What is the accessible seating like for La Nouba?

[pumpkinboy]

So DW is thinking we might like to see La Nouba this time. For some reason, I do not seem to be able to locate the H/C seating on the Cirque de Soleil website (and I looked on both the English and French parts of the site). I don't even find H/C purchasing options anywhere.

DS (now 10) is the member of the family in the wheelchair, and he does not see well long-distances (not that he processes visual images that well anyway). I am sure he'd like the show wherever he is, if only for the music and lights, but the rest of us might like to be able to see somthing of the show.

So if any of you have seen La Nouba from the accessible seating, I would be very appreciative if you could relate your experiences.

Thx!

 

[twinmum]

Hello! This info is a little dates - maybe someone else will post as well. We went to La Nouba in Nov 2006 w/our twin boys, who were then 8. They LOVED it! One of our sons has cerebral palsy and was in his wheelchair. Easy as pie - elevator up to theatre entrance, great seats. I believe there are w/c seats in each price category. We splurged and bought was was then known as "Front and Centre." Lots os people have said that seats are great in any category.

I've read other threads where people were also positive about the w/c seating. Don't know why it's not showing up on their site - I think it used to be there?

 

[Ms_Butterfly]

The last time I went to La Nouba (which was last year), we were sat in the accessible seating. (Not that we purchased tickets for such and not that any of us were in wheelchairs or at the time using an ECV [my friend left hers at our room because we drove to DTD so couldn't take it], though I did have my service dog. We got there late and the guy seated us there, perhaps because he knew at least one of us can't stand a long time.)

The h/c seating is behind the first section of seating in several areas. The one we were in (the one most off to the right side) I didn't like and wished we had been seated in the seats we purchased up in the second section (which is better than the front section, at least as far as craning your neck up is concerned). I'm not sure if they have h/c seating at the very top of the second section or not - you should ask, though I don't know how the view from way up there would be (like looking down on everything).

Anyway, the h/c sections have folding chairs in them that can be removed to fit a wheelchair and can be sat in by non-wheelchair members of the party. There are a bunch of seats in each h/c row (at least 20, I think, but I'm not good at estimating).

I think you have to call for h/c tickets instead of buying them online, as it is with many places.

Do make sure you know the policies - I'm going to be going to one of the travelling Cirque shows soon and noticed the policy was to only seat w/c guests at intermission (La Nouba doesn't have an intermission) while non-w/c guests will be seated at an appropriate break in the action (which is why we were taken past many folks waiting in the entranceway to the theatre when we arrived late but were seated right away by the elevator guy).

Do know that it is very loud, just in case anybody in your party is sound- or vibration-sensitive. But it is a great show and you'll enjoy it! Really, the only really stinky part about the h/c seats we had was that the tightrope walkers were way above us and exactly perpendicular to us, which isn't the best way to watch tightrope walkers. So, try getting seats in the center.

My two friends hadn't ever seen La Nouba before (and I have a memory problem, so almost all of it was "new" to me even though I'd seen it before, since I didn't remember it) and they really enjoyed it and didn't care that the seats weren't the greatest. (I did care that they weren't the ones I paid for, but life goes on.) [ETA: "They" meaning the tickets, not my friends, LOL!!!!]

 

[pumpkinboy]

Wow, great information! "A good view from wherever you are seated" is a big plus, IMO. On the site, they have a function where you can sample the view from any selected section of the theatre, which is cool.

It is awefully pricy, so we'll keep thinking about it and see what kind of discounts we can snag for it. Discounts seem to be few and getting fewer: I am an AP Holder and we are DVC members and AAA members, and it looks like all of these discounts have dried up (since June). I'll cros my fingers and keep looking though. And I guess to pre-reserve H/C seating, I'll just call them.

Thanks for your experiences/ opinions. I welcome any other input anyone else might have as well.

Thx!

 

[BETTYDISNEY]

Hello Pumpkinboy:

We went to LaNouba in 2002 and it was wonderful! I so recommend this show all will enjoy it We had seats front middle and what they had were regular chairs that you could move to make room for a wheelchair. So that is good if you need to get up during show, no stepping over people in a row.

How do you like all the thunderstorms lately!!! enough already You are in Newton I am in Natick.

Have a wonderful time!

 

[Hook's Girl]

There is wheelchair seating in all Four categories of the Theatre.

