Wheelchair and ride ques

[otg]

I have a few questions about ride procedures at a couple of rides in a wheelchair. At big thunder i know they have a wheelchair entrance. Do we get a return time or just go to the exit? Also what is the procedure at jungle cruise and mickey runaway railway?

 

[SueM in MN]

I have a few questions about ride procedures at a couple of rides in a wheelchair. At big thunder i know they have a wheelchair entrance. Do we get a return time or just go to the exit? Also what is the procedure at jungle cruise and mickey runaway railway?

Big Thunder - Get a Return Time. When you come back, you will be boarding at the exit

Jungle Cruise - Get a Return Time. See a CM near the regular entrance/Lightning Lane entrance. When you return to ride, go to the same place and let a CM know you have a Return Time. You have the choice there to ride the accessible boat or to transfer.

Mickey Runaway Railroad - both the Standby and Lightning Lane are wheelchair accessible. When you get close to the boarding area, your group will be directed to a dedicated accessible load area. You can bring the wheelchair as close as you need to the ride vehicle, then transfer and the CM will move the wheelchair away for you.
We found it challenging to transfer our daughter due to the narrow door opening and needing to get over a lip to get into the ride vehicle

 

[otg]

Thank you so much. Is there any other ride you can think of that needs a return time?

 

[SueM in MN]

Thank you so much. Is there any other ride you can think of that needs a return time?

Small World - sometimes if it's got a long wait or if the accessible waiting area is full. See a CM near the exit.

Some people have reported getting a Return Time for Star Tours. We have not though.
I have noticed sometimes it has a 5-10 minute posted wait time. It's possible if you go when the posted wait is longer, they may give a Return Time.

Spaceship Earth doesn't give Return Times exactly - they have a large seating area inside the building at the exit. A CM usually registers people there with a clipboard and they load a group with disabilities together.

 

[CanucksRock]

Space Mountain. They will give a return time.

 

[SueM in MN]

Space Mountain. They will give a return time.

Thanks.
That's one my daughter can't go on

 

[CanucksRock]

Thanks.
That's one my daughter can't go on

You need someone with strong arms to do this ride too! Before my mom had double knee replacement she had to use a scooter in the parks and wheelchair there because it’s such a long entrance/exit. I could not push her up those hills for the exit, thankfully had my cousin who was able to push her out.

 

[sunburnin]

Thank you so much. Is there any other ride you can think of that needs a return time?

Living with the land may give a return time if it's busy, but it's usually not. They send wheelchairs down the LL queue, and you will have the option to transfer on a boat as soon as possible or wait for a boat you can roll onto.

FYI, I really like the boarding for M&M Railroad and Ratatouille where the cars are loaded in a separate area. It makes life so much easier. In Disneyland, they have that setup on Radiator Springs (similar to test track) and it is 1000x better than loading for test track.

 

[SueM in MN]

Living with the land may give a return time if it's busy, but it's usually not. They send wheelchairs down the LL queue, and you will have the option to transfer on a boat as soon as possible or wait for a boat you can roll onto.

FYI, I really like the boarding for M&M Railroad and Ratatouille where the cars are loaded in a separate area. It makes life so much easier. In Disneyland, they have that setup on Radiator Springs (similar to test track) and it is 1000x better than loading for test track.

True.
In all our years of going to WDW, we've only gotten a return time for Living With the Land once - and we ride it at least once every trip. Posted wait times are usually less than 15 minutes

 

[SueM in MN]

All shows have wheelchair spots.

All queues are wheelchair accessible accessible to the point of boarding; most thru the regular line. The exemptions were mentioned in other posts for Return Times.

Guests must be ambulatory for PeopleMover (Tomorrowland Transit Authority), Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse, Peter Pan, Tom Sawyer's Island - the boat to get there is, but the island is not.

This is a quick list of rides with wheelchair accessible vehicles. My daughter has ridden in all of them. As long as the wheelchair is not oversized, it should fit. This includes power wheelchairs. Standard ride attraction wheelchair size = 30 inches wide by 48 inches long.

Magic Kingdom:

- Walt Disney World Railroad
- Magic Carpets of Aladdin
- Jungle Cruise
- Liberty Square Riverboat
- Prince Charming Regal Carrousel
- it’s a Small World
- Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
- Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin

EPCOT:

- Living With the Land
- Journey into Imagination with Figment
- The Seas with Nemo and Friends
- Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros (Mexico ride)
- Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure (requires tie down)

Hollywood Studio:

- Toy Story Mania (requires tie down)


Animal Kingdom:

- Kilimanjaro Safari (requires tie down)
- train to Rafiki’s Planet Watch
- Triceratops Spin (dinosaur themed similar to Dumbo)

 

[jo-jo]

Big Thunder - Get a Return Time. When you come back, you will be boarding at the exit

Jungle Cruise - Get a Return Time. See a CM near the regular entrance/Lightning Lane entrance. When you return to ride, go to the same place and let a CM know you have a Return Time. You have the choice there to ride the accessible boat or to transfer.

