no ECVs on Animation Tour

[JudithM]

I'm curious ... Does anyone have any idea why ECVs are not allowed on the Animation tour at the Disney Studios? I was not happy to learn I could not use the ECV on this tour. A cast member said the ECV would not fit, & I would have to transfer to a wheelchair. So I skipped it & my husband did the attraction. He couldn't see any reason why the ECV would not fit. Thanks.

 

[SueM in MN]

This is just my opinion, but I think the reason they don't let ecvs on is:
1) Part of the experience is watching some movies; one at the beginning and one at the end. Wheelchairs users park their wheelchairs in the last row of each theater and the aisle you need to go thru is fairly narrow.
There are only a few wheelchair spaces in each theater and ecvs take up more room than a wheelchair. There would not be enough room to back an ecv into place.
2) There are a number of places where you need to make fairly sharp turns and you sort of inch along. Hard to do for an ecv, especially if the driver is not experienced.
3) No one is watching where they are going. There are big windows overlooking the animation department. People are walking along while they are looking at the windows and could easily get run over by an ecv. It would be really nervewracking to drive an ecv in those conditions.

 

[jdremann]

We found on a number of occasions that we could use our power wheel chair on many attractions (but not all) that were listed as needing to transfer from ECV to manual chair. We have not tried this attraction but would like to on our next trip if we are able.

 

[lisapooh]

Which rides did you have problems with taking your power chair. The only one that I would say necessitates transferring would be Pirates.
I find that a few castmembers refuse to recognize the power chair as a wheelchair and insist it is in the ECV class. To that end I get a GAC with it clearly stated that I be allowed to remain in my personal Power Wheelchair

 

[jdremann]

We couldn't take the power chair on the safari ride in Animal Kingdom because our particular chair couldn't be locked down. After waiting what seemed like forever for the appropriate vehicle to find out we couldn't take the chair on the ride, I just like to know as much as possible ahead of time. We also got conflicting information from the castmembers about the Magic Kingdom Railroad but there was no problem and we went on and used every station without trouble. It is actually pretty amazing what the power chair will go on. They have done a lot to make it nice throughout all the parks.

 

[lisapooh]

Interesting because my power chair was taken on the Safari Tour. It is a Pride Jazzy 1103. What type is yours? Perhaps they didn't know how to lock it down. We have several types of Power chairs at school and the kids take them on the buses regularly. Everyone is locked down.
Haven't tried the train ride. Will do that next trip.

 

[jdremann]

Pride Jazzy 1120 (I think that is the model number). Ours has the seat elevator option which makes it not able to be locked down. It was the first Jazzy that had this option. Newer models can get locked down so our next chair will be able to be locked down properly.
The castmembers there at the safari ride did try to figure a way to lock it down but there wasn't a reasonable solution at the time. The train ride was calm enough that we didn't need locked down.

 

[lisapooh]

Interesting. I think the newer ones can be locked down. What do you do on the bus? Aren't Jazzy's great! Mine has given me so much independence.

 

[jdremann]

We haven't tried taking the bus. Never even gave locking down a thought. We have a full size van and we do the transfer to the passenger seat. It is set up quite well for us. Yes, Jazzy's are great. Turning radius and manueverability are wonderful. The up/down feature is great too. We even have a middle seat in the van for our son and the Jazzy can easily snake around the seat without trouble.