Just back from Pop Century, aka "Scooter City"!

[KPeveler]

Kathy, just a quick comment. When DD had her MAW trip at DL, we of course had the MAW GAC card. And because of the stamps used, we WERE given priority over other wheelchair users and their families.... Bridget was about 16 then, and she held the card herself. She would show it to the CM, and say, I believe I have "priority", and they would move her in front of the wheelchair queue. Maybe only DL does this though. I did NOT feel bad doing it. She was quite ill, and we only could stay in the parks about 2 hours before she had to return to the room to rest.

And I think I have seen MAW families go ahead of us, too, at WDW (and I have no problem with that). But it is a tough thing, some people are in a wheelchair or scooter, and they are really not well and health challenged. Others might be ok, they just have a temporary injury or something.

Interesting thread Kathy, I wonder if there is a better alternative to help transport scooter users and their families. I think the high cost of Disney scooters used to deter people from renting them (and coming to WDW). Now more people know about the offsite less expensive options....

I don't think anyone is going to argue with MAW kids getting priority over, well, anyone!

I totally understand how difficult it is to do the parks even with a wheelchair - a wheelchair only covers part of my needs. I still have extremely limited energy and severe pain problems. Luckily Disney does wonders helping me cope with the crowds and such so I can enjoy the parks a little.

Disney really does need to come up with some ideas to help with scooters. Something DL does at the Aladdin show really helps I think. They ask before people enter the show if they can transfer to a regular seat. If the answer is yes, then the person can either park the wheelchair or scooter and walk, or the CM will follow the person to a seat and then take the scooter or wheelchair back to the side.

I think by asking people, more people are willing to leave the scooters or wheelchair and sit in a regular seat. In all the shows I have been to, I have even seen extra wheelchair spots! Obviously no one HAS to get out, but by taking the active step of asking, it really does help.

If CMs in WDW could start asking at the entrance to Tiki and Hall of Prez and such if a person can transfer, it may actually make a difference.

ETA: The other thing that they do which makes a difference is that only one person can sit next to the person with the wheelchair or scooter. Other members of the party must sit elsewhere (unless this puts a child under 7 or so alone). I have seen many parties who want to sit together decide after seeing the theatre to leave the wheelchair or scooter outside. Those of us who cannot transfer just know ahead of time that the party will be separated (it's a stage show - not like we're going to be talking anyway! It's a lot like the American Adventure theatre), but this does help keep the number of people who use the wheelchair/scooter spots down to those who MUST use them.

Still won't help with the buses, though....

 

[dclfun]

Kathy, just a quick comment. When DD had her MAW trip at DL, we of course had the MAW GAC card. And because of the stamps used, we WERE given priority over other wheelchair users and their families.... Bridget was about 16 then, and she held the card herself. She would show it to the CM, and say, I believe I have "priority", and they would move her in front of the wheelchair queue. Maybe only DL does this though. I did NOT feel bad doing it. She was quite ill, and we only could stay in the parks about 2 hours before she had to return to the room to rest.

And I think I have seen MAW families go ahead of us, too, at WDW (and I have no problem with that). But it is a tough thing, some people are in a wheelchair or scooter, and they are really not well and health challenged. Others might be ok, they just have a temporary injury or something.

Interesting thread Kathy, I wonder if there is a better alternative to help transport scooter users and their families. I think the high cost of Disney scooters used to deter people from renting them (and coming to WDW). Now more people know about the offsite less expensive options....

I would have no problem with a MAW child going in first either, but I've seen the kids with the cards and their parents, and they waited behind all other guests who were in the accessible line ( if they needed the accessible line). There are some attractions where they can be taken in a backstage entrance, but in some cases there is no way to let a w/c in front of another one without making existing guests back up or leave the queue.---Kathy

 

[thej]

Slightly off topic, but we stayed at PoP over the summer, and experienced something I found disquieting. I feel I must explain that my son has Asperger's Syndrome and while we get a GAC, we only use it when we have to. There are many attractions and times of day DS is perfectly capable of handling the lines without issue, and for those we wait just like everyone does. I certainly don't begrudge anyone the extra assistance they need to experience WDW, we certainly are able to do things with our son we couldn't otherwise without the GAC. BUT...

