Monorail and wheelchairs

[SueM in MN]

Thank you for the clarification OP. And, also thank you for understanding that questions being asked are to try to get clarification so we can help you and help it not happen to anyone else, not to try to make any excuses or cast doubt on what happened.

Have you been able to talk to anyone else?
Some other places to try would be the Concierge Desk at your hotel ( not for them to resolve it, but for more resource phone numbers to contact). Also, the button on your resort phone labeled Transportation - yes, you may get a call center, but if you ask for the Manager on duty during the day, you should get somewhere. Reference that you already spoke to someone yesterday and are not sure what was done to remedy the situation. As was already pointed out, the usual response by management in any situation would be to say they will speak to the employee and you may never find out exactly what happened. They should be able to give you some feedback on how to avoid the problem in the future.

It was more common in the past that CMs did not put the ramp down, even for wheelchairs that looked very traditional and for ECVs. Recently - like the past year - there have been very few to no complaints posted. We have been ready to do a wheelie with DD's wheelchair to get on, but haven't needed to. I can see how it would be harder to impossible to do that with a chair with smaller wheels though.

 

[MattDisney]

Thanks everyone. I haven't talked to anyone else yet. I was so upset last night and couldn't sleep. I need to calm down some so I don't ruin my vacation. I will follow up but I can't let it consume me.
Overall, we have been treated very well on this trip. I'm trying to focus on that. Thanks everyone for your input.

 

[LilyWDW]

Thanks everyone. I haven't talked to anyone else yet. I was so upset last night and couldn't sleep. I need to calm down some so I don't ruin my vacation. I will follow up but I can't let it consume me.
Overall, we have been treated very well on this trip. I'm trying to focus on that. Thanks everyone for your input.

Calming down is a good idea. It will allow you to think clearer and be able to explain the situation better to those who need to hear about it. I know when I am super upset it can be harder to explain myself clearly, but when calm I can think more logically. Know what I mean?

I am curious if you happen to have a pic of the chair. Not cause I don't believe you, but I think I am having a bit of a problem picturing it and that is bothering me personally heh.

Hopefully someone will get back to you, but don't expect to hear about what they will "do" when it comes to the employee. Most companies will not give that information out.

 

[MattDisney]

I don't have a pic right now, but I will take one and post it as soon as w return.

 

[A Mickeyfan]

Calming down is a good idea. It will allow you to think clearer and be able to explain the situation better to those who need to hear about it. I know when I am super upset it can be harder to explain myself clearly, but when calm I can think more logically. Know what I mean?

I am curious if you happen to have a pic of the chair. Not cause I don't believe you, but I think I am having a bit of a problem picturing it and that is bothering me personally heh.

Hopefully someone will get back to you, but don't expect to hear about what they will "do" when it comes to the employee. Most companies will not give that information out.

I am trying to picture this too. If he had gotten a stroller as a wheelchair tag before, then it must resemble a stroller, not a wheelchair or he would not have gotten that tag?????

 

[SueM in MN]

I am trying to picture this too. If he had gotten a stroller as a wheelchair tag before, then it must resemble a stroller, not a wheelchair or he would not have gotten that tag?????

Many people who can't propel the own wheelchair have 4 small wheels instead of the 'traditional' 2 small and 2 big wheels. Those are easier to fit into a car trunk than the traditional type.
If it's an adult in a chair like that, it's pretty easy to recognize it as a wheelchair. But a small 11 yr old may not look like a wheelchair, especially sine the companies are designing products that look more streamlined, modern and mainstream. That makes the wheelchair 'stick out' less as a medical device. That's a good thing I'm places where you want the child noticed, not the device. It makes things harder though in situations like the OP ran into.

Also, the OP (and us) may very well hear nothing about what was done. My family had a bus situation we reported about 2 years ago. The only reason I heard anything was that I posted about it here and a bus driver who knew me from the board sent me a PM to update me. If not for that, I would not have known anything about what was done to address the problem.

