meeting characters and seeing parades with a wheelchair?

[honeyb35]

Travelling to DLP in Feb with my husband, daughters and son who is in a wheelchair - I've read that with the pass thing you get with a blue badge you can get a special space near the front so you can see the parades properly, is this true? Would this be for the whole family or just for the wheelchair user and a carer? Does this really avoid people pushing in front - I can lift my youngest daughter up to see but don't want my son to miss anything!
Also, whats the best way of meeting characters? I'm not sure if I can stretch to a dining experience! My little girl is princess and minnie mouse mad although I understand these don't really do the meeting thing! My little boy finds many of the pixar characters instantly recogniseable, he responds best to the toy story ones at the moment!

 

[Donald Ducks wife]

yes all the family can go into the disabled section, but i would recommed to still be thereearly to get into the front
the chacters are quite good, when they see someone in a wheelchair, they go out of there way to interact with them.
theres a buzz met and great in the studios for your wee fella

 

[Donald Ducks wife]

make sure you go to city hall for the pass that will allow you into the disabled sections for the parades. also it allows you to que jump on the rides too. best getting on your first day and getting it validated for your whole stay. you can even use it if your son is not going on the ride, as i used my mums pass to ride buzz a couple of times with my son,while she waited outside.

 

[Brummig]

make sure you go to city hall for the pass that will allow you into the disabled sections for the parades. also it allows you to que jump on the rides too. best getting on your first day and getting it validated for your whole stay. you can even use it if your son is not going on the ride, as i used my mums pass to ride buzz a couple of times with my son,while she waited outside.

I'm afraid I have to disagree Donald Ducks Wife - The Easy Access Pass does not allow you to 'queue jump'. It may allow you to go straight on a ride if not too busy, or you may be given to a slot to come back later when you will be on the ride within 10 minutes, you usually enter via the exit, or alternative route. There are a limited number of slots for Easy Access Pass Users on each ride each day, and on a busy day these may all be taken by mid afternoon, so you can't use the pass to go on that ride for the rest of the day. Over the couple of years that we have had a pass we have noticed that the rides have tightened up their procedures to try to prevent abuse of the system. You may be asked to produce diagnosis/consultant letter at any time (a blue badge is not acceptable according to their Guide for Disabilities), and they always checked with us that the cardholder was present when you are given a time slot, and when you go back to the ride, and we have been asked for sons annual pass to check the photo. The system is designed to assist those who have difficulty queueing for long periods (and have the documentation to demonstrate this ), family and friends can use the system with the cardholder, but the system is for the cardholders benefit and they should be always be present to use the timeslot.
Like all systems its not foolproof (Buzz were trying a new system when we went last which was a bit of a disaster as we ended up waiting for nearly 30 mins), but generally it does work well. In the main we have staff very helpful and friendly.

Meet and Greets - different for us as our son does not have an obvious disability and some have worked better than others. We tend to stick to ones where there is a line, not a crush. Cafe Mickey is good, and doesn't have to be too expensive - characters are there 12-3 and 6-9 - generally 3-4 characters at a time and go round all the tables.

We haven't done the parades but the one time we asked about the disabled area we were told you have to be there a long time before to get a space - and as our son can't wait (that's part of his disability) we gave it up, and just try and get a space to see a bit just before it starts! DS is not keen on the idea of parades, so it is more me - and its not fair to use his pass for that.

Have a fantastic visit.

 

[honeyb35]

Thanks for the tips, I have a school statement thing signed by professionals giving details of his disabilities, he doesn't understand the concept of queuing so that should be ok. We only plan on going on rides for the whole family too, so using the pass ourselves for the bigger rides won't be happening.

 

[justfi]

Hi there

The areas for disabled visitors viewing the parades can get very very busy and other family members may be moved to the back (including small siblings which means they then can't see what's going on unless you can get them on your shoulders) or not allowed in at all. We've been 3 times with varying degrees of luck but as neither of my boys are that fussed about the parades we tend to only watch once during a stay.