For Front and Center it is at the very top of that section (103). Great seats! Right in the center and not too close to the stage (you don't want to sit too close because so much of the show is in the air).

Category 1 seats are at the top of sections 102 and 104. Like the ones above, they are central and towards the top this section.

Category 2 seats are at the top of the theatre in the upper section. Don't be discouraged because these are great seats! There are only 19 rows in the entire theatre and many people, including the Cast Members who work there, prefer to watch the show from here. They are central as well.

Category 3 seats are on the very sides of 101 and 105. These are at the top of the sections, so again, very close without being at the top of the theatre. The drawback is that they are at the very edge of the theatre, but still with a full view.

There is a separate turnstile at the elevator where a Cast Member will scan your tickets in and then show you to your seats!

Hope that helps! There are no bad seats in the theatre!

 

[Ms_Butterfly]

Category 3 seats are on the very sides of 101 and 105.

Those are Cat. 3 seats? Those are the ones they took us to but we paid for Cat. 2 seats. I never looked at the seating chart after the show, so didn't realize this 'til now.

 

[LindaDVC]

FYI-- it took awhile to exit
the cleared the upper floor first then began to allow the lower level to use the elevator. Since quite a few w/c users were at the show it took awhile!

Linda

 

[aubriee]

There is wheelchair seating in all Four categories of the Theatre.

For Front and Center it is at the very top of that section (103). Great seats! Right in the center and not too close to the stage (you don't want to sit too close because so much of the show is in the air).

Category 1 seats are at the top of sections 102 and 104. Like the ones above, they are central and towards the top this section.

Category 2 seats are at the top of the theatre in the upper section. Don't be discouraged because these are great seats! There are only 19 rows in the entire theatre and many people, including the Cast Members who work there, prefer to watch the show from here. They are central as well.

Category 3 seats are on the very sides of 101 and 105. These are at the top of the sections, so again, very close without being at the top of the theatre. The drawback is that they are at the very edge of the theatre, but still with a full view.

There is a separate turnstile at the elevator where a Cast Member will scan your tickets in and then show you to your seats!

Hope that helps! There are no bad seats in the theatre!

You seem very familiar with the seating for La Nouba, so I'd like to ask you a question, if I may? I just bought tickets for the 9:00pm show for our Sept trip. I'm taking my mom there for her 75th birthday and wanted really good seats. I had heard the seats down low were not that good and because she has problems looking up, I wanted seats in the upper section, but low enough and central enough to be good seats. When I tried to book the upper level Category One seats on line, it kept offering seats in the lower section in section 105, which I didn't want. They show some Level One seats in the lower part of section 204. Anyway, I called the number on the web site and the first CM couldn't seem to get any different seats, so she transferred me directly to a CM at the La Nouba office in Orlando. We round up in section 204, row AA, seats 14, 15, 16. Are these good seats? Their supposed to be in the middle at the very bottom of the upper section and are the only three seats in that row. They are Level one, but in the upper level. The CM said it would be like having two aisle seats. My mom can walk, but may also have her ECV. The CM said that if she was going to be using her ECV that night, that she would have to put us in a different section. If my mom does have to use her ECV that night, is there a place downstairs somewhere to park it? She can walk some, just not really long distances.

 

[LindaDVC]

make sure you all ask about discounts!

we ordered the refundable tickets early and when we were there they were offering 25% off for DVC owners. We weren't eligible since had ordered ahead!

 

[aubriee]

make sure you all ask about discounts!

we ordered the refundable tickets early and when we were there they were offering 25% off for DVC owners. We weren't eligible since had ordered ahead!

When I ordered yesterday, I asked about any type of discounts(AP, choosing the late show, Seniors, etc) and was told that there were none at this time being offered, but they had had an AP discount for May-June. I was also told that ALL tickets were nonrefundable. How did you get refundable tickets?

 

[Hook's Girl]

You seem very familiar with the seating for La Nouba, so I'd like to ask you a question, if I may? I just bought tickets for the 9:00pm show for our Sept trip. I'm taking my mom there for her 75th birthday and wanted really good seats. I had heard the seats down low were not that good and because she has problems looking up, I wanted seats in the upper section, but low enough and central enough to be good seats. When I tried to book the upper level Category One seats on line, it kept offering seats in the lower section in section 105, which I didn't want. They show some Level One seats in the lower part of section 204. Anyway, I called the number on the web site and the first CM couldn't seem to get any different seats, so she transferred me directly to a CM at the La Nouba office in Orlando. We round up in section 204, row AA, seats 14, 15, 16. Are these good seats? Their supposed to be in the middle at the very bottom of the upper section and are the only three seats in that row. They are Level one, but in the upper level. The CM said it would be like having two aisle seats. My mom can walk, but may also have her ECV. The CM said that if she was going to be using her ECV that night, that she would have to put us in a different section. If my mom does have to use her ECV that night, is there a place downstairs somewhere to park it? She can walk some, just not really long distances.