One morning DS & I were waiting for the bus at Pop. I think we were headed to DHS that morning. We happened to be in the queue at the end closest to scooter/wheelchair loading zone. An extended family of 8 or so comes up to the loading area with a couple of rental scooters with pre-teens driving them. The family then proceeds to discuss: who is going to ride the scooters first and where they will meet to switch off so others can have their turn. It became very apparent to me and those in line around me as this family talked that they had the scooters primarily so as 2 groups of 4ish they could use the accessible entrances to as many rides as possible. As you can imagine, a lot of people around me were staring with looks of open amazement at this family which was so clearly was gaming the system to "skip the lines" as they said.

Although I know there are plenty of people that actually need scooters to experience the parks, hearing about all of the scooters at Pop of late makes me worry. Perhaps what this family was doing is becoming a more common practice. I hope not. I like to think people are basically good and wouldn't take advantage of things like this. I always hate it when a few bad apples ruin things for the majority.

 

[Eeyore5]

One morning DS & I were waiting for the bus at Pop. I think we were headed to DHS that morning. We happened to be in the queue at the end closest to scooter/wheelchair loading zone. An extended family of 8 or so comes up to the loading area with a couple of rental scooters with pre-teens driving them. The family then proceeds to discuss: who is going to ride the scooters first and where they will meet to switch off so others can have their turn. It became very apparent to me and those in line around me as this family talked that they had the scooters primarily so as 2 groups of 4ish they could use the accessible entrances to as many rides as possible. As you can imagine, a lot of people around me were staring with looks of open amazement at this family which was so clearly was gaming the system to "skip the lines" as they said.

They were in for a shock. Most rides don't have a special entrance for a person with a disability. Most lines are mainstreamed. You wait just as long or longer on most rides. You wait longer on the rides where the line splits off towards the end since there are only 1 - 2 accessible cars.

 

[Bete]

for us that having a wheelchair and a scooter has been an advantage for us for rides. Most of the time I feel we wait longer. As stated already there are not that many handicap vehicles available for rides. For us, having two vehicles has been a real challenge to get the same bus at times. We can't separate.

I will admit it seems we get an advantage on riding with a wheelchair on Buzz Lightyear. Many times they will allow us to ride a second time on that ride, too. I think that happens there; because, it's not easy to do this procedure twice on that ride. Whatever advantage we get at Buzz is completely taken away and then some with the Jungle Cruise ride. For the Tiki show you can get an advantage on waiting time; unless, there is an over abundance of scooters and wheelchairs waiting. For Country Bear Jamboree I don't think there are enough spots per show for wheelchairs and scooters; so, we had to wait for the next show more than once. The same has been true of Halls for Presidents. Anyway, I think you gain on some and lose on others; so, at the end of the day it's a pretty level playing field of gains and losses for waiting time. I feel the same is true of the other parks.

Getting back to the POP situation I think the best answer there is to go back and forth to the parks at off times or use your own transportation to avoid many of the issues mentioned, here. I have stayed at POP the most through the years. I've stayed at ALL Star Sports, too. If I find POP on our next trip to be that bad I'll definitely switch to All Star the next time. If All Star is bad, too then I'll probably opt for a moderate. We try to go during non peak seasons and that helps to a degree.

When you get down to it, what else can you do? If the pocket book says value resort then it may be a tough road ahead for all of us using handicap vehicles and Disney transportation.

 

[dclfun]

for us that having a wheelchair and a scooter has been an advantage for us for rides. Most of the time I feel we wait longer. As stated already there are not that many handicap vehicles available for rides. For us, having two vehicles has been a real challenge to get the same bus at times. We can't separate.

