one. Just stop by City Hall and ask.

Please know that little kids and others often dart in front of you. And if your family members are helping push you around, they will get a good workout.

HTH

 

[Malcon10t]

Are you in your own chair or are you renting there? Like we said, in DCA, just use the regular lines. On Racers and Toy Story, once you get to the front of the line, you will get diverted to the HA area, which simply will allow you to be sent to the area where you can exit without stairs. DCA is great, as you won't need to worry about anything, just go through the lines.

A big question is can you transfer? With FP, you will need to check with CMs at the ride. Space Mountain, Indy, and Splash are ones that will have you do something different with regards to FP. Space Mountain and Indy in the past has said not to use FP as HA line supercedes the FP.

This is for wheelchair -

In Space, go to the exit and join the line. They have a special rocket where you can take your time loading, and they have a slide board if you need assistance boarding.

Star Tours, you will join the regular line until you enter the building, then they will take you in through a different door.

Buzz - Join the regular line, when you get to the load point, they will send you through an additional door, where you can either load with your chair if you can't transfer, or you can take your time loading.

Matterhorn - Join the regular line, they will divert you when you get through to the chalets.

Autopia - Enter the regular line, they will divert you to be able to avoid stairs. They will have you go down an elevator. Your family will have to take stairs.

Nemo - Go to the area near the exit to Autopia, and there will be 1-2 CMs there, they will put you in the regular HA line. If you cannot do stairs/transfer, you can do the Marine Observation Outpost. That is not in the subs, but a viewing area where you and your family can watch a video of sorts. I really like this myself.

Train - Go to the exit.

Monorail - Go the regular line.

IASW - Go to the front area and there is a HA line there.

Most of Fantasyland - Use the exits.

Splash - Go to the exit.

HM- Go to the entrance, a CM will talk to you, then give you a card explaining what to do.

Pirates - Go to the exit and join the line.

Indy - Go through the exit and join the line.

Jungle Cruise - Go through the exit and join the line.


Now, while I say "Go through the exit", please do not expect this to be immediate or even faster boarding, because in most cases it is not, and in quite a few, it will take longer. People will see you coming in through the exit, and will think you are boarding faster, but they will not have seen you in the line waiting at the exit. I can transfer and walk, but distances are harder for me. An example of what I do is on pirates is my girls get in line, while I wait at the Royal Street Veranda. When they reach the top, just before entering the building, I will join them in line. Then I simply need to walk the distance from the entrance to load, then back out to the walkway.

 

[lalasmama]

We are surprising our 6 year old son with a trip to Disneyland in early December, as we did this back in 1998 with our daughters. This time our oldest daughter will bring her husband and their baby and our youngest daughter will be very newly married (15 days before the trip) so her and her husband will be joining us for two days. We will be arriving into John Wayne airport early afternoon so the first day will be relaxing and visiting Downtown Disney. We are also going to be staying at the Disneyland Hotel. My issue now is I will be in a wheelchair, so I need some ideas on how to make this a trip, one everyone will remember in a good way. I just want to let everyone know, I'm in this chair due to being severely injured while in the Air Force, not because I want to get easier access to the attractions. Thanks everyone

Welcome to the Disboards! And thank you for your service!

A couple of thoughts came to mind with your post.

First, make sure to take advantage of the Military Salute tickets! They are $129, I believe, starting October (up from $125 or so) for a 3-day parkhopper, and you can get up to 6 per year. (There's some argument on if you can get 6 and your spouse can get 6 as well. Worth a try!)

Second, I'd consider doing a ECV (the electric scooters). They can be rented for between $35-45/day. Many places will drop them off at your hotel before you arrive, and pick them up after you check out. Yes, a manual chair is doable, but, really its a vacation, so you might as well give everyone's arms a break too My dad fell down an elevator shaft, and was confined to a wheelchair for months (I think the better part of a year--long enough that his insurance covered a custom manual chair). We had already planned our Disneyland trip, so he brought his chair on our trip to Disneyland, and was taking many more breaks than planned. He still had fun, of course, but was beyond the normal "Disney Day Drain" that most people have, and we cancelled our second day because he was so wiped out from the first day.

Your wheelchair or ECV will take the place of a Guest Assistance Card (also called a GAC). When you get into DL, stop at the City Hall to pick up a brochure explaining where to go for the wheelchair entrances for each ride. This helped us a lot!

If you think your younger child would like it, try a reservation at Blue Bayou! It's inside the POTC ride, and so fun to sit and watch the boats of the ride go by... and it looks like night all the time in there, which is a little "trippy" to me, LOL, and thoroughly confused my DD!

