OK - I'll explain. No attacks, please. My thoughts are for me and my situation, not to belittle or judge others.
First, let me explain my life in the last 8 months. I was a very active music teacher, mellophone player in a drum corps doing lots of parades, and a very active sports-inclined individual. I was the type who never sat still - ever. I had some bone & joint defects in my feet & ankles which were causing problems, so my pain level decided that it was time to do some surgery which I had put off for about the last 20 years. Part of my surgery included a titanium ankle.
I was allergic to titanium, developed an infection, almost lost my foot, and almost lost my life. Three surgeries later - due to the infection - I have lost bone, muscle, and tissue, and have trouble walking at all. I can walk with the aid of a walker, but I have been told by my doctor and physical therapist that I will never be able I to walk again the way I once did. They suggest a wheelchair so that I can get around. I am very stubborn, and I cannot get to the point of accepting the wheelchair. I applaud any of you who have accepted life's challenges and have accepted the wheelchair for what it is - an aid to help, not a curse. Maybe someday - I'll be able to get to this point of acceptance.
The "wheelchair mold" is the set of 6 questions that Cheshire Figment has people ask themselves before going to WDW to determine whether or not to use a wheelchair. I do answer positively to these questions, but I do not fit the common sense mold of acceptance. This is what I meant when I stated that I do not fit the mold. It was never an attack against anyone.
I did obtain a GAC, but it was never assumed that it would do anything but help me get more time to enter & exit a ride vehicle, and to use an alternate entrance if available. I never expected it to be anything more than that. If the average wait time is 60 minutes, I will wait 70 or more for my turn. I do know what a GAC is intended to do.
My problems - WITH the GAC - were as follows:
1 - Epcot - I was denied entrance into the American Adventure. I cannot sit up top due to heights (epilepsy), and the CM would not permit me to walk down a concrete ramp to the front. [I was permitted to do this at Fantasmic, Indiana Jones, and Beauty & the Beast.] The CM nastily told me to "get a wheelchair". I asked if they had one I could use, but they did not.
2 - Epcot - Nemo -I tried to explain, but none of the CMs would listen - that I can stand for a while on a flat surface, but that the inclines in their cue were severly affecting my ankle. They would not allow me to use an alternate entrance, even with my GAC. I suffered through all of the inclines because the only help the CMs would give me was advice of "get a wheelchair". They did not listen when I explained that it was not stamina, but their inclines. [I did see the manager at Guest Relations on a second visit - who allowed me to use the flat entrance through the gift shop. I did use a wheelchair to board the ride, since the moving floor cannot be stopped.]
3 - The only way into MK is by ferry, monorail, or bus from your resort. We know this from our yearly trips. However, even with a handicapped tag, there is no way into MK other than the bus for me. I cannot use the ferry or monorail due to my epilepsy, and I had terrible trouble getting onto the buses due to my foot & ankle. No one could help me at all. I was trapped into taking the bus, using the wheelchair ramp. [I was humiliated getting on to the buses with some drivers, but I guess there is nothing Disney could have done for me to be able to take a car to MK. It was the attitude of individual drivers who told me that I should "get a wheelchair".]
4 - MK - The CM at Small World gave me a lot of attitude about walking onto the wheelchair boat with my rollator. She denied access to me the first time. She told me I should "get a wheelchair". (I went back to Guest Relations and they called over to them, allowing me to walk with my rollator onto the wheelchair boat. What a ridiculous amount of extra walking and aggravation this was!)
5 - DHS - no problems with boarding rides. No problem with entering shows.
6 - Animal Kingdom - The CM wanted me to leave my walker with the other wheelchairs before getting on to the Safari ride. I told them that I needed it to walk there. After much arguing, I was permitted to use my walker to get into a seat, then my daughter had to place it with the wheelchairs.
So - as I was stating in my previous post - it just didn't feel very magical at WDW for me this year. I felt many times that CMs just didn't care to listen to what I was asking, and that I was in their way of the REAL guests. Yes, I am bitter at my lack of acceptance at many places in WDW. I'm just me - trying to get through it all.
I'm sorry this is so long. I didn't mean to hi-jack anyone's thread. But - I felt forced into defending myself.
Thanks for listening.
. It's just sometimes easy to misunderstand each other, when you don't have the added clues of gestures, facial expressions and voice tone (I know, I've misunderstood people sooo many times on forums and internet messages). 
Its the same deal now.
