The Disney FATPass

[blondeheroine]

Yes, I believe that the GAC's are red. I don't recall having them scanned, but maybe they have started doing that. Usually you just show it to the cm and they find our why you have the gac. There are several different reasons for getting the gac. When I have gotten them it was because my son becomes overstimulated with all of the noise in the waiting lines, he also can not tolerate crying children or babies in close proximity. He also needs his personal space. Our gac allows us to wait in a quiet area until our turn to ride.

Ah! Thanks for clearing that up for me. I don't know if it was so much scanned as the CM put it up against a metal box. At least, I think that was how I remembered it.

 

[pezpam]

Are the GAC the red ones that the CM scans? I've been wondering what those were.

Maybe. I've also been given a (non-GAC) red card by a CM at the start of a line and told to hand it to the CM where I board the ride. They each scan it and it gives them an idea of how long the wait is so they can adjust the signs.

 

[stenickar]

Ah! Thanks for clearing that up for me. I don't know if it was so much scanned as the CM put it up against a metal box. At least, I think that was how I remembered it.

I have encountered people like the op, making comments at the parks about us just going right by them while they have to wait. Sometimes the cm will have us go throught the FP line to a quiet place to wait. I always want to stop and tell the person that I would gladly trade places with them. Getting to go to the front of the FP line to wait for a ride is not a privilege I want , it is a neccessity. My child wants to enjoy WDW too, and for that to be possible we may need some "extra" help from the cm's. If those people really want to I could stand in line with my son and when he gets overstimulated and has a meltdown I will let them try to deal with him .

 

[Mouse House Mama]

I can understand being frustrated at some of the incidents that I have read here but I just try to thank God that we are lucky that none of us need a wc or ECV and I like to believe that those that are using them truly need them.

 

[3mtn-kate]

All I can really say is cut the people some slack. Maybe it's not their fault that their weight it out of their control. My grandfather was overweight but it wasn't his fault. When he was a baby his knees were bad. If he got ushered to the front of the line would you roll your eyes and sigh? I don't think that seems fair but it happens anyway.

 

[MEK]

I rather stand in a line any day then be escorted to the front of one because I was mobility impaired. I think most people feel this well. Who really, truely wants to be on a scooter or in a wheelchair. That being said, I would find it annoying to have 10 people get in front of me on a parade route or in a line. But....IT IS WHAT IT IS! It is a lesson in patience.

 

[Accentuate+]

Please, on your next trip, pony up the 35.00 and rent an ecv. Spend the day using it. I promise you it "ain't all moonlight and roses".

I had a need to use one for several days of my last trip. While I was thankful they were there to rent and they allowed me to still enjoy the park those days when I wouldn't have been able to without it - I would MUCH prefer touring the parks on foot.

There were a couple lines made shorter with the ecv, a couple where the wait was longer and most were exactly the same. As far as lines and wait times it really was a wash.

Mostly I remember:

Paying over 100.00 for three days of ECV rentals, I could have had a night at a value and a TS meal for that.
Often being 'invisible' to other people because I was below eye level.
Being a nervous wreck driving the thing because people constantly walked in front of or stopped in front of invisible me. Thankfully I never hit anyone but I'd get dirty looks anyway?
Worrying about what people would think of me using the ECV when I looked perfectly capable of walking.
Worrying about what people would think of me because with the ECV I was still able to walk sometimes. If we fastpassed something and I knew I wouldn't have to stand for a long period in line I'd power through and walk rather than try to negotiate the line in the ECV (not always an easy task) I can imagine your opinion and thoughts if you saw me get out of the ECV and walk.

I got over those last two pretty fast, though. You don't know what an ECV users reasons are, you saw only a portion of their experience and, to be blunt, you don't know what you're talking about.


Of course abuses happen but I think you're exagerating and are an insensitive clod to boot.

 

[wolfxofxnovember]

you were given a lack of brains and compassion.

I hope everyone that sees this post reports it, and this user should be banned.

By the way, it's punks like you that i'd LOVE to meet in the park and give a reason to go through that handicap line.

The above lines are threats, and insults, this appalls me as veteran posters should not exhibit such behavior to people who are new. I understand where Ed is coming from about scooters for people that are too lazy, however he did not word this the right way and people with serious medical conditions do not have a "lack of will power" or "can't put down a fork". We should just simply explain to Ed that he does have a point but only directed at an incredibly slim demographic. He should learn from this post as a mistake and become more compassionate and understanding.

 

[sgtpet]

I am disgusted by the original poster.

This thread needs to be stopped before I tell him off.

