DisneyQuest & wheelchairs

[piratesmate]

I don't know if anyone else has ever commented on the feasibility of using a wheelchair at DisneyQuest, but I didn't read anything about this before leaving & thought someone else might benefit . . .

I was using a manual wheelchair while at WDW in late May. After viewing Cirque, DD wanted to check out DQ. I was very disappointed with the accessibility.

It was nearly impossible to move around on any given floor. The crowds were relatively large & there seems to be very little floor space. After battling our way around for ~30 minutes or so, I just asked DH to leave me. He & DD went off on their own for a while & enjoyed. In the meantime, I found it impossible to move more than a few feet at a time. I don't know if this is because I don't use a wheelchair on a daily basis - or because I didn't have an air horn on the chair. (Just kidding!)

There is an elevator, but it always seemed to be through a crowd & down a hallway. i.e. Not easy to get to! I don't remember if there were any ramps to get between levels. I don't think so - but I could just have been discouraged!

It seemed like every floor we tried had very little on the main level & then there were steps to get to the rest of the attractions on that floor.

Next time we do WDW, I won't even attempt going to DQ - unless someone else has insider tips that I don't know about!

 

[SueM in MN]

Thanks for posting. We haven't gone there, so I can't add anything. We had one other post about Disney Quest that I remember:
Disney Quest thread
One of the posters had no problem, but I don't know if the person in a wheelchair was a child. That would make a lot of difference. We were able to get into much smaller places when my DD used a small child's wheelchair.

 

[piratesmate]

The main problem wasn't really the "size" of the chair - although as I've mentioned before, the larger chairs present their own challenge! The real problem I encountered at DQ was in moving around the building & between attractions. DH became frustrated because of the crowds - it was just difficult to find any opening through which to push the chair.

In addition to actually moving the chair, the elevator was not readily visible from the main floor & difficult to find. We only ever found one ramp. All other level changes seemed to be done via stairs and we didn't see any signs indicating "wheelchairs this way" like you find in the parks.

This was one of those days when I quickly lost heart & gave up. I had looked forward to doing these attractions, but wasn't up to fighting the crowd. If it had been my child in the wheelchair, I would have gladly put up with the inconvenience. I guess you might compare the experience for me to someone encountering a line w/o FP & a 5 - 6 hour wait. It just wasn't worth the hassle! Maybe if I'd been better prepared for what I found there . . .

 

[SueM in MN]

When my dd was little, we also tended not to think as mcuh about a step or 2 down (one step, no problem, we can do that!). We even carried her up and down a full flight of stairs at a museum once.
Since Disney Quest was just built, I would assume it has stairs and a ramp to handle every height change. They are probably just too well hidden. We searched around a long time in the Virgin record store before we finally found the elevator. The elevators are sometimes hard to find when it is not busy and impossible to find when it is crowded.
I wonder if anyone has a map of Disney Quest?

 

[lisapooh]

I was able to get pretty much everywhere in Disney Quest in my Power chair. Any problems and I grabbed a castmember and made them show me where I needed to go. Maybe if we bug them enough they will put signs up. My kids gave me a horn and I use it when needed with lots of excuse me, chair coming through comments.
In other words. If you are blocking my pathway I am a PIA so you best move and let me through.

 

[faeflora]

SueMN,
Thanks for the information on the elevator at Virgin Megastore. DH desperately wants to go there and I was wondering if all levels were accessible. See..learn something new here everyday...

Thanks

41 days and counting till WDW....

 

[SueM in MN]

i should tell you where the elevator is at Virgin records. It is actually one of those glass elevators that is on the corner of the front of the building (the corner to your left as you are in the building facing the outside). After we found it, we felt sort of silly, since it is in plain view from the outside of the building.