Just back from first DLR ad WDW vets

[ireland_nicole]

So - we survived the trip and lived to tell the tale. Here's a quick rundown of the good, the bad and the ugly on our trip from our perspective. We were a family of 4 using one cane, one ecv, one wheelchair ( for DD) and 2 gacs. We were there 5 days of which two were grad nights. We went to the parks early and left around lunchtime or a bit after; 4 of the 5 nights we were able to return a bit in the evening as well. DD has to avoid sunlight so she used an umbrella and the June gloom overcast mornings were super helpful.

First - the great
1. Transportation - all I can say is WOW! We parked in the toy story lot and I would highly recommend it. Busses were extremely plentiful and the drivers were pretty knowledgeable and kind. We had two vehicles to tie down and it was never an issue. There are marked specific places to stand and they drop you off right at the entrance plaza- and park hopping is an absolute breeze. I did need to rent an ecv at the park one day d/t cord issues and you are welcome to take the ecv from park to park and to dtd. They even had a place for me to keep it during the break we took in the afternoon.

The places we ate- Ariel's grotto, goofus kitchen, carthay circle, and blog bayou were fine with our minimal allergies.

The vast majority of cast members were great- very helpful an sweet

The walking in walts disneyland footsteps your was fabulous and completely accessible except of course walts apt. I was given ample time to climb the stairs to his apt at the end an there are rails on both sides. The guide made sure I didn't lose the group- I would def recommend to take the morning your as the park gets very difficult to navigate as the clouds build.

RSR is as good as they say it is

The Bad
1. Because DLR is smaller an older it is much more difficult to navigate in wheels. I knew the park was smaller but didn't quite conceptualize that means the walkways are much narrower. And as the crowds built it was pretty exhausting and scary to try to get around - DCA was much better

2. The GAC was relatively useless for us, as was the touring plan- most of the time anyone with wheels uses the exits, which are often long, narrow, dark and can be very noisy. Even if the park wasn't that crowded, there could still be 5 wheelchair ahead of you for something an then you would be waiting 30 min instead of the queues 5 min- but then again the queue could be 30 min and if you were the next chair you could be on in 5. As a planner, I found that frustrating.

3. If you have wheels, expect to wait longer on rides, especially at DcA- because these lines are partially mainstreamed but then you get pulled to an alternate boarding area and another line- like TSMM at DHSx a lot more rides

The ugly
Whatever you have to do, avoid grad nights especially if you have wheels- nuff said.

Understand that some CMs have a serious chip on their shoulder re; perceived abuse. Not most but a couple. There were some things DD was unable to do even though the same simple accommodation we asked for was available multiple other places. And my personal fave was a super nasty cm at blue bayou- yes, I complained, and am writing a follow up letter- we have not asked not do we expect any kind of compensation, but would like the cm to either be placed in another position or given further training.

Even with 5 days we weren't able to see everything but we had a great time and are so lad we saw Walts park.

We Did enjoy the disability seating at WOC and Fantasmic. We also had a great spot for the fireworks but it did require getting our spot almost 3 hours ahead of time. I would not recommend disabilit seatin for the parade at DLR. It is in full sun. But, the move other benches closer to the parade route and do not allow people to stand in front of them. I was able to snag a spot in the shade with DD and it was great
Happy to answer any other questions if y'all have them

 

[Tiggerish]

Thank you for this report. I use an ECV and have been to Disney World several times but would like try Disneyland. However, the narrower walkways and loading at the exits has me wondering if I should just stick with Florida.

 

[Mama Who]

Whatever you have to do, avoid grad nights especially if you have wheels- nuff said.

Understand that some CMs have a serious chip on their shoulder re; perceived abuse. Not most but a couple. There were some things DD was unable to do even though the same simple accommodation we asked for was available multiple other places. And my personal fave was a super nasty cm at blue bayou- yes, I complained, and am writing a follow up letter- we have not asked not do we expect any kind of compensation, but would like the cm to either be placed in another position or given further training.

Heck, avoid grad nights whether you have wheels or not. They're awful! The change that puts the grads in the parks with everyone else has NOT been popular with the general public.

I am so sorry the CM at BB was rude to you. Was it disability related or just general awfulness?

 

[SueM in MN]

Thanks for the review.
No matter how much people say WDW and DL are very different as far as accessibility, it's always good to hear it again.
And, especially good to hear it from someone very familiar with WDW who can make a comparison.

Heck, avoid grad nights whether you have wheels or not. They're awful! The change that puts the grads in the parks with everyone else has NOT been popular with the general public.

I am so sorry the CM at BB was rude to you. Was it disability related or just general awfulness?

LOL - I didn't particularly like being around huge groups of high schoolers when I WAS in high school, much less at my age now.

