At DLR, for PoC if you can walk thru some of the queue, they will give you a return time, and then when you come back they will put you into the main queue just before it enters the show building. There isn’t really much ‘pre-show’ at DLR… at the point that the queue goes inside, it’s roughly 5-10 minutes to the loading area. If you want to be in your chair right up until boarding, you’ll be directed to a wheelchair queue at the ride exit. They only allow one or two parties onto the exit platform at a time, so the wheelchair line can get pretty long. (FYI, the CM location to get return times is near the spiral wrought iron staircase next to/in front of the Royal Street Verandah quick service location. See picture)
For HM you will also not miss the pre show (stretching room). The CMs giving return times are almost always near the ride exit here too. They‘ll let you know whether they are sending you through the LL when you return, or if they’ll let you in via a merge point thru a side gate. In part, it will depend on whether you want to park your wheelchair in their little corral area, or want to park it with the strollers.
Realize that neither of these rides will give you a return time unless you are either in your wheelchair/
scooter or have
DAS, because the queues don’t have stairs, so they are only inaccessible because the queues are too narrow for wheelchairs through most or all of the length of it.
At Splash Mountain, you will ask at the exit whether they want you to go thru the regular line up to the point where they can direct you around the stairs, or whether they want to give a return time and have you enter thru the exit. For this ride, they will accommodate anyone who cannot do stairs, with or without a wheelchair,
ECV or DAS. You *WILL* miss all of the pre show here. Unfortunately, if you need to avoid stairs, there’s no other option.
All of the Fantasyland rides, except for Carousel and IASW, will give you a return time— but once again, be aware that unless there are stairs in the queue (and I can’t think of any off hand) these attractions will not issue a return time unless you are either a DAS holder on using a wheelchair/ECV.
Sometimes, the Storybook Canals will just have you wait to the side near the exit, and then get you on a particular boat. Not sure what is so special about them, but it’s always the same 2 or 3 boats that they put us on— the Merryweather, Flower, and I think there’s one other… the Daisy, maybe? So often they’ll have you wait through a cycle or two, depending on line length, until that boat comes around and then they’ll take you thru the exit. Last year, they were taking people right away thru the exit onto the next appropriate boat. No idea why, but it’s hasn’t normally been done like that on most of our visits.
I haven’t been to DL since they started doing DAS in the app, but I think the CM’s at City Hall or at the Guest Experience umbrellas should be allowed to authorize a “wheelchair” DAS for any day where the guest is in DL. Seems like it wouldn’t be difficult to put a limitation on it so that it’s only valid in DL, and not at DCA… that way guests could manage their own return times in the app. It might be a little inconvenient to have to stop and have it ‘activated’ each day… but it would certainly be better than having to still go all the way to the attractions or blue umbrellas for every single attraction. I think it’s unfair to expect people who have mobility issues to have to run around to get return times, while those with other non-mobility-related disabilities are able to use the app. DLR is unique because so many queues are not accessible to
any type of wheelchair (including stroller-sized) or ECV, as opposed to MK where comparatively few lines are not at all ADA compliant.
I really don’t think it would increase abuse much, if at all. There are still some people who rent a wheelchair thinking they’ll bypass the lines, because from their skewed perspective, they see guests showing up at a ride and seeming to be sent thru the exit, or being allowed to go thru the LL… But they don’t know that the guest did have a wait, and it was only after that, that they were given the alternate access. Those people aren’t going to care that they can get return times in the app— they were seeking to bypass the line altogether. They won’t be any happier just because they can tap a tile to get a return time.
