Question about Tomorrowland Transit Authority

[Captain sanity]

I'll be going to Disneyworld for the first time with my sister this Wendsday and we'll be at the Magic Kingdom the following day and i was looking around here a little and had a question

Is it possible for people in wheelchairs who can transfer from the chair to the ride vehicle to ride the TTA??

I read that you have to ride an escalator or something to get to it..is there no ramp up to the loading platforms for wheelchairs or anything?

 

[livndisney]

I'll be going to Disneyworld for the first time with my sister this Wendsday and we'll be at the Magic Kingdom the following day and i was looking around here a little and had a question

Is it possible for people in wheelchairs who can transfer from the chair to the ride vehicle to ride the TTA??

I read that you have to ride an escalator or something to get to it..is there no ramp up to the loading platforms for wheelchairs or anything?

There is a moving ramp/escalator. It is not an escalator like you see at the mall with steps. Can they stand the length of the moving ramp and take a few steps? At the top of the ramp is a platform and then a moving walkway to your car. They would need to walk across the platform and take a small step into the car. And repeat the process to exit.

 

[Captain sanity]

There is a moving ramp/escalator. It is not an escalator like you see at the mall with steps. Can they stand the length of the moving ramp and take a few steps? At the top of the ramp is a platform and then a moving walkway to your car. They would need to walk across the platform and take a small step into the car. And repeat the process to exit.

It's actually me that is in the wheelchair

So it isnt possible to take the wheelchair up the moving ramp?

Does the ramp have handrails going up and is there anywhere to hold onto when you get up top and then into the vehicles or do you have to be able to walk without anything to hold onto to get into the vehicle??

 

[livndisney]

It's actually me that is in the wheelchair

So it isnt possible to take the wheelchair up the moving ramp?

Does the ramp have handrails going up and is there anywhere to hold onto when you get up top and then into the vehicles or do you have to be able to walk without anything to hold onto to get into the vehicle??

There are handrails on the moving ramp. There is LIMITED things to hold on to to get to the car and almost nothing to hold onto to exit the car. I don't think you can take the wheelchair on the moving ramp. Come to think of it ther is a turnstile at the entrance and I don't think there is a wheelchair "gate". According the Disability guide you have to be "ambulatory" to ride.

 

[SueM in MN]

It is not possible to take a wheelchair up.
There is a very steep moving ramp to get up to the boarding area. It is like an escalator, but is flat with no steps. The handrail is like on a escalator-a flat plate with a black plastic flat top. It nothing you could really hold onto.
As the other poster mentioned, there is a turnstile. Even if there was not, it would be too steep on the ramp for a wheelchair.
Once at the top, the boarding area has a moving walkway, which can be slowed. There is really nothing to hold onto. Exiting is the same, with a moving walkway and nothing to hang onto to pull yourself put of the car. Getting down from the exit involves going down a very steep moving ramp.
I have pictures, nut can't post them right now.

 

[mechurchlady]

Disneyland has that type of ramp on the monorails and had them on the Transit Authority there. I have done those two as well as the Transit Authority at WDW. A problem people have on them flat escalators is that they are like foot massagers. I remember my dad enjoying the massage he got from coming off the monorail many years ago. I cannot explain it any way other than it was like a foot massager at the fairs, lol. The flat part undulates so that you need to hold tight and brace yourself.

http://allears.net/tp/mk/tta9.jpg
http://allears.net/tp/mk/tta7.jpg
As you can see there is nothing but the side to hold onto and there is a tiny step up while on the moving platform.

 

[SueM in MN]

The silver things in the picture that Churchie posted are doors that slide shut after you are inside. So they are not really stable things to hold onto.

 

[BeckyScott]

Was it just me, or did the ramp move really quickly? I seem to remember thinking it was very fast, faster than a regular escalator. So that might be another thing to consider.

I just remember, DS is still pretty awkward with that sort of thing, and we got on the ramp to go up, and just thinking "Oh *^$)!" and trying to grab his arm and yelling for him to step and step off myself right behind him without stepping on him because it just seemed to be going faster than I expected. The same with the ramp down, which was even freakier since it was a fairly steep angle downhill. I don't think I'd even attempt it unless your balance is good and you can step quickly.

 

[KPeveler]

I bring my cane especially for this ride, once i leave my wheelchair at the bottom... its my favorite thing, but it is hard to maneuver if i am unsteady that day...

 

[Captain sanity]

Ah well..Guess i wont be able to go on it..

Wonder why they dont just put in an elevator or remove the turnstile..

I seem to remember being able to take my chair up the escalator thing at Disneyland way back when they had the people mover as long as someone was behind me holding on..or i could be mistaken and used crutches..it's been a long time

 

[Chuck S]

I believe the speedramps at WDW are steeper and narrower than the old Peoplemover speedramps at DL. A W/C would be more apt to tip backwards on the way up and fall forward on the way down at WDW.

