Just back--Few Thoughts/Observation

[buffettgirl]

I don't know I just think that making someone in a wheelchair having wait for an elevator when six people with three stroller squeeze into it is a but rude of the poe with the strollers.

If 6 people in strollers arrived at the elevator first, then they ride first. It's only rude if they pushed the person in the wheelchair out of the way.

 

[buffettgirl]

Maybe it's just me but anytime I see someone in a wheelchair trying to get on a subway or an elevator I think they should have the priority to use it over an able bodied person even if the do have a stroller.

A subway is not an elevator. I would always let someone in a wheelchair go first to get on the subway as I figure i have far more dexterity to jump in quickly and quickly move around people. apples and oranges and none of it is Disney.

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

If 6 people in strollers arrived at the elevator first, then they ride first. It's only rude if they pushed the person in the wheelchair out of the way.

What I saw was someone get in that arrived after the wheelchair and I don't think they should have gotten in and also I don't think that all of the people with the strollers need to get in. Just one person with it would have been fine. As there is an escalator right next to the elevator.

 

[jujube]

What I saw was someone get in that arrived after the wheelchair and I don't think they should have gotten in and also I don't think that all of the people with the strollers need to get in. Just one person with it would have been fine. As there is an escalator right next to the elevator.

It's dangerous trying to use an escalator with a stroller- very unwieldy.
You didn't say at first that someone with a stroller arrived after the wheelchair. It my opinion, it should be on a first come basis.

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

It's dangerous trying to use an escalator with a stroller- very unwieldy.
You didn't say at first that someone with a stroller arrived after the wheelchair. It my opinion, it should be on a first come basis.

I wasn't suggesting that any one use the escalator with the stroller. What I mental was one of the two people that got on with the there strollers in each party could have gotten off to make room for the person in the wheelchair.

Sent from my Samsung Galexy Ace using the DISBoards app

 

[chryscrazy]

Guess what? If I were in line with 2 or more kids, even without a stroller, I would use the handicap stall if it were open. If I saw someone who was visibly handicapped behind me, I would let them go. If you get there after me, sorry, you can wait your turn.

I'm sorry that you think it is teaching kids to not follow rules. I'm unaware of any rule or law that says I must use a non handicapped stall. You and elevator lady seem to think that a person in a wheelchair or ecv should never have to wait for anything in life.

Don't think I'm not compassionate- my mom has a handicap tag in her car for my dad, and if he is not with her, or even if he is and is feeling well, I fuss at her for using it and urge her to find another space. I just don't think handicap= fastpass for life.

 

[stitchlovestink]

Guess what? If I were in line with 2 or more kids, even without a stroller, I would use the handicap stall if it were open. If I saw someone who was visibly handicapped behind me, I would let them go. If you get there after me, sorry, you can wait your turn.

I'm sorry that you think it is teaching kids to not follow rules. I'm unaware of any rule or law that says I must use a non handicapped stall. You and elevator lady seem to think that a person in a wheelchair or ecv should never have to wait for anything in life.

Don't think I'm not compassionate- my mom has a handicap tag in her car for my dad, and if he is not with her, or even if he is and is feeling well, I fuss at her for using it and urge her to find another space. I just don't think handicap= fastpass for life.

bolding is mine...
In MD, it is ILLEGAL to use a HC placard or plate that way. It is issued to an INDIVIDUAL and is to be used by that individual only. It is very annoying when the spouse or other family members see it as a 'free pass' when they don't have that person with them. It is a very hefty fine here for parking in a HC space without a placard and better yet if you are caught doing what your mom is doing they can confiscate the placard! The problem is enforcement! There is VERY little to none! And that is what is sad.
I really wish they could come up with a way to keep people like your mom from abusing the use of a spouse's HC placard. It is sickening.

 

[Kellykins1218]

I have 2 little ones who are autistic and I absolutely use the HC when they are in their stroller. Even if they weren't ASD I would still use it because you can't leave them alone outside the stall and sometimes it's impossible to do your business while your kids are trying to escape, looking under the stall wall at your neighbor etc. I rarely use the companion restroom with my one son because he can escape from ANY seatbelt in about 2 seconds. In the HC stall, I can catch him before he gets the door open. In the companion restroom, the door is too far from the toilet & I don't really want to make a dash for him, as he runs out the door, with my pants down. Oh, and believe me, he'd be gone before I could pull them up.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Honey, if EVERY woman with a stroller was using the handicap stall then there would be a wait a mile long. Most of the time people with babies swap off when they go into the bathroom. Not every person with every stroller goes into the rest room.

