FOTL at Universal and Wheelchair access??

[dislvr75]

We are staying onsite and hope to enjoy FOTL however our son is in a wheelchair/convaid cruiser. Can someone tell me whether the FOTL is next to the regular queue, like Disney fastpass, so that it has long railings, possibility stairs?? Or does it allow an alternate entrance that actually on some rides might be the handicapped entrance? Obviously we need the alternate entrance for his wheelchair, which is most often the exit, I'm just wondering is that where the FOTL people end up anyway? Many of the rides have elaborate storyline setups in the queue, I suspect we will miss those. I hope I explained this right and you all understand what I am asking, forgive me! Thanks!

 

[SueM in MN]

Because of when it was built (after ADA came into being), Universal's regular queues are almost entirely wheelchair accessible and wheelchair users wait in the same line with everyone else. The only queues they list as not being totally wheelchair accessible are Pteranodon Flyers at Islands of Adventure and Back to the Future at Universal. They do not have alternate entrances for wheelchair users and you usually do board at the regular boarding area (or are sent to a specific part of the regular boarding area). Because they built that park after ADA was already in effect, it was planned with accessibility in mind, rather than retro-fitting it later, as WDW had to do with their already existing attractions.

I have heard that the FOTL access at Universal bypasses some of the storyline - I expect many people who are using FOTL at Universal have already been on those rides before and don't mind missing out. If no one knows here, you could go to the Universal Board on this site and find out about the regular FOTL access.

Here's a link to Universal's "ADA Page". At the top of that page, there is a link to download Universal/IOA "Rider's Guide" for people with disabilities. It's very complete (Disney could learn from it) in identifying exactly what "skills/abilities" you need to have to safely ride each attraction.

Almost forgot....
almost all the fastpass queues at WDW are completely wheelchair accessible. For some of the rides where the regular line is not wheelchair accessible, the fastpass line is the accessible entrance.

 

[dislvr75]

Sue, thank you so very much for the information. We've taken my son to Disneyland twice and WDW once, I really just assumed that we would be going IN all of the exits in order to access the rides. It had never occured to me that Universal Orlando was so much newer than Disney and that it was built accessible. I guess that makes our FOTL status even more important since I assumed that we would be going in all of the exits!!!! I did access the webpage from Universal's site and it was helpful. I did think of asking it on the Universal Board but I was afraid someone would tell me I should have posted it here! Thanks for your help and for moderating such a wonderfully informative board!!!

 

[SueM in MN]

Thanks for your thanks, and glad to help.
DL is much less accessible than WDW.
You will find at WDW that all the rides/attractions at AK and the Studio were built with Mainstream Lines (where the lines were designed for wheelchair users/people with special needs to wait in the regular lines). Most of Epcot is Mainstream and all the newer rides/attractions at MK are Mainstream. MK has the least Mainstream lines since it was built first and things had to be retro-fitted. But, all the Fastpass lines are accessible and many of the older ride lines are too as the rides were updated or renovated. So, there are very few attractions where you will be going thru the exit.

 

[ktglads]

The worst ride in Universal for WC access is the Mummy. There are story line for both the regular and express people, but there are stairs involved there. Instead you get to go into a service area and take an elevator up. Then, you will have to wait for a specific car that will definitely go back to the left side so you won't have to do stairs. You may end up waiting a while to get on this ride because of this.

 

[pugdog]

acctually sue US was NOT fully accessably when they first opened. we went aboput 6 months after they opened and NONE of the rides queues were wc friendly. about the only thing that was was the shops.

 

[SueM in MN]

We were at Universal a few months (3 or 4?) after they opened and found all the queues to be wheelchair accessible. We had a narrow wheelchair though, so an extra wide may be a problem, but we had no problems waiting in the lines. We did have problems with DD waiting in the direct sun (there were no shaded lines at that time and very few trees of any size in the park) and in line with everyone else for some of the longer lines. We went to Guest Services and also asked at each queue if there was anywhere we could wait out of the line. The story we got for each one was "our park is totally wheelchair accessible and meets all ADA rules, so we don't have to do any more than that." What was not accessible was their rides. You did (and still do) have to transfer out of the wheelchair for almost everything.

We went back a few times after that, but have not been back in about 7 or 8 years because we found that the park was not all that wheelchair friendly, even though it was accessible.

EDITED to add: The OP asked about the queues and the answer I gave about accessibility is about the queues. Most of the rides at Universal require a transfer. The transfer areas did appear to me to meet ADA requirements. But, meeting requirements does not mean it is necessarily friendly for people with wheelchairs. It is much more wheelchair friendly if most of the rides/attractions allow someone using a wheelchair to be able to experience the attraction without transferring. Because Universal's don't and because our family just didn't enjoy the atmosphere of Universal as much as we enjoy WDW, we have not been back there in a number of years.
I also included a link with the Universal ride info in my first response so that anyone who reads this can decide if the park is accessible enough for them.