I will admit it seems we get an advantage on riding with a wheelchair on Buzz Lightyear. Many times they will allow us to ride a second time on that ride, too. I think that happens there; because, it's not easy to do this procedure twice on that ride. Whatever advantage we get at Buzz is completely taken away and then some with the Jungle Cruise ride. For the Tiki show you can get an advantage on waiting time; unless, there is an over abundance of scooters and wheelchairs waiting. For Country Bear Jamboree I don't think there are enough spots per show for wheelchairs and scooters; so, we had to wait for the next show more than once. The same has been true of Halls for Presidents. Anyway, I think you gain on some and lose on others; so, at the end of the day it's a pretty level playing field of gains and losses for waiting time. I feel the same is true of the other parks.

Getting back to the POP situation I think the best answer there is to go back and forth to the parks at off times or use your own transportation to avoid many of the issues mentioned, here. I have stayed at POP the most through the years. I've stayed at ALL Star Sports, too. If I find POP on our next trip to be that bad I'll definitely switch to All Star the next time. If All Star is bad, too then I'll probably opt for a moderate. We try to go during non peak seasons and that helps to a degree.

When you get down to it, what else can you do? If the pocket book says value resort then it may be a tough road ahead for all of us using handicap vehicles and Disney transportation.

As to resort choices, this is why Disney needs to take a look at specific resorts where there are long waits for the busses due to scooter and w/c boarding. We should not have to feel as though we can't stay at a resort that's affordable! Disney is great at doing measurements which they call IE studies. They measure the wait times and volume of guests using a feature. Yes, there are more guests in general at the one bus stop at Pop Century due to how many guest rooms are located there but usually the amount of busses sent are commensurate with that volume. With each bus having limited options for tie-downs, then the busses that are sent there should be the ones with four tie-downs vs. the old lift busses that take longer to load and that only hold two.---Kathy

 

[Bete]

when the new Disney resort pops up next door, Art of Animation in 2012.

I started thinking about this and with 2000 more rooms becoming available as a value resort and being brand new it will attract way more visitors than POP Century when it opens. The exact same thing happened with All Stars when POP opened up. There was a decline in visitors at All Star at the time.

I do believe there will continue to be a rise in scooter use, but with another resort popping up I think it will be more manageable then it is right now.

 

[livndisney]

when the new Disney resort pops up next door, Art of Animation in 2012.

I started thinking about this and with 2000 more rooms becoming available as a value resort and being brand new it will attract way more visitors than POP Century when it opens. The exact same thing happened with All Stars when POP opened up. There was a decline in visitors at All Star at the time.

I do believe there will continue to be a rise in scooter use, but with another resort popping up I think it will be more manageable then it is right now.

But if the new resort is sharing the buses with Pop(as they do at Allstar), I see the issue getting worse not better.

 

[Bete]

But if the new resort is sharing the buses with Pop(as they do at Allstar), I see the issue getting worse not better.

I really don't think there will be shared buses.

All Star resorts have 1920 rooms. If I'm not mistaken the Sports section doesn't share buses there. POP Century has 2880 rooms; so, I can understand that resort being the worse. The new resort will have under 2000 rooms similar to All Stars and I believe they will have their own transportation and not share with POP. Obviously until it all happens we won't know.

I do believe we can expect some changes on how they will be doing lines for the buses there for scooters and wheelchairs. I can't say what it will be but I'm sure they are going to try to make it mainstream whereever possible. No matter how you look at it Disney is still one of the best destinations for any disabilities.

I choose to look at it as my glass being half full and not half empty. We have two handicap vehicles in our party of three; so, it's always difficult for us. We just try to go with the flow.

 

[clkelley]

I honestly don't see Animation Inn pulling from the Values much at all. While some rave over the Value Suites, I don't think they are a "value". They only sleep 6 and some of that "sleeping" is in the "living" space and there is no entrance from the "adult" sleeping space to the outside. To me, two value rooms are a much better value, than one of the "value suites"

There will only be two buildings of regular rooms in the Animation Suites.

Also, unless the concept art is way off, I'm thinking the "suite portion" of these buildings will have inside doorways. I'm thinking these are going to be priced above the cost point of the All-Stars Value Suites, making them even less attractive to value room users.

