And regarding the "family restrooms" at WDW, any time the subject has been brought up on the DIS, the disabled advocates jump in and say they are "companion restrooms" and are for disabled folks and their caregivers, and that they should be left available for *only* those individuals, not for able-bodied adults and children who can use the regular facilities.
Please respect the parenting choices of other parents. You don't know what situations have arisen in the past to warrant those choices.
Each time this subject comes up, I post asking people to consider their choices and leave the Companion Restrooms for people who don't have any other choices. I don't consider saying "please consider your choices" to be the same as saying that the Companion Restrooms (that
is how they are labeled on the door) are only for people with disabilities.
I have posted this quite a few times in the past:
Even if your child was not disabled, there is no requirement that anyone be disabled to use the handicapped toilet stalls of the Companion Restroom. Like curb cuts and lower countertops at restaurants and shops, the handicapped stalls and Companion Restrooms are things that are meant to make things accessible for people with disabilities, but may also be useful for some people without disabilities.
While they are often the only restroom that people with certain disabilities (visible or invisible) can use, they are not reserved for people with disabilities. I always hope that people who have a choice of whether to use them or not realize that some people don't have a choice and that there are sometimes not enough to meet demands.
There are only about
6 Companion Restrooms in each park and some people don't have the choice of whether to use them or not. At MK, for example, the handicapped stalls in the ladies rooms look large, but are not big enough in most cases to get a wheelchair into the stall and close the door.
They are the only
toilet (not the only restroom with many toilets) in some parks that some people with disabilities can use - some examples (I'm sure there are many others):
- a mother with an older son who is autistic and is too old to comfortably come into the ladies room with her. Even if the child can physically care for himself in a regular stall, the regular bathroom may be too noisy/overstimulating.
- someone who can't walk whose wheelchair doesn't fit into the regular handicapped stalls or doesn't fit into the stall in a way that alows them to transfer (so they can't leave it outside the stall and walk in)
- someone, like my DD, who needs room for a wheelchair and a helper (even if she didn't need help, her wheelchair doesn't fit in many of the regular handicapped stalls)
- an older man or woman who has to assist their spouse/SO who has had a stroke or other situation that makes assistance in the restroom necessary
- someone with a colostomy or other need that makes being in a bathroom with a toilet and a sink necessary
If you have other choices, please consider them instead of the Companion Restroom and keep in mind that some people don't have any other choices.
I have also pointed out in the past that a single parent with a child of the opposite sex may look at their options, which may include taking a girl into the men's room or an older boy into the ladies room.
The
best option for that person may be to use the Companion Restrooms.
Regarding the man in the bathroom with this wife and daughter who didn't speak English...
Not sure where they were from, but keep in mind that many countries have unisex bathrooms - there is no "men's room" or "women's room"...just bathrooms. It is this way in many office buildings, restaurants, etc. So, perhaps he was just doing what they always do and didn't think it was a big deal. As to his safety concerns, who knows. But to them, it may not have been out of the norm for all of them to be in the same bathroom and maybe they figured it wouldn't be a big deal?
I was in Europe for the first time and expected to see some unisex bathrooms - big rooms full of stalls that men or women could line up to use. The unisex bathrooms I found were actually much different than I expected. The
entrance to the room, where the sinks were was unisex. But, in all the restrooms I was in, there was a separate rooms with stalls to one side for the men and to the other side for the women. Plus, the stalls in every European bathroom I was in (unisex or not) had stalls that were actually little rooms, with walls all the way from floor to ceiling and doors that covered the whole door opening with no gaps.
I can see that someone who is used to those types of bathrooms may be uncomfortable with the American bathrooms that seem pretty 'unprivate' in comparison. Knowing how 'unprivate' American bathrooms are, I can't see a man thinking it is OK for him to come in there, no matter what he is useed to.
Mike© said:
Just to add a little fact to this thread. Since the advent of the Assisted Bathroom, it is illegal to bring a child into a bathroom of the opposite sex. Possible actions that can be taken against the violator are arrest, fines and the removal of your child from your family by Child Services. This is why so many maintenace closets between bathrooms at WDW were converted to Assisted Bathrooms ( along with ADA compliance ).
I don't think that is correct and would want to see some proof.
My DH did have a situation that came up when he was out in the Mall of America with our DD, who is obviously disabled and needs assistance in the bathroom. He was taking her into the Family Bathroom (that was the way the door of that bathroom was labeled) when a woman stopped him and said she was calling security because he was a male taking a female into the bathroom by himself. He explained that she could not
use the bathroom by herself and needed his assistance to get out of her wheelchair and do the tasks of toileting.
When DH came out, the woman was waiting with Security (the woman still ranting the whole time). The Security Guard asked DH a few questions about who he was related to DD and then apologized since it was obvious that DD could not use the toilet without assistance.
That is the extent of what happened (although DH makes sure that older Dd or I take younger DD in the bathroom now).
. We have a uni-sex bathroom at home and everything seems to turn out alright.
That would be crowds of them if you are talking about WDW.
