parents of autistic kids...ever been refused a GAC..we were

[SueM in MN]

We were just there at the beginning of the month. We got a GAC at the beginning of the trip. We used it at the Pirate and Princess Party.

thanks

 

[Schmeck]

Your situation doesn't make sense.
How old were your boys and what kind of wheelchairs did they have?

We HAVE run into that situation at Splash Mountain and I know other people have also. There is a point after waiting for quite a while where the regular line gets to a flight of stairs. At that point, there is a 'gate' marked with a wheelchair symbol. The last time we rode, we waited at that gate for a CM to open it. When she arrived, she said she could not let us go thru because that would be 'cutting the line'. I pointed out that the regular line had stairs and that since DD had a wheelchair, we could not go that way. She said that didn't matter, she could not let us 'cut' . We were about to ask for a Supervisor when the CM's supervisor came by and told the CM to let us thru. The CM did, but with lots of grumbling and arguing with her supervisor.
And, ours was not a situation where the CM might have thought we had a stroller. DD was close to 5 feet tall and has a regular custom wheelchair with big tires in the back. We also had a GAc, which the CM had seen, so it's not like she thought we needed a GAC to use that handicapped access, she just was not letting anyone thru.

Sue, was she expecting you to lift your daughter, wheelchair and all, up the steps? That's what I'd have asked her, and I'd have asked her to help do it (even though they are not allowed to) Or I'd have gone to that point of the stairs, gotten very loud when we got to the stairs, and loudly returned to the gate, making it very difficult for the queue to get by me... But I'm a difficult person, LOL!

 

[OneLittleSpark]

Sue, was she expecting you to lift your daughter, wheelchair and all, up the steps? That's what I'd have asked her, and I'd have asked her to help do it (even though they are not allowed to) Or I'd have gone to that point of the stairs, gotten very loud when we got to the stairs, and loudly returned to the gate, making it very difficult for the queue to get by me... But I'm a difficult person, LOL!

I would probably just have sat in front of the stairs, not letting anyone pass, until the CM came to see what the hold up was! This is my technique for getting a ramp to get off a train when no one has phoned ahead (regardless of how many times I ask them to!). I guess I'm a difficult person too!

 

[wendylovesdisney]

I love Disney. I really do.

However, I mentioned previously I beleive my experiences last year with a GAC. I had several instances of very uninformed CM who either did not want to let me through, directed me the wrong way or had a slight attitude about the GAC itself. My daughter has developemental issues, RAD, and anxiety disorder. Possible PDD-NOS (diagnosis thrown around but nothing firm). We had a stroller as wheelchair sticker (she needed for quiet time).
Once we were directed all the way up to the turnstyle at Haunted Mansion where there was no possible way to lift the stroller over the turnstyle (although we did see an unfortunate person in a wheelchair have someone fold up the wc and LIFT it over), I tried to ride the train and did not know there was handicapped entrance. I asked a cm to direct me and they sent us through the regular way and this time my husband DID fold up the stroller and lift it over a turnstyle from aggravation just in time to see a person in a wheelchair go the right way. We went on the Pooh ride and left hubby behind with baby sister. We showed the GAC at the beginning of the ride and was directed to the handicapped line where we were the only ones waiting. Unfortunately hubby took all of our belongings with him to a store including the GAC and the CM at the point where you load on the hunnypot would not let us (without seeing GAC again) on even though we had just showed the GAC.
At pirates they very firmly, not once but several times had me leave the stroller behind and had me wait in a line that prob at least 20 minutes long with a freaked out kid who needed to be in her stroller. I was there 2 months later with my sister and we witnessed a man who wore a very obvious, very large body brace who could barely stand up and they never brought him his wheelchair at the end of the ride. His wife could barely stand herself and my sister who has advanced cancer (who was pressured/urged to leave her ECV) went and got the poor mans wheelchair herself while a CM told me he was "getting out of there" when he realized someone was going to get in trouble for screwing up by not getting the man his chair. (He really DID look like he was going to fall down)
Anyway, really, I could not make this stuff up.
Am I bashing Disney? Heck no. Why would I spend my hardearned money to go time after time. My point is to inform yourself of your rights and what is actually available to you. The CM many times, even those working the actual rides often do not know anything about the GAC, it;s use, or even very disabled aware.

 

[MarieS]

Your situation doesn't make sense.
How old were your boys and what kind of wheelchairs did they have?

