Is anyone else getting tired of the time for accessible vehicles?

[BillSears]

On my most recent trip I had Fastpasses twice for the Jungle Cruise and after using both of them I was told the wait would be over a half hour. For the first time I told them I'd rather go do some other things and come back. The second time I was so frustrated I asked for a different Fastpass to replace the one I wasted.

This sort of thing happens a lot on the rides with an accessible vehicle. The lines often back up to almost the length of the Standby line. As a wheelchair user I wait through the Standby line or use a Fastpass so why should we have to wait so much longer after already waiting the same amount as an able bodied person. At least the DAS usually takes a bit of time off the Standby wait time.

Anyway I realize there probably isn't a solution to this but boy is it frustrating.

 

[DisneyOma]

The solution would be to have another boat with the accessible seating in the loop. Or design a boat that could be converted. Same with other ride vehicles - make them all convertible, then there wouldn't have to be the extra queue for the one ride vehicle some people need. They have the folding seats on buses, why not something similar on half of the ride vehicles? I say half because I don't think they'd need every vehicle to be accessible, but half would be easy to line up.

 

[aaarcher86]

They're restrictions to how many accessible vehicles/people can be on the ride at any given time for evacuation reasons.

I think it stinks, but there isn't much they can do about it. They can't make every vehicle accessible from what I understand.

 

[BillSears]

They do have 2 accessible boats at the Jungle Cruise but they only run one at a time. When I came back after the first delay they were swapping boats and told me it would be 15 minutes even with no one in line in front of me.

I do understand the evacuation problems and limited vehicles. But it is frustrating.

Personally I'd like to see a free Fastpass handed out every time someone is delayed because of the limited number of accessible vehicles. It's not perfect but it would make up the extra time you spend waiting. Plus if they hand out enough of them it's an incentive for Disney to fix the problem.

 

[aaarcher86]

They do have 2 accessible boats at the Jungle Cruise but they only run one at a time. When I came back after the first delay they were swapping boats and told me it would be 15 minutes even with no one in line in front of me.

I do understand the evacuation problems and limited vehicles. But it is frustrating.

Personally I'd like to see a free Fastpass handed out every time someone is delayed because of the limited number of accessible vehicles. It's not perfect but it would make up the extra time you spend waiting. Plus if they hand out enough of them it's an incentive for Disney to fix the problem.

But how would you suggest fixing the problem if they have to abide by vehicle limitations?

 

[BillSears]

But how would you suggest fixing the problem if they have to abide by vehicle limitations?

I'd guess the evacuation limits is more of a regulation or maybe even just a rule Disney has come up with. Disney rules can be changed and regulations can be modified by the government when someone as big as Disney requests it. Especially when the governing body is the Reedy Creek Improvement District. The question to me is how unsafe is it to unload 2 parties instead of 1? Yes, it's a pain to do it twice but if it's safe to unload 1 it should be safe to unload 2 or more.

 

[aaarcher86]

I'd guess the evacuation limits is more of a regulation or maybe even just a rule Disney has come up with. Disney rules can be changed and regulations can be modified by the government when someone as big as Disney requests it. Especially when the governing body is the Reedy Creek Improvement District. The question to me is how unsafe is it to unload 2 parties instead of 1? Yes, it's a pain to do it twice but if it's safe to unload 1 it should be safe to unload 2 or more.

I don't believe Disney sets those limits - just like fire codes.

Having a DH who is a certified firefighter I completely disagree with the idea that adding people that need to be evacuated during an emergency is easy. Like I said, I think it stinks, but I do t see a way around it.

 

[dja14]

They could also strongly encourage people who can transfer do so. I hope things have changed but when our son was in a wheelchair and able to transfer, they never wanted him to get out of the wheelchair. It might help a little.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

They're restrictions to how many accessible vehicles/people can be on the ride at any given time for evacuation reasons.

