Using GAC at MK

[Lorilais_mommie]

ok so here is the deal............
DH, DD(4), & Me<~~~ Bad hip 6 days in parks
Plan on getting a ECV for 5 of the days. (needed to save a little money)
the 1st day - no ECV ( will be getting a GAC for this day)
We we get in at 10am and plan on going to MK around 2pm and staying untill 8pm. We just want to ride a few rides in FL, Eat, and watch show in front of the castle.
Rides are: dumbo, snow white, small world and peter pan.

My question is for the rides in FL, what is a protocall??
Like Dumbo, where there is no fass pass? Can i have DH stand in line why i sit somewhere and wait? or do i go in the exit? Not sure what to do??

thanks for any advice.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Hi and to disABILITIES!

You have two potential problems.

One is that the normal and official response for a mobility and/or stamina situation is the recommendation that you use a wheelchair or ECV.

The other is that it will cost less to rent an ECV for your entire trip from an off-site location than do do a Disney rental for only five days.

If you click on where it says "disABILTIES" at the top of this page it will take you to the Index. One of the top items is the "disABILTIES FAQ" which will gives lots of useful information. Post #2 discusses mobility and we list several off-site locaitons for ECV rental. Post #6 discusses the GAC.

And the off-site ECV rentals are much easier to maneuver than Disney's, as well as costing less. And you will be able to use the ECV at your Resort; some of the distances are very long.

Or, if you want an easier route to the FAQs, click on the link in my signature.

 

[Lorilais_mommie]

Hi and to disABILITIES!

You have two potential problems.

One is that the normal and official response for a mobility and/or stamina situation is the recommendation that you use a wheelchair or ECV.

The other is that it will cost less to rent an ECV for your entire trip from an off-site location than do do a Disney rental for only five days.

If you click on where it says "disABILTIES" at the top of this page it will take you to the Index. One of the top items is the "disABILTIES FAQ" which will gives lots of useful information. Post #2 discusses mobility and we list several off-site locaitons for ECV rental. Post #6 discusses the GAC.

And the off-site ECV rentals are much easier to maneuver than Disney's, as well as costing less. And you will be able to use the ECV at your Resort; some of the distances are very long.

Or, if you want an easier route to the FAQs, click on the link in my signature.

Thank you for the welcome!
We are planing to rent off site... and since we only plan for a few hours in the park (mostly to eat and watch a show) we did not want have to rent it for that day. We really need to save whatever little money we can at this point.
I had ask about those 4 rides b/c those one the ones at the top of DD list and we would never make it out of the park without riding at least one ride.
I will sit out the rides and wait fo DH and DD to get back, if i have to, but i really would like ride if possible

thanks

 

[SueM in MN]

There is no place to sit and wait for those attractions while the rest of your party waits in line and they may or may not give you a GAC.
As Cheshire Figment noted, the 'official' recommendation for people who feel they can't stand or walk in line for physical reasons is to rent a wheelchair or ECV. Most attractions do not have places to sit and wait and are not set up for guests to wait somewhere else while the rest of their party waits in line.

You could rent a wheelchair at the park for that one portion of the day. That is much less expensive than renting an ECV and pushing it for one day would not be that difficult.

For Small World, 'usual' boarding is on one side of the boat/water and the exit is at the other. There is a wheelchair/handicapped boarding area that enables guests to get their wheelchairs/mobility devices across the water, which involves being pulled out of the line and being routed thru the exit ramp after waiting in the regular line for a while.
Our experience is that the wait in the middle of the day may be long, but later in the day or evening, it can be walk right on. But, when the wait is only 5 minutes for people who walk on, it may be 1/2 hour or more in the wheelchair line. So, you should be able to get on walking with a short wait.