We HAVE run into that situation at Splash Mountain and I know other people have also. There is a point after waiting for quite a while where the regular line gets to a flight of stairs. At that point, there is a 'gate' marked with a wheelchair symbol. The last time we rode, we waited at that gate for a CM to open it. When she arrived, she said she could not let us go thru because that would be 'cutting the line'. I pointed out that the regular line had stairs and that since DD had a wheelchair, we could not go that way. She said that didn't matter, she could not let us 'cut' . We were about to ask for a Supervisor when the CM's supervisor came by and told the CM to let us thru. The CM did, but with lots of grumbling and arguing with her supervisor.
And, ours was not a situation where the CM might have thought we had a stroller. DD was close to 5 feet tall and has a regular custom wheelchair with big tires in the back. We also had a GAc, which the CM had seen, so it's not like she thought we needed a GAC to use that handicapped access, she just was not letting anyone thru.

Sue my boys were 9 and 15 this past fall when this happened. They have Quickie Zippie tilt in space wheelchairs with special seating systems. We also had to show the GAC at the Pooh ride to use the alternate entrance, but for Buzz they just pointed which way we needed to go. We had to show the GAC at the Nemo ride in Epcot too.
We hoping to return in October and I'm not sure if I should ask for one the first day. But it just seems silly to have one marked stroller as wheelchair when they are definitely in wheelchairs.
I am wondering if any adult wheelchair users have ever needed to provide a GAC to access an alternate entrance or use the accessible ride vehicles?

 

[SueM in MN]

Sue, was she expecting you to lift your daughter, wheelchair and all, up the steps? That's what I'd have asked her, and I'd have asked her to help do it (even though they are not allowed to) Or I'd have gone to that point of the stairs, gotten very loud when we got to the stairs, and loudly returned to the gate, making it very difficult for the queue to get by me... But I'm a difficult person, LOL!

I would probably just have sat in front of the stairs, not letting anyone pass, until the CM came to see what the hold up was! This is my technique for getting a ramp to get off a train when no one has phoned ahead (regardless of how many times I ask them to!). I guess I'm a difficult person too!

When we got to the stairs, the wheelchair 'gate' is just to the right off the main line. We sat there waiting for a CM to let us thru. When she arrived, it was the one who would not let us thru. What happened then was a 'circular' conversation.
CM: I can't let you cut the line.
Me: We can't go any farther. There are stairs.
CM: If I let you thru this gate. It would be cutting the line. I can't let you cut the line.
Me: Well, she can't walk and we can't go up the stairs with a wheelchair, so we need to go thru that gate with the wheelchair symbol.
CM: That would be cutting the line and I can't let you cut the line.
Me: Well, we can't go up the stairs. Please get your supervisor.

At that point, the supervisor came (probably because we were attracting attention as our conversation was entertaining the other guests). Then, it switched to a circular conversation between the CM and her supervisor.
Supervisor: What is the problem here?
Me: We can't go up the stairs and she won't let us thru the wheelchair gate.
CM: That would be cutting the line. I can't let them cut the line just because they have a wheelchair.
Supervisor: But, they can't go up the stairs. They need to go this way.
CM: But that would be cutting the line. I can't let them cut the line.
Supervisor: But, they can't go up the stairs.
CM: But that would be cutting the line. I can't let them cut the line.
That went on for a while until the Supervisor ordered the CM to let us thru, which she did, still complaining.
We did not report it, since it was pretty obvious that the supervisor knew about the problem.

 

[SueM in MN]

I love Disney. I really do.

However, I mentioned previously I beleive my experiences last year with a GAC. I had several instances of very uninformed CM who either did not want to let me through, directed me the wrong way or had a slight attitude about the GAC itself. My daughter has developemental issues, RAD, and anxiety disorder. Possible PDD-NOS (diagnosis thrown around but nothing firm). We had a stroller as wheelchair sticker (she needed for quiet time).
Once we were directed all the way up to the turnstyle at Haunted Mansion where there was no possible way to lift the stroller over the turnstyle (although we did see an unfortunate person in a wheelchair have someone fold up the wc and LIFT it over), I tried to ride the train and did not know there was handicapped entrance. I asked a cm to direct me and they sent us through the regular way and this time my husband DID fold up the stroller and lift it over a turnstyle from aggravation just in time to see a person in a wheelchair go the right way. We went on the Pooh ride and left hubby behind with baby sister. We showed the GAC at the beginning of the ride and was directed to the handicapped line where we were the only ones waiting. Unfortunately hubby took all of our belongings with him to a store including the GAC and the CM at the point where you load on the hunnypot would not let us (without seeing GAC again) on even though we had just showed the GAC.
At pirates they very firmly, not once but several times had me leave the stroller behind and had me wait in a line that prob at least 20 minutes long with a freaked out kid who needed to be in her stroller. I was there 2 months later with my sister and we witnessed a man who wore a very obvious, very large body brace who could barely stand up and they never brought him his wheelchair at the end of the ride. His wife could barely stand herself and my sister who has advanced cancer (who was pressured/urged to leave her ECV) went and got the poor mans wheelchair herself while a CM told me he was "getting out of there" when he realized someone was going to get in trouble for screwing up by not getting the man his chair. (He really DID look like he was going to fall down)
Anyway, really, I could not make this stuff up.
Am I bashing Disney? Heck no. Why would I spend my hardearned money to go time after time. My point is to inform yourself of your rights and what is actually available to you. The CM many times, even those working the actual rides often do not know anything about the GAC, it;s use, or even very disabled aware.

