Visual Disability question

[halvah3]

Hi all,
We will be going to WDW for the first time with our children this fall. My daughter (6 years old) is visually impaired and although she has glasses, her vision can not be improved much since it is neurological.
I am anticipating needing close seating for shows for her, but nothing for waiting in lines.
My questions are:
What shows need us to sit close?
How do I arrange for this for her?
Anything else she may need to be close for besides for shows?

Thanks in advance!!

 

[lanejudy]

This link is to the WDW site for Guests with Visual Disabilities. You can rent/borrow (I believe it's a fully-refundable deposit) an audio device that can be used at some attractions.

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/visual-disability-services/

If she needs close seating at shows, you'll need to speak with the CM when you first enter the queue, and each CM after, to make sure you are directed appropriately for that seating. Keep in mind that close/front row seating may not be the best seating (might not see the full stage area easily), but you'll have to decide what works "best" for her specific needs.

You might also check the disABILITIES FAQ sticky near the top of this forum to see if there is anything there -- some attractions have bright flashes and such.

Enjoy your vacation!

 

[halvah3]

Thanks! I emailed WDWs disability dept too to see what shows to seek out seating for. Disappointed that I will have to speak several times about her disability. What is a CM? Thanks for the tip on the center not always being the best spot. I can ask each time then. Thanks for the info!!

 

[aaarcher86]

CM = cast member

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Thanks! I emailed WDWs disability dept too to see what shows to seek out seating for. Disappointed that I will have to speak several times about her disability. What is a CM? Thanks for the tip on the center not always being the best spot. I can ask each time then. Thanks for the info!!

Not such a big deal; a few seconds to ask if you can sit near the front due to your daughter's vision problem. Most of the time, you probably won't need to ask, just take seats in the front.

 

[ttintagel]

This is the thing I'm most nervous about - in the old days, most CM's wouldn't let me sit where I needed to when asked until I showed them the GAC card with the vision stamp on it. Now that they don't have that card anymore and they're not obligated to seat me where I need unless they feel like it, I don't have a lot of confidence. Please update us when you get back and let us know how it goes!

 

[Cobern]

Totally understand my mom is in the same situation. We all went to disney in January and I had her get the new GAC. Go to guest services and request one for her. We were only able to see a few shows just due to time constraints. At animal kingdom she saw tough to be a bug and sat in the second row I believe and they enjoyed it. We all saw the little mermaid show at Hollywood studios and sat in hype the very first row. Honestly we needed to be a row or 2 back but my mom said she could actually see some of the things on stage so we just dealt with the super closeness for her.

The GAC is easy to use. Just go up to the fp+ entrance of the shows and show them the card and say you need seating near the front. We had NO issues except for a few cast members being a little confused at first but it only took a few minutes to figure out.

Let me know if you need any more help

 

[JillyBean1899]

Hi all,
We will be going to WDW for the first time with our children this fall. My daughter (6 years old) is visually impaired and although she has glasses, her vision can not be improved much since it is neurological.
I am anticipating needing close seating for shows for her, but nothing for waiting in lines.
My questions are:
What shows need us to sit close?
How do I arrange for this for her?
Anything else she may need to be close for besides for shows?

Thanks in advance!!

We sat close for the Finding Nemo Musical at Animal Kingdom, and regretted it. Both of the people with us that have visual limitations didn't really see much more than they would have if we'd been in the front of the "upper" section of seats, and we had to keep craning our necks to see stuff on the top level of the stage. So up front is not necessarily always better.

We sat at the back of the theater for Fantasmic, mainly so they wouldn't have to go down stairs, but also because I knew there was so much stuff spread out across the stage that we would be like cats watching ping pong if we were in the front row. Everything there was "big" enough that they knew what was going on, and if they didn't recognize the music for something, they just asked me what it was.

 

[gilesmt]

Hi, I just got back from 13 days at the end of march. I am legally blind. Here is my suggestion. If your dd qualifies for a white cane and does not have one, get it before you go even if all she does is hold it. If I walked up with my family with my cane out, all that we said was we needed front row seating and we got it, fast easy and no questions asked. If I walked up, holding the elbow of someone, we got 50 questions, what is your need, why do you need it, ect...just like people who never need a w/c at home but use one at Disney, that is the same for people with vision now, if you show a disability cane, or guide dog, no questions, if not lots of questions.

The shows that I asked for front row, Nemo, Lion King when playing, fantasmic, Indiana, the cars stunt show, beuty and the beast, and all the 3d shows, like its a bugs life, muppets, ect... I disagree with the person who says Nemo is not good if sitting up front but each person has a different way of seeing so you have to decide.