According to my calculations there will be 576 standard rooms (max 2304 guests) + 1152 suites (6912 guests), so that is not going to pull as much as you think.

Pop Century capacity is 11,520 guests. That is STILL a huge capacity for that small space.

 

[livndisney]

I really don't think there will be shared buses.

All Star resorts have 1920 rooms. If I'm not mistaken the Sports section doesn't share buses there. POP Century has 2880 rooms; so, I can understand that resort being the worse. The new resort will have under 2000 rooms similar to All Stars and I believe they will have their own transportation and not share with POP. Obviously until it all happens we won't know.

I do believe we can expect some changes on how they will be doing lines for the buses there for scooters and wheelchairs. I can't say what it will be but I'm sure they are going to try to make it mainstream whereever possible. No matter how you look at it Disney is still one of the best destinations for any disabilities.

I choose to look at it as my glass being half full and not half empty. We have two handicap vehicles in our party of three; so, it's always difficult for us. We just try to go with the flow.

From what I have heard the new resort will share buses with Pop, just the same as the Allstar resorts share buses. (Not the Allstar buses sharing with POP). Most resorts share buses, it is not that uncommon at WDW. POR/POFQ share, The Epcot resorts share (including the Swan and Dolphin), The MK resorts share.

What the opening of the new hotel will mean on a day to day basis is anyones guess at this point.

 

[dclfun]

From what I have heard the new resort will share buses with Pop, just the same as the Allstar resorts share buses. (Not the Allstar buses sharing with POP). Most resorts share buses, it is not that uncommon at WDW. POR/POFQ share, The Epcot resorts share (including the Swan and Dolphin), The MK resorts share.

What the opening of the new hotel will mean on a day to day basis is anyones guess at this point.

I've heard the same- that the two "sister resorts" will share busses. Just like at the All-Star resorts, there is often a bus for each resort w/o sharing at park opening and closing, but during most of the day when there is less expected guest volume, they will be having multiple stops. I agree- we really can't predict what will happen including queue lines and boarding procedures.---Kathy

 

[seashoreCM]

Wheelchair seating areas at shows (e.g. Voyage of the Little Mermaid) look like areas that may have had built in seats at one time. So accommodating more wheelchairs would be as easy as removing more seats.

Then they might admit some standing room only guests on a routine basis, how many depends on how many wheelchair guests there were.

They could set up a bus interior with fewer seats and with several standing room compartments so people aren't thrown that far in a domino effect if the bus made a sudden stop. Also, each compartment would be big enough for one wheelchair or scooter.

If wheelchair guests should have to wait for off hours to go to the parks then there should be provision for them to fetch fastpasses including Toy Story Mania ones at the resort before they go.

Is there an extra magic hours session somewhere every morning and an EMH somewhere every evening? This could be used to end up with fewer times when three parks close at about the same time and require lots of buses at the same time. Then more buses can be run to places where there are lots of wheelchairs waiting.

 

[SueM in MN]

Wheelchair seating areas at shows (e.g. Voyage of the Little Mermaid) look like areas that may have had built in seats at one time. So accommodating more wheelchairs would be as easy as removing more seats.

Then they might admit some standing room only guests on a routine basis, how many depends on how many wheelchair guests there were.

They could set up a bus interior with fewer seats and with several standing room compartments so people aren't thrown that far in a domino effect if the bus made a sudden stop. Also, each compartment would be big enough for one wheelchair or scooter.

If wheelchair guests should have to wait for off hours to go to the parks then there should be provision for them to fetch fastpasses including Toy Story Mania ones at the resort before they go.

Is there an extra magic hours session somewhere every morning and an EMH somewhere every evening? This could be used to end up with fewer times when three parks close at about the same time and require lots of buses at the same time. Then more buses can be run where there are lots of wheelchairs waiting.

Most of the shows had more seats and some could only hold 2-4 wheelchairs per show. You are correct that they removed seats to make room for more wheelchair spots. They can't remove all the seats though because each wheelchair spot still needs at least one companion seat next to it and several other seats in the rows ahead.