Improving Accommodations at Disney: A Positive Thread

[littlewitch34]

Restrooms. Perhaps when they renovate places, they could install more in areas that are less "well-covered" with restrooms?

Some sections of WDW are well-covered with restrooms... the best example I can think of is in DHS, down by RnR and TOT, as well as the street leading up to it. There's a bathroom set between some of the shops on the right hand side as you approach TOT and RnR. Further up, another set on the right by the telephones and the walkway up to TOT. Again, another set down by RnR.

For someone with ulcerative colitis or other issues where you may need a bathroom quickly (I've done the parks with severe UC -- I was hospitalized for more than a month only three months after my trip, as well as then doing the parks with a temporary ileostomy bag), that's a great area. A few others put you in more of a walking distance to the bathroom.

I know it might seem like there's a ton of bathrooms in the parks to people who don't have the problem of suddenly NEEDING one, but to someone with UC, there could be a bathroom every ten feet and that would just be perfect.

 

[Andrew Bichard]

I want to come up with a list of suggestions we might have that may make things easier for people with disabilities to enjoy Disney.

I use a wheelchair, but cannot transfer to many rides.

I would like to see Disney provide a theatre in each park that shows videos of otherwise inacessible rides for that park. So at epcot the theatre (don't they have a spare one in Horizons)? would show Spaceship Earth, Soarin', Test Track, Mission Space, Norway in rotation; for wheelchair users & families. With digital video equipment these films cannot be too difficult to create.

Andrew

 

[KPeveler]

I use a wheelchair, but cannot transfer to many rides.

I would like to see Disney provide a theatre in each park that shows videos of otherwise inacessible rides for that park. So at epcot the theatre (don't they have a spare one in Horizons)? would show Spaceship Earth, Soarin', Test Track, Mission Space, Norway in rotation; for wheelchair users & families. With digital video equipment these films cannot be too difficult to create.

Andrew

They actually have that in DL - Nemo Submarines, Castle walk-through, and i think Tarzan's treehouse all have an "accessible experience" where you basically get to watch a video of the ride. pretty cool!

 

[SueM in MN]

First of all, I agree that Disney's ECV's are too big and bulky. (I wonder if they would be allowed on the busses--they are very big!)

I've actually measured them and they would fit inside the bus box - even though they look very large.

Finally, have a system in place where you can rent a length of stay ECV--and have it available at the parks. One issue for me is that we are not rope drop people--and if I got to a park at say 10-11-12 there may or not be an ECV available for rent. Instead, if you had a length of stay pass with maybe designated days for different parks then you would be "guaranteed" that when you got off the bus an ECV would be available for you in that park. I know there are issues with that if you want to park hop, etc. but trying to think of positive solutions at this point!

They actually did try length of stay ECVs. I am not sure exactly what happened, but they stopped doing it very quickly, so they must have found some major problems with doing it.

Again, I'm not trying to cause trouble and I'm sincerely curious about this. Sue and Kate, you guys have seen me around here (so to speak...) you guys hopefully know I don't mean this with any malace or aggression so I hope this post doesn't cause problems.

Understood where you were coming from - curiousity

As a parent of an autistic child, I think you worded your question very well. IMO you came across as genuinely wanting to ask a fair question and learn more about a subject that you're not familiar with. That's not easy so great job!

For our own experience, I don't see Disney as having to do anything more than they already do, beyond better training of CMs. The accomodations that are provided I feel are sufficient and are among the many reasons we keep returning to WDW. No, our GAC is not the be-all and end-all, but there's no way to create a solution that is. We use a touring plan service (I'm a huge TourGuide Mike fan) and for the most part, that takes care of a lot of our needs and our GAC takes care of the majority of the rest.

Quite a few people, especially with people with autism in their group, have posted that touring plans were really helpful - especially TourGuide Mike.

I just wish that CMs were better trained to actually listen to our needs rather than look at the stamp on our GAC and make assumptions about what will work for us.

Most of the time things work very well, and.................
I have never been rude to a CM (try not to be rude to anyone), but sometimes at the rides with moving walkways, I feel like saying "What part of 'we need the walkway to come to a full stop' did you not understand?"

Sometimes I think it is a communication problem when the CMs switch off jobs. Sometimes, I just think they don't understand that DD can't just get out of her wheelchair and walk on (although the foot straps holding her feet to the footplates should be a tip off).

