Something that annoys me about WDW....

[faeflora]

I think my mom would love it if Harley started making ECV's. In her case she was way out numbered by 3 children (and 2 of their spouses), her own husband. Yep--we all threatened a boycott. And when she got that ECV--first time in years we all hung out together all day at WDW.

I would love it if Harley started making ECV's. Threatening a boycott, I never thought about trying that but maybe I first need to get a bigger group together, power in numbers. Actually mom is a people watcher and she loves just sitting and watching people, in malls, in airports, at WDW. I think even if she could run through the park she would probably still chose to sit and watch. She's a really cool person. I still might try the boycott though

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I would love it if Harley started making ECV's. Threatening a boycott, I never thought about trying that but maybe I first need to get a bigger group together, power in numbers. Actually mom is a people watcher and she loves just sitting and watching people, in malls, in airports, at WDW. I think even if she could run through the park she would probably still chose to sit and watch. She's a really cool person. I still might try the boycott though

Good luck .

However--any trip to Disney is better than none, right?


I drove my mom's ECV once when I was pregnant. Pooped and tired at the end of the day and she was aching to move around a bit. I will never forget when the Bakery was configured differently as it is now when 2 young and very RUDE men used the Bakery as a pass through b/c of the crowds due to the evening parade. They literally straddled me and climbed over me when I was in line riding the ECV. Had I not been so mortified I would have loved to give them a piece of my mind.

 

[faeflora]

I don't know if it is just me, tiny in a wheelchair and low to the ground but it seems that maybe once a year when I am around crowds I always have that one person not looking run right into me and end up sitting on my lap. They also have the same expression on their face after the fact, "Wow how did I end up here" followed by "Why were you in my way?". Never voiced though always just the look.

 

[taximomfor4]

IN 1998 I went with my friend and her mentally handicapped daughter, her daughter cannot tolerate waiting in lines, she will start to bite herself and scream at the top of her lungs. We went with doctors' letters and got a GAC. the looks we got were unbelievable from CM's and guest. See if she isn't having a fit, at a glance there seems to be nothing wrong with her. THere were a few times, when I was out of ear shot of my friend that I asked people if they would like to switch places, healthy kid or not waiting in line?

that was really cool of you, to defend your friend and her child! Just wanted to say, really quickly, that I was not at WDW in 1998 but as of this year, the CM's will not follow a dr's order for line-cutting. So anyone standing in a normal line, if you see a group with GAC being sent a different way, it is not to cut! These families are just being taken a different way.

We used a GAC here and there on our Easter trip this year, and I have since then sent a letter to Guest Communications about negative treatment/downright CM Meanness that we experienced when using our GAC. Not seeking anything out of it, just wanted to make that clear!! I do, however, think that CM's need a memo once in a while explaining what these are and how to use them...and WHO they are for, so CMs could quit asking us!
I am sure there are abusers out there, but using a GAC is not all fun!!

Beth

 

[PamNC]

I think the wheelchairs should be free for handicapped people. I guess that will never happen. We took my elderly grandmother to Disney one year and she had to have a wheelchair. When we would put it aside to get in line and go on an attraction, quite often we would come back and someone had taken the wheelchair. We always got a free replacement but it was a pain in the rump.

I'm the trouble maker who started the political and overweight discussion. I guess a good heated discussion is a good thing as long as it stays "friendly." I must reiterate that the only reason I have a problem with people renting the wheelchair and ECV's solely because they are overweight is because of supply...that's the only reason. Not because I think ill of anyone because they are overweight or jeer or smirk at them...not the case. Maybe Disney has enough of these available and this will never be an issue...I hope so. I am super sensitive to weight because of family issues so I guess I am a bit of a hardliner on the subject.

To the poster who told me to get off her back and said how hard it is for obese people to lose eight - believe me when I tell you I KNOW how hard it is for obese people to lose weight. I've watched my husband struggle for 2 years. He is in his early 30's with extremely high blood pressure, knee and back problems. Our doctor warned him countless times and he finally go scared when a trip to Disney proved to him how out of shape he was. He could hardly enjoy it. I was so worried that he would end up dying young like my father. But, he got it under control, lost 67 pounds, not by dieting but by a total mindset change. He truly had a food addiction. He fought and fought and changed his entire thinking about food. Although I can't say I've experienced a weight problem personally, I want to state that I totally understand. I'm sorry if I offended you.

I still hold to my belief that the wheelchairs and ECVs should be used only if you have a handicap, an injury or something equivalent. Heck, if you bring your own...that's your business. Or, maybe Disney DOES have enough available and that's a beautiful thing.