That said, you have zero clue why anyone using the stall needs the stall. You're making a HUGE assumption that the woman with the stroller has needs that are less than someone else. That's a huge huge assumption.

Apologies for thinking readers would understand that "every woman with a stroller" meant "every woman with a stroller who uses the handicapped stall in a restroom over any other possible resolution", honey.

 

[kellyw8863]

I hate threads like this because it makes people who have disabilities (or who travel with individuals with disabilities) seem discompassionate and entitled. As a parent whose child's disability has progressed to her requiring a wheelchair at times, I can assure (general) you that I would never judge a parent with a stroller who uses the HA stall if she is in line ahead of me. What is she supposed to do? Leave the baby in the stroller outside the stall? Rest the baby on the bathroom floor until she's finished doing her business? Neither is an option. Do I get a bit frustrated when I see a single, apparently able-bodied individual bounce into the HA stall when I'm standing there with my child in a wheelchair? Sure I do. But then I remind myself that as a parent of a child with an invisible illness, this person may also have health issues that aren't readily apparent. Maybe she has a history of UTIs with kidney involvement and can't wait for a regular stall to open up. Or maybe she has some type of bowel disease and the need to evacuate has the potential to become emergent.

Same thing with the elevator. A line is a line, and if I'm fifth in line, I'm fifth in line. It doesn't matter who is in front of me.

 

[buffettgirl]

First, the whole elevator thing is irrelevant. Elevators are there to be used by whomever is in line. There's nothing shameful or wrong about anyone who wants to take the elevator.


To Kaytieeldr, let me refresh what it is you said:

Wow, for a board where people often talk about invisible disabilities and how Disney accommodates them it seems like no one considered that perhaps someone needs grab bars, and they just happen to have a stroller.

C'mon guys, you're better than this.

Someone, sure. Every woman with a stroller? I think even the wizard of odds can't calculate the likelihood of that.

Apologies for thinking readers would understand that "every woman with a stroller" meant "every woman with a stroller who uses the handicapped stall in a restroom over any other possible resolution", honey.

So you simply mean that every woman that uses a stroller and the handicap stall can't possible need it? Ok, every person who uses an ECV can't possibly need it either. SURELY your wizard of odds can't calculate the likelihood of that either. I mean, the vast number of people on ECVs who can get off their ecvs for other thinks means that they can't possibly all need the handicap stall. Right?

Again though, the percentage of women with strollers who actually use the handicap stalls are probably fairly small compared to the vast number of strollers that are in disney. So where are all those other people? not using the stalls, which leads me to think that there are a good quantity who actually do need to use the handicap stall - in which case - it's none of your business.

Frankly, it's none of your business anyway - as the stalls are not like a handicap parking space. They're accessible stalls, not reserved. It means that this stall will accommodate all different people with all different needs.

 

[KartersMimi]

My daughter is a single mother who often shops & travels alone with her 9 month old son who has Cerebral Palsy. It is not an option to use anything but the larger handicap stall when there is no family restroom available. He must be close to her. Leaving him sitting outside of a stall is simply not an option & I can't imagine any person - handicapped or not - who could think that it should be. Also, we are finding more & more that many stores are installing changing tables inside of the handicap stalls, which only further reinforces the fact that the stall is not for the exclusive use of those in a chair. Now, obviously, if someone is there in a wheelchair & needs access, my daughter will let them go ahead as her son can generally wait a few minutes longer for a diaper change but it is not her problem if someone arrives after she has already entered the stall & she should not have to make apologies for utilizing the facilities that are there. Fact is, there is no designation on these stalls - no sign or placard - nothing that blatantly says "For handicap use only". They are not for the exclusive use of the handicap community. They are simply larger stalls that happen to have handrails & may be used by anyone. I am able to get around just fine. If you saw me walk in to a restroom you would see nothing wrong, except maybe a mild limp. However, when I have to sit down I can very easily lose my balance because of bad hips. I rely on the bars in the larger stalls for stability while both sitting & standing so that I don't end up on the floor in the process. I am also claustrophobic & this tiny stalls can quickly send me into a panic attack. Just because I'm not in a wheelchair does not mean that my need for the larger stall is not as great as those who are visibly handicap.

