Tours from a mobility perspective (and just plain ol' fun)

[goofieslonglostsis]

Wondering what experiences are with doing one of the tours with regards to the mobility aspect. Which tour(s) did you do and how would you look back on them from the mobility aspect but also at least as important; how did you enjoy them?

I'm fast approaching my trip now with 6 weeks to go. Unfortunately had to make the difficult conclusion that this will have to be the last trip as it has become too heavy healthwise. Very happy to be able to do this 6th trip and looking forward to it very much but also a bit bittersweet knowing it'll be the last WDW/Florida.

Have been toying with the idea of doing a tour for before trip 1, never came round to it having so much already on the to do list and keep pushing it forward to "perhaps a next time". So now is the time to do it if I decide to go ahead with them. So basically just curious about experiences from this part of the board instead of the regular general experience.

Let's hear them!

 

[peemagg]

I have never done a tour when handicapped, but we took the Keys to the Kingdom tour and loved it. From what we did on that tour, I can't think of anything that would not be accessible. It was neat to see the backstage workings of Disney. I think there are others on here that has taken this tour in a wheelchair or ECV, and enjoyed it.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I think that I have pretty much taken all the tours that Disney offers at one time or another, and some more than once.

The only "problems" I had was where I might have to scoot over to an alternate entrance to avoid stairs. But really not much of a problem.

One thing I would always do was notify them I had an ECV. Legally it is not required, but for practical purposes it does not hurt. They are sure then that the transportation would be accessible. I remember one multi-park tour where at starting time a couple of additional people on ECVs showed up. It did delay the start of the tour as then yad to get a van. And since I had let them know, I was guaranteed a seat on the group bus with the Tour Guides, while for the others, one of them always had to travel alone and without the Guide.

 

[Buckimion]

Figment-

I've read the other topic regarding the "Behind the Seeds" tour and was curious if it was assessable by ecv? Hoping to get a day-of sign-up after an 8:30 bfast.

 

[justtobeme2]

I did the Keys to the Kingdom tour on ECV, no problem at all EXCEPT they had us eat at Columbia house UPSTAIRS!! That was hard and I think poor planning.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I've done Behind The Seeds several times on my ECV. I can visualize that a person on a four wheel ECV (including the Disney rentals) might have a maneuvering problem in a couple of spots.

 

[goofieslonglostsis]

The only "problems" I had was where I might have to scoot over to an alternate entrance to avoid stairs. But really not much of a problem.

IMHO that does not even come close to a problem. If anything I would say common sense, really, to expect such a thing to show up.

One thing I would always do was notify them I had an ECV. Legally it is not required, but for practical purposes it does not hurt. They are sure then that the transportation would be accessible. I remember one multi-park tour where at starting time a couple of additional people on ECVs showed up. It did delay the start of the tour as then yad to get a van. And since I had let them know, I was guaranteed a seat on the group bus with the Tour Guides, while for the others, one of them always had to travel alone and without the Guide.

Also common sense if you ask me, but it never stops to amaze me how some folks think otherwise and then are angry if things aren't magically sufficient for whomever with whatever special need.


Justtobe; indeed that does sound a bit stupidish. Although doesn't CHH has an elevator? Always keep confusing CHH with another CS, so could be me here confusing things.


Thanks for the responses so far all! In an ideal world there would be no doubts and I'ld be long booked for the Backstage Magic tour, but that isn't even close to doable stamina wise. Am seriously considering doing Keys to the Kingdom, but don't feel sure enough to book right now. Things would have to all work out physically and then add some "overdoing it a bit but can get away with it for once" when you consider that my sitting is limited to about 4 hours a day and ideally in portions instead of one time.

What are my odds if I leave it kinda up to the moment to see if I'm well enough to do this before making a reservation? I'll have a long enough time to play a bit with dates (will be there for 23 days, almost all in october), but if this is a tour that always sells out way before that might be of very little help. Just book and cancel in time if need be could be the strategy if I didn't know myself well enough by now. With something booked now it will be too tempting and about 99% I'ld go ahead and do the tour even if it does turn out to be too much physically for this trip.

 

[zaksmom]

My son uses a wheelchair. No problems with any tour. We have done both Animal Kingdom tours (2 times each) and are planning to do the Wild Africa Trek - wheelchair version on our trip in October. We have done the Mickey Mouse tour at MK - but I think that one has been discontinued. When we did the Marceline to MK tour it included the Tomorrowland People mover - the tour guide stayed with him while the rest of the tour group rode. He got a lot of questions answered. But it also included Snow White ride and he got his hip pretty bruised up trying to get out of the car! He wanted one more ride before they closed it! We've done Behind the Seeds many times, but with a manual chair and someone pushing. a larger chair might have been tight a couple of times - but I think I've seen some on that tour. During the flower and garden festival we did the Gardens tour -a long one for those of us walking. But we really enjoyed that one. On our next trip we've scheduled the Undiscovered Future World. I think they do Soarin and Space Ship Earth as rides. Easy transfer on Soarin. A little more difficult but doable on the SSE. You get a special place to watch illuminations that evening.
Our experience has been that they make every tour enjoyable. Others in the tour group are helpful as well - you know, holding doors, passing things to us, making sure we get to see everything.
Another thing that we like is the Lunch with the Animal Specialist at Sanaa restaurant. It is on Wed and Sat. You have a private lunch with a limited group and it is an inexpensive "tour" with a great meal. We learned all kinds of things and really enjoyed talking about the animals with the trainers. Many of them have worked at other zoos and had a wealth of knowledge. After lunch we toured the savanah at the hotel. No prob with having a wheelchair. We also did the Lunch with the Imagineer. It was more expensive and at the Brown Derby. Once again it was a wonderful private lunch in a special room. The imagineer couldn't answer all the questions our group wanted answered. Secret stuff. lol So we liked the animal specialist one better.

Oh...and the Columbia House rest. does have an elevator but it is through the doors to the kitchen. They are happy to let you use it. We like to sit up there in that little section that looks over the path to fantasyland. It seems quieter up there too.
We enjoyed everything we did. The tours change, but there is always a suprise or gift too.
Have fun.