Just broke my ankle and I leave for WDW next week - AFTER ACTION REPORT ATTACHED.

[OneLittleSpark]

But I will always remember a friend from the University of Hartford - Todd had taken a bad step (about 85' straight down) and as a consequence was in a wheelchair for life... and it cost me $10 to learn that yes, he COULD wheelie that chair over a quarter mile! I do NOT underestimate folks who are in wheelchairs or are what some other people consider disabled any more.

 

[SueM in MN]

Thanks for the report. Glad you had a mostly good time and sorry to hear your sad news about your friend.

[*] Do NOT get an ECV for Universal - get a powered wheelchair if you can. The mazes at Islands of Adventure are too small for an ECV; they tell you to go into the exit, and those exits are TIGHT - at the Mummy ride I had to go up a switchback AGAINST the flow of exiting riders!! Whoever dreamed that idiocy up definitely gets failing marks for handicap accessibility. Wheelchairs can fit, they tell me - so be aware.

I just wanted to point out 2 things;
- if you don't regularly use a power wheelchair, you will find it near to impossible to rent one anywhere. They are driven with a joystick and take more practice to drive, so almost all of the companies will only rent one to people who have experience driving one. Many people with power wheelchairs choose to not travel with them so they don't have to worry about airline damage. That's who the power wheelchairs are rented to for the most part.
They look much easier to drive than they actually are. (I know this from experience by trying to drive DD's). Turning accurately is hard until you have enough experience with it.

- Universal considers many of their attractions to not be ECV or power wheelchair accessible, so if the ride is listed as needing to transfer from an ECV to a manual wheelchair, power wheelchair users also need to transfer.

 

[Absimilliard]

The reason why Revenge of the Mummy is such a mess at the exit is that Universal shoehorned that ride in an existing building: the one that housed Kongfrontation. Kongfrontation was an elevated tram ride and the station was pretty high in the air, so the elevator was installed to bring disabled guests to the station. When they emptied the building for Revenge of the Mummy, they kept the same elevated station approach (to save room in the building and allow the waiting line to be built under) and had to keep the elevator. Can't be as bad through as the Incredible Hulk... they would not let someone I know use the elevator (no express pass!) and she had to litterally be pushed through the upward maze that serves as the waiting line.