 

[kaytieeldr]

So you simply mean that every woman that uses a stroller and the handicap stall can't possible need it?

don't be disingenuous.
The likelihood that every single woman with a stroller in a public restroom using the handicapped stall has an invisible disability are so astronomical, the Wizard of Odds would find it difficult, if not impossible, to calculate those odds.

It means that this stall will accommodate all different people with all different needs.

While the stall is usually large enough for a stroller, the international wheelchair symbol means that these stalls will accommodate a person using a mobility assistance device such as a wheelchair (and apparently it's necessary to remind that not everyone in a wheelchair is in it 24/7 either; your derision toward ECV users wasn't missed) or ECV or rollator. Yes, they're large enough for strollers - but there's no stroller symbol. The considerate action would be to leave the accessible stall available whenever possible - but we know there's not a lot of courtesy in 2012.

Frankly, it's none of your business anyway

Sure. But who want to be responsible for TalkingHands' broken bone or embarrassment because someone was toilet-training in the accessible stall? Not mentioned in this thread, but it's been done at WDW...while someone in a wheelchair waited in vain.

 

[Kellykins1218]

It doesn't matter if they have a physical disability or not. The wheelchair symbol is to show which stall is larger. It is not reserved for wheelchairs. Any mother who has a child in a stroller has an absolute right to use that stall. What exactly do you want them to do with their child while they are in a regular stall? Why do you think so many places have the changing table installed in the HC stall? If mom & her stroller got there first, she has every right to use it. Simple as that.

 

[kaytieeldr]

They are simply larger stalls that happen to have handrails

Well, there's more to it than just being larger and happening to have handrails. There's also the actual floor space required to allow the person in the wheelchair to get between the door and the toilet, and to be able to get the wheelchair into a position where they can transfer. I'm sure there are more requirements as well, and ideally one of our resident architects will be along. But there's nothing coincidental about a handicap bathroom stall.

It doesn't matter if they have a physical disability or not. The wheelchair symbol is to show which stall is larger.

I'm relatively certain that's not why there's a wheelchair symbol on the door/stall. While visually impaired persons might benefit from such solid information, most other people would reasonably use other cues - like looking at the size of the stalls and/or doors.

 

[Kellykins1218]

I'm relatively certain that's not why there's a wheelchair symbol on the door/stall. .

And I totally disagree with you. I think that's exactly why there's a symbol on them.

 

[Kellykins1218]

If there is nobody in a wheelchair waiting, my need to use the facilities, and keep my child safe at the same time, trumps anyone in a wheelchair coming in after I enter. If you want stalls that are HC only, call your Congressman because that's not how it is.

 

[BillSears]

These discussions make me happy to work at a place that has signs like this on the HC stalls.

 

[jahber]

These discussions make me happy to work at a place that has signs like this on the HC stalls.

Very clear. So I assume the changing table would be somewhere else than this bathroom/stall (if your facilities offer one). Then of course I would give preference to someone who needed the extra space to maneuver, just because I have more flexibility and usually can hold it. But if no one is there and I needed to roll my stroller in (as opposed to leaving my baby unattended in a public space)...um. I'm gonna use the larger stall. Why is that so impossible to understand?

And those who believe HA stalls are ONLY for handicapped people, if the changing table IS in the accessible stall, what then? No one has chimed in on that particular question.

 

[LoveMMC]

As a teacher of 17 students with a range of special needs I teach social skills. My students are taught turn taking and hidden curriculum bathroom skills- I do not teach students they are in a wheelchair so they deserve to go first in a large stall!!

Just got back from toys r us and the large stall had the change table in it- do both disabled and babies have equal access. I do not expect a mother to pee with their baby outside a stall.

Wheelchairs have a right to use a bathroom comfortably but still have to be patient and use their turn taking skills!