Peter Pan does have FastPass, so you should be able to get one for that.
Dumbo is and Snow White do not have Fastpass - I would probably save those for a day when you are coming early. By getting there at park opening, it is usually possible to go on all the Fantasyland rides with not more than a 10 minute wait for any of them - especially if you are staying on site and can go for the early opening hours.
The guidemap for guests with disabilities lists Dumbo as "enter using the ramp on the right" for mobility access (this is with wheelchair, walker, etc. or if you are able to get a GAC). You may still be standing there for some time, but would not have to snake thru the lines. Snow White says "Enter thru the exit on the right" for mobility access.

I would suggest going to Mickey's Philharmagic. That has a large theater and you should be able to get in with a short wait. Note: because it is a theater show, it does involve standing in a preshow area for the length of one show, with no place to sit unless you have a wheelchair or ECV with you.

I would also suggest possibly going on the Carrousel, which should not have that long of lines at some point when you are there or going on Winnie the Pooh, which does have Fastpass.

 

[SueM in MN]

Also - each park has a Guidemap for Guests with Disabilities that lists the 'handicapped access'. At MK, you can get one of those maps at Guest Relations or from the wheelchair/ECV rental area.
At the other parks, we found them in the map kiosk with the other maps. Just look for the wheelchair symbol on the map kiosk and the black band at the top of the map.

In most cases, it says to use the regular "Stand-By" queue. For those attractions with Fastpass, it says to obtain a Fastpass or use the Stand-By queue. The map will be helpful for knowing which attractions you will need to transfer from the ECV to a wheelchair if you feel you can't walk in the line.

There are a few attractions, mostly in MK, where there is a separate route for guests with disabilities.
AK and the Studio were built with "Mainstream" accessible lines and guests using wheelchairs or other mobility devices wait in the regular line with other guests. There are a few attractions (Dinosaur at AK and Toy Story Mania at the Studio) that have stairs in the queue. For these, there is a 'pull off' that avoids the stairs, but the wait there can be long. At Toy Story Mania a few days ago, the wait in that area was about 30 feet long when we entered the area. Because only one pair of cars (which hold 6 people) can be boarded at that boarding area in each ride cycle, the wait can be long.

 

[lovetoscrap]

Have you called the various companies and checked on the ECV rental prices? They usually have a daily charge and a weekly charge and with 5/6 days you may find that there is really no extra cost for that extra day, or that it is minimal.

If you are staying at a WDW resort I believe that you can ask at the resort if they have a Wheelchair that you can use for the day . They may or may not but if they do they may let you borrow it for free, just return it when you have your ECV so that someone else in need may use it. But those wheelchairs are pretty beat up so someone pushing you may be difficult. I would probably plan on using it more for support when walking and then a place to sit while waiting.

And as Sue said, renting a w/c at the park will cost less.

You will probably also want to have it to sit in during the Castle Show since standing for that could be tiring and I am guessing that sitting on the ground and getting back up would be difficult.

 

[Belle1962]

When you say a few hours--do you mean in the evening of your first day? Call Walker and talk to them. Many times I have "mentioned" that I would like to have the ecv at my resort by x time (say 4:00 pm) and they usually only charge a partial a day or not at all.

 

[bouncy54]

Also - each park has a Guidemap for Guests with Disabilities that lists the 'handicapped access'. At MK, you can get one of those maps at Guest Relations or from the wheelchair/ECV rental area.
At the other parks, we found them in the map kiosk with the other maps. Just look for the wheelchair symbol on the map kiosk and the black band at the top of the map.

In most cases, it says to use the regular "Stand-By" queue. For those attractions with Fastpass, it says to obtain a Fastpass or use the Stand-By queue. The map will be helpful for knowing which attractions you will need to transfer from the ECV to a wheelchair if you feel you can't walk in the line.

There are a few attractions, mostly in MK, where there is a separate route for guests with disabilities.
AK and the Studio were built with "Mainstream" accessible lines and guests using wheelchairs or other mobility devices wait in the regular line with other guests. There are a few attractions (Dinosaur at AK and Toy Story Mania at the Studio) that have stairs in the queue. For these, there is a 'pull off' that avoids the stairs, but the wait there can be long. At Toy Story Mania a few days ago, the wait in that area was about 30 feet long when we entered the area. Because only one pair of cars (which hold 6 people) can be boarded at that boarding area in each ride cycle, the wait can be long.