I was wrong about something - I thought you could go to the head of the line if you had a wheelchair or ECV. I stand corrected. Actually, I have no problem with handicapped folks going to the head of the line. TRULY handicapped folks.

I won't mention politics again - it's dangerous.

PamNC

 

[C.Ann]

I think the wheelchairs should be free for handicapped people. I guess that will never happen. We took my elderly grandmother to Disney one year and she had to have a wheelchair. When we would put it aside to get in line and go on an attraction, quite often we would come back and someone had taken the wheelchair. We always got a free replacement but it was a pain in the rump.

PamNC

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By charging a fee, it could be Disney's way of trying to curb the abuse to the best of their ability.. Figuring if people have to pay for the wheelchairs, they would be less likely to just grab one and go when they don't really need it..

 

[PamNC]

-------------------------

By charging a fee, it could be Disney's way of trying to curb the abuse to the best of their ability.. Figuring if people have to pay for the wheelchairs, they would be less likely to just grab one and go when they don't really need it..

That makes sense. Not only is my co-worker an offender...but we have some friends who go every couple of years. A big group, grandparents, parents, children. The grandfather in this scenario is in excellent shape and he rents a wheelchair he says "so he doesn't have to wait in line." He must be telling a fib because I've learned from this rather heated thread that just because you get a wheelchair or an ECV...you don't get to go to the head of the line.

PamNC

 

[C.Ann]

That makes sense. Not only is my co-worker an offender...but we have some friends who go every couple of years. A big group, grandparents, parents, children. The grandfather in this scenario is in excellent shape and he rents a wheelchair he says "so he doesn't have to wait in line." He must be telling a fib because I've learned from this rather heated thread that just because you get a wheelchair or an ECV...you don't get to go to the head of the line.

PamNC

---------------------------

I wonder if going to the head of the line is at the discretion of the CM's? A good friend of mine has been fighting ovarian cancer for a number of years now.. They keep saying they got it all and it keeps coming back.. Now it's in her stomach and the doctors have indicated she's not likely to recover this time.. Anyhow - during her most recent rounds of chemo therapy she, her DH and their two granddaughters went to Disney this past April for four days.. You wouldn't really know to look at her how sick and weak she is - no significant weight loss - and she is wearing a wig that you would never suspect was a wig.. Obviously her DH had to wheel her around in a wheelchair and every ride or attraction they chose resulted in immediate head of the line access.. Ironically, a month after they were home it was discovered that her DH had a 90% blockage in the main artery to his heart and had to have a stent put in.. The doctor said if it had gone undetected for another month he would have suffered a massive heart attack and probably wouldn't have survived.. Just two more examples of how people cannot determine if a wheelchair is needed simply by looking at people..

 

[Amy&Dan]

That makes sense. Not only is my co-worker an offender...but we have some friends who go every couple of years. A big group, grandparents, parents, children. The grandfather in this scenario is in excellent shape and he rents a wheelchair he says "so he doesn't have to wait in line." He must be telling a fib because I've learned from this rather heated thread that just because you get a wheelchair or an ECV...you don't get to go to the head of the line.

PamNC

Pam, I wonder if maybe they are talking about Disneyland? When we have gone there with my fil who does have heart problems, diabetes and cancer we rent him an ECV. Frequently they have let us get into a different line which made us really uncomfortable. At Disneyland because the park is older and the ques are narrow they often let you go into the exit and get on the ride. We were so uncomfortable with that we would have fil go into the exit and then wait for us to get thru the regular line and he would then join us on the ride. It is hard to believe that people would go to the expense and trouble to rent a chair or ECV to get in the front of the line but I know on occasion it does happen, really sad IMO. I am not sure if they are still doing this at Disneyland, we haven't been with fil since last December and maybe they cracked down. Also, if you get an ECV you get the key that can be removed and worn as a bracelet, cutting down on people ripping off. I saw some teen boys taking a wheelchair once and I asked them if it was their's and they looked really funny but got out of it! DH was horrified but then I reminded him how sad it would be if some nice handicapped or older person returned to find their wheelchair gone. Good for you for supporting your husband with his weight loss by the way!

 

[IwasatWDWforamonth]

My mom and I have used a GAC for the past 4 years,, We have invisible disabilitys and most of the time I try hard to think im perfectly healthy although that is far from the case,
We found about about the gac shortly before the MK parade one day, I was getting really lightheaded and needed to set down, there was no empty spaces anywhere until we came across an area somewhere by the presidents, so we sat down 1 minute later a cm came and yelled at us that we couldnt sit there because it was for wheel chairs only, I said well we will just set to the side(it was behind the area no one could see the parade from there) And she said I couldnt sit there either even after my mom explained I didnt feel well,,,,,,,,,,,, well we went across the street and about 2 minutes later a guy with a cane and a wife a 5 kids a little square card andNO WHEEL CHAIR, all sat there after showing the cm that card,

A manager type cm walked past my mom and she asked him why did those people get to set there, they didnt have a wheel chair and none of them looked like ghost like I did, the whole GAC thing was then explained to my mom and the cm allowed us to set there for the parade and told us to go get the gac.