That's interesting for me to read because almost every time we go to a show that has an alternate waiting area (like Laugh Floor), we do have one or 2 parties waiting with us who have a child with some special needs who does not have a wheelchair or stroller as a wheelchair.
I do know that sometimes the area is very full. One time at Turtle Talk there were more than 25 people waiting in the alternate area to get in, so they may have turned someone away who had a child with autism.

I think, for me, the balancing act is taking things one step at a time. I plan, a lot, even for a day trip to Disneyland (I live 6 miles away), and then I do my best to take my needs one by one. If something is not working, I talk to the nearest CM about how to make things work better. If it cannot work that time, I move on to the next thing.

I too have encountered those few people who go over the top in their demands. In general, it seems to be those people who play the "I/my kid is worse" game, and want Disney to change their policies on the spot to suit their needs, either real or perceived. For example, there are times the wheelchair/alternate entrance to Peter Pan is very long in Disneyland. There can only be one wheelchair/mobility need on at a time, so the line can move slowly. I have had people, usually with children with some need, go right past me and explain that they know there is a line but their kids has [fill in the blank] and needs to go right now. So, yeah, we encounter this sometimes too.

I think the most important thing to remember is that Disney is supposed to be the happiest place on earth, and that things are never going to go as planned. There will always be SOME issue that pops up (like finding out the wheelchair boat on Jungle Cruise died that time, so I could not ride it as planned). Or the time that I had two VERY rude elderly people on WDW scooters cut in front of me at American Adventure, then refuse to go all the way across the row. When I told them to continue moving, as they were holding up the line, the man got irate and began shouting. I just tell myself karma gets them in the end. Because they cut in front of me, they had to sit all the way down the end in the worst seats in the house. I knew this, so I let them cut me. They can be snippy and rude, but I still got the best seat in the house.

Also, I got to sit with a very nice young man in a wheelchair (at that point about age 25) who was dying from a brain tumor. His mom, who was caring for him, knew I was on my honeymoon, but waited til we were all in the theatre and then told me her son thought I was cute. It made him turn BRIGHT red (sons are never too old for mothers to embarrass!). It was one of the highlights of my honeymoon, honestly. By this point, the young man has probably passed on, but I will always remember his bright red face and him telling his mom to shush.

Balance is important. I know my rights and I know disney policy, but I also know that things don't always work perfectly. So I just do the best I can and take it as it comes.

That happens a lot in American Adventure, although what we have seen was more the people who go ahead of everyone and then stop in the exact middle of the theater and refuse to go any farther. This really causes all sorts of mess.

I mentioned this in the other thread about my experience at Pop Century that part of the problem is that some of the attraction queues have no place to park a mobility device and a long enough wait time that I'd imagine some people renting scooters can't stand that long or can't walk that far to get inside. I'm thinking mostly of the very few attractions that I can access and enjoy, which include Tiki Room and Country Bears. I tried several times during my trip to visit these attractions but the wait was so long, and the line of scooters so long, that I made the choice not to wait through several shows and just left the park. For the Tiki Room there might be space to place benches in the outdoor waiting area but they would have to rope off that area like they do for the parades to reserve the spaces. There also needs to be a safe place for people to park their scooters where they aren't blocking the walkway. As to Country Bears,...sort of the same problem. There is no place to park scooters and the walk into the theater is too long. Even if they did have manual w/c's for guests to borrow so that they could get into the theater and then transfer, I have to wonder where the space could be allocated. In the FOTLK theater I've seen this happen but there's an indoor area close to the exit where scooters and w/c's can be parked and where they are brought back to guests after the show is over. As was mentioned, some people aren't comfortable in that seating which is just a bench with no back. Probably the easiest solution there would be to add backs to the benches in the first few rows. It will be interesting to see the newly renovated Fantasyland. I do trust Disney to think of creative solutions but they are limited by the square footage in each attraction building and in the walkway areas.---Kathy

I agree with the backs for benches. There have been many people over the years who have said they could not transfer because they would not be able to sit on a bench without a back.

They actually have that in DL - Nemo Submarines, Castle walk-through, and i think Tarzan's treehouse all have an "accessible experience" where you basically get to watch a video of the ride. pretty cool!

