Gac

SunPatch

Earning My Ears
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
54
My husband has nerve damage in his right foot from a surgery. He can not stand in one place for long periods of time, so I was going to ask about the GAC when we go to Disney, however I read something that implied the GAC is only for kids with disabilities... is the GAC only for all kids or all ages?
 
Hi,

No, my understanding is the GAC applies to everyone, irrespective of age.
 
The GAC is for people of all ages.

However, if your husband has a mobility or stamina concern, Disney Guest Relations is going to suggest/request/require that you rent a wheelchair or scooter. Almost all lines are mainstreamed, and the ability to sit whenever needed is going to be the best thing for you. A GAC really only helps with attractions, and not distances walked or times waited or amount of time standing. In fact, it is pretty common to wait even longer with a GAC, and there are no places to sit while waiting, even with a GAC.

I would suggest looking into a scooter rental. There are companies listed in our FAQs at the top of the page.
 
I agree with KPeveler. A wheelchair or ECV is best for someone who is concerned about standing or stamina.
GACs will usually not shoren the distance walked or give a place to sit. Besides that, the distance walked or standing in line is only a short part of a day at WDW. Most of the 3 to 9 miles people walk on an average park day are getting from place to place, not walking in line.

There is more information about GACs in post 6 of the disABILITIES FAQs thread. I think you are remembering information of GACs given to children on Make a Wish or similar wish programs. Those GACs are different and are only for children with disabilities or medical issues who are on their wish trip. Those GACs often allow families on the wish trip to bypass lines.
That is different than the GACs for other guests with disabilities. 'Regular' GACs are not meant to shorten the wait, just to provide assistance for disabilities that might not be visible .
 

Forgot to add -
Most attractions load continuously, so your wait in line will be a constant, slow walk forward. You would stand in one place for loading, but some of those attractions have moving walkways, which eliminates standing still and others you will be in one place only long enough for the next ride car to arrive - usually only a few seconds.
The only standing time is for things that load in ‘batches’.
An example of batched rides would be Dumbo or Aladdin’s Magic Carpets. For those, you will be standing in one place for the duration of one ride (about 90 seconds at a time). There is no way to avoid that and a GAC will not help with that standing.

Another example of batching is shows. Unless you have an ECV, wheelchair or other mobility device that allows you to sit while you wait, you will be standing somewhere for the duration of one show (this can be up to 15 minutes). THere is no way to avoid that and GACs do not help with standing there.
You will find more information about attractions with ‘built in’ waits in post #3 of the disABILITIES FAQs thread - look under “Ride Accessibility” heading (which I see I need to fix the size of the heading).

If you want to cut down on waiting, using Fastpasses or a touring plan like TourGuide Mike will help you a lot. TourGuide Mike and similar touring plans can help you know what the busiest places are so that you can avoid them and plan your trip to be in the right place at the right time to avoid waits.
 
Actually for my husband he can't sit or stand in one place for a long period of time. He can walk, run, move just fine, but when he has to stop and stand in one place his leg literally feels like it's on fire. This is the first year we'll be dealing with this... I'm kind of hoping they'll let me 'hold' our place in line while him and the kids walk around nearby and then I can text him when I'm close and hopefully he can cut up next to me.

Thanks for the advise. I'm going to ask a CM what they can do to help, I just didn't want to ask if the answer was going to be "no your dh is too old"

I know people try to use the GAC as a line cutting cheat, I don't have a problem waiting my turn, it's just this has recently happened to my husband after a surgery gone bad and he's really almost dreading Disney and standing in line now, so I'm trying to assure him things will be okay.
 
It's not a matter of age. There's no age for a GAC. It's 100% based on need.

The problem that immediately comes to mind is feasibility. In many cases it would be difficult, if not impossible, for your husband to connect with you anywhere close to the front of the line. Most WDW queues aren't designed like that, and to have him push his way through dozens, if not hundreds, of waiting Guests really wouldn't work.

Even in the instances where it would work, having one person wait in line and the entire rest of the party catch up with that person when it's almost time to board the ride, enter the theater, etc., for whatever reason is, frankly, inconsiderate and selfish. All those other people ahead of you and behind you are waiting in line with their entire parties. If you have one person who can't wait in line, that's no reason the rest of your party can't.