Those are Fantastic seats. My personal opinion is that they are some of the best in the house. That is the very first row of seats in that section and up one step. So there is no way to store the ECV next to the seats. It is also out of the question to store it in front of the seats because some parts of the show occur on that walkway.

There is a possibility of storing it outside the theatre where the concessions are. Or parking it up another level where the top wheelchair seats are. I'm not sure if the theatre folks will go for this because it will be out of your sight and they won't want to be responsible if anything happens to it.

 

[Hook's Girl]

Those are Cat. 3 seats? Those are the ones they took us to but we paid for Cat. 2 seats. I never looked at the seating chart after the show, so didn't realize this 'til now.

Were you on a package or voucher?

 

[LindaDVC]

When I ordered yesterday, I asked about any type of discounts(AP, choosing the late show, Seniors, etc) and was told that there were none at this time being offered, but they had had an AP discount for May-June. I was also told that ALL tickets were nonrefundable. How did you get refundable tickets?

Sorry for the typo--
I meant the non refundable !!!!
however they were offering discounts when we were there!!

Sorry for the confusion
Linda

 

[Ms_Butterfly]

Were you on a package or voucher?

No, I just bought the tickets myself. (Bought the originals months in advance, missed that show, so got the next night's show tickets the night of the missed show [originally had bought two, but got a third for my Orlando friend to join us that next night, so it worked out better/more fun!]. The resort CM was kind enough to transfer the funds for the missed show tickets to the next night's tickets, since they had some [a little bit of] fault in our missing the show. I paid for the third ticket when getting the three new tickets, of course.)

 

[aubriee]

Those are Fantastic seats. My personal opinion is that they are some of the best in the house. That is the very first row of seats in that section and up one step. So there is no way to store the ECV next to the seats. It is also out of the question to store it in front of the seats because some parts of the show occur on that walkway.

There is a possibility of storing it outside the theatre where the concessions are. Or parking it up another level where the top wheelchair seats are. I'm not sure if the theatre folks will go for this because it will be out of your sight and they won't want to be responsible if anything happens to it.

Thanks, good to hear! I'm not sure what to do about her ECV. She can walk, just not really long distances. Does anyone know if the boats from PORS/POFQ stop off on the West Side? If they do, she can walk that far and we could just leave the ECV in the room.

 

[Ms_Butterfly]

My PassPorter book says: "Boats may shuttle between the Marketplace and West Side seasonally. Resort guests at Port Orleans, Old Key West, and Saratoga Springs can take a boat to the Marketplace, too."

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I would think she would be able to park the ECV inside the building but out of the lines of traffic. Then remove the key and go to her seat. This would keep it from being unattended in public as well as keeping it protected from the weather.

 

[pugdog]

They will let her drive her ECV to the steps, let her out and then bring the ECV to a storage area out of the way. They will then bring it back after the show.

 

[pumpkinboy]

We booked our Tix yesterday! I found some discounts on Category 2 seats. The best discount was from Maple Leaf Tickets at $78 for adults and $62 after-tax for kids, tho I actually bought ours thru TicketsatWork.com ($79.40 adult, $63.85 child) which my employer's HR department affiliated us with; the gate price would have been $86.27 per adult, $69.29 per child. I went with the slightly higher price for Cirque tickets bcs the WDW park tickets thru TicketsatWork were a much better deal than thru Maple Leaf. I bought our tix four weeks early bcs I heard a credible rumor that WDW park ticket prices were going up this coming weekend, as they have in each of the last two years.

After purchasing the discounted vouchers, I called the La Nouba reservations office to secure our seats for the night we want to go. We got the 6:00 show, which is better with kids, of course (bedtime is 8:30 after all), and nabbed category 2 wheelchair accessible seats at the top of section 203 on the inside aisle; Basically, we're in the center, at the back. Now we're all looking forward to it.

Thanks to all for your input and support!
PKB