Party of 9 - 1 in ECV - how do we ride together?

[smallworldgirl]

We are a party of 9, 1 person in ECV but is able to walk short distances, unable to stand for long periods of time. Do we use the handicapped entrance for rides? How can we all ride together?
Thanks
Lori

 

[Cheshire Figment]

The lines for almost all attractions at WDW are "mainstreamed". This means that the queue is set up to allow wheelchairs and/or ECVs to go through the line just as a person without a mobility problem. As it was built prior to the ADA, the Magic Kingdom is most likely to have non-mainstreamed lines. Some attractions, such as Splash Mountain and Haunted Mansion you will go part way through the regular queue and then be diverted. Other attractions, such as Big Thunder Mountain or SpaceShip Earth you will initially be directed to an accessible entrance.

All the theaters are set up with seats (usually in the back row) removed so a wheelchair or ECV can pull into a space and there will be regular seating on either side of the space for the others in the party.

Where there are quantity limits on space, or other limitation involving accessability, you may have to wait longer to see a show or ride an attraction than people without disabilities.

Officially a group should not be more than six people including the person with the disability, but depending on the attraction this may not be strictly observed. If the attraction is not mainstreamed ask the person controlling the alternate entrance.

 

[goofieslonglostsis]

You'll want to check out the sticky on the top of the disABILITIES part of the board. Sue has posted a great list of which rides have which types of entry. On general, most lines are mainstream accessible meaning that somebody on wheels can use the same entrance and line for rides as those walking. For some rides the person will have to transfer to a wheelchair (which will be available at such rides), like for instance POTC.

Rides that have an alternate way of entry for those on wheels will pose a situation in which you'll have to count on splitting up. They will put a max. on the amount of people allowed to accompany the person on wheels. Max. is 6 included said person. Same goes for boarding the busses through the back entry.

As far as shows and parades goes; same thing again. If things get really busy, they might even reduce the max. number down even lower to be able to allow as many folks on wheels as possible at the specific handicapped spaces. Having said that, I tend to not use those areas for the parades. I find them not in the greatest places and if arriving on time, there are a lot of other spots available with a lot nicer views.

Some shows in theaters like for instance Muppets 3D, Honey I shrunk the audience, Fantasmic! etc. will only have a very limited amount of seats available besides the wheelchair/ECV spots. Haven't counted at all of the shows etc. but have seen those with 1 to 2 seats per wheelchair/ECV spot. At some of those you will find plenty of seats right in front of these spots, but arriving early (for instance at Fantasmic!) might be the strategy you'll want to follow.

If desired, the person may transfer out of the ECV onto a regular seat at shows etc. If need be, the CM's will drive away the ECV and get it back to them after the show. Good example of this is for instance Festival of the Lion King, where there are a limited amount of wheelchair/ECV spots. Being able to transfer to a regular seat would open up a lot more space, reducing the chance of not being able to enter because of full wheelchair spots.

 

[goofieslonglostsis]

Should've typed faster. Could've known you would be around, CF.

 

[SueM in MN]

and you were all faster than I was.

 

[aspen37]

I tore my Achilles Tendon after only being on property for 45 min in December. I was in a ECV or a wheelchair for the rest of my trip. The CM's were great as soon as we got to the attraction they let us know what to do. At one point during the trip one of my friends said to me on the Haunted Mansion "sorry your hurt but I'm glad". She was saying that because we did not have to wait in line. We had anywhere from 7 to 11 of us at a time. The only place that anyone said something to us was at Epcot on Spaceship earth. He let us all go but sad the cutoff is at 6. We thanked him for being so nice.

As for riding the buses only me and my friend were staying at our resort, everyone else was at a different resort. So we never had to split up riding the buses.

I wish this never happened to me, but it was an eye opening experience. Have a great trip!

 

[WheeledTraveler]

At one point during the trip one of my friends said to me on the Haunted Mansion "sorry your hurt but I'm glad". She was saying that because we did not have to wait in line. We had anywhere from 7 to 11 of us at a time. The only place that anyone said something to us was at Epcot on Spaceship earth. He let us all go but sad the cutoff is at 6. We thanked him for being so nice.
!

Not waiting in line is the exception, not the rule. Any line that is mainstreamed (which is most of them) you wait with everyone else. And it is very common for you to actually wait longer for the non-mainstreamed lines or lines where you divert at some point. For example, last time I road Rock'n'Roller Coaster, I waited at least 2 trains (I think it was more like 3-4) after I would have had I not needed to be diverted to the accessible boarding area (which in that case is the exit) and I was the only person boarding in that area and it wasn't a particularly busy day at the parks. When there are multiple people who use wheelchairs/ECVs queuing on a busy day, your wait can be extended even more (this isn't just a matter of accessible ride cars, but that most attractions have limits on the number of people with impaired mobility that can ride at the same time in case of evacuation).

