ECV Difficulties at AK-What's your Experience

[Flora Fan]

I wanted to post some difficulties that my dad and I had recently at the AK park. My hope is that there are others who may be able to offer some experiences, good or difficult, that may help others in planning trips to the AK.

In all fairness, I should preface my comments: My Dad and I were at WDW April 8-14 (Easter week) and visited AK on that Tuesday. The park was crowded this day, but not overrun with people.

My dad is limited in walking and therefore, must use an ECV at all times during our stays at WDW. He remains in the ECV the entire day as getting up and down is rather painful for him. (I'm hoping this little bit of background will help)

We found that the walkways at the AK were rather difficult to navigate with the crowds. To a certain extent, we did expect this; however, the AK was more difficult than the other parks as the walkways did not seem as open or wide.

The other problem he had was in the men's rest rooms. Apparently, they were very difficult to navigate. On several occasions, the urinals were located right near the door as were the hand driers, which were "high tech" and great fun for the little ones. This made getting out, without running into anyone almost impossible.

I'm afraid that after 2 hours in the park, we gave up and left. Because this experience was so disturbing, I felt the need to share. I am hoping; however, that our experience was unusual. If not, I am hoping that the Disney folks will see this post and realize a problem that may be able to be fixed.

Please, if you have had a more positive experience, or a similar experience, post a reply and share.

Thanks!

 

[RNMOM]

I'm sorry to hear he had a hard time. I have gone to WDW 7 times and myself have never gone to Animal Kingdom. My husband and sons have gone but I just never have.

As for the ECV issue. When it is crowded at the parks, or even when we are out at a mall or in other crowded places, I ask my DH to walk to my left and just ahead of my scooter. He kind of 'blazes the trail' for me. I keep on the far right side of the sidewalk and follow his lead. You can do it on the left side also by reversing. When there are large crowds this is often the only way I can navigate. I even have trouble at fairs, craft shows and such.

I was trying to find information about Animal Kingdom to see if they have any companion bathrooms or family bathrooms. Those are large and private. He can use this even if you don't have to go in with him. This would be a benefit I think for him. Perhaps someone else here knows the answer to that one.

I hope he doesn't give up too easily. It is often tough to navigate those crowds even if you are on foot. That doesn't keep us die-hards away from WDW does it? LOL

 

[zumbergc]

I think with all the paths, some are not very wide. When it gets crowded, its harder to get around.

A tip if your going to africa.

If your heading into africa from the main entrance and its early in the day.
You can cut thru the path that is in front of the store , on the left side.
The store is after you go thru the entrance section with the animals, over that first big bridge. You can avoid a lot of traffic that way.
Sometimes there are a few people, but much less than the main path.

You might want to post which restrooms, in which areas, maybe others would know if all the restrooms are the same, or if others are larger, and easier to navigate.

 

[mommyseven]

AK was tricky. There were a couple of times in which I ran off the walkway into the soil or up on some decorative rock-like edging. When viewing the animals and going into a few of the enclosed areas, opening the doors without assistance was a challenge. There seemed to be a lot of doors. Even when I got really close to the rail to see the animals people always walked in front of me - often with very little space between me and the rail - and stood in front of me.

Other than those issues I didn't have any more difficult there than other places. Oh, there was a spot or two in which the ramp was out of the way or it caused me to turn around rather than being continuous. It was the people that went out of their way to stand in front of me that was the biggest pain.

 

[Momelie]

I tried and tried, but finally just quit going to AK when I needed an ECV. Actually, we've just quit going at all, because the rougher paths make me feel like I've been hit by a truck when using a wheelchair instead. (This could be a result of DH's pushing skills, but it doesn't happen in the other parks).

My family doesn't want to go without me, so we've just eliminated AK from our Disney experience.

For it to be the newest park, IMO its probably the least comfortably accessible. I mean, the paths are wide, but not easy to navigate, the queues are very accessible, but physically getting to them is difficult.

Not a great big deal, in the grand scheme of things - I don't feel like I'm missing a significant part of the Disney experience, and we do just fine staying at the other places.