Trip report

Eeyore5

Mouseketeer
Joined
Aug 10, 2008
Messages
292
I was at Disney from 11/21-11/26 and thought I would share my experiences. There were 8 of use in our party and two using ECVs. I was with my parents, brother sister-in-law, and their 3 children (plus one in the oven). :goodvibes Most of the cast members and guests I interacted with were great. I did encounter some stares. I would smile at the person staring at me and they would usually look away or smile back. I am overweight as is my mom (who was also in an ECV) so I know I was more sensitive to being stared at and wondering what people were thinking. I will say there was no more staring then what I experienced as a normal weight teen in a manual wheelchair. I think the issue for some may be that this is their first experience using a mobility device and have not experienced the stare. You tend to either be very fascinating to people or invisible. There were two nasty comments I heard that were probably directed to me. One was “there goes Shamu number 25. She really needs to exercise.” :eek: It’s probably good that I didn’t know who said it because I might not have been kind in my reply. I normally walk at home sand have had nasty comment about my size from strangers before so unfortunately I am used to it. The other time was someone muttering the b word as he walked by. Not sure if that was directed at me or not. I had many close calls because people would come at me from behind at an angle and cut me off. Other people would notice and I had several other guests comment on people not paying attention. I was even encouraged by a few guests to run the person over next time.:scared1: I replied I refuse to make someone else need to use an ECV since they are a pain to use. I had at least 10 inquiries as to where to rent an ECV. Most thought they looked fun, and when I explained the down sides, agreed they would rather walk. There were a few interested for a friend or loved one that would benefit for an ECV. I am grateful that I can rent an ECV since the furthest I can walk at one time right now is about ½ a mile. But, I find them mentally tiring to use. You need to be on high alert for inattentive people when driving them. Considering the volume of people I interacted with, that there were only 2 rude guests and 1 rude driver was amazing. I am sure people that don’t have anyone with a disability in their party run into at least that many rude people. .
My parents and I stayed in a cabin at Fort Wilderness. We were not able to get a cabin with a walk in shower (which is better for my mom). It would have been nice to have another grab bar for the tub. I had a few close calls getting in and out – I use a tub with grab bars at home. My mom and I stayed at New Orleans French Quarter two years ago – again both in ECVs. There was much more room with the cabin. It was wonderful.
My dad had said he would drive me and load my ECV in his car so I could avoid the bus, but changed his mind when we got there. So I used the bus, monorail, and boat systems. As before, the monorail was by far the easiest way to get around. I needed to wait for a second bus a couple times and for a second boat a couple times. The one thing that frustrated me was the inconsistency of the bus and boat drives on policies. I was told under no circumstances could they load a 3rd person in a scooter on the boat because of safety regulations, then the next boat that came loaded three of us. I was told to back in on the lift on a bus by some drives and that I needed to go forward by others. I also got tired of some bus drives telling me what to do when parking since I know how to do it. Most would stop when I said I knew what to do. My last night I had a really rude driver. When he let everyone off, I mentioned that this was my stop because I couldn’t remember if I had told him. He snapped at me that he wasn’t that old. I told him that I didn’t know if I had told him. He was really grumpy and condescending as he gave me directions for getting on and off the bus. He scolded me for going too fast getting on the bus, but that scooter wouldn’t go up the ramp on a slower speed. I probably should have reported him but figured he had to work on Thanksgiving and may have been having a bad day. But that drive was the exception. I would suggest not try to get on the bus or boat at the start of the day or the end of the day right when the fireworks or light show ends, as that was when we ran into issues.
I am not really into rides, but the few I went on were awesome both for the accessibility and the experience. I also went on soarin (much to the shock of my family who know what a coward I am) and had a blast. I went on a few tamer rides to: finding Nemo, living with the land, spaceship earth, and the boat ride at Norway. We did the behind the seeds tour at the land and it was fascinating. I had not problems doing the things I wanted to do. We went to Fantasia at Hollywood Studios. I would highly recommend it. You need to get there at least 30 minutes before hand to get a spot. They had a great set up for people in wheelchairs and scooters. We were in the top row.
I think my attitude helped the trip. I referred to my scooter as my chariot and had a grin on most of the time. I was having so much fun that I probably missed some of the stares. It was a great trip and I was glad I went. I had lots of fun with my family.:cool1: I hope this report wasn’t too long.
 
It wasn't too long, Eeyore5, it was great. :) Sorry about the few negative moments but it sounds like you had a pretty nice time. Glad you did Soarin' and didn't find it too scary.

Thanks for the report. I agree the FW cabins are fantastic!
 
Thanks for the report, and I'm so sorry for the rude comments. I'm glad you were able to ignore those ignorant people and keep a smile going!---Kathy
 














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