Magic or Animal Kingdom with wheelchair (non-transfer)

[markpenske]

We will be visiting WDW in May and are trying to decide between AK or MK. We will be with our handicapped son. He is in a wheelchair and can not transfer. This really limits us to certain attractions. There are only a few rides/shows that his wheelchair will fit on, examples: Hall of Presidents, Fest of the lion king, WDW railroad.
Since it's been over 2 years since our last trip we're not sure what has changed.
Any suggestions on which park my fit our limitations now?

 

[SueM in MN]

We go to WDW with our daughter who can’t walk or stand. She is a small enough adult that we can lift her for transfer, but she stays in her wheelchair as much as possible.

MK has quite a few more wheelchair accessible attractions -
Walt Disney World Railroad - not currently open
Under the Sea Journey of the Little Mermaid
Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Prince Charming Regal Carrousel
Mickey’s Philharmagic (show)
Small World
Liberty Square Riverboat
Hall of Presidents (show)
Country Bear Jamboree
Enchanted Tiki Room (show)
Jungle Cruise
Magic Carpets of Aladdin
Monsters, Inc Laugh Floor (show)
Carrousel of Progress
Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin (despite the name, it doesn’t really spin much)

AK has much less rides in general; these attractions are wheelchair accessible
Bug’s Life (show)
Festival of the Lion King
Kilimanjaro Safari
Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail (animal viewing trail)
Wildlife Express Train to Rafiki Planet Watch
Triceratops Spin
Maharajah Jungle Trek (animal viewing trail)

Posts 18-21 of the disABILITIES FAQs has additional details about specific attractions.

 

[markpenske]

that's an excellent write-up SueM.
Unfortunately our son's wheelchair large and I dont think it would fit on Buzz lightyear or Triceratops Spin. Seems like the shows work best for us.
It's kinda a shame we need to buy 3 full price tickets for a very limited day. Some of the new rides did not put full handicap accessibility into the design

 

[SueM in MN]

that's an excellent write-up SueM.
Unfortunately our son's wheelchair large and I dont think it would fit on Buzz lightyear or Triceratops Spin. Seems like the shows work best for us.
It's kinda a shame we need to buy 3 full price tickets for a very limited day. Some of the new rides did not put full handicap accessibility into the design

Thanks
My DD’s wheelchair is small - the seat cushion is only 14 inches wide. Because her wheels have a fair amount of camber (tilt out at the bottom), her entire wheelchair is about 24 inches wide. Some of the wheelchair ride cars are a tighter fit than others, but it’s usually more length than width. I tried to note that in the disABILITIES FAQs.

You are correct that Buzz Lightyear and Triceratops Spin are tighter ones. If his wheelchair fits on Aladdin, it should fit on those from our experience. Aladdin is one of the tighter ones.

 

[HappyDisneyWife]

that's an excellent write-up SueM.
Unfortunately our son's wheelchair large and I dont think it would fit on Buzz lightyear or Triceratops Spin. Seems like the shows work best for us.
It's kinda a shame we need to buy 3 full price tickets for a very limited day. Some of the new rides did not put full handicap accessibility into the design

Yes, it is unfortunate & I’m sorry there aren’t as many rides available to him. They keep adding more live entertainment, so switching focus to watching rather than doing may mentally help prepare everyone for your trip. On my last trip (just a few weeks ago!), I wasn’t able to ride anything at all, but I still had a wonderful trip with my family! Of course, I LOVE to ride rides with my kiddos, but it just wasn’t in the cards for me this time. Knowing this had to be the plan ahead of time really helped everyone’s expectations while we were there.

Hopefully you can still enjoy a few rides & take in a lot of fun performances