 

[wolfxofxnovember]

I am disgusted by the original poster.

This thread needs to be stopped before I tell him off.

This thread does need to be stopped ASAP.

 

[seachelle]

What a rude and insensitive post. How can you presume to know their medical history? I think you should stay home if it bothers you so much

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I agree that this should be locked, as this is getting much worse then some of the others that were locked. I'm actually suprised it hasn't been locked yet.

 

[goofyforlife]

Jungle crusie was the most notable example...perhaps because I waited there longer than most places...and I saw group after group after group of people, show up, go to the front of the line and then get seated, do the ride and get off while I winded my way thru those turns in the lines. And I saw it happen many, many places - this was just one.

Hate to say DUHHHHHH but those groups that went to the front of the line were fast pass holders on the jungle cruise. Anyone could do this.

Maybe if you could use your brain for something other than hate you could figure out how those machines work too....and avoid the lines...

 

[SueM in MN]

People using wheelchairs or ECVs don't get out of waiting in line.
Most of the lines at WDW are wheelchair accessible, so there are very few situations where someone actually goes thru a wheelchair entrance. In most cases, they wait in the same line with everyone else. For a very few attractions, there is an alternate entrace because the regular one isn't accessible and was not able to be made accessible (most in MK or Epcot since they were built before accessibility was thought of). There are some others, where the boarding area is not accessible and wheelchair/ECV users wait in the regular or Fastpass line and then are pulled into a different area for loading (Buzz Lightyear, Haunted Mansion and Splash Mountain are examples).

One of the other things that people who don't use wheelchairs don't know is where people with wheelchairs go when they are taken out of the line. They assume those people who 'disappear' from the line are boarding right away, but that is not usually the case.
If they can't board at the regular boarding spot, they are pulled out of the line - usually just before the regular line gets to the boarding area (so they have already waited as long as everyone that got in the line the same time as they did).
For example, at Buzz Lightyear, the 'pull off point' is after you have gone thru the room with the large Buzz Lightyear, near the point where regular line is beginning to enter the actual boarding area. Guests with wheelchairs/ ECVs are pulled out of line at that point and sent to the exit - not to board right away, but to wait. If there are too many people with disabilities already on the attraction, you have to wait for some to get off (for fire safetly and evacuation reasons). Because our DD can't get out of her wheelchair easily, we have to wait extra for a special car that the wheelchair can be loaded on. We usually see the people who were right ahead of us in line getting off after riding while we are still waiting to board. In some rides, boarding at the accessible area means you miss part of the attraction; for example, at Haunted Mansion, you miss the entire 'stretching room' part of the attraction.

The Safari at AK is notorious for extra waits for people with disabilities. Our longest wait there was an EXTRA 40 minutes at a time when the regular line was walk on and Safari Trams were pulling out partially loaded because people were not walking up fast enough to fill them.

Spaceship Earth is a ride with a handicapped entrance, but during times when other passengers are able to walk right on, our wait is usually 20-30 minutes.

AK and the Studio were built with what are called 'Mainstream Lines'. These are lines where the regular line is wheelchair/ECV accessible and a person using a wheelchair or ECV waits in the same line with everyone else.

Here's what it says in the official WDW Guidebook for Guests with Disabilities about Mainstream Lines and the list of attractions with Mainstream Queues:
As you can see, most of the lines are Mainstream Queues:

Magic Kingdom® Park
Ariel's Grotto
Astro Orbiter
Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
Donald's Boat
Judge's Tent
Mickey's Country House
Mickey's PhilharMagic
Mike Fink Keelboats (seasonal)
Minnie's Country House
Pirates of the Caribbean
Space Mountain®
Splash Mountain®
Stitch's Great Escape!™
The Barnstormer at Goofy's Wiseacres Farm
"The Enchanted Tiki Room Under New Management"
The Hall of Presidents
The Magic Carpets of Aladdin
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
The Timekeeper (seasonal)
Tomorrowland® Indy Speedway
Toontown Hall of Fame
Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress (seasonal)

Epcot®
FUTURE WORLD
Imagination!: All Attractions
Innoventions East
Innoventions West
Mission: SPACE
Test Track
The Living Seas: All Attractions
The Land: All Attractions
Universe of Energy: "Ellen's Energy Adventure"
Wonders of Life: All Attractions (seasonal)

WORLD SHOWCASE
China: "Reflections of China"
France: "Impressions de France"
FriendShip Boats
Norway: Maelstrom
The American Adventure: "The American Adventure"

Disney-MGM Studios
Disney-MGM Studios Backlot Tour
Fantasmic!
Lights, Motors, Action!™ Extreme Stunt Show
Muppet*Vision 3D
Playhouse Disney - Live On Stage!
Rock 'n' Roller Coaster® Starring Aerosmith
Sounds Dangerous - Starring Drew Carey
Star Tours
The Great Movie Ride
The Magic of Disney Animation
"The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror™"
Voyage of the Little Mermaid
Walt Disney: One Man's Dream
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire - Play It!