1) Folks do not recognize how difficult it is to evacuate handicap folks.
2) It takes a lot of time and manpower.
3) As a former medic, I can say the coordination-time could be life-threatening.
. . . evacuating two is not just a doubling-up of resources, it is harder than that
. . . now, let's add the difficulty of finding a second boat on the "river"
. . . in an emergency, this could get really messy really fast

 

[SueM in MN]

They could also strongly encourage people who can transfer do so. I hope things have changed but when our son was in a wheelchair and able to transfer, they never wanted him to get out of the wheelchair. It might help a little.

we are usually asked whether our daughter can transfer at each attraction that has a wheelchair accessible vehicle.
It's pretty obvious she would need a lot of assistance if she can transfer at all - her feet are strapped to her wheelchair, but we are almost always asked anyway.

 

[DisneyOma]

I forgot about evacuation - but then how does that work on a bus? There are 3 spots for WC/ECV on pretty much every bus now, how would you evacuate there?

Giving someone a FP would only make the wait shorter for that one person - it would make it longer for everyone else needing the accommodations. Do that for everyone in the same situation, and you get a huge pile-up as well.

 

[aaarcher86]

I forgot about evacuation - but then how does that work on a bus? There are 3 spots for WC/ECV on pretty much every bus now, how would you evacuate there?

Giving someone a FP would only make the wait shorter for that one person - it would make it longer for everyone else needing the accommodations. Do that for everyone in the same situation, and you get a huge pile-up as well.

A bus isn't the same. The space is contained. On a ride, the accessible vehicle could be at any point on the track. The responders have to maneuver through all of that to evacuate someone - the bus is just all together.

 

[wilkeliza]

Wait are they not giving return times any more? I know when DAS first rolled out they gave wheelchairs return tickets to try and make sure that there wasn't a back up at the wheelchair load.

 

[BillSears]

For Jungle Cruise they do give you a return time equal to the length of the Standby line if you are doing Standby with a wheelchair. But that return time isn't to insure there is no backup at the wheelchair load, it's so that the wheelchair user waits as long as the Standby line. I've shown up without a Fastpass and was given a return time even though the line for the lift was empty. Then when I returned there was a line for the lift. So the return time for me actually made the accessible vehicle line longer than if they had just let me on when there wasn't a line. I'm sure the lift boat cycled through a few times empty while I waited for the Standby time.

On this trip I wanted to avoid that issue so I got Fastpasses for the Jungle Cruise. Fastpass wheelchair users are let in without waiting the Standby time. Of course on this trip I was let right into the half hour plus wheelchair lift line.

 

[SMD]

For Jungle Cruise they do give you a return time equal to the length of the Standby line if you are doing Standby with a wheelchair. But that return time isn't to insure there is no backup at the wheelchair load, it's so that the wheelchair user waits as long as the Standby line. I've shown up without a Fastpass and was given a return time even though the line for the lift was empty. Then when I returned there was a line for the lift. So the return time for me actually made the accessible vehicle line longer than if they had just let me on when there wasn't a line. I'm sure the lift boat cycled through a few times empty while I waited for the Standby time.

But what if there had been a line earlier and that's why they started giving out the return times. It wouldn't work to hand out return times to dissipate the line, then start letting people who show up after the return times were issued right on to the ride while those with the return times have to wait. It's unfortunate that there was a line when you returned, but those people may have gotten return times first, and had been waiting just as long, or longer. Other than shortening the return window there really isn't much Disney can do to stop people from using their returns at the same time within a given window, in the standby queue, the FP queue or the accessible queue.

 

[Baklava]

That must be so frustrating and I am sympathetic to your problem. That said, I think this is one of those moments where being in a chair just sucks and there's not a good solution. Sometimes there's not an equal accommodation. There's no way for me to view Fantasmic at Disneyland without spending $60 on premium seating. It's not equal and it's not accessible but there's not a viable alternative.

 

[kamik86]

I honestly don't think there is much they can do about this.

For example my mom had to wait on one ride because she came through the line in a wheel chair. The reason is they only allow X number that need a wheelchair even though they transfer at a time for evacuation reasons.

If the line was shorter and she walked though she wouldn't have to wait but that is only an option for some.


Given this rule there is a limit to how many wheel chair users can ride a ride in a day. If they have the number of ride accessible vehicles to meet that limit there is nothing they can do to add more capacity.