 

[SeattleRedBear]

When you get into DL, stop at the City Hall to pick up a brochure explaining where to go for the wheelchair entrances for each ride. This helped us a lot!

I'll second this. The disabilities map and brochure were GREAT! The map was coded to show which attractions can accomodate wheelchairs, which can accomodate ECVs, which require transfer and which have an alternative experience (like Finding Nemo subs or Sleeping Beauty Castle walk-through). And as Lalasmama points out, it also explain where the wheelchair entrances are for each attraction (yes, look for the wheelchair sign, bu it's not obvious sometimes).

The wheelchair seating in Aladdin is the back row of the center section of the main floor. Good seats for the show, but the elephant parade goes right behind you so you have to turn around to get a close view of the parade. I think for most of the other shows (ITTBAB, Captain EO, Muppets, Lincoln, etc.) the wheelchair seating is typically the last row.

 

[Geemo]

I'll be going Oct 26 thru Nov 2. If you'd like, I would be happy to stop in at city Hall or where ever and pick up a copy of the guidelines for wheelchairs and drop it in the mail to you.

It might give you a better idea of how the various ride lines are handled for those using a wheelchair.

If you need it sooner, maybe some one going in the next few days or weeks would be able to do the same.

Lets us know if you're interested.

Geemo

 

[SeattleRedBear]

I'll be going Oct 26 thru Nov 2. If you'd like, I would be happy to stop in at city Hall or where ever and pick up a copy of the guidelines for wheelchairs and drop it in the mail to you.

No need. Current versions of the Disabilities Guide are available online:

Disneyland

California Adventure

And check in with Guest Services when you first enter the park. They will provide you with a version of guide (if you don't want to bring it with) and will answer any other questions you may have.

 

[disneyfan64]

I will be taking my power wheelchair just because I'm use to it. Does anyone have a choice on transportation to the hotel? Thank you for all this information, you all "ROCK"!

 

[Malcon10t]

I will be taking my power wheelchair just because I'm use to it. Does anyone have a choice on transportation to the hotel? Thank you for all this information, you all "ROCK"!

All of ART buses are WC accessible.

 

[COASTIEandMATE]

Welcome to the Disboards! And thank you for your service!

A couple of thoughts came to mind with your post.

First, make sure to take advantage of the Military Salute tickets! They are $129, I believe, starting October (up from $125 or so) for a 3-day parkhopper, and you can get up to 6 per year. (There's some argument on if you can get 6 and your spouse can get 6 as well. Worth a try!)

Second, I'd consider doing a ECV (the electric scooters). They can be rented for between $35-45/day. Many places will drop them off at your hotel before you arrive, and pick them up after you check out. Yes, a manual chair is doable, but, really its a vacation, so you might as well give everyone's arms a break too My dad fell down an elevator shaft, and was confined to a wheelchair for months (I think the better part of a year--long enough that his insurance covered a custom manual chair). We had already planned our Disneyland trip, so he brought his chair on our trip to Disneyland, and was taking many more breaks than planned. He still had fun, of course, but was beyond the normal "Disney Day Drain" that most people have, and we cancelled our second day because he was so wiped out from the first day.

Your wheelchair or ECV will take the place of a Guest Assistance Card (also called a GAC). When you get into DL, stop at the City Hall to pick up a brochure explaining where to go for the wheelchair entrances for each ride. This helped us a lot!

If you think your younger child would like it, try a reservation at Blue Bayou! It's inside the POTC ride, and so fun to sit and watch the boats of the ride go by... and it looks like night all the time in there, which is a little "trippy" to me, LOL, and thoroughly confused my DD!

Where can we rent ECV ? WE are staying at the Disneyland Hotel and would like to have it delivered... thank you in advance.

 

[Malcon10t]

Where can we rent ECV ? WE are staying at the Disneyland Hotel and would like to have it delivered... thank you in advance.

DLH requires you to use Scooterbug if you are having it delivered when you aren't there yet. I prefer Deckert's Surgical, so I have family meet the delivery person.

 

[Dmto4]

All of these responses are great! I just wanted to add that I was in a chair during our 2019 trip. While most rides accommodate chairs in the regular line, I did have to go to the exits for about half of them. Look for the umbrellas and go to the cast member there. They will give you a return time for your entire group. It was usually only 5 to 20 minutes. They then let all 9 of us on the ride together through the exit. Of all the rides, I believe Indiana Jones was the hardest to get through in a chair. We still all had a great time and hopefully your vacation will be just as magical! The whole process was a lot easier than I had expected.

 

[felice]

The fact that you are in a wheelchair shouldn't be a problem at DL, for the CM's and the other staff there. Hope you're able to enjoy yourself just as much as before.