A better solution would be one similar to that used by families whose children have 'space' issues - spread out. Have a couple of children stand in front of your husband and you and another child (if possible) behind him, and leave him some space to pace. Sort of a buffer zone.
 
Actually for my husband he can't sit or stand in one place for a long period of time. He can walk, run, move just fine, but when he has to stop and stand in one place his leg literally feels like it's on fire. This is the first year we'll be dealing with this... I'm kind of hoping they'll let me 'hold' our place in line while him and the kids walk around nearby and then I can text him when I'm close and hopefully he can cut up next to me.

The way the queues are set up, this will be VERY difficult. He'll have to squeeze by a whole lot of people in order to get to you and you'll likely get a lot of nasty comments and possibly people refusing to let him by. You need a different plan. I don't believe that Disney provides this accomodation as it would be a potential hazzard for your DH as well as all the people he's squeezing by.

Have you considered some kind of cane that has a fold down seat?
 
As I mentioned, for attractions that are continually loading, your wait will be mostly moving slowly forward. For those attractions, plan to use Fastpass or TourGuide Mike to plan for riding those when the wait is shortest. That will ensure the shortest time in line. As was mentioned, in most of those attractions, there is not a way to wait in one place and join the rest of the party. Even if there was, he would be standing there waiting, which would kind of defeat the purpose of the wait. You can always spread out your party so he has some room to move around, but usually the 'standing' time in those continual load attractions is minimal and if you know when to go or use Fastpasses, you can often walk right from the line entrance to boarding as fast as you are able without stopping.

For the attractive that load in 'batches'. One example is Mickey's Philharmagic, but all shows work in a similar way. You walk into the line until the line gets to a closed door. At that point, you stand until the door opens. How long you will stand in the first room will depend on how close you come in compared to when the door opens, so it could be anything from a few seconds to a few minutes. When that door opens, you enter another room and wait there until the door to the next door opens. The total standing time will be however long the show actually is because the reason for the standing is to gather a group of people to fill the theater for the next show.
The reason for the different rooms is so they can gather several groups separately. If it's not busy, the in-between rooms may not be in use, so you may walk thru right to the final room where doors lead into the theater. As the doors open on one side of the theater to let guests who have seen the show out, the doors to the gathering room open to let the waiting guests in. There is no way around that wait and having a GAC doesn't shorten the wait. In most cases, there is no place to sit while waiting unless the guest has a mobility device they can sit on.
Your best bet for those attractions is probably to hang back so your husband has room to walk back and forth. Those lines are usually quite wide and CMs will announce guests should keep moving to the front. There is no reason you can't hang back as long as other guests can get by you.

I'm trying to make this clear because we've had lots of posts in the past from guests with similar problems who got back and posted that the GAC did bot help them at all. The reason was that they had expectations for things that are not available and didn't understand how attractions worked.
By knowing which attractions load in batches and have fixed wait times built in for preshows and theater filling, you can plan your day and plan ways to deal with those waits. He might even want to look into a cane or something that would allow him to shift his weight more. Some people use wheelchairs and sometimes sit on them and sometimes push them to get a variety of positions.
 
Actually for my husband he can't sit or stand in one place for a long period of time. He can walk, run, move just fine, but when he has to stop and stand in one place his leg literally feels like it's on fire. This is the first year we'll be dealing with this... I'm kind of hoping they'll let me 'hold' our place in line while him and the kids walk around nearby and then I can text him when I'm close and hopefully he can cut up next to me.

Thanks for the advise. I'm going to ask a CM what they can do to help, I just didn't want to ask if the answer was going to be "no your dh is too old"

I know people try to use the GAC as a line cutting cheat, I don't have a problem waiting my turn, it's just this has recently happened to my husband after a surgery gone bad and he's really almost dreading Disney and standing in line now, so I'm trying to assure him things will be okay.


I would recommend that your husband takes along a rollator:goodvibes.
That way he can sit or stand when he needs to:thumbsup2
 





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