Pirates is a problem because it is SO inaccessible.
There is no good way to get wheelchairs or strollers to the exit unless they can be put onto the boat.

I think one of the reasons for the kind of problems you saw and I mentioned at Splash Mountain is lack of training about disabilities for CMs. From what I have been told by CMs, there used to be a lot more orientation about this, but it was cut.
The other thing is that the general view of people with disabilities by a lot of the general public is negative. You can see that from all the negative comments that show up on threads on other boards. If a portion of the general public thinks that, probably the same portion of CMs feel that way. And, I'm not just talking about physical disabilities, it's pretty much any type of disability you can think of.

And, I think (but I don't know for sure) that one of the other problems might be CMs being assigned to an attraction without being fully oriented to it. I think accessibility is sometimes looked at as not that important.

Sue my boys were 9 and 15 this past fall when this happened. They have Quickie Zippie tilt in space wheelchairs with special seating systems....................................
We hoping to return in October and I'm not sure if I should ask for one the first day. But it just seems silly to have one marked stroller as wheelchair when they are definitely in wheelchairs.
I am wondering if any adult wheelchair users have ever needed to provide a GAC to access an alternate entrance or use the accessible ride vehicles?

I wondered if they might have been little and had wheelchairs that might be mistaken for a stroller. Your boys are big enough that their wheelchairs should not be mistaken.
You don't need a GAC to access the accessible ride vehicles and the accessible entrance. If there is also an alternative wheelchair accessible entrance in addition to that attraction, you would need a GAC to use that entrance. That was not the case in our situation at Splash Mountain. The entrance we were using was the only way to get in with a wheelchair and, even if it had not been, our DD did have a GAC. It didn't matter to that CM; she did not want to let anyone thru for any reason.

I guess for your next trip, if you have a GAC from last time, take that along with you to Guest Relations and just explain what problems you had.
You don't nee

 

[OneLittleSpark]

When we got to the stairs, the wheelchair 'gate' is just to the right off the main line. We sat there waiting for a CM to let us thru. When she arrived, it was the one who would not let us thru. What happened then was a 'circular' conversation.
CM: I can't let you cut the line.
Me: We can't go any farther. There are stairs.
CM: If I let you thru this gate. It would be cutting the line. I can't let you cut the line.
Me: Well, she can't walk and we can't go up the stairs with a wheelchair, so we need to go thru that gate with the wheelchair symbol.
CM: That would be cutting the line and I can't let you cut the line.
Me: Well, we can't go up the stairs. Please get your supervisor.

At that point, the supervisor came (probably because we were attracting attention as our conversation was entertaining the other guests). Then, it switched to a circular conversation between the CM and her supervisor.
Supervisor: What is the problem here?
Me: We can't go up the stairs and she won't let us thru the wheelchair gate.
CM: That would be cutting the line. I can't let them cut the line just because they have a wheelchair.
Supervisor: But, they can't go up the stairs. They need to go this way.
CM: But that would be cutting the line. I can't let them cut the line.
Supervisor: But, they can't go up the stairs.
CM: But that would be cutting the line. I can't let them cut the line.
That went on for a while until the Supervisor ordered the CM to let us thru, which she did, still complaining.
We did not report it, since it was pretty obvious that the supervisor knew about the problem.

So what did she think that gate was for?! Surely it would have dawned on her that she had been stationed the gate for a reason, and that pretty picture of a wheelchair wasn't just for show! You would have thought the poor girl would have been born with enough common sense to realise that wheelchairs and stairs don't mix! It really doesn't instill you with great hope for the human race, does it?

Sorry you had to deal with that Sue, and to all of you who have had to deal with less-than-magical CMs or situations.

 

[Bugsmom73]

In 2006, we used our GAC card at MVMCP, most of the time we were just able to walk onto rides though.

 

[BlondeAlligator]

We went to the P&PP on 2/5 and used DD5's GAC card for rides that night. We also used it for visiting characters. We were never told we needed a different or "special" GAC card for the party.