Wheelchair Access to Castle Tour, LPR For No Good Reason and Other Questions

[EvangelineG]

We are less than a month before our trip and sooooooo excited! I am planning this trip for a family group of 10 –myself, DH and 2 pre teen DS’s (autism spectrum & severe allergies), my parents, 2 adult sisters + 1 BiL, and my youngest sister who although technically an adult (18yo) has William’s Syndrome/autism and is at more of a 7-10yo level, and has some mobility challenges (will be in a manual wheelchair that we’re renting offsite).

I’ve been reading these boards pretty religiously for the last 6 months, and feel like I have a pretty good handle on most of our plans. We’ll be hitting Universal on Tues. November 29th and Wed. the 30th, with 2 park tickets. We decided to book rooms at RPR for the night of the 29th even though we don’t need the accommodation since we are renting a villa in Sunset Lakes for the length of our stay. Reasoning was -we had too many people with too many different plans to cancel a night or two at the villa and tack our Universal time onto either end of our trip. After doing my research I really felt that the Express pass was the best way to accommodate my sons’ needs, and by the time we added up the 2 days express pass cost, everyone in the group was happy to pay a bit more to rent the hotel rooms and have early entrance into WWoHP. We are all crazy about Harry Potter!

So questions:
1. How early should we be at RPR on the 29th in order to park, pre-check in at the hotel to get rooms keys, and make it over for early entrance?

2. That night some of us are planning to stay in the hotel rooms, and some aren’t. My sons will benefit from the continuity of sleeping in the same place every night, so we’ll take them back to the villa for sure. When we return on the morning of the 30th, should we park in the hotel lot or the theme park lot? I believe we pay for parking either way?

3. After doing the pre check in in the morning before early entry are we good to go, or does the person whose name the booking is under still have to be there to actually check in? For example one of the rooms is booked for 5 people (DH, myself, 2 DS’s & 1 of my sisters), under my DH’s name. My sister is likely going to be the one staying there that night, with DH and I back at the villa with DS’s. Is she going to have a problem since she’s not the lead name on the booking?

I also have some concerns about my youngest sister (special needs) and FJ. She will not be able to ride.

4. Can we use rider swap for a special needs adult? Our plan is to go together through the regular line first (after we do Ollivanders, of course!).

5. After the regular line, I’d like to take her slowly through the castle tour. Am I correct in thinking there are stairs and it is not WC accessible?

6. If so, would we be able to a.) Fold the wheelchair and carry it up any stairs, while letting her ride it on the parts in between (she can walk, just has low stamina and can’t be on her feet all day). Or b.) park the wheelchair and walk, retrieving the WC after?

7. Similar question for the shops. I have read that they are extremely tight with a WC. Are there places where we could park the WC and have her walk into the stores? Like stroller parking areas?

Thanks for your help. I know that's a lot of questions! We're a pretty complicated bunch of muggles, and I need to do my homework!

 

[damo]

We are less than a month before our trip and sooooooo excited! I am planning this trip for a family group of 10 –myself, DH and 2 pre teen DS’s (autism spectrum & severe allergies), my parents, 2 adult sisters + 1 BiL, and my youngest sister who although technically an adult (18yo) has William’s Syndrome/autism and is at more of a 7-10yo level, and has some mobility challenges (will be in a manual wheelchair that we’re renting offsite).

I’ve been reading these boards pretty religiously for the last 6 months, and feel like I have a pretty good handle on most of our plans. We’ll be hitting Universal on Tues. November 29th and Wed. the 30th, with 2 park tickets. We decided to book rooms at LRP for the night of the 29th even though we don’t need the accommodation since we are renting a villa in Sunset Lakes for the length of our stay. Reasoning was -we had too many people with too many different plans to cancel a night or two at the villa and tack our Universal time onto either end of our trip. After doing my research I really felt that the Express pass was the best way to accommodate my sons’ needs, and by the time we added up the 2 days express pass cost, everyone in the group was happy to pay a bit more to rent the hotel rooms and have early entrance into WWoHP. We are all crazy about Harry Potter!