Cafe Mickey is excellent for food and meeting characters and not too expensive - book in advance though or you may be queueing for a long time.

The scheduled meet and greets seem to be much better managed than the random ones that appear around the park, roped off queues are a good sign! Sometimes a helpful cast member will spot the child in a wheelchair and steer the character(s) through the scrum to them.


There always seem to be princesses meeting children in the park, not sure which ones as we have 2 boys and princesses aren't really their thing. They must pay some attention though as they recently met Princess Anne and commented that she didn't look very much like a Disney princess

We've used consultant's letters and DLA awards for proof of disability. We've not been since Halloween 2010 so it may have changed but my son has always had a Disabled Priority Card rather than an Easy Access Pass I think, we have been asked to return later if the ride is really really busy but never been told we can't ride that day. I don't think the time we've been given has ever been more than an hour (and we've been twice at Christmas which was busy busy busy. . Would that be a difference between the easy access pass and the disabled priority card? Have never tried to use it for a ride my son hasn't been going on so I don't know how strictly that's enforced.

Have never flown to Paris so can't help with the shuttle service, hope you find something suitable at a good price.

I hope you all enjoy the trip.

 

[lilacgems23]

make sure you go to city hall for the pass that will allow you into the disabled sections for the parades. also it allows you to que jump on the rides too. best getting on your first day and getting it validated for your whole stay. you can even use it if your son is not going on the ride, as i used my mums pass to ride buzz a couple of times with my son,while she waited outside.

The pass is only intended for the passholder, and there are different passes depending on whats wrong with you. They arent valid for rides that arent suitable for disabled people so you were lucky.

 

[lilacgems23]

Hi there

The areas for disabled visitors viewing the parades can get very very busy and other family members may be moved to the back (including small siblings which means they then can't see what's going on unless you can get them on your shoulders) or not allowed in at all. We've been 3 times with varying degrees of luck but as neither of my boys are that fussed about the parades we tend to only watch once during a stay.

Cafe Mickey is excellent for food and meeting characters and not too expensive - book in advance though or you may be queueing for a long time.

The scheduled meet and greets seem to be much better managed than the random ones that appear around the park, roped off queues are a good sign! Sometimes a helpful cast member will spot the child in a wheelchair and steer the character(s) through the scrum to them.


There always seem to be princesses meeting children in the park, not sure which ones as we have 2 boys and princesses aren't really their thing. They must pay some attention though as they recently met Princess Anne and commented that she didn't look very much like a Disney princess

We've used consultant's letters and DLA awards for proof of disability. We've not been since Halloween 2010 so it may have changed but my son has always had a Disabled Priority Card rather than an Easy Access Pass I think, we have been asked to return later if the ride is really really busy but never been told we can't ride that day. I don't think the time we've been given has ever been more than an hour (and we've been twice at Christmas which was busy busy busy. . Would that be a difference between the easy access pass and the disabled priority card? Have never tried to use it for a ride my son hasn't been going on so I don't know how strictly that's enforced.

Have never flown to Paris so can't help with the shuttle service, hope you find something suitable at a good price.

I hope you all enjoy the trip.

I had an easy access pass and it meant I could go to the exit and go straight on a ride but only certain rides, I could go to the front of meet and greets and got seated benches as opposed to sitting on the floor in playhouse disney . It also gives you access to the disabled bays for parades but we found we were often worse off as we were shoved to the back and couldnt see.

 

[KirstyLilian]

We are currently in Disney, with a 5y/o girl in a wheelchair....It's busy, but it has been faultless so far! She has preferential treatment everywhere! The card lets her and a number of 'helpers' on through the disabeld exit, which is mostly by the exit. The number of helpers varies from ride to ride, but it is all written out on the back of the blue pass...
Even doing a trip into Paris everyone has been fantastic, straight to the front of the queue at the Louvre, and Eiffel tower.....

You will have a fabulous time I'm sure, and the CM's will bend over backwards to ensure that your son doesn't miss out!

Enjoy!!