If you are in a WC in line are there rides where you must stay in WC?

44disney

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jul 1, 2003
Messages
761
Hi,

I am new to this board, and I have read several of the posts and lots of the sticky info (THANKS to all who have compiled this great resourse!) but I still have a question (and forgive me if the answer is given somewhere)...

my DD11 was diagnosed today with a fractured foot (not a fractured growth plate as we we expecting), and her recovery time is likely 6 weeks. We leave for WDW in five weeks. She will likely still be in her boot (or possibly a cast) and it is a walking boot but her doctor does not want her stressing her foot with a lot of walking/standing in line so we will be renting a WC.

If a line is short she will just stand in it, but if it is long (and we are going at Spring Break)she will have to be wheeled through but then she can hop out of the chair to get on the ride. But that got me thinking about certain rides (we are Disney veterans and have been about 15 times with her) such as Nemo -- if we take the chair all the way through the queue area, will she then have to ride in the WC? Are there certain rides where you are required to stay in the WC (and so wait for a WC accessible ride vehicle) if you have brought it through the queue?

If so, then we may try to hit those rides early enough that she can just walk through the regular line.

Thanks!
 
I was able to transfer on any of the rides. I had a broken foot as well. I just hobbled on the ride. Disney is fabulous about bring the chair to you and putting it in a safe place! Good luck and have a blast. I would consider renting on from an outside company. Having a wheelchair really helped getting to the parks and some of the resorts are so large!!!!
 
I have always been able to transfer for every ride. They may direct you through to the exit after waiting in the regular line (like in Buzz Lightyear) where they have you leave the wheelchair and get on the ride. Other rides they move the wheelchair for you.

On Haunted Mansion they will ask if you can stand for about 10 minutes - the wheelchair cannot go into the stretching room.
 
No, you are never required to stay in the wheelchair. My DD can't walk at all, but at almost every attraction, the CMs do ask if she can transfer, so there is definitely not an expectation that guests in wheelchairs will always ride the wheelchair accessible ride car( if one is available).

As the other posters mentioned, you will be routed to whatever paths wheelchair boarding area. If you will not be coming back to that spot to exit, the wheelchair will be brought there. Shows are often an exception. If they have space, she will just sit in the wheelchair because guests enter on one side of the theater and leave on the other. For longer shows, she may be able to get out, but it's often not worth moving.
 

Thanks to all for the quick responses. It was quite a surprise yesterday when we realized that my DD had a bone fracture and then we started wondering about our trip. Reading all of the info on this board has helped a lot!
 
The only other ride that might be hard on some wheelchair users is Pirates of the Caribbean, but because your daughter can walk for short periods it should not be a problem for you. You will leave the chair with the CM when you get on the boat, but when you get off the ride it will not be there. THey do have a loaner if you need it tho. You will have to go through the gift shop and then outside to get your chair that will parked in a special area. As far as I can recall, that is the only ride like that.
 
The only other ride that might be hard on some wheelchair users is Pirates of the Caribbean, but because your daughter can walk for short periods it should not be a problem for you. You will leave the chair with the CM when you get on the boat, but when you get off the ride it will not be there. THey do have a loaner if you need it tho. You will have to go through the gift shop and then outside to get your chair that will parked in a special area. As far as I can recall, that is the only ride like that.

For Pirates, they prefer that you leave your own wheelchair at the entrance if possible and take one of the attraction wheelchairs in line. They CM will take that wheelchair when you board and you can pick up a loaner at the unload area. Don't try to go up the moving ramp with the wheelchair. There is a small elevator down a short hall to the left of the ramp. It will take you around by the restrooms on the far end of the building.

It IS possible for the CMs to bring a personally owned wheelchair from the boarding area to the unload area, but they try to avoid it since they don't always have staffing to do it or enough time to make sure it is at unload when the guest is. That is why they prefer people to use an attraction wheelchair instead.
 
Forgot to mention - Pirates is the only attraction like that.
 
I ran into a small issue on Big Thunder Mountain. We were asked if I could walk a short distance. I answered yes and the distance that I had to walk to get on the ride was doable. When the train came back into the station, they did not let us off on the same side and I had to walk back around to my scooter. I also did not use my crutches to get to the ride since the distance to the ride was within my limits. The walk out was almost more than I could do. Thankfully, there were rails that I could hang on to get back around to the scooter. Just wanted to alert you that you may not end up in the same spot that you loaded from on this ride. If this is going to be an issue, then make sure you tell them that you need to unload on the same side you loaded from.
 














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