Wheelchair Issue at The Great Movie Ride

[BCVOwner2002]

I haven't posted before to this board. DH won a DCL and we went with three others from 10/5-10/9 and spent 10/9-10/11 at WDW. Unfortunately, I had back surgery in June and have developed several issues since the surgery and was bound to a wheelchair this trip. DH pushed me around everywhere we went. Everyone on the cruise was excellent! Although I wasn't able to do a lot on the cruise, it was relaxing but I tired easily and missed many events.

Then we went to WDW and headed to Hollywood Studios. The first ride I could go on was The Great Movie Ride. The CM directed us to the handicapped line and were next in line for the ride. The CM asked if I could transfer to the car and I could as long as I had my cushion and cane so she told us to go in row 3 because there were 5 of us and the CM put my wheelchair in the first row where there were 3 people sitting.

When the ride operator got in the car the people in the front row immediately complained about my wheelchair and wanted it moved! They told the CM to put it where she drove the car. She explained there is extra space in the front row for wheelchairs and one of the women (the mother) continued to complain. The CM offered them to wait for another car but they refused and continued to complain about the chair. At this point the ride started and the CM began playing her role but the people in the front row continued to be distracting by kicking and moving my chair throughout the ride.

Needless to say, I could not enjoy the ride and by the end, I was quite upset. When the ride was over, the father pushed my chair even though it wasn't in his way. DH was furious, went to the first row and told them to leave the @#$%^&* wheelchair alone! Then he exchanging words with the father. I was using my cane trying to get to my chair and being assisted by other members of my group when the daughter approached and said that she had back and cervical surgeries but never needed to be in a wheelchair. I stated that I was glad and hoped that neither she nor anyone else in her family ever need to be in one because it's not easy!

Meanwhile, the mother called 911 and said that I had threatened her and her family. Of course Disney Security was at the scene in no time at all and before I knew it there was a crowd. The father and DH apologized for exchanging words and said let's just go our own way and enjoy the day. Well, the wife and daughter would not leave TGMR but Security finally got them to step out into the exit area. Then they called for more Security outside to get our stories. After speaking with them and speaking with DH and I, Disney Security said they didn't think there was an issue but since the woman called 911 we had to wait for the local police.

While we were waiting the mother kept complaining and stating that we should be arrested! When the officers showed up, they spoke with each of us. Then the female officer came over and stated the stories were different and I suggested she speak with the ride operator because she was a witness to the whole thing. So now we had to wait for them to call the CM to find out her story. We told the others in our group to go on another ride and we would meet up with them. As it turned out, her story and DH/mine were very similar so the police said we could leave. They asked if we could continue to be in the park with them and not have any more issues. At this point I broke down and started crying. This entire event was so stressful! There was a crowd gathering and every time people got out of TGMR they stared at us. I said I just wanted this whole thing to be over with but in the meantime, the mother kept complaining, asking for badge numbers and names.

We moved on to meet up with the rest our group but they were at One Man's Dream and I was still upset and waited outside so that we could leave the park. As we headed toward the exit we saw the police officers at the gate with Disney Security. I was still quite upset but just happy to be leaving the park!

The next day, while on a Disney bus we were telling our story to the driver and he said that I should've pressed charges against the family because the wheelchair is an extension of me and whatever they did to the chair they did to me and that is considered assault! I wasn't aware of this but just wanted to enjoy our vacation.

I am hopeful that my situation of being in a wheelchair will be a temporary one but that none of you or your loved ones ever have to experience an ordeal such as this.

Annmarie

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

Wow, they sound like some winners right there.

I'm sorry you had such a horrible experience. If it makes you feel any better about needing a wheelchair, it seems that such experiences are not the norm. I used one for a day at DAK when my achilles tendon was injured, and a friend of mine used one for a whole week. We never had any problems with the other guests. As a CM, I cannot think of one time that I have seen a guest be rude to another guest over a wheelchair.

Please don't let this make you afraid to use a wheelchair in the parks if you need it- in my experience these situations really are very rare. I hope karma comes and bites them a big one.

 

[Judy Judy Judy]

Wow those people sound just delightful to be around, just thank God you don't ever have to see those horrible people again.

Your a better person than me, you kick my wheelchair and you will pull back a numb!

 

[sjaakie]

First of all I send you a big

Reading this makes me really scared. After my chemo I have problems with my legs and feet.
I can walk but not for hours so it was best to rent a wheelchair ore an EVC but I read more and more threads here that people get mobbed using them.