My experience with rides, unless she really needs to be in the front row, don't bother to ask, you have to explain it to the first person, who will tell you to tell them at the line split, who will tell you you can have it, but when you get to the front you have to explain it again to another cast member, who calls over another cast member, and after all that sometimes you will get front row, but most of the time you will get second or third row and it was just to much explaning over and over again. Not worth it to me, but I don't see much better from the third row or the seventh row so why go thru all that explaining. Just my experience.

 

[gilesmt]

Forgot! not sure about a six year old, but I highly recommend the discribtive device to anyone to use at least just once. It gives my family a break from discribing things to me, and it really is great I think, others disagree, I think even autistic kids would be able to get a lot of use from it. It blocks out the background noise, it discribed what is happening on stage like at fantasmic and illuminations, and rides if you want. I usually use it one day and then not the next and I get two different experiences. They take a credit card deposit of $25, although it has never shown up on my credit cards, and then when you return it they say they cancel the deposit but I have never had them charge me so I don't understand, it is mainly so they get the device back.

Also, the nice thing about it is you have to be at specific places for it to work, so you almost always get front row just by asking the CM where to stand with the device. So in order to get the signal for the device to work you almost always get the best seat in the house, with your family of course. Try it, I have used it many times and love it and can not see why people say it does not work great, I have never had a problem with the device, CM not knowing yes, but the device no it has always worked.

 

[buffettgirl]

Totally understand my mom is in the same situation. We all went to disney in January and I had her get the new GAC. Go to guest services and request one for her. We were only able to see a few shows just due to time constraints. At animal kingdom she saw tough to be a bug and sat in the second row I believe and they enjoyed it. We all saw the little mermaid show at Hollywood studios and sat in hype the very first row. Honestly we needed to be a row or 2 back but my mom said she could actually see some of the things on stage so we just dealt with the super closeness for her.

The GAC is easy to use. Just go up to the fp+ entrance of the shows and show them the card and say you need seating near the front. We had NO issues except for a few cast members being a little confused at first but it only took a few minutes to figure out.

Let me know if you need any more help

As far as I know, this is no longer accurate information.

The DAS is the new disability program and only covers accommodations for waiting in lines. That's the only thing the card does. IT gives the guest a return time for a ride. If a guest needs other accommodations, like visual ones, they are meant to speak directly with the cast member at each ride.

 

[buffettgirl]

Hi all,
We will be going to WDW for the first time with our children this fall. My daughter (6 years old) is visually impaired and although she has glasses, her vision can not be improved much since it is neurological.
I am anticipating needing close seating for shows for her, but nothing for waiting in lines.
My questions are:
What shows need us to sit close?
How do I arrange for this for her?
Anything else she may need to be close for besides for shows?

Thanks in advance!!

We're in a similar boat with my 13 year old. He wears glasses to correct the regular, normal refraction issues, but most of his vision loss is optic nerve related, so that can't be fixed. So I think his best vision with glasses right now is at 20/70 or so. We're going to WDW next month for a short visit, and I'm going to be interested in how it works if we ask for up close seating. It may be a non issue, he's not big into shows and we may not have much time, but if we do, I'll be sure to report back.

 

[halvah3]

Thanks for all the feedback! Please let me know your experience, Buffetgirl. My DD seems fine to the average person, but she can't see well. She doesn't need a cane, since she has 20/50 and 20/60- low vision, not legally impaired or blind ,but things are not clear. She just can't see much detail - ex, can't differentiate who I am or another person with the same hair color.
We won't be asking for assistance like not waiting on lines, since she is not in need of that- I don't want to abuse the program . Also, she doesn't need the Braille books since she can read she things are close to her face, and being only 6 she relies m on us to explain things anyways, like all other kids

 

[Cobern]

As far as I know, this is no longer accurate information. The DAS is the new disability program and only covers accommodations for waiting in lines. That's the only thing the card does. IT gives the guest a return time for a ride. If a guest needs other accommodations, like visual ones, they are meant to speak directly with the cast member at each ride.

Sorry I called it by the wrong name, we never used the system before January. It was the das and that is how we used it in January 2014

 

[buffettgirl]

Thanks for all the feedback! Please let me know your experience, Buffetgirl. My DD seems fine to the average person, but she can't see well. She doesn't need a cane, since she has 20/50 and 20/60- low vision, not legally impaired or blind ,but things are not clear. She just can't see much detail - ex, can't differentiate who I am or another person with the same hair color.
We won't be asking for assistance like not waiting on lines, since she is not in need of that- I don't want to abuse the program . Also, she doesn't need the Braille books since she can read she things are close to her face, and being only 6 she relies m on us to explain things anyways, like all other kids

Completely get it. My son is older, but that's exactly where we're at. There would be no need for a DAS for us. The only real issue is just not being able to see well. He also has a loss of color vision so he can't really differentiate things easily - like on the safari, when the animals are nicely camouflaged, forget that. He can't see them at all. There's nothing really that can be helped.