 

[ireland_nicole]

Thank you for this report. I use an ECV and have been to Disney World several times but would like try Disneyland. However, the narrower walkways and loading at the exits has me wondering if I should just stick with Florida.

I still think its worth going if you really want to. I'm glad we went, because it was really special to see "walt's" park. If you are able to go at a lower crowd time, that would probably help. We aren't able to take our middle schooler out of school, so that necessitated an early summer trip.

Heck, avoid grad nights whether you have wheels or not. They're awful! The change that puts the grads in the parks with everyone else has NOT been popular with the general public.

I am so sorry the CM at BB was rude to you. Was it disability related or just general awfulness?

yeah, the grad night thing was not good. The first night we certainly noticed it but is wasn't crazy; the second night though there were lots of big groups blocking walkways and chanting and it threw the FP times WAY off. We had a FP to RSR and ToT that we weren't able to use at all because the FP line had become an hour long. It was nuts and that was before park closing in the evening about 8pm. As far as the cm, it was disability related. There was a crowd in front of club 33 next door waiting to get in and a couple to the left of the hostess stand. I asked about checking in and her response was a very rude- these people were here first, you're going to have to get at the back of the line and wait your turn. Mind you, no one was talking and the one couple was off to the side. Anyway, I said I'm happy to wait my turn, but it's really difficult to try to maneuver behind them with this crowd, if it's just this couple can I wait here? She looked me dead in the eye and said, well don't you have anyone else not like You? and waved her hand at my personal ECV. The couple next to me and I both looked appalled. On top of that she intentionally didn't mark that we wanted waterside even though when it was my turn I mentioned it twice (it was my sons birthday and that's why we booked the first seating and got there early). When we went in, they took us to a table in the back. Thankfully it was still early so there were waterside tables left and we asked and were able to get one, but honestly she pretty much ruined the experience for me. The one other incident is from the Rapunzel line. I was told I had to stand in line but my DD in her w/c and my DS had to wait at tables about 30 feet away and out of my sight. That stunk too (fwiw, I stood in the queue line as I was told there was no other option) The CM when I was next in line looked shocked when I asked, look I'm happy to wait, but can I please get my kid from over there? She said that the official answer is one thing but she would have let us wait off to the side. There was a lot of difference in how we were treated as far as where to wait based on the CM at the time.

Thanks for the review.
No matter how much people say WDW and DL are very different as far as accessibility, it's always good to hear it again.
And, especially good to hear it from someone very familiar with WDW who can make a comparison.

LOL - I didn't particularly like being around huge groups of high schoolers when I WAS in high school, much less at my age now.

LOL fair enough, I was the same in HS and now too. I felt like for the most part they tried, and that at a very low crowd time it probably works better. And I think WDW can take a HUGE page out of DLRs book when it comes to transportation and bus driver attitudes because the difference was night and day! I think we did our best to be flexible and were prepared for differences, but with DD having autism, epilepsy and needing the chair I felt that it was kind of impossible to accommodate all her needs at once sometimes. Like at space mountain the handicap entrance is in a huge concrete room at the exit and the sound is overwhelming. And sometimes I felt like the choices made things more difficult. Like at RSR, there are no stairs that I could see in the regular queue, so people who can transfer could have used the mainstream boarding line. But we were all funneled to the extra car on the side, which meant a minimum of an extra 1/2 hour over the regular queue every time we rode, which added up pretty quickly. Overall, we had a great time, but agreed that with our challenges WDW probably works better- which is unfortunate, because if it weren't for our disabilities, we probably would have alternated more often.

 

[disney david]

I still think its worth going if you really want to. I'm glad we went, because it was really special to see "walt's" park. If you are able to go at a lower crowd time, that would probably help. We aren't able to take our middle schooler out of school, so that necessitated an early summer trip.

yeah, the grad night thing was not good. The first night we certainly noticed it but is wasn't crazy; the second night though there were lots of big groups blocking walkways and chanting and it threw the FP times WAY off. We had a FP to RSR and ToT that we weren't able to use at all because the FP line had become an hour long. It was nuts and that was before park closing in the evening about 8pm. As far as the cm, it was disability related. There was a crowd in front of club 33 next door waiting to get in and a couple to the left of the hostess stand. I asked about checking in and her response was a very rude- these people were here first, you're going to have to get at the back of the line and wait your turn. Mind you, no one was talking and the one couple was off to the side. Anyway, I said I'm happy to wait my turn, but it's really difficult to try to maneuver behind them with this crowd, if it's just this couple can I wait here? She looked me dead in the eye and said, well don't you have anyone else not like You? and waved her hand at my personal ECV. The couple next to me and I both looked appalled. On top of that she intentionally didn't mark that we wanted waterside even though when it was my turn I mentioned it twice (it was my sons birthday and that's why we booked the first seating and got there early). When we went in, they took us to a table in the back. Thankfully it was still early so there were waterside tables left and we asked and were able to get one, but honestly she pretty much ruined the experience for me. The one other incident is from the Rapunzel line. I was told I had to stand in line but my DD in her w/c and my DS had to wait at tables about 30 feet away and out of my sight. That stunk too (fwiw, I stood in the queue line as I was told there was no other option) The CM when I was next in line looked shocked when I asked, look I'm happy to wait, but can I please get my kid from over there? She said that the official answer is one thing but she would have let us wait off to the side. There was a lot of difference in how we were treated as far as where to wait based on the CM at the time.