Unfortunately more and more people are using wheel chairs at disney so I think this will continue to get worse.

 

[BillSears]

But what if there had been a line earlier and that's why they started giving out the return times. It wouldn't work to hand out return times to dissipate the line, then start letting people who show up after the return times were issued right on to the ride while those with the return times have to wait. It's unfortunate that there was a line when you returned, but those people may have gotten return times first, and had been waiting just as long, or longer. Other than shortening the return window there really isn't much Disney can do to stop people from using their returns at the same time within a given window, in the standby queue, the FP queue or the accessible queue.

I see your point but from my experience they aren't giving out return times to dissipate the line. The return times are the length of the the standby line time so they are just to make sure wheelchair users wait the same amount of time that the standby queue is. If you arrive with a a Fastpass they let you right into the wheelchair boat line with no return time no matter how long the queue is. If you arrive and the wheelchair queue is empty they still make you return after waiting the time of the standby line. Often after coming back at the return time I'm dumped into a wheelchair line that wasn't present when I originally got the return time ticket. Also I believe the return time is one of those use anytime after this time, so it's not for staggering out the accessible boat queue.

What I'd like to see are two things. Use both accessible boats at once to lower the wait times. Secondly if you are standby and you have waited the time that being in the standby line has posted or if you are a Fastpass user and you have to wait more than one cycle of the ride due to waiting for the accessible boat you should be issued a Fastpass to compensate for the extra time you have spent waiting. To me it isn't reasonable to wait an extra half hour plus compared to an able-bodied person without some sort of compensation to offset the wait.

 

[kamik86]

I forgot about evacuation - but then how does that work on a bus? There are 3 spots for WC/ECV on pretty much every bus now, how would you evacuate there?

Giving someone a FP would only make the wait shorter for that one person - it would make it longer for everyone else needing the accommodations. Do that for everyone in the same situation, and you get a huge pile-up as well.

I think the issue is why and how far you have to evac.

Why would you evac a bus? I can't come up with any reason that would involve needing to move more then a few feet away from the bus. Even if the bus is on fire we are still not talking a huge clearance area shorter then how far I would have to walk to make it outisde the building I"m in now. IN that case I would think the wheel chair users would just be carried out. Even if there are three they know right where they are and can do that because each person is only being moved a short way.


Now what about in a building? There are many reasons to have to evac a full building. If the full ride building needs to be evacuated quickly everyone who is not disabled they pretty much just have to release the harnesses and direct them where to move.

Those that are disabled they need to figure out where they are in the ride prioritize who needs to get out first and figure out how they are going to move them, because the distance may be more then making carrying feasible. With one or two that need help that is possible... but at some point its just not going to be possible to get everyone out.

 

[kamik86]

I see your point but from my experience they aren't giving out return times to dissipate the line. The return times are the length of the the standby line time so they are just to make sure wheelchair users wait the same amount of time that the standby queue is. If you arrive with a a Fastpass they let you right into the wheelchair boat line with no return time no matter how long the queue is. If you arrive and the wheelchair queue is empty they still make you return after waiting the time of the standby line. Often after coming back at the return time I'm dumped into a wheelchair line that wasn't present when I originally got the return time ticket. Also I believe the return time is one of those use anytime after this time, so it's not for staggering out the accessible boat queue.

What I'd like to see are two things. Use both accessible boats at once to lower the wait times. Secondly if you are standby and you have waited the time that being in the standby line has posted or if you are a Fastpass user and you have to wait more than one cycle of the ride due to waiting for the accessible boat you should be issued a Fastpass to compensate for the extra time you have spent waiting. To me it isn't reasonable to wait an extra half hour plus compared to an able-bodied person without some sort of compensation to offset the wait.

Lets think about that one for evacs though... what would it take to evac someone from a wheel chair on the jungle cruise without getting the boat back to the loading area. Does anyone know how they would do this?

For the able bodied all you need is a simple plank that could be placed from the boat to the side. I"m sure there are MANY locations along the ride that you could do this.

For wheel chair users that can't transfer what will it take? a Lift maybe?