One thing that I do find with lines though, is the darkness in some of the queue lines. Not sure if this is the same with your daughter, but low light just exacerbates the low vision. We've found just using a flashlight app or a mini flashlight is enough for him to feel safe. And then sometimes we just let people go in front of us, because he can get slow as he's trying to find his footing. It's not enough that we need to avoid the lines, yet.

One thing I do know - at 6 your daughter will still probably want to hold hands most of the day, and that will help. But I used to just remind my son that I could see him better than he could see me, so often I'd notice he'd get a few feet ahead and then turn to try to find me but couldn't. So he would get panicked. You'll have to just come up with some system that works for you guys - it's crowded, she's short, she can't find you. Just thinking about a plan now is the best thing to do. Like; "if you think you're lost, just stay where you are. Do not move from your spot. Do not wander around. I can find you easier than you can find me."

 

[ttintagel]

The thing that gets me is unexpected steps, uneven floors, or turns in dark queues, or sudden changes in lighting levels. And it's always a roll of the dice whether the CM's will be accommodating and let you use an alternate entrance if there is one (like in The Seas with Nemo or The Great Movie Ride).

 

[smidgy]

Forgot! not sure about a six year old, but I highly recommend the discribtive device to anyone to use at least just once. It gives my family a break from discribing things to me, and it really is great I think, others disagree, I think even autistic kids would be able to get a lot of use from it. It blocks out the background noise, it discribed what is happening on stage like at fantasmic and illuminations, and rides if you want. I usually use it one day and then not the next and I get two different experiences. They take a credit card deposit of $25, although it has never shown up on my credit cards, and then when you return it they say they cancel the deposit but I have never had them charge me so I don't understand, it is mainly so they get the device back.

Also, the nice thing about it is you have to be at specific places for it to work, so you almost always get front row just by asking the CM where to stand with the device. So in order to get the signal for the device to work you almost always get the best seat in the house, with your family of course. Try it, I have used it many times and love it and can not see why people say it does not work great, I have never had a problem with the device, CM not knowing yes, but the device no it has always worked.

since my hubby is also hearing impaired, he often uses headphones at home while watching tv. (he can't use earbuds, as he has his hearing aids in his ears)

so, are the listening devices ear buds? or are they like regular headphones, that he can wear over his ears (and his hearing aids).

and, for shows like nemo, sould he still hear the speaking and the songs and the music? he loves the music!

thanks SO MUCH!!!

 

[gilesmt]

Sorry don't come on to much. Anyway, the ones I use have earplugs, I don't know if they have it both ways, I would think if you bring your own and the plug in is the same you could use any earplugs or ear phones you want. I know several years back the earplugs they gave had one side not working, I just plugged my own in and ever sence for sanitary reasons I have been using my own, I just unplug there's and plug in mine, just remember to switch back when done. Hope I answered your question, Sue may be able to chime in with more specific.

 

[daisy37]

While my daughter, Sammi (24) has very limited vision, she is legally blind and uses a white cane. In the past, we did get a GAC card because she had trouble on Splash Mountain. The steps are uneven and it is very dark so using the alternate entrance really helped. We also liked to sit close at Beauty and the Beast. I agree about the front row.-not a good idea at Voyage of Little Mermaid since you can't see all of it.

Our last trip was in January and we did not try to get a disability card. I don't know if we would have had an issue at Splash Mountain because it was closed. She cannot see anything on the Safari ride but goes on it because she knows I enjoy it.

Upon seeing her cane, some CMS were more helpful than others. I cannot remember if I shared this story so please forgive me if I am repeating myself.
We were also traveling with my younger daughter (10) who wanted to see Rapunzel. After younger daughter got Rapunzel's autograph and pictures, Rapunzel came over to Sammi who was standing with me. While she is 24, she looks very young-probable mid teens. Rapunzel saw Sammi's cane and said she wanted to tell Sammi all about her hair. She put her hands over Sammi's and touched various parts of her hair explaining about the braids and how long her hair was. I found it to be very touching.

 

[halvah3]

Daisy37- that is very touching.
Thanks for sharing!!