Also, plenty of posters do have stories about being kept to the 6 people per party rule, but it varies greatly depending on the castmember and the conditions at the parks on the day. Keep in mind that very few Disney ride cars have enough spots for 9 people to sit together so it's likely you'd get split at some point anyway, even if you were all walking.

 

[aspen37]

Let me say that what I said was my experience only. I don't know what the norm is because I have never been in this situation before. What I mean by not splitting up is we were allowed to stay in line together. At the Haunted Mansion you start in the regular line, but are diverted where the hearse is. You wait in a chained area for the CM to let you go park your ECV. You park by the Mausoleum crypts at the exit and are walked through — or in my case hopped through - to.. well, first he tried putting us where the stretching room dumps out, but it was completely backed up, so he took us back the other way and were loaded where people exit. Up to this point we were not split up. Since all of us will not fit in one ride vehicle at least comfortably, we split up. On a previous trip we had a CM stuff 3 of us in a Clam Mobile, the skinniest person was mostly sitting on another person.

 

[SueM in MN]

Let me say that what I said was my experience only. I don't know what the norm is because I have never been in this situation before. What I mean by not splitting up is we were allowed to stay in line together. At the Haunted Mansion you start in the regular line, but are diverted where the hearse is. You wait in a chained area for the CM to let you go park your ECV. You park by the Mausoleum crypts at the exit and are walked through — or in my case hopped through - to.. well, first he tried putting us where the stretching room dumps out, but it was completely backed up, so he took us back the other way and were loaded where people exit. Up to this point we were not split up. Since all of us will not fit in one ride vehicle at least comfortably, we split up. On a previous trip we had a CM stuff 3 of us in a Clam Mobile, the skinniest person was mostly sitting on another person.

In Mainstream Lines (which are the accessible lines), you will be allowed to stay together because you are following the normal ‘path’ followed by all guests. That is the case for all the attractions at AK and the Studio and the majority at Epcot. MK is the oldest park and they were not able to make all the lines accessible, but they did change to Mainstream lines as they were able to during renovations and new attractions.

In the case of Haunted Mansion, you are in the regular queue until you get to the chained area where the hearse is, as you mentioned. It may have seemed to you at that time that you ‘didn’t wait’, but that is not a true perception. If some members of your party had continued thru the ‘regular’ entrance when you went thru the hearse area, you would have completed your ride at about the same time.
Because of how Haunted Mansion loads a large number of people at once in a preshow, you don’t actually get in any faster, even though it seemed to you like you skipped part of the line. By the time the line gets to the hearse, the people ahead of you will be in the next group to go into the preshow. depending on how many other guests with special needs are already waiting in the area, you could actually wait several ride cycles extra compared to the guests who continued thru the line.

This happens a lot, where it may seem to the guest like they are getting on faster, but they really are not.

 

[roadtripper]

Last week, we were a party of 9 with DS in a wheelchair. On Toy Story Mania, three of our party continued along the mainstrem entrance per the CMs request, and 6 of us broke off to the alternate entrance. We all ended the ride at the same time, despite the separate pull off for the accessible cars. For some other rides, they were more flexible (Safari at AK), but we always had a Plan B of who was going to go in the mainstream line. That would be my suggestion--figure out who will continue in the mainstream line for rides, so there's no confusion. For the actual loading, you may be able to all load together depending on the ride.

 

[SueM in MN]

Last week, we were a party of 9 with DS in a wheelchair. On Toy Story Mania, three of our party continued along the mainstrem entrance per the CMs request, and 6 of us broke off to the alternate entrance. We all ended the ride at the same time, despite the separate pull off for the accessible cars. For some other rides, they were more flexible (Safari at AK), but we always had a Plan B of who was going to go in the mainstream line. That would be my suggestion--figure out who will continue in the mainstream line for rides, so there's no confusion. For the actual loading, you may be able to all load together depending on the ride.

The reason for needing to split is that the ride vehicle you can board at the alternate/accessible boarding area only holds a total of 6.
There are some ride cars like that and the official maximum number of people to accompany the guest using a wheelchair is 5.

In some situations, like the Safari, the wait for the accessible area can be long and the only way to get your party to board at the same time is to have you all use that boarding area.
For shows, there is often one or 2 seats next to the wheelchair, the rest of your party will be asked to sit elsewhere.
So, as you mentioned, just be prepared yo split into a smaller group if needed and plan ahead who will go where.