GAC card

[emmakatbaby]

Help!!! Our trip is in June 2009 and my mom has to have knee surgury next week!!! Does anyone know how the GAC card works???

 

[KPeveler]

check out the FAQs at the top of the page, there is a good discussion of it.

the Disney policy at this point is that if you have stamina or mobility problems, you should rent a wheelchair or scooter. your mom will NOT be able to use crutches the whole time, and a wc or scooter allows mainstream (normal) access to almost all attractions.

if she is walking some, she can get a GAC which will allow her to skip stairs if need be.

just to note (you did ask, but i say it every time) - wheelchair, scooters, and people with GACs do not skip any lines. the only people who get front of the line passes are critically ill children with Make a Wish and similar trips.

I think a scooter would be your mom's best bet - there is lots of info about those too in the FAQs

 

[SueM in MN]

I agree with recommendation for a wheelchair or ECV.
There is a lot of walking in a WDW trip and only a small portion of it is in the lines where a GAC might assist you. Having a wheelchair or ECV will help conserve energy for having fun instead of using it all just getting around.

If you have a wheelchair or ECV, you don't need a GAC to use the accessible entrances. As was already mentioned, you would need a GAC to use those entrances if you have a non visible need or disability.
You should be aware though that using the accessible entrances with a GAC is going to involve the same amount of walking. There will also be times (mostly in shows ) which will involve a standing period of up to 15 minutes in a preshow area. If you have the wheelchair or ECV you will have a place to sit while you wait. Some queues are a very far distance, even if the wait is not long. Someone measured the queue for Soarin to be 1/4 mile - and that us just to get in. Once the ride us over, you have to walk a similar distance to get out.

 

[emmakatbaby]

Thanks for the extremely fast replies. We do plan on bringing an ECV with us (my dad already has rented one for the time frame of our June trip in case she needs it). Will the GAC allow her to enter in handicapped entrances or will they allow it because she is an ECV? It will only be she and my dad using it. My sister, myself and 6 kids will use "regular" line entrances.
Thanks

 

[SueM in MN]

Thanks for the extremely fast replies. We do plan on bringing an ECV with us (my dad already has rented one for the time frame of our June trip in case she needs it). Will the GAC allow her to enter in handicapped entrances or will they allow it because she is an ECV? It will only be she and my dad using it. My sister, myself and 6 kids will use "regular" line entrances.
Thanks

Most of the lines actually are wheelchair accessible and you would all be able to wait together. These are called "Mainstream Lines".
In some attractions, you will all be able to wait together and board together because people using wheelchairs and ECVs use the same entrance as everyone else.

Some attractions have things like stairways, or the boarding area is on one side of a track and the exit is on the other. Since those things are 'roadblocks' for wheelchairs and ECVs, there will be a bypass that allows those using wheelchairs/ECVs to avoid those 'roadblocks".
For those, you would usually wait together until very close to the regular boarding area or the roadblock. At that point, you, your sister and the kids would take the 'regular' path and your mom and dad would take the bypass. They do not need a GAC to use the accessible lines/bypasses. Having a wheelchair or ECV tells that CMs they need to use those.

There are a few attractions, mostly in MK, where the regular line or entrance was not able to be made accessible at all. Those attractions have a separate wheelchair entrance (most of those are in Fantasyland). People using wheelchairs and ECVs don't need a GAC to use those entrances. For those entrances, they will usually only allow 5 people plus the person using a wheelchair or ECV.

For shows, much of the time you will be able to wait together, but there are wheelchair spots in the back row with a seat for one person to sit next to the wheelchair. The rest of the party can sit in the seats just ahead of the wheelchair row or can sit anywhere else they want to in the theater.

The only reason she would need a GAC would be if she plans to walk in some lines and wants to make sure she can use the bypass to avoid stairs and things like that.

This will make much more sense when you actually get there and see how things are set up. If there are things that are still confusing after this explanation, please ask more questions.