Great Movie Ride - Accessible seats?

[Rosebud123]

Hi Everyone,
My mom needs an ECV to get around. I see that she can transfer to a wheelchair for this ride, but then what? Does she stay in the wheelchair during the ride or does she have to transfer to a ride vehicle? If so, what's that like? Thanks very much!

 

[SueM in MN]

She can ride the ECV all the way to the boarding area.
You use the regular line and when you get to the large room with movies playing where people wait in queues to be allowed into the loads room, stay to the far left. Dont enter the queue inside the room.

A CM will bring your party of up to 6 to the front of that room past all the queues, where you all will wait. They will ask how many in your party and ask if she can transfer. At that point, you have 2 choices:

1) once you get into the loading room, transfer to a wheelchair. The ECV will be parked at the end of the room and she will be loaded into the ride car in the wheelchair.
The very back row of each car has a wheelchair space ( some cars have 2).
This is a picture of the wheelchair space:

The attraction wheelchairs have arms that do NOT move out of the way, so that may affect her ability to transfer.

2) stay in the ECV and transfer to a ride car. They will show you where to park the ECV. If that is too far for her to walk, tell the CM, so they know what you are doing. She can pull it up as close to the ride car as you want and someone else in your party or the CM will move it after she loads. For most people who can transfer, this will be an easier transfer. There is a little lip to get over into the ride car - less than 2 inches.

 

[Rosebud123]

Thank you so much! That's perfect.

 

[SueM in MN]

Thank you so much! That's perfect.

You're welcome. You may want to re-read it again - I fixed some typos (the hazards of typing on an iPhone) and added some phrases that got cut off.

 

[Mary976]

If you can transfer out of the wheelchair, I would recommend doing that. For Great Move Ride, the wheelchair car is in the way back of the train and it's harder to hear the operator.

Mary

 

[KPeveler]

When I rode it on my honeymoon, I stayed in my (manual) wheelchair and I could not hear a blessed thing. My mildly hard of hearing wife really had no idea what was going on.

 

[Nicole786]

She can ride the ECV all the way to the boarding area.
You use the regular line and when you get to the large room with movies playing where people wait in queues to be allowed into the loads room, stay to the far left. Dont enter the queue inside the room.

2) stay in the ECV and transfer to a ride car. They will show you where to park the ECV. If that is too far for her to walk, tell the CM, so they know what you are doing. She can pull it up as close to the ride car as you want and someone else in your party or the CM will move it after she loads. For most people who can transfer, this will be an easier transfer. There is a little lip to get over into the ride car - less than 2 inches.

This is one of my biggest stresses as a first time ECV renter for my Grandma. She's able to move short distances and walk under normal circumstances, but since WDW requires a lot of walking, we decided to rent the ECV. I don't want to be forced into using a handicap capable seat, but can we leave the ECV to the side on ALL WDW rides? Can we even park it with the strollers and walk in? Sorry to hijack the thread, the response was perfect and I just thought maybe I could get the answer

 

[SueM in MN]

This is one of my biggest stresses as a first time ECV renter for my Grandma. She's able to move short distances and walk under normal circumstances, but since WDW requires a lot of walking, we decided to rent the ECV. I don't want to be forced into using a handicap capable seat, but can we leave the ECV to the side on ALL WDW rides? Can we even park it with the strollers and walk in? Sorry to hijack the thread, the response was perfect and I just thought maybe I could get the answer

This will likely be helpful information also to the original poster.

Yes, you can park the ECV with the strollers and walk. There are some attractions where you won't probably want to do that because even if the wait is short, the walk in is long.
For shows/theaters, she could bring the ECV into all of them and sit in it during the show. In that case, she would be using one of the ECV/wheelchair spots.
Most of the ride cars that are wheelchair accessible are not ECV accessible, so she would not be taking a wheelchair spot, unless she chooses to transfer to a wheelchair at the attraction and stay in the wheelchair for the ride.

For a list that should be helpful, follow the link in my signature ( or look at the top of the board) for the disABILITIES FAQs thread. Posts 18-22 on page 2 of that thread have the kind of information you are looking for. If you want more specifics, please come back here and post your questions.

Hope you have a great time.
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[pbrim]

This is one of my biggest stresses as a first time ECV renter for my Grandma. She's able to move short distances and walk under normal circumstances, but since WDW requires a lot of walking, we decided to rent the ECV. I don't want to be forced into using a handicap capable seat, but can we leave the ECV to the side on ALL WDW rides? Can we even park it with the strollers and walk in? Sorry to hijack the thread, the response was perfect and I just thought maybe I could get the answer

Usually you can take your ECV all the way through the line, or through an alternate entrance. The only ones I have encountered where you MUST move to a manual chair are Stich and ToT. The first thing the CMs will ask as you approach the ride, is "Can you transfer?". You should be able to leave the ECV there and transfer to a normal seat. Some rides you will be directed to a separate area where you can load the ride car at your own pace, then be merged back into the flow. Some rides with a moving walkway to load from can be stopped if need be, but not all. Peter Pan is the most notable exception, but there are one or two others.

You leave your ECV where you load, and if you must unload at a different place, the CMs will move it for you. Don't leave the key with the ECV unless specifically asked to do so -- they can put it in neutral and push it.

In general, there should be a CM at the entrance to the ride, and you can always ask. They will be able to direct you to the appropriate entrance and tell you what the rules are for that particular ride. If your Grandma can walk short distances, she should be able to use a standard car for everything. The only other caveat is that she may have difficulty climbing into and out of some of the coaster ride cars. The stickies also discuss that.