That is cool

2 things I thought of -
1) When this board first started, Disney had a program that all new employees went to that included some things to help them experience WDW as a person with a disability would for a few hours. I don't remember all the specifics that CMs and trainers wrote about, but what I remember is the new CMs were assigned a simulated disability and then had to tour with it for a day. Some got wheelchairs or ECVs, some got glasses that blurred their vision or earplugs. Afterwards, they shared the experience with the other new CMs in their group. The hospital I work at had sent several people to Disney for customer training education and this was one of the techniques they came back with. Our hospital cut that part of the education to save money and I heard that Disney shortened their education too and took that part out. I think that experience was valuable and they gave up more than they saved.

2) I also posted a long time ago about something I thought would be helpful for people to decide what attractions they could go on. WDW really does not have much information out there to help people know what to expect. With a company so able to communicate and 'package' content, they should do a better job on their website. I also thought a kiosk in Guest Relations would be helpful. It could have pictures of the queues and attractions, information about things like distances, noises or sights that might cause trouble for some people. I thought a way to print out a list of the attractions with that information would be helpful. People could print out the information they thought they needed.
That idea was kind of the idea behind the Epcot FAQs (which I really do intend to finish some day - just need time and more time).

 

[seashoreCM]

We have other disabled people in our family and they tend to just sit and wait for others to tell them how much fun they are having. This is really hard on a young person. Since we travel as a large family, it is really not an option to split up so we just waste some money. My other gripe is that there are no facilities for me to help him change after being in the water. He is not able to use a changing room on his own and at 18 I can't take him in the ladies room and I am a single parent. Last visit his uncle helped him but it was embarassing for both of them. At TL they finally found us a H/C dressing room in the clothing store to use, but it was not very private and a long way from our group.

My stance: There are limits how far Disney has to go to keep you from being embarrassed but Disney has to provide an alternative before stopping you from doing something because one of the unavoidable steps along the way would embarrass someone else.

More than once at the theater (not Disney shows) I have noticed a long line for the ladies room but not for the mens room. There was a recent thread somewhere on The DIS about a gent who emerged from a stall and saw ladies about and then filed a complaint. I am sympathetic to the disparity in rest room facilities and would not have complained, but if a complaint was levied against me (the "Men" placard was completely covered by a "Ladies" paper sign that wasn't there when he went in) then I would turn on the proprietor quite hard.

 

[dclfun]

I agree with and love Andrew's suggestion- I know he made it once before about Soarin'. There are many "virtual" attractions and technology available, including the ones at Disney Quest. The technology is current to provide someone who cannot transfer or has other challenges that prevent them from experiencing an attraction, a chance to have a simulated experience. There could even be a platform for w/c's that could tilt/move if a guest requested for a higher degree of simulation or be left stable if preferred. As it is, there are so few "rides" that one can experience. I can count them on one hand in MK, for instance, and the accessible spaces in those are extremely overtaxed with long wait times that often cannot be tolerated, plus it's not fair to the rest of your family to have to wait...and wait.---Kathy

 

[EeyoreFan19]

I agree with and love Andrew's suggestion- I know he made it once before about Soarin'. There are many "virtual" attractions and technology available, including the ones at Disney Quest. The technology is current to provide someone who cannot transfer or has other challenges that prevent them from experiencing an attraction, a chance to have a simulated experience. There could even be a platform for w/c's that could tilt/move if a guest requested for a higher degree of simulation or be left stable if preferred. As it is, there are so few "rides" that one can experience. I can count them on one hand in MK, for instance, and the accessible spaces in those are extremely overtaxed with long wait times that often cannot be tolerated, plus it's not fair to the rest of your family to have to wait...and wait.---Kathy

I absolutely agree with this! We were there in October last year, and there were so many rides my brother (42 in a wheelchair) wanted to ride, but could not. We waited 40 minutes for Jungle cruise because they only had one accessible boat, but the standby line was only 5 minutes. But, at least he was able to ride.

When we were there, we stayed at Fort Wilderness in the cabins. The cabins were great for accessability. But, we came by air. When we checked in, they had a van take us to the cabin. They do not have a wheelchair accessible van. We had to get him into the van, and then back out once at the cabin. I would think they could maybe have one wheelchair van to transport guests.