LOL fair enough, I was the same in HS and now too. I felt like for the most part they tried, and that at a very low crowd time it probably works better. And I think WDW can take a HUGE page out of DLRs book when it comes to transportation and bus driver attitudes because the difference was night and day! I think we did our best to be flexible and were prepared for differences, but with DD having autism, epilepsy and needing the chair I felt that it was kind of impossible to accommodate all her needs at once sometimes. Like at space mountain the handicap entrance is in a huge concrete room at the exit and the sound is overwhelming. And sometimes I felt like the choices made things more difficult. Like at RSR, there are no stairs that I could see in the regular queue, so people who can transfer could have used the mainstream boarding line. But we were all funneled to the extra car on the side, which meant a minimum of an extra 1/2 hour over the regular queue every time we rode, which added up pretty quickly. Overall, we had a great time, but agreed that with our challenges WDW probably works better- which is unfortunate, because if it weren't for our disabilities, we probably would have alternated more often.

Sorry for the cm at the restaurant is known for bad service just go back and listen to Pete review on the show about that restaurant and you never want to go their I hope you reported them and let Disney know. The buses are not owned by Disney they are out sourced in Disney land and they only go from point a to point b not like Disney world where it a full scale transportation system. While their are some bad drivers but their are more great driver plus they operate different style buses that hold different amount of people and different times with less pressure in dlr.

 

[ArchOwl]

LOL fair enough, I was the same in HS and now too. I felt like for the most part they tried, and that at a very low crowd time it probably works better. And I think WDW can take a HUGE page out of DLRs book when it comes to transportation and bus driver attitudes because the difference was night and day! I think we did our best to be flexible and were prepared for differences, but with DD having autism, epilepsy and needing the chair I felt that it was kind of impossible to accommodate all her needs at once sometimes. Like at space mountain the handicap entrance is in a huge concrete room at the exit and the sound is overwhelming. And sometimes I felt like the choices made things more difficult. Like at RSR, there are no stairs that I could see in the regular queue, so people who can transfer could have used the mainstream boarding line. But we were all funneled to the extra car on the side, which meant a minimum of an extra 1/2 hour over the regular queue every time we rode, which added up pretty quickly. Overall, we had a great time, but agreed that with our challenges WDW probably works better- which is unfortunate, because if it weren't for our disabilities, we probably would have alternated more often.

I am sorry that DL didn't seem as welcoming as WDW. I have never been to WDW, but from what I understand, they have much more space to accommodate needs than DL. I hope you will let Disney know where they need to improve. The bus drivers from the Toy Story Lot are not CMs, but I am sure Disney would want to know where they are failing to accommodate.

And just so you know on RSR, when you board through the regular line you exit on your left and there is a large staircase by which you exit. The alternate boarding has you enter and exit the ride on the same side, avoiding the stairs. If you had a chair in your party, there is no way you could have boarded the regular way. So there is a reason for them pulling you to the side.

 

[clanmcculloch]

Thank you! It's really nice hearing about DL from the perspective of somebody familiar with WDW. I'm still trying to wrap my head around how wheelchairs are handled at DL.

For somebody who can walk some and can even do stairs but needs a wheelchair for distances, which attractions would you recommend just parking the wheelchair outside and walking through the queue? I plan to heavily use FPs and touring plans but I can't seem to figure it out when adding the wheelchair waits into the fray. I'm figuring that since GACs are typically sent the same way as wheelchairs (our other DD gets a GAC at WDW due to issues associated with her autism), waiting at exits or in confined non-moving areas would be much worse for her than making sure to be in less crowded areas. I'm also hoping the the FP lines don't get nearly as full in the morning as they do like you experienced later in the day since for the most part we're confined to mornings. I'll still get her GAC but I plan to try to either do without it or ask CMs which would be better, our FP or GAC considering our needs.

I really need to get my ADRs booked. I'm glad to hear you had good experiences at Goofy's and Ariel's since those were on my list, assuming there's still any availability.