How Wheelchair friendly is Disney?

[hbridges]

My nephew just broke his ankle and is going to be in a non-walking cast while we are in Disney World. How difficult is it to get on and off the rides and are there some rides that he will not be able to do? Does anyone have any suggestions to make this trip any smoother for him? Can he fold up his wheelchair and carry it on the rides, or does he have to ride in the wheelchair? Any suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks!

 

[LurkerLisa]

Disney is very easy for wheelchair users, but you will get a better response to your question on the Dis-abilities board

Lisa

 

[hbridges]

Thanks, I have never seen that board. I will try that!!

 

[InstImpres]

I did it 2 years ago. Refused to cancel with pnenumonia and only 20% lung capacity. I ended up resorting to an electric cart. Although at times I felt about 80 instead of my 30 something, it was much easier than a regular wheel chair. (Maybe my stuborness and sense of indepence had something to do with it). Dis is very accomodate. Sounds like he can easily be transfered and they will help him into the ride and than move the wheelchair to the appropriate spot for when he gets off. They are overly helpful with this.

Have a great trip.

 

[goofyernmost]

Having had a ton of experience taking a wheelchaired person to Disney, I can say that almost everything is wheelchair accessable and they go out of their way to help out. If he has any mobility at all (sans wheelchair) there is virtually nothing that needs to be missed.

 

[Chuck S]

I would say the biggest problem would be getting on and off rides like Space Mountan, Splash Mountain etc. Many slow rides will accomodate wheelchairs on the ride, others will require transfer. PoC will require the chair to fold, they will place it in the same boat with you and a CM will unload it at the exit.

As long as there is some mobility to step up and down into a ride, there should be no problems at all.

 

[SueM in MN]

Here is a link to the DIS page about touring WDW with mobility disabilities. It includes a list of rides where he can stay in the wheelchair for the entire ride/attraction and which ones will require a transfer. You can also follow the link in my signature to the disABILITIES Board, where you will find a lot more info.

In general, MK has the least accessible rides - most of them require a transfer. In most cases where he will need to transfer, he will wait in the regular line until almost reaching the boarding area; at that point, wheelchair users and their parties are routed to the exit for boarding. That way, the wheelchair will be waiting right where you left it when you get off. The ride CMs are not able to actually transfer anyone, but they can be very helpful with slowing (or in some cases, even stopping) moving walkways, moving the wheelchair out of the way after you have boarded. If he has crutches, he can bring them along to help him get on/off rides. The crutches can be brought onto the ride car in most cases. The hardest rides are the ones like POC, Splash Mountain, Space Mountain where the ride car is sort of a tight fit and requires a big step up or down. Another caution I have is that the moving walkway on Peter Pan can't be slowed down, so don't try that ride until you see how he is doing with boarding things. My DH almost ran out of space getting off that ride with DD who uses a wheelchair. It would not have been pretty since he missed getting carried into a wall by only a few feet.
The easiest parks for accessiblity are AK and the Studio since they were built with wheelchair accessibility in mind.