Disneyland

[compassion]

Hello everyone, hope you are having a great day. I am going to be visiting Disneyland with my disabled son. does anyone have any suggestions on places to eat and stay and how to handle all the lines? Thank you

 

[Shorty82]

Hello everyone, hope you are having a great day. I am going to be visiting Disneyland with my disabled son. does anyone have any suggestions on places to eat and stay and how to handle all the lines? Thank you

It might be a good idea to read the FAQ of the disABILITIES board for suggestions for your son and what not and post there any specific questions you have.

 

[CanadianGuy]

I've actually moved this thread to the disAbilities forum.

You'll probably get better answers here.

Knox

 

[BillSears]

First of all I want to clarify you mean Disneyland and not Walt Disney World. Are you going to California or Florida?

The best place to start is the FAQ in this forum:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=595713

Restaurants? Well it depends on what you like to eat. I know WDW restaurants are all wheelchair accessible and most of them have good food. I've never been to Disneyland but I've heard the restaurant selection inside of the parks is limited however I'm sure they should all be wheelchair accessible.

what to do about the long lines

As a wheelchair user the way I handle the long lines is...I wait in them. It sounds like you'll be going down in the middle of July and that's a busy time. You should use fastpass whenever available but even using fastpass there will be lines.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

As Disneyland is an older park (very much pre-ADA) most of the attractions are not mainstreamed and there are alternate entrances for wheelchairs. When you get to an attraction either look for a sign or ask the first CM who appears to be controlling the line.

At Disney California Adventure all lines are mainstreamed, so you will just use the same queue as eerybody else.

If he is not in an obvious wheelchair, you can ask, at Guest Relations, for a GAC which will allow you to use a stroller as a wheelchair. The GAC rules at DLR are the same as at WDW.

As far as restaurants, it has been a while since I have been to DLR, but I can only think of three sit-down restaurants in DL, the Blue Bayou, the Plaza, and the Carnation shop. However, unlike WDW, Downtown Disney is right outside the entrance to DL so there are quite a few places to eat there.

 

[disneylandkitty]

pm me with any questions u have my bf disabled and we go to dl every weekend

 

[SueM in MN]

I have not used it, but I have read good things about a service called Ride Max. You indicate which attractions you want to experience and you end up with a customized schedule of the order to go on the attractions to give the shortest waits.

Even if you do get a GAC, it would be helpful to be able to avoid the crowds.

 

[dclfun]

If you are looking for a close place to stay, some of the offsite hotels are actually closer than the DL hotels. I was surprised to see some directly across the street from DL. If you need an accessible resort/hotel room just be sure to request it at the time you make your reservation. ---Kathy

 

[Hook's Girl]

Make sure you pick up a Guidebook for Guest's with Disabilities at Guest Relations when you enter the park! They have all the information about queue lines and entrances!

 

[jdb0822]

when are you going to Disneyland ?

 

[Tiggerrn2]

Just back from DL with broken ankle/cam boot. Rented a motorized wheelchair for the days there. At California Adventure, all lines are wheelchair accessible and you wait. I was able to transfer from chair to rides, so did not need to worry about whether or not chair could go on the ride. We utilized fastpasses wherever we needed to. At DL, we went to Guest Services, and they gave a pamphlet to me that let me know where to enter lines for wheelchair access. Some rides have limited handicapped riders at a time (Pirates and Space Mountain) so if the line for wheelchairs is long, just go back later. We waited only 10 minutes for Nemo. As I said, I could transfer, so it didn't matter which sub I went into. Pirates was our longest wait, but if we'd come back a little later, there were no wheelchairs waiting and we'd have gotten right on.
Fantasmic has seating down front for handicapped access, but for the fireworks you are left to your own devices. My advice there is find a spot early. Really early. Main street gets packed.

 

[Barbday62]

Disneyland has many places to eat just not the best food lol.
A wheel chair can get in almost all of them but not always easy. Our favorite places to eat include the Plaze on Main street. We usually share a half chicken dinner. Its where you get your food on a tray pay for it and then sit down.
Some places are harder to get wheel chair in like Blue Byau and Cafe New Orleans. We also found it hard to get into the other food place in New Orleans. I cant remember the title right now. We always just leave my husbands wheelchair out side for those because he can walk.


I think just about every ride in Fantasyland we had to use exits to get into. There are cast member and signs to tell you how to get to each attraction. Most rides seems to be exits which are fun to negotiate wit a wheel chair when others are exiting, but at least we can ride.

There are handicap sections for parade viewing and fantasmic viewing. Not the bext spots but at least reserved in case you need that. The parade stop when we sat there was the first float and the last float on the two stops.

 

[OneLittleSpark]

I've finally been to Disneyland (Yay!) so can now comment knowledgeably on wheelchair access. I think people have pretty much covered all the important points, I just wanted to add that not all the wheelchair lines are that easy to find, so do be prepared to ask CMs for help. If you have any problems, they're always very helpful!

Good luck and have a great trip!