Ellyn2000, I'm glad you learned from your day with a wheelchair that it isn't all roses on the other side. I just want to give a little better glimpse of the other side.
When we first started going to WDW with a child in a wheelchair in 1988, it was common to get the "royal treatment", whether you wanted it or not. When we got to the boarding area, we often had to wait longer because there are limits on how many people with disabilities could be on the ride at one time. Often we waited longer than people without wheelchairs. People didn't see that. They only saw that we were in line with them and then we weren't. We were just happy to have a place where our DD and her wheelchair were welcome. The "royal treatment" was not to benefit people with wheelchairs; it was because there were turnstiles or stairs along the regular path (as my DD likes to hear, wheelchairs don't do stairs). Often, the reason for a wheelchair access for a ride was that the boarding and exit were far apart, so wheelchair or ecv users had to board at the exit to have their mobility device waiting for them.
About 6 years ago (give or take), all of a sudden, WDW started switching to "Mainstream Access". Anyone with a wheelchair had to wait in the same lines with everyone else. Lines were modified to get rid of turnstiles or put the wheelchair entrance closer to the turnstile. We were told one of the big reasons for the change was the number of people who were trying to get special treatment when they had no need for a wheelchair. The CMs who talked to us said they realized that "special treatment" didn't usually translate into a shorter wait, but since people thought that it did, the solution was to not give special treatment to anyone with a wheelchair. They have modified that somewhat; a guest with special needs can go to Guest Services to plead their case, but special treatment still means using FastPass as much as possible and possibly waiting somewhere other than in line.
Waiting in line with a wheelchair isn't easy. An average wheelchair needs 5 feet to turn. When we get to a corner, we try to space ourselves so we don't hit anyone. Someone sees the "extra" space and they move their family into it. All of a sudden, we have another 10 people ahead of us. Sometimes thay are sorry, they didn't know we were planning on using that space. Some of them won't let us get back into line and (the not nice ones) let us know that they resent the "special treatment" that we receive. Some of the rides have ramps up or down on part of the queue. it's really hard to keep a wheelchair from rolling backward or forward on a ramp. We are experienced wheelchair drivers, so we don't usually hit anyone, but people walk into the wheelchair, trip over the footrests and I have had to stop quite a few kids who were grabbing onto the spokes of the wheelchair tires. Being in line with everyone else is a constant state of alertness for us. Besides the wheelchair hassles, DD also has other issues with attention and she will hit or pinch people who she feels are getting too close (impulse control issues).
When we get to the boarding area, if it's a ride where the wheelchair can go on, we always have to wait for the wheelchair car for at least one ride cycle; more if other people are waiting for that car. Our record for longest wait is the Safari at AK, where we waited for 40 minutes for a ride that had a 10 minute posted wait (but people were basically walking on as fast as they could go). At Buzz Lightyear, there are usually several people waiting and we usually see people who were just ahead of us in line exiting as we wait at the exit to board.
For rides where DD has to get out of her wheelchair, we have to lift a 5 foot tall, 85 pound person on and off the ride car. Sometimes the doorway is tight or there is a step up or down to get in. There are things we can't do any more because it is too hard to get her on, including most of the rides in Fantasyland (except Pooh and Small World, which have wheelchair cars).
For our DD's full price ticket (no discounts for people with disabilities), we don't get full use of the park, since there are things at each park that she can't physically go on. Each year, there is something else that is our last time, because it's getting too hard to get her on. As she gets bigger, it takes more out of us to get her on rides. Our last trip, we lost a one day because of seizures and had to take it slow a few days because she was too tired to sit up well in her wheelchair. We also have to put up with people who are rude to us just because they think we are getting some special benefit they aren't getting. The only things that make it worthwhile are seeing my DD enjoy herself, the CMs who go out of their way to be nice and the average people who try to be helpful.
Welcome to my world.