 

[pampam]

When we were there, we stayed at Fort Wilderness in the cabins. The cabins were great for accessability. But, we came by air. When we checked in, they had a van take us to the cabin. They do not have a wheelchair accessible van. We had to get him into the van, and then back out once at the cabin. I would think they could maybe have one wheelchair van to transport guests.
__________________


We had the same experience at OKW. We arived late, the young CM had us waiting for transportation to our vila, DD ran out of oxygen, and still no shuttle. Turns out there was no shuttle. They comandeered a bus, he dropped us off, and pointed us in the general direction of our vila. But since this is a positive thread, I will say we were comped our first night.

 

[peemagg]

I agree with and love Andrew's suggestion- I know he made it once before about Soarin'. There are many "virtual" attractions and technology available, including the ones at Disney Quest. The technology is current to provide someone who cannot transfer or has other challenges that prevent them from experiencing an attraction, a chance to have a simulated experience. There could even be a platform for w/c's that could tilt/move if a guest requested for a higher degree of simulation or be left stable if preferred. As it is, there are so few "rides" that one can experience. I can count them on one hand in MK, for instance, and the accessible spaces in those are extremely overtaxed with long wait times that often cannot be tolerated, plus it's not fair to the rest of your family to have to wait...and wait.---Kathy

That is a wonderful idea!!! It would be great even for those who for whatever reason can't ride the rides (i.e. too short, health issues, single parents with children too small for the real ride). It would be a win-win for all as long as they have enough places mostly for those with handicaps that can't ride the real thing.

 

[BillSears]

They did add a themed viewing room with a video of the ride to the 20,000 Leagues ride in Disneyland. It's not as nice as doing the actual ride but it was cool to be able to see what it looks like down below. They also hae some sort of video for Snow White castle that is a tour of the unaccessible parts.

I noticed that for an older park Disneyland seems to have a few more or different accessible options. Maybe there are additional laws in California for ADA compliance.

 

[seashoreCM]

There could even be a platform for w/c's that could tilt/move if a guest requested for a higher degree of simulation or be left stable if preferred.

This can get very complicated:
1. There are so many permutations on what kind of stimuli and how strong the stimuli can be.
2. If someone guessed wrong then the platform gyrations could damage some makes and models of wheelchairs or scooters or injure the person.
Was at a movie recently where each seat in the specialized theater had movers and shakers and tilters to go with the action on the screen.

 

[pumpkinboy]

Tis is a really good psitive thread so far, with lots of great ideas. I have two more that have not yet been covered so far.

1 - I have a 13 yr old DS with severe CP. What we could really use is more large changing tables in restrooms. At 4 ft tall and 60 lbs, my pumpkinboy does not fit on tiny baby changing tables, yet he still needs a change on a regular basis. I love being able to use the first aid stations' changing tables, and the big long stainless steel changing tables available in a few of the parks' restrooms, but far too often I am forced to change my boy on the floor of a H/C stall (yuk). So larger changing tables available in the restrooms where they only have small ones.

2 - In larger, older DVC resorts, there are just not that many elevator locations. Our favorite resort on site (and our DVC home) is the Boradwalk Villas, where there is one set of elevators near the lobby, and that's it (well, there's another that'll bring you down to the BW level in the BW Inn as well). When we were at the new AKV Kidani Village, there were lots of elevator banks, as there are at SSR, and for smaller DVC resorts (BCV and VWL) they are small enough that one set of elevators will suffice. Yeah, this sort of thing is expensive, but it would free up a bunch of first floor rooms at BWV and OKW. I am glad to see them planning accessibility in to the newest resorts tho.

 

[TurtleOn2Wheels]

I wonder if the rental seat backs that I see in football stadiums would work for some of the show bench seating? I did a search and found several manufacturers. They claim that they are easy to set up and remove. I wonder if they were available at shows, that might make it possible for someone who needs them to actually enjoy the show. I've never used them myself - no recent trips to football stadiums.

Next trip in a few weeks! Pop with an ECV.

 

[mickey&minniealways]

You can get a seat for stadium seats at any walmart. They don't look that stury but when you sit down on them they are. They go for about $20 and are suprisingly easy to use and set up. DD15 is a JV cheerleader at our local highschool. She cheers for both sophmore and JV teams so we have sat on many bleacher seats. I would buy one of these seats. It is not worth it to try and rent one. You will pay for the price of one of these several times over.