 

[mechurchlady]

http://vintagedisneylandtickets.blogspot.com/2008/07/wedway-peoplemover.html

They have a WDW Peoplemover/Transit Authority article with pictures showing the speed ramp. There is a CM on the left side of the picture and you have to get past him to get up the speed ramp.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People_mover
The Peoplemover at Disneyland was a prototype of a new age of transportation in 1967. This was to become what is now globally seen in airports and local transportation. A time when people took a sweater or jacket, a camera and case, handbag, diaper bag, and that was it. ECVs did not make it easy for the disabled to get around the parks back then.

Why? The system is one continuous chain and stopping one car means stopping the whole ride. Making it disabled friendly would mean having to make the ride vehicles to stop individually. Not sure if it is possible with such limited space and the dynamics of the ride. There is no place to put an elevator on the inside of the ride so the elevator would have to be on the outside. A walkway from the elevator would have to be built and new cars installed that would open toward the outside of the circle. DLR's closed in 1995 and became the home of the Rocket Rods which was plagued with long lines and long break downs. CMs told me that the circuitry could not handle the cold air while another problem was that the Rocket Rod's were vibrating the building in an unsafe manner but those were rumours.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomorrowland_Transit_Authority
The WDW's Transportation Authority was opened in July 1, 1975 before the ADA and was based on the older Peoplemover. At that time there had already been in place at least one such peoplemover that was installed in 1971 in an airport. The one in Atlanta stops like a regular train as do most of the other public transportation peoplemovers.

 

[Captain sanity]

Interesting..

From the look of those pictures it looks like my wheelchair may fit onto the ramp going up if they'll let me..and we'll see about the turnstile at the top..maybe it will have a gate..

and i am able to get into the ride without it stopping, I'm experienced with moving transfers

 

[livndisney]

Interesting..

From the look of those pictures it looks like my wheelchair may fit onto the ramp going up if they'll let me..and we'll see about the turnstile at the top..maybe it will have a gate..

and i am able to get into the ride without it stopping, I'm experienced with moving transfers

No- there is not a turnstile at the top. It is at the bottom. There is no gate for your wheelchair to go thru, just the turnstile a narrow chained area.

 

[Captain sanity]

No- there is not a turnstile at the top. It is at the bottom. There is no gate for your wheelchair to go thru, just the turnstile a narrow chained area.

Ooooh..I see it now..

I wonder if that chain can be unhooked..

I guess i'll see in 3 days when i'm THERE!

 

[Ms_Butterfly]

My friend with MS did the TTA last year. She used a scooter in the parks, but of course left it at the bottom for the TTA. She hung onto the escalator ramp handrails (somebody in your party can also put their hand on your back when going up and stand just in front of you when going down) and for the moving sidewalk to get into and out of the ride cars she hung onto a CM who walked her, arm in arm, to and from the ride vehicle. (I can't help her, as I have my own mobility issues and my service dog.)

 

[VintageDLTickets]

Hi Captain Sanity! I sure hope you are able to enjoy the TTA at WDW. It was my favorite attraction by far. I hope the pics from my Blog helped. I do recall seeing wheel chairs and scooters all parked at the bottom. I hope your visit is extra special, enjoy! Let us know how it when....

 

[SueM in MN]

It is only possible to go on this attraction if you can get up the moving ramp under your own power (ie without a wheelchair or scooter). Those need to parked at the bottom because there is no space at the top to leave them and also not a place the CM could move them from where you enter to where you exit.
Also, as shown on the blog, the moving ramp is VERY steep. For want of a better word, I would also call it slippery because you are walking on flat metal plates that are similar to the plates that make up steps of escalators. Even places with totally flat ramps similar to that have signs saying no wheelchairs. In the case of the flat ones, the problem comes at the end where you need to stop. Because the wheelchair tires are on a moving surface and suddenly come to a non moving floor at the end, they tend to gobout of control (spoken from experience).

Also, someone mentioned that a CM physically walked them from the moving walkway to the ride car and back to get off, you can't count on that. Since CMs are not allowed to give that extent of assistance

 

[BillSears]

I did ride the TTA(WEDWAy People Mover) way back in 1981. This was before a lot of changes reguarding wheelchair access was in place and the rules were closer to "If you can do it then you're allowed to do it." I rode the ramp up and down without a problem but I also have been known to ride my wheelchair on escalators at the mall without a problem. I believe they just left my wheelchair on the big turning disk near the center and it rode around and around while I rode the ride.

I liked that ride and I wish they'd allow me back on it. Most of the time I'm just not up to getting back into my wheelchair from the floor and that's what's required for Space Mountain. The TTA is a cool way to see a little of Space Mountain without riding.