Re: Toy Story Mania.. If I get a FP, will the line be shorter (in terms of measurement) than the Standby line? I remember the line in California as being really long, but they don't have FP there.

Same question for Dinosaur. I'd like to avoid having to ride my scooter through the queue on as many attractions as possible but don't want to be in the middle of the line and find that I simply can't make it to the boarding area.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Toy Story has stairs after the FP and standby lines merge, so you have to go up about 20 steps and then down about 20. With an ECV you will be shunted to the accessible line with no stairs.

Similarly, Dinosaur has stairs. You will be pulled out of line and will use an elevator, boarding from the unload side.

 

[SueM in MN]

Re: Toy Story Mania.. If I get a FP, will the line be shorter (in terms of measurement) than the Standby line? I remember the line in California as being really long, but they don't have FP there.

The distance for the Fastpass line in Toy Story Mania is a shorter distance than the Standby Line because it is a straight shot in and the Standby Line winds around.

If you can't do steps, you will need to use the accessible bypass line, which has a ramp and avoids the stairs. The wait there can sometimes be very long since anyone with mobility disabilities who can't do the stairs mentioned by Cheshire Figment has to use that access.
We were there earlier this week and the line there was about 30-40 feet long when we entered the ramp to get to the accessible waiting area.
The accessible boarding area is a bypass of the regular ride path that allows people to avoid the stairs.
This video shows the entire Standby queue at Toy Story Mania. Some of the paths are not used, depending on the amount of people waiting. The Fastpass and Standby lines merge just before the stairs. There is a very quick overview of the accessible boarding area at 4:07 time in the video.
The Standby line is probably not a significantly longer distance, but you will be standing in it longer if you don't bring a wheelchair or ECV because there are more people.
Although the guidebook says that ECV users need to switch to a wheelchair, but if you want to bring the ECV in line, ask what to do. ECVs can be brought into the accessible boarding area.

Same question for Dinosaur. I'd like to avoid having to ride my scooter through the queue on as many attractions as possible but don't want to be in the middle of the line and find that I simply can't make it to the boarding area.

The dinosaur queue is flat until you get to the stairs that Cheshire Figment mentioned. Again, the Fastpass line will be a slightly shorter distance, but not significantly shorter. The difference will be that you will be probably standing longer in the Standby Line if you don't bring the ECV into line.

The one attraction you definatly want to bring the ECV into line is Soarin' at Epcot. The Fastpass and Standby line are the same length - they run parallel to each other and the distance is 1/4 mile from the queue entrance to the boarding area and an equal amount to get out again.

 

[Lorilais_mommie]

Thank you everyone for the advice.
A wheelchair is not a opition b/c DH needs to push the stoller.
well will be calling a few more rental comp. to see about a weekly price.
If we are unable to afford a ECV, i think i will have to check to wait times on and go from there. We are going during one of the slowest times , so that is in my favor.

I think the Carrousel is a GREAT idea if the wait is to long for me or we are unable to get fastpass. This way DD will get to ride something with me.
Questions:
The Carrousel does it have a place to sit????? I sure my hip could not handle me trying to swing my leg over the horse.

I have looked up which rides have stairs that i would need to a differnt entrance. MK seems to have the most problems. altho we don't plan on riding anythng with stairs the 1st day.
What ride should we ride 1st we we go to MK. when I have a ECV?????

 

[SueM in MN]

I think the Carrousel is a GREAT idea if the wait is to long for me or we are unable to get fastpass. This way DD will get to ride something with me.
Questions:
The Carrousel does it have a place to sit????? I sure my hip could not handle me trying to swing my leg over the horse.

Yes
The Carrousel has one chariot car which can be entered without having to climb over anything. Talk to the greeter CM.