Disney's Animal Kingdom® Theme Park
Caravan Stage: "Flights of Wonder"
DINOSAUR
Grandmother Willow's Grove: "Pocahontas and Her forest friends"
It's Tough To Be A Bug
Kali River Rapids
Kilimanjaro Safaris
Lion King Theater: "Festival of the Lion King"
Maharajah Jungle Trek
Primeval Whirl
Theater in the Wild: "Tarzan Rocks!"
The Boneyard
TriceraTop Spin

I wanted to add that Soarin' and EE are missing from the list. They are both Mainstream Access.
And, some attractions have limited number of spots for wheelchairs. We have already shown up for shows where there was still room for ambulatory people, but the wheelchair spots were already filled for that show and we had to wait for the next one (Voyage of the Little Mermaid, where we had Fastpasses; and ITTBAB, where the CMs were practically begging people to come into the queue because there was no wait in the standby line.

 

[edcrbnsoul]

I have toured the parks both pre and post handicapped with DW. I'll take standing in line anyday, the 1 or 2 "perks" don't make up for the 100's of hassles. I'm sorry you had to put up with anyone who you assumed was abusing the system, but I have also had to put up with just as many able bodied skinny folk hopping lines while the rest of us waited.

 

[BillSears]

That's a great post!! Thanks Sue.

 

[kaabost]

OK. SO, we can all agree on something. The people that we are ALL upset about are the people who choose to abuse the system and and use an ECV/WC when not needed. Right? These people are annoying to the masses but their biggest crime is causing honestly handicapped people to be looked down upon, uncomfortable, and the butt of unfair accusations. Let's all be mad at the scammers..........too bad we can't ID them.

Another thought in reference to the line thing. I would imagine that the honest handicap people feel uncomfortable at "putting others out." I know that I would be uncomfortable loading immediately while others had to wait. It seems that on these few rides that we are discussing, Disney could easily make everyone happy by holding the handicap people and their group (No matter how large) for the length of time posted on the line board. They could be given little slips of paper with the time printed on it. This way, the masses wouldn't feel that they were treated unfairly, the handicap people wouldn't be feeling awkward from getting in front of everyone, and the scammers would be discouraged because they'd have to wait anyway. Ha! Is that a solution on what?????????

 

[wolfxofxnovember]

All I can say is... bravo That would be a great idea and also thank you for ID'ing and clearing up who we are really mad at instead of biting at people.

OK. SO, we can all agree on something. The people that we are ALL upset about are the people who choose to abuse the system and and use an ECV/WC when not needed. Right? These people are annoying to the masses but their biggest crime is causing honestly handicapped people to be looked down upon, uncomfortable, and the butt of unfair accusations. Let's all be mad at the scammers..........too bad we can't ID them.

Another thought in reference to the line thing. I would imagine that the honest handicap people feel uncomfortable at "putting others out." I know that I would be uncomfortable loading immediately while others had to wait. It seems that on these few rides that we are discussing, Disney could easily make everyone happy by holding the handicap people and their group (No matter how large) for the length of time posted on the line board. They could be given little slips of paper with the time printed on it. This way, the masses wouldn't feel that they were treated unfairly, the handicap people wouldn't be feeling awkward from getting in front of everyone, and the scammers would be discouraged because they'd have to wait anyway. Ha! Is that a solution on what?????????

 

[kaabost]

All I can say is... bravo That would be a great idea and also thank you for ID'ing and clearing up who we are really mad at instead of biting at people.

Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[blondeheroine]

People using wheelchairs or ECVs don't get out of waiting in line.
Most of the lines at WDW are wheelchair accessible, so there are very few situations where someone actually goes thru a wheelchair entrance. In most cases, they wait in the same line with everyone else. For a very few attractions, there is an alternate entrace because the regular one isn't accessible and was not able to be made accessible (most in MK or Epcot since they were built before accessibility was thought of). There are some others, where the boarding area is not accessible and wheelchair/ECV users wait in the regular or Fastpass line and then are pulled into a different area for loading (Buzz Lightyear, Haunted Mansion and Splash Mountain are examples).