The gac has helped us do a lot of things that neither of us would be able to do, and I am constantly worried that im somehow abusing it because yes I can walk but would never be able to spend 2 hours in a line, but then I have to remember that sometimes it also takes longer to get on the rides for example btmrr, when its a walk on for the regular line, they can be holding you at the handicapped entrance for much longer, but it saves us the extra walk so we a happy to wait longer than others at times and in that case we are actually waiting longer so it evens out
We have encountered some mean cms, really the only times were at the speedway, were we go thru the handicapped entrance only to be yelled at by every cast member at the end of the race that we are getting outof the car the wrong way, it gives me the impression that the think we are just using the gac to get on faster which isnt the case at all, One time even after I said my mom cant use the stairs they still said " GET OUT THE OTHER WAY CANT YOU SPEAK ENGLISH" then instead of helping my mom out like I always do I went out to speak to that cm, my mom fell trying to get out by herselfI felt so gulity

my lungs collapse very easy so even going on that ride is a risk for me(the exhast is bad for me) i really hate it that they treat us like that AND make me stand there sucking up more exhaust while we argue which way we are getting out.
On the other hand we have had cm's treat us like royalty and that feels real good and it makes up for all the dirty looks from people.

In a way I dont like people knowing about the card because it really could be abused and then disney would take away our freedom to enjoy the attractions like everyone else, but then had we not found out we probably would not go to WDW as often as we do so I really think we just have to hope most people have a conscience.

I once saw an older man walk up to the test track line with his granddaughter and said to the cm, heres my card I dont feel like going but im going to give my card to mygranddaughter , the cm let her in but to us said im "sick of this" I think he figured grandpa had the card just to get the healthy grandaughter on the rides. at one time maybe he did go on the rides and needed the card but to wiat in line just to show the cm his card with HIS name on it so his granddaughter could get on faster is not fair . she could have just as easily and probaly faster,, gone in the single rider line.

Sorry for the long post just had a few things to say about this topic

 

[heavenleigh412]

As a person with an invisible disability, I have to say much of this thread was upsetting.
To look at me, you would NEVER know I was disabled, until you saw me unconcious on the ground. My body does not control things like a "normal" person's would... so my blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature, EVERYTHING can drop or increase at will.
I am 33, and was born with this rare condition.
Last year, we went to Disney as a party of 9, and I got my first GAC (actually I had 2 different ones depending on the situation I was in) I never would have made it through half as much as I did with my daughter. Sometimes I did get priority access, most of the time I got a shady area to sit in while I waited. The pass covered 6 of us, but I didn't stay with the group much of the time, so my daughter was really the only one with me (she was 10 at the time) My biggest problem was when I did not use my GAC for Fantasmic (the 9 of us were together, and I was trying to act not disabled and wait with everyone else) It was very hot, the line was VERY long and crowded. I lasted for a while, then my blood pressure dropped, and I passed out on the concrete and started bleeding. The CM's ran over with ice and a bottle of water and actually yelled at me for not using my GAC... They were polite about the yelling though!

Most adult people who are legitimately disabled fight it to appear "normal" to avoid the judgements.

I used a wheelchair once at the bronx zoo which is huge to be able to enjoy it with my daughter without wearing myself out. I can walk and a few times I got out of the wheelchair to see something better... You would be amazed at how many nasty comments I got about that wheelchair, how many people walked on me, sat on me, and basically ruined my day of fun with my daughter.
I will rent something at Disney when I need it (for a long day, or if I am having a bad episode day) but I will NOT like it... especially if people are going to be rude to me because I have a disability that they can't see.
People really need to think before they make potential hurtful comments... the magic of Disney is for EVERYONE, not just healthy "normal" people.
I fought my way through 3 bouts of cancer, and have almost complete mobility after a stroke at age 30(after over a year of intensive physical therapy)... I am a single mom to a healthy, happy 11 year old girl who has adjusted amazingly to having a disabled mom.
The idea that people would begrudge me a shady place to sit, or a GAC card is mystifying to me... and BTW, MY daughter would NEVER walk into a wheelchair, she is VERY aware of people with disabilities (one of the few positives of my condition) but she would also never stare at a disabled person.