Water Launch at WL ?

[steffali]

Does anyone know if the water launch at the WL resort is wheelchair accessible? Also which park(s) does it take you too?

 

[Densgirl]

It has been a while since we stayed there but during Feb. of 2003 when we were there it did take DS's wheelchair each day. He has a manual chair. I know I have seen reports of the water being off and people being denied boarding the boat. Maybe someone else will verify.

There was a launch that took us to the MK, and one that traveled between the Contemporary, the WL and FW. I don't know if these boats are all still running though.

 

[SueM in MN]

It has been a while since we stayed there but during Feb. of 2003 when we were there it did take DS's wheelchair each day. He has a manual chair. I know I have seen reports of the water being off and people being denied boarding the boat. Maybe someone else will verify.

There was a launch that took us to the MK, and one that traveled between the Contemporary, the WL and FW. I don't know if these boats are all still running though.

The launches are the smaller boats and they are not wheelchair accessible (unless you can get out of the wheelchair, go down a few steps and have someone bring the folded wheelchair onto the launch). Those smaller boats are the ones that go between the MK and the monorail resorts (GF, Contemporary, Polynesian).
WL has larger boats (I don't think that they also hve the small boats - just the large ones). During peak times, the boats go back and forth between MK and WL. At non-peak times, the boats also include a stop at FW (During peak times, both resorts have their own boats to MK).
Those boats are large enough that wheelchairs can usually be pulled right onto them. But, when the water level is either too high or too low, the boat floats too high or low compared to the dock to allow wheelchairs to pull right on. The boat captains have some ways to deal with it (like loading the wheelchair users first of they need an empty boat to float high -or- loading the rest of the passengers first to make the boat float lower).
If they are not accessible, you can take a bus to MK.

 

[steffali]

Thanks for the replies, I think we are going to stick to our original plan of the POLY and take the monorail.

 

[GoofyGolferGirl]

We were at WL last year (July) and there were several people using wheelchairs, they were boarded first and then everyone else.

 

[vhoffman]

I stayed at WL and was quite frustrated with the transportation. I am disabled, walk with a cane, don't use a wheelchair. I was told I could take the launch to Contemporary, however, it involved a step down that I couldn't negoitate and it (the launch) was unsteady and rolled in the water. I think an able-bodied person would have a difficult time with it! I used the buses for transportation but found their schedule to be frustrating ,unpredictable and took a long time to get from point to point. We ended up taking taxis just to get around and not spend all day doing so!

When we stayed at the Polynesian and had access to the monorail it worked out so much better. That was our best trip, we weren't fighting the logistics of getting around. When you include what we paid for taxis while staying at the WL, the Poly was actually cheaper. IMO, the WL is just too frustrating transportation-wise for anyone with a mobility impairment.

 

[SueM in MN]

IMO, the WL is just too frustrating transportation-wise for anyone with a mobility impairment.

I would agree with you that one of the resorts on the monorail is probably a better choice than WL for anyone with mobility concerns.