Non WC accessible rides question

[6ofus]

Leaving for Disney on Friday and wondering about the rides that indicate
person must be transferred from their chair to board the ride. My son has
CP and could not sit by himself - I would have to sit him on my lap.
Is this allowed or is it a requirement that the person must be able to sit
strapped in by themselves ? I would like to take him to the Haunted House
and Pirates of the Caribbean - after discussing these rides all year , I sure
hope he is able to go on them.
Anyone have any experience with this ?

 

[SueM in MN]

Welcome. You will have a great time.
My DD also has CP and can't walk or stand. When she was little, we would just lift her out of her wheelchair and bring her in the ride car. When she was small enough to sit on our laps, that's what we did (that's basically what parents of small kids do anyway). When she got bigger, she could sit on the seat next to us, between my DH and I. Most rides have room for 2-3 people to ride next to each other, so even if he can't sit by himself, you can prop him up between you.
For the Haunted Mansion, 3 people can sit side by side or you can hold him on your lap if he's small. The only restraint there is that the front of the car with a bar, comes down in front of you. The ride is quite smooth.
For the Pirates, the ride car is a boat. The boat is basically the same type as the boats on Small World. I usually tell people to ride that first and get a good look at the regular boats while you wait for the wheelchair boat.
It's a long step down to the seat of the boat and then another fairly large step down to actually sit down. The boat has a bench that can seat 3-4 people. Our DD has been on it many times, the last time on our last trip in March. She's now about 5 feet tall and 75 pounds and quite spastic, so getting her on is not easy. If your DS has a folding wheelchair or it's very small, he will be able to ride it in the line for Pirates and then the CM will put it in the boat with you. Otherwise, they will have you park the chair and trade it for a folding (adult) chair. My DD would never ride in one of those. We used to carry her in the line or I sat in the wheelchair and held her. Be sure to ask where the exit is, so you can park the wheelchair there. It's quite a ways from the exit to the entrance.

 

[6ofus]

Thanks for the info. My son has a seating insert and the chair is not the folding
kind. He needs his head supported. He's 8, approx 41 lbs.
The way you have described the The Pirate ride sounds like we may not be able to
go on. We can't transfer him to another chair - he needs the insert. Perhaps
we can carry him on the ride - but I can't prop him between us , I must hold
him on my lap and support his head.
I really hope that he will be able to go on most of the good rides, that's why we
are going to Disney !!!

 

[LindaDVC]

Magic Kingdom has the least accessible rides.
The other 3 parks have more shows and rides that w/c folks can enjoy.

We spend the least amount of time in MK. Everyone needs to experience MK but make sure you schedule lots of time to enjoy the other parks as well!

Linda

 

[SueM in MN]

I agree with Linda; MK is the least accessible. It's also the oldest.
The boat on Pirates may not work. It doesn't have a high back and doesn't have a lot of room for you to hold an 8yr old. You might be able to get his wheelchair put in the rear seat of the boat. That's actually what we did on our last trip. DD has a small adult chair that weighs about 35 pounds. It does fold, but only if you take it all apart. We were able to have her ride in her chair thru the line and then the CM put it on the boat after we were on. You will be able to get a good idea of the boats by riding Small World first.
There are some rides at MK that have high backs for the ride car (Peter Pan is one). You may need to cuddle him next to you with an arm behind his back. You can always watch the baording process for a while on any ride to get an idea of whether it will work for you and how to get on and off.

 

[Wade Shrader]

Welcome to the DIS!

We don't post regularly, but we check out this board whenever we can. Our two sons also have CP, and since they're still young enough that they fit in our laps, we haven't had to worry about your problem...I hope the rides all work out...we do know about our kids disappointment in not getting to ride some rides!

This is off topic, but I wanted to make sure you know about the MK parade. There is a special viewing area for WC in Liberty Square, right across from the Hall of Presidents. The CM's do a great job of making sure that non-WC guests don't use that area, and the CM's in the parade do an extra-special job of entertaining the WC kids...they even bring the kids in WC (and other kids) out into the street to "dance" in the parade. It was one of the highlights for our kids, so I thought I would pass it along.

Wade

 

[Tiiiigergirl]

Thanks for the tip Wade. When we were there last time we asked a cast member where the disabled viewing area was and he just looked at us very blankly. Luckily he was just roping off an area and we were still able to get good seats.

 

[SueM in MN]

You should be able to find the viewing areas listed on the park maps. The CMs at the status board for each (where they list how long a wait there is currently for each ride and which are closed) are very knowledgeable about things like that.

 

[Alaska]

I sympathize with your dilemma. Our son is almost 7 years old and he also cannot sit without total body support. He does not have CP. He has spinal muscular atrophy which makes his trunk muscles weak. Unfortunately, our son is not comfortable sitting in our laps and it would be too difficult to hold/secure him taht way. In the past, we have used a special needs car seat (a Carrie Seat or a Carrie Bus Seat) on the non-wheelchair accessible rides. Those car seats have foot rests, so they will only fit in the front seat on the boats in Pirates of the Carribean, Small World, etc. In some of the rides we have been able to secure the car seat to the ride seat. The car seats we have used are so big and long due to the footrests that we have been able to wedge them in so they really stay put and do not move around. They have an H harness and the seatbelts that everyone else uses on the ride fit over them. There may be other smaller special needs car seats available. You may also be able to adapt a regular car/booster seat for your son. We have used the car seats in both Disneyland and Disney World and the cast members have been very accomodating.

Note: We have never attempted to take our son on any of the fast moving, jerky rides and we have no idea whether a car seat would work in one of those rides. It probably would not.

 

[SueM in MN]

Our DD likes the fast jerky rides. She has been on Tower of Terror, Star Tours, Body Wars, the Barnstormer. She has fair trunk control and good head control most of the time. When she is excited, her whole body extends and it's hard to keep her sitting. Because of that, it's soemtimes hard to keep her seated.
I'm sure the car seat trick would not work on the Tower of Terror. There are bench seats for three people and the seat belt goes across all 3 people, so there would not be a way to secure the car seat very well. The ride is not jerky side to side, you just go up and down like a human yoyo.
The cars for Body Wars and Star Tours are basically the same. The rides are in a moving theater/simulator which is closed after everyone is in it. There are individual seats about the size of airplane seats (but with a lower back without head support) with individual seat belts. You can get a 4 point harness which we have used for our DD. Since there is no head support, someone with poor head control would have a herd time unless you brought a car seat on with you. The ride is quite turbulent. Even though her body doesn't move, her legs and arms are flying all over. People have posted about going on these 2 rides and seeing only the movie, without any motion. Since the whole car moves, they have to run a car without motion for you. It's more likely they will do this for you if it's not busy.