One of the other things that people who don't use wheelchairs don't know is where people with wheelchairs go when they are taken out of the line. They assume those people who 'disappear' from the line are boarding right away, but that is not usually the case.
If they can't board at the regular boarding spot, they are pulled out of the line - usually just before the regular line gets to the boarding area (so they have already waited as long as everyone that got in the line the same time as they did).
For example, at Buzz Lightyear, the 'pull off point' is after you have gone thru the room with the large Buzz Lightyear, near the point where regular line is beginning to enter the actual boarding area. Guests with wheelchairs/ ECVs are pulled out of line at that point and sent to the exit - not to board right away, but to wait. If there are too many people with disabilities already on the attraction, you have to wait for some to get off (for fire safetly and evacuation reasons). Because our DD can't get out of her wheelchair easily, we have to wait extra for a special car that the wheelchair can be loaded on. We usually see the people who were right ahead of us in line getting off after riding while we are still waiting to board. In some rides, boarding at the accessible area means you miss part of the attraction; for example, at Haunted Mansion, you miss the entire 'stretching room' part of the attraction.

The Safari at AK is notorious for extra waits for people with disabilities. Our longest wait there was an EXTRA 40 minutes at a time when the regular line was walk on and Safari Trams were pulling out partially loaded because people were not walking up fast enough to fill them.

Spaceship Earth is a ride with a handicapped entrance, but during times when other passengers are able to walk right on, our wait is usually 20-30 minutes.

AK and the Studio were built with what are called 'Mainstream Lines'. These are lines where the regular line is wheelchair/ECV accessible and a person using a wheelchair or ECV waits in the same line with everyone else.

Here's what it says in the official WDW Guidebook for Guests with Disabilities about Mainstream Lines and the list of attractions with Mainstream Queues:
As you can see, most of the lines are Mainstream Queues:

Magic Kingdom® Park
Ariel's Grotto
Astro Orbiter
Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
Donald's Boat
Judge's Tent
Mickey's Country House
Mickey's PhilharMagic
Mike Fink Keelboats (seasonal)
Minnie's Country House
Pirates of the Caribbean
Space Mountain®
Splash Mountain®
Stitch's Great Escape!™
The Barnstormer at Goofy's Wiseacres Farm
"The Enchanted Tiki Room Under New Management"
The Hall of Presidents
The Magic Carpets of Aladdin
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
The Timekeeper (seasonal)
Tomorrowland® Indy Speedway
Toontown Hall of Fame
Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress (seasonal)

Epcot®
FUTURE WORLD
Imagination!: All Attractions
Innoventions East
Innoventions West
Mission: SPACE
Test Track
The Living Seas: All Attractions
The Land: All Attractions
Universe of Energy: "Ellen's Energy Adventure"
Wonders of Life: All Attractions (seasonal)

WORLD SHOWCASE
China: "Reflections of China"
France: "Impressions de France"
FriendShip Boats
Norway: Maelstrom
The American Adventure: "The American Adventure"

Disney-MGM Studios
Disney-MGM Studios Backlot Tour
Fantasmic!
Lights, Motors, Action!™ Extreme Stunt Show
Muppet*Vision 3D
Playhouse Disney - Live On Stage!
Rock 'n' Roller Coaster® Starring Aerosmith
Sounds Dangerous - Starring Drew Carey
Star Tours
The Great Movie Ride
The Magic of Disney Animation
"The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror™"
Voyage of the Little Mermaid
Walt Disney: One Man's Dream
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire - Play It!

Disney's Animal Kingdom® Theme Park
Caravan Stage: "Flights of Wonder"
DINOSAUR
Grandmother Willow's Grove: "Pocahontas and Her forest friends"
It's Tough To Be A Bug
Kali River Rapids
Kilimanjaro Safaris
Lion King Theater: "Festival of the Lion King"
Maharajah Jungle Trek
Primeval Whirl
Theater in the Wild: "Tarzan Rocks!"
The Boneyard
TriceraTop Spin

I wanted to add that Soarin' and EE are missing from the list. They are both Mainstream Access.
And, some attractions have limited number of spots for wheelchairs. We have already shown up for shows where there was still room for ambulatory people, but the wheelchair spots were already filled for that show and we had to wait for the next one (Voyage of the Little Mermaid, where we had Fastpasses; and ITTBAB, where the CMs were practically begging people to come into the queue because there was no wait in the standby line.

That's a great post! In a way, I think this thread is great because it gives those of us who are unaware of what hardships handicapped guests go through an idea of the inconviences of being handicapped at WDW.