Fastpass: Does it really make things easier for the handicapped

[lisapooh]

Now that amny lines are mainstreamed and fast pass has been initiated the fastpass line may be the only accessible line. This forces the handicapped to use fastpass even to the point of making the wait longer in some cases because of needing to wait in a separate line or area for an accessible vehicle for an even longer time than the regualr line takes.
Is this really providing equal access or is it actually making things harder one the handicapped guests and their families.

Pooh

 

[SueM in MN]

Good subject.
There is one postive that I have seen out of it. People with Guest Assistance Cards sort of blend in with the people who have fastpasses. Once you have shown the card, no one knows whether you have a GAC or used a fastpass. (Unless the CMs keep mentioning it, which happened to us at Splash Mountain).
Problem 1) If it takes a long time to get going in the morning, it's possiblity that all the fastpasses for some rides will be given out for the day by the time you get to the park.
Problem 2) If your fastpass return time is far in the future, who knows if you will still have the stamina to be in the park when your time arrives.
Problem 3) For shows with limited wheelchair seating, all the wheelchair spots may be taken already when you arrive for your fastpass time. This happened to us for Little Mermaid and we had to wait for the next show.
Problem 4) Getting fastpasses requires at least one person in your party to do a lot of backtracking. o

SueM in MN
Co-Moderator of disABILITIES

 

[Choppertester]

I've posted this before and I'll post it again. If the ride doesnt allow the mainstreamed handicapped person to get on the ride once at the front of the line then the handicapped must have a seperate entrance. Sure with a seperate entrance you may get on the ride sooner but due to the few and far between wheelchair accessible carriages you often have to wait longer. This is unacceptable fastpass or mainstream. People often forget that handicapped customers, generally, cannot ride the E-ticket rides due to health considerations yet they still pay the same entry fee. I guess I'll find out Mar 10 to 20 as the last time we went (Feb 99) Fastpass was nowhere to be seen and mainstreaming was not enforced. I hope WDW will not convince me and my family to spend our $$$ elsewhere.

 

[lisapooh]

If you are like me. Use a power chair mainly because I cannot use a scooter sue to one hand not working right but able to transfer with a cane and fairly independent it may be the handicapped guest who must do the backtracking themselves.
Another bad thing is often the fastpass hits on the same time I have reservations to eat or must eat due to being and insulin dependent diabetic. I don't have the choice of not eating or waiting to eat until later.
Plus on some rides were there is no accessible regular line you are forced to decide if you want to see the parade or ride the ride because of the fastpass time. It is my feeling that fastpass should not be used on rides that do not have both lines accessible or the handicapped guests should be given a pass through the fastpass line.
It is done randomly and should be standard and not at the descretion of a castmember. I had it done at Haunted Mansion since the chair cannot go through the standard line. I have been given the option of going through the back way to the stretch room but don't do it after having my canes knocked from under me the only time I did it. People just don't notice the canes in the dark.

Pooh

 

[tammyh-oregon]

This was the problem we encountered at DCA in California. Separate lines for the disabled after waiting in the regular line and the fastpass line. When we were in WDW in Sept, at test track the fastpass line was the only accessible line as the other line had stairs so you are required to get a fastpass or beg at the entrance to be allowed to go forward. To us this is not what mainstreaming is all about. Having to wait longer than the average guest is not equal access. What the separate lines do if they are visible is to help cut down on "fakers" who will see there is no front of line access anymore but we are the one paying the cost. As I said in my DCA wheelchair post, if we complain we are preceived as whining to get special access. This causes the people who need the special access to be less vocal and the "normal" guest to not complain about front of line access so Disney gets less complaints from both sides and they are happy because they don't have to deal with it. I am stumped about what to do about this. Several people we talked to at DCA had complained as did we but we all felt that all Disney was doing was listening in one ear and ignoring us with the other. Maybe this is why that one guy sued last year to try and get them to listen. Maybe he felt he had to sue to get their attention and make them see what we have been dealing with.

Tammy