 

[Oglet]

I would first like to say I am sorry you had a bad experience while using the monorail.

I am a monorail CM and I will admit that quite a lot of the time the tags are sometimes very hard to see especially if there are bags or clothes hanging from the stroller, we try our best however sometimes it is hard to identify.

There is no excuse for a Cast Member to be rude to a guest, Disney is and should be about the guest and their experience we need to go above and beyond the standards of other places after all that is what makes us different from the others.

In the past week I have been yelled at by guests because they didn't get on a train, borderline up in my face abuse because the monorail was down on numerous occasions and the regular insensitive comments about the a crash that cost us a fellow Cast Member, yeah people make jokes and comments on a daily basis about it right to our face.

Back to what the OP was saying, If one of my fellow monorail CM's was disrespectful to you I'd like to know (via pm) some of the details etc and I will personally talk to the highest person in our department about it.

 

[DSquare]

I've said this in a previous post but to me there is more to this then just being rude.

Some have said this may have happened to keep the monorail on schedule. Would telling the patrons to lift up the chair and the 11yr old child into the monorail instead of putting down the ramp save any amount of time?

I also believe there is a huge saftey issue here also telling the patron to lift up the chair and child into the monorail. What would happen if they tripped or lost their footing while lifting the transport chair into the monorail?

Is it up to the discretion of the CM's at the station when and when not to use a ramp or is there some policies in place?

The OP was in the handicap loading section and also reminded the CM that they had a wheelchair. This is a chair for an 11yr old, its got to be bigger and more obvious that its not a typical stroller for toddlers.

I'm glad this isn't hampering their vacation.

 

[retired and happy]

We have fostered and adopted special needs children for 16 years and have never had a problem with a CM that we couldn't accept at the time. Most are courteous and go out of their way to accommodate special requirements within the rules of the system. Some of our chairs were Kids Karts and resembled more of a large stroller than a wheelchair, and we have used a double stroller when we had two little one at the same time. What surprises me wth this situation is that there were 9 other people at that gate who didn't have special transportation needs or at least were not in some kind of chair. If the OP was not a "late show", the CM should have probably given preferential seating to the OP's party and asked the others to wait or move to other gates. I must give a salute to the CM's we have encountered at the monorails, which our oldest boy enjoys so much.

 

[Oglet]

Is it up to the discretion of the CM's at the station when and when not to use a ramp or is there some policies in place?
.

I have never read anything that says ramps must be used however common sense tells us that if someone arrives using a wheelchair or ECV then we will put the ramp down, after all that is what they were put there for and they are not going to just ride on themselves.

Personally what I do when working a resort is scan the line, if you see someone who obviously is going to need assistance make a mental note of it, that way when the train pulls in you can have the ramp ready to be dropped at car 3 or 4 before you even open the gates that way the person can just drive or be pushed on while I take care of other things, it only takes a couple seconds to do and is no big deal.

A lot of folks who use strollers as a wheelchair are great and quite often tell us to not put a ramp down since they can easily get the stroller/wheelchair on without any problem and in all honesty throughout the course of a day they have probably popped the stroller/wheelchair back on 2 wheels numerous times going up and down curbs etc however I still offer.

 

[livndisney]

To further the question about "policies".....

Recently I have noticed a couple of times where an person in an ecv/ wheelchair is left at the station due to the cars full of open strollers (not strollers tagged with the "stroller as a wheelchair", just families with open double strollers. Once on the monorail the children get out of the stroller to sit on the seat). So my policy question is this, is this supposed to happen in the cars marked for ECV's?

 

[Oglet]

To further the question about "policies".....

Recently I have noticed a couple of times where an person in an ecv/ wheelchair is left at the station due to the cars full of open strollers (not strollers tagged with the "stroller as a wheelchair", just families with open double strollers. Once on the monorail the children get out of the stroller to sit on the seat). So my policy question is this, is this supposed to happen in the cars marked for ECV's?