So questions:
1. How early should we be at LPR on the 29th in order to park, pre-check in at the hotel to get rooms keys, and make it over for early entrance?

2. That night some of us are planning to stay in the hotel rooms, and some aren’t. My sons will benefit from the continuity of sleeping in the same place every night, so we’ll take them back to the villa for sure. When we return on the morning of the 30th, should we park in the hotel lot or the theme park lot? I believe we pay for parking either way?

3. After doing the pre check in in the morning before early entry are we good to go, or does the person whose name the booking is under still have to be there to actually check in? For example one of the rooms is booked for 5 people (DH, myself, 2 DS’s & 1 of my sisters), under my DH’s name. My sister is likely going to be the one staying there that night, with DH and I back at the villa with DS’s. Is she going to have a problem since she’s not the lead name on the booking?

I also have some concerns about my youngest sister (special needs) and FJ. She will not be able to ride.

4. Can we use rider swap for a special needs adult? Our plan is to go together through the regular line first (after we do Ollivanders, of course!).

5. After the regular line, I’d like to take her slowly through the castle tour. Am I correct in thinking there are stairs and it is not WC accessible?

6. If so, would we be able to a.) Fold the wheelchair and carry it up any stairs, while letting her ride it on the parts in between (she can walk, just has low stamina and can’t be on her feet all day). Or b.) park the wheelchair and walk, retrieving the WC after?

7. Similar question for the shops. I have read that they are extremely tight with a WC. Are there places where we could park the WC and have her walk into the stores? Like stroller parking areas?

Thanks for your help. I know that's a lot of questions! We're a pretty complicated bunch of muggles, and I need to do my homework!

1. I'd try to be at the hotel (we shorten the name here as RPR) by 7 am

2. Unless you have an annual pass, you are going to have to pay to park. Probably easier parking at the hotel though, if you have to connect with the people who are staying there.

3. The person who actually has their name on the reservation needs to be the one to check in. Hopefully your room will be ready. If it isn't, I don't think there will be an issue. I would just inform them at check-in which one of you will actually be picking up the real keys.

4. Yes, you should be able to use the rider swap for a special needs person.

5. There are stairs, but I believe there is an elevator as well. I may be wrong on that.

During early entry, you should be able to manipulate the wheelchair through the stores.

 

[BrinkofSunshine]

There is an elevator for the castle tour, the attendant who will let you in that line will tell you where it is and what floor to go to And you can also do rider swap when you go through the first time.

 

[EvangelineG]

Thank you for the information!

Great to know about the elevator! I was thinking it was odd that it wouldn't be WC accessible, but kept reading about stairs. Will she miss anything cool by taking the elevator? She wants to see EVERYTHING.

 

[BrinkofSunshine]

Thank you for the information!

Great to know about the elevator! I was thinking it was odd that it wouldn't be WC accessible, but kept reading about stairs. Will she miss anything cool by taking the elevator? She wants to see EVERYTHING.

Not at all! The elevator (if you get off on floor 2R), will take you right to the top of the stairs and you'll have a great view of the portrait hall

Also, do you know about Universal's Guest Assistant Pass? It works as an express pass for every ride if the wait time is 30 minutes or less, and as a return ticket if 45+ minutes. This can be used on any ride, including Forbidden Journey.

 

[EvangelineG]

Yay, that's great! Elevator it is.

I do know about the GAP. I figure with early entry and express pass, that we aren't likely to need it. I guess if we come back to go on FJ with my sons in the evening it could be useful?

As a side note, I just heard back from Universal (Chef Bob) and despite my sons' lengthy lists of allergies, they can have butterbeer! And Three Broomsticks should be able to accommodate us for lunch. I am finding Universal's guest services to be excellent when responding to a couple of allergy/disability related questions that I've had ahead of time. I think this is a great sign for our trip!

 

[macraven]

i have used a manual w/c in the lines and did not have any issues with it.