Mickey Runaway Railroad - both the Standby and Lightning Lane are wheelchair accessible. When you get close to the boarding area, your group will be directed to a dedicated accessible load area. You can bring the wheelchair as close as you need to the ride vehicle, then transfer and the CM will move the wheelchair away for you.
We found it challenging to transfer our daughter due to the narrow door opening and needing to get over a lip to get into the ride vehicle

Would the procedure for boarding JC with a scooter/wheelchair be the same if you don't have DAS?

 

[Evita_W]

Small World - sometimes if it's got a long wait or if the accessible waiting area is full. See a CM near the exit.

Some people have reported getting a Return Time for Star Tours. We have not though.
I have noticed sometimes it has a 5-10 minute posted wait time. It's possible if you go when the posted wait is longer, they may give a Return Time.

Spaceship Earth doesn't give Return Times exactly - they have a large seating area inside the building at the exit. A CM usually registers people there with a clipboard and they load a group with disabilities together.

Spaceship Earth will sometimes give return times if there are a lot of people waiting for the alternate entrance, it has happened to us before. But it is a more unique return time, we were still able to get another DAS return time at the same time and the return time wasn’t based on the standby wait time, but based on how long it was going to take them to get through the people waiting for the alternate entrance. Under the new DAS rules and all, I cannot say if that is how it would be handled now, but just a heads up that it can happen.

 

[SueM in MN]

Would the procedure for boarding JC with a scooter/wheelchair be the same if you don't have DAS?

Jungle Cruise gives an location return time for guests with scooters/wheelchairs because their regular queue is not accessible.

Location/wheelchair return times for attractions with separate accessible entrance is not new and is not part of DAS.
Someone who doesn't have DAS would be given a location return time roughly equal to the currently posted wait in the Standby Line.
Guest with DAS who have a DAS Return Time for that attraction would get a location return time of 'now' if they come after the DAS Return Time has begun.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Would the procedure for boarding JC with a scooter/wheelchair be the same if you don't have DAS?

Jungle Cruise is one of my favorite rides in MK, and I've ridden it many times in an ECV. And I've had many different procedures. It always starts with me approaching the CMs at the queue and announcing myself. Sometimes they send me through the regular line, sometimes through the lightening lane, sometimes through a separate queue by the exit that's for a wheelchair accessible boat. Although I have noticed that when they do the latter, there's always been a guest who's actually in a wheelchair going on the cruise also. So start with letting the CMs know you're there, and then they'll tell you what to do.

 

[jo-jo]

When we first needed a wheelchair/scooter, we skipped the ride for a few trips. Only when we had gotten DAS, did we try it the last couple of trips. I didn't know if it mattered.

Thank you.

 

[OurLaughingPlace]

We are bringing my dad and he will be using a wheelchair for the first time. If he can transfer on his own, where do we leave the wheelchair when we board rides? Are they usually just collected after the ride at the same place you get on the ride? Or will CM's move the chair to somewhere else? I am sure that it varies, but I am just looking for an idea to be prepared. TIA

 

[SueM in MN]

We are bringing my dad and he will be using a wheelchair for the first time. If he can transfer on his own, where do we leave the wheelchair when we board rides? Are they usually just collected after the ride at the same place you get on the ride? Or will CM's move the chair to somewhere else? I am sure that it varies, but I am just looking for an idea to be prepared. TIA

Where the wheelchair will be depends on the ride. For some, loading and unloading will be at the same place and the wheelchair will be at or close to where you left it.
For some, the loading and unload areas are in different places. For those, the CM will move it from where you boarded to the exit

 

[OurLaughingPlace]

Where the wheelchair will be depends on the ride. For some, loading and unloading will be at the same place and the wheelchair will be at or close to where you left it.
For some, the loading and unload areas are in different places. For those, the CM will move it from where you boarded to the exit

Thank you @SueM in MN ! You have been a wealth of information for me for this trip. I really appreciate your replies.

 

[otg]

Has anything changed with the wheelchair return times on the rides mentioned since the das policy changed? My trips not until November but just wondering if the prior procedures are still the same.

 

[SueM in MN]

Has anything changed with the wheelchair return times on the rides mentioned since the das policy changed? My trips not until November but just wondering if the prior procedures are still the same.

I don't see any reasons why those would change.

Return Times for guests using mobility devices were not part of DAS. The attractions gave wheeelchair Return Times for had lines that were not wheelchair accessible, so there would be no other way to handle them.
The Return Times for those were/are based on the currently posted wait in the Standby Line, so there is no reason to make it different