Daxx said:
How can I say this w/o coming across as a meanie, insensitive or disrespectful to those in wheelchairs!?!? B/c I don't mean any disrespect as I have a few handicapped family members.
I don't mind that handicapped people get fast access to the rides ... but what frosts me is the "entourage" of 25 people who all escort the person in the wheelchair to the handicapped waiting area. These "entourages" really frost my cookies. I can understand wanting to share a ride w/the wheelchair person and understand that b/c someone in a wheelchair, they're prohibited from most of the main entrances and I totally respect that.
What you saw is not typical (the exception rather than the rule).
Most of the rides/attractions
are accessible thru the regular line - that is called Mainstream Access. (So, in most cases, someone with a wheelchair is NOT prohibited from the main entrance).
AK and the Studio were built with Mainstream access and all the attractions at those 2 parks have Mainstream Access; there are no handicapped entrances.
MK and Epcot are obviously older and were not particularly accessible when they were built. When possible, they have added Mainstream Access to attractions as they renovated them. There are some attractions (mostly in MK) that didn't have the room to add Mainstream Access.
Theme Parks can actually be
fined for sending people with disabilities thru another way of entry when the ride is Mainstream Accessible.
Some attractions can't be boarded by people using wheelchairs/
ecvs at the regular entrance (sometimes the entrance is not the same place as the exit, or there are stairs, moving walkways, etc, that need to be avoided). In most cases, people with wheelchairs/ecvs wait in the regular line until just before the boarding area/obstacle and then are shunted off to the side to avoid the obstacle and re-join the ride or go to the exit for boarding.
Usually, the time until boarding is not that different and can actually be a longer wait if you have to wait for a special wheelchair car. On Buzz Lightyear, for example, while we are waiting at the exit to board, we often see people getting off after riding, who were just ahead of us in the regular line.
But why can't the wheelchair person be escorted w/one person while the others wait in line? When the group gets to the front of the line, then the wheelchair person and single escort join the rest of them.
Most of the attractions are Mainstream, but for the ones that are not, there usually is not a place to wait and/or the people in wheelchairs who are waiting are obstruction access on to or exit from the attraction. In some cases, the people who seemed to be getting right on, had been waiting as a group somewhere else. That has happened to us quite often.
Now, remember ... I am talking about the large groups of people!!! I have seen groups of 15 or more people doing this in the parks and I'm sure others have, too.
Disney's policy is that if the attraction has an alternate access for people in wheelchairs/ecvs (because the main entrance is not wheelchair accessible),
access is limited to the person with a disability plus up to 5 members of their party. There are times when the "alternate access" area will not hold that many and it is limited to 1 or 2 people plus the person with a disability.
When we were in WDW in July, Daxx, DS9 and I hooked up w/my aunt and cousin. My aunt has MS, cannot walk very well and uses a wheelchair b/c of the walking situation. The CM's would always allow her immediate access to the rides ... my cousin would take her through the handicapped way and Daxx, DS9 and I got in the regular line. My cousin requested that she and aunt wait until we got to the front of the line b/c we didn't feel it was fair to everyone else that our group (as small as it was) go ahead of everyone else. I am sure nobody noticed ... but maybe someone did and was appreciative! While our group was small, I still felt it wasn't fair to the others waiting in line. Even my aunt agreed that she could patiently wait b/c she was comfortable in her wheelchair and didn't have to stand.
At AK and the Studio, the regular lines are accessible with no handicapped entrances and we have never (coming to both parks since they opened with someone using a wheelchair) been brought to the front of the line.
At Epcot and MK, there are some attractions that are not accessible thru the regular line (but the majority are). There are some situations where the CM will board a party with wheelchairs right away - for example, in Haunted Mansion, boarding is done at the exit (you miss the Shrinking Room if you can't walk well enough to walk into it and stand during that part of the show). If the ride has no people with special needs waiting, they may take the special needs party right in. But typically, they go into the little patio/graveyard area where the ride exits and wait sort of in line there.
Spaceship Earth is another one where wheelchair users are taken to the exit for boarding, but the queue is not at all wheelchair accessible and there is usually quite a line of people waiting at the exit to go in - our usual wait there is about 30 minutes, even in the afternoon when the regular line is walking in.
I can see allowing some people to go up w/a handicapped person (ie: immediate family like parents or spouse & children) ... but why they let these enormous groups (aunts, uncles, cousins, heaven knows who, etc) through is beyond me. And, it certainly frosts me when I hear that people who don't even require a wheelchair rent one to gain quick access!
Again, the policy is up to 5 people plus the person with a disability. We are usually asked how many are in our party and have been asked to send any over that limit thru the regular line.
Most people who use wheelchairs would not agree with the "quick access". There are some attractions where you may (
may) get quick access, but for many the access is much slower. Our longest "extra wait" has always been for the Safari - 40 minutes longer in one case. People who had rented wheelchairs/ecvs were asking if there was any way they could just leave the wheelchair where is was and go in the regular line because people in the regular line were basically walking on aas fast as they could go (and some trams were even pulling out partly filled).
So, even though using a wheelchair
looks like an advantage, in the long run, it's just a place to sit while you are waiting.
Cheaters are weak, when you know their tricks before they can catch you off guard. 
TiggerandBelleFanMom
Maybe I'm just cheap 