In cars 3 and 4 ECV's and wheelchairs take priority, guests who ride in those cars are required to make room for ECV's or Wheelchairs should the space be needed, this can be a simple as folding up the stroller and making room or being put in to another car.

As far as I am concerned it is quite clearly posted inside the monorail and if they have a problem moving then they should choose a different car when getting on the monorail.

I absolutely have no problem enforcing this, If a guest starts to argue about being moved I'm more than happy pointing out the sign posted in the monorail or offering either security or monorail managements assistance.

 

[bouncy54]

I have never read anything that says ramps must be used however common sense tells us that if someone arrives using a wheelchair or ECV then we will put the ramp down, after all that is what they were put there for and they are not going to just ride on themselves.

Personally what I do when working a resort is scan the line, if you see someone who obviously is going to need assistance make a mental note of it, that way when the train pulls in you can have the ramp ready to be dropped at car 3 or 4 before you even open the gates that way the person can just drive or be pushed on while I take care of other things, it only takes a couple seconds to do and is no big deal.

A lot of folks who use strollers as a wheelchair are great and quite often tell us to not put a ramp down since they can easily get the stroller/wheelchair on without any problem and in all honesty throughout the course of a day they have probably popped the stroller/wheelchair back on 2 wheels numerous times going up and down curbs etc however I still offer.

First: It's wonderful to be able to talk to a CM about these issues. Thank you!

I will be on a 3-wheeler ECV in November. A ramp is always required when boarding the Monorail on one of these.. correct?

Oh my! Just saw an image in my mind of me trying to pop a wheelie on one of those things.

 

[Eeyore5]

I hope you run into more helpful CMs for the rest of the trip. When my mom and I went (both in ECVs) CMs bent over backwards to help us. I wonder if the CM was new and didn't understand that not all wheelchairs look like wheelchairs.

bouncy54: You will need a ramp with your ECV. The 3 wheel is the kind my mom and I used. We never had a problem getting onto the monorail or anything else at Disney. The OP ran into the exception at Disney. Happily the majority of CM are awesome.

 

[Oglet]

First: It's wonderful to be able to talk to a CM about these issues. Thank you!

I will be on a 3-wheeler ECV in November. A ramp is always required when boarding the Monorail on one of these.. correct?

Oh my! Just saw an image in my mind of me trying to pop a wheelie on one of those things.

As the poster above me said a ramp will be required to get on the monorail... Just remember to have it set to slow when going up the ramp. I've seen people go in one door and right out the other just like something from the Dukes of Hazard hehehe

 

[bouncy54]

As the poster above me said a ramp will be required to get on the monorail... Just remember to have it set to slow when going up the ramp. I've seen people go in one door and right out the other just like something from the Dukes of Hazard hehehe

 

[MattDisney]

Thanks so much for the support. We are still on the trip so I have been slow to post. I have a slight update. I saw the CM today that we had the issue with. He knew immediately who we were. I know it was hard for him since he knows we complained but, he was nice to us. I could tell it was forced but, I appreciate that he tried. I understand it was hard for him. This actually goes a long way in making us feel better. Thanks so much.

 

[DSquare]

As the poster above me said a ramp will be required to get on the monorail... Just remember to have it set to slow when going up the ramp. I've seen people go in one door and right out the other just like something from the Dukes of Hazard hehehe

too funny

 

[MattDisney]

I should also post that our very first morning we met the nicest CM ever working the monorail at the Poly. They have all been great other than the incident noted in the OP. It has been a good trip.

 

[Eeyore5]

As the poster above me said a ramp will be required to get on the monorail... Just remember to have it set to slow when going up the ramp. I've seen people go in one door and right out the other just like something from the Dukes of Hazard hehehe

That sounds like something I would have done on purpose as a teen (not that I recommend it now). When traveling with my wheelchair basketball team, I learned how to ride an escalator in my wheelchair. Mall security was not amused at the sight of 5 young women in wheelchairs hanging onto the railing for dear life heading up the escalators. They posted guards to stop us from repeating the performance until we left.