And please may I ask you a question?
Was there no chance you could make a little movie from them with your cell phone ore photo camera ?
I know from my own experience that if people know there are filmed the calm down very very quickly.

 

[mechurchlady]

They commited assualt and battery upon you. If it was me I would have loudly told them to leave my chair alone. I have SID so I tend to be very melodramatic and tend to over react to things. Be assured that I would have been asking to have the ride stopped until I was safe and secure.

HISSY FIT

I would have also demanded a park manager out there. I would then turn around and ask for the people who assaulted me to be arrested. Remember that if you do not stand up to bullies then they will keep bullying until they hurt someone or kill someone. Bullies must be educated and if that does not work then have themselves restricted.

Hugs and chocolates and I hope someday you can go back and have a better trip.

I hope you do let Disney know what happened. The law had to do what they did because they could not know who was telling the truth as bullies bully then they are so innocent, hrmph.

 

[WheeledTraveler]

That's a really horrible experience and *not* the norm. I'm really sorry you had to go through it.

I do want to point out, though, that if you were not in the wheelchair at the time, there's a weak assault and battery case, although if there was any damage to the wheelchair, there might be one for that. For anything done once you were back in the chair, there's much more likely for there to be an assault case.

 

[ireland_nicole]

I'm so sorry about what happened to you; obviously the mom of this family needed her meds adjusted, but it's horrible you got caught in the middle. For your own sanity though, try to put it out of your mind if you can. You had a lot of wonderful experiences, please don't let them be tarnished because of one horrible individual. If you can, maybe make a photobook or scrapbook of your trip; journal the positive experiences. As you look at the book over time, this event really will fade in comparison. I hope you have a chance to visit WDW again; I promise this was an unusual, random event. For what it's worth, I really do applaud your self control. I can't promise I would have done as well

To the pp who was worried about using a w/c or ECV, please don't let this experience keep you from getting the assistance you need. I use an ECV, and my children use a stroller as w/c (I have fibromyalgia and RA, they have mult. disabilities incl. ASD) Although it's not always easy, it's a lot better than me being exhausted and in pain and my kids being exhausted and overwhelmed.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

I'm so sorry that happened. Here a for you!

 

[Ms_Butterfly]

Wow, how on earth could a wheelchair just sitting there empty bother a person like that?!?!?! That's insane!!

I hope the rest of your trip went well. And I hope these idiots were kicked out of the park!

 

[Talking Hands]

Insane. Honestly we have never had the wheelchair placed on the ride with TGMR as you return to the same area to disembark and a CM or family member can bring to you. I am surprised they just didn't do that.
That other family was way out of line and should have been removed from the park.

 

[KirstenB]

This must have been so stressful. Hopefully you can move on, and realize anyone who would call 911 over this is not even remotely worth another second of your thoughts!!

 

[SueM in MN]

This must have been so stressful. Hopefully you can move on, and realize anyone who would call 911 over this is not even remotely worth another second of your thoughts!!

 

[OneLittleSpark]

Oh honey, you poor thing ! I'm so sorry you met such horrendous people on your holiday! I will add to the list of people saying that this isn't normal; I have yet to have anyone kick my wheelchair, except when they're not looking where there going (and that's more walking in to, than kicking). I'm so sorry the nasty, insensitive idiots made you cry on your Disney holiday, that should be an illegal offense, punishable by enforced labour as a doll in It's a Small World (what, you didn't think that they were animatronics, did you?!).

I must confess, I'm a take-no-prisoners stroppy wheelchair user, and pull people up for much smaller misdemeanors than that. The thing is, to be able to cope with this, I've had to develop a really thick skin, with extra idiot-proofing. When I was first using my chair, it used to upset me if people walked into me, climbed over me or glared at me for daring to be out in public; now my DBF and I just find it hysterically funny! I must say, though, if someone were doing damage to my chair, I would have something to say about it!

Reading this makes me really scared. After my chemo I have problems with my legs and feet.
I can walk but not for hours so it was best to rent a wheelchair ore an EVC but I read more and more threads here that people get mobbed using them.

Really, don't worry too much about this. The stories you read on here will be the horror stories; the really bad things that happened to people, that were so out of the ordinary, that they were unusual enough to post about. If these kind of things happened to every wheelchair user in Disney, every single day, you wouldn't read so many posts about terrible experiences like this (you might, however, read more about people 'accidentally' being run over by a mob of angry wheelchair users ). In fact, I have found that, for every one idiot I meet, I find at least ten lovely people who will go out of their way to offer me help. I say: use whatever help you need to have fun, hold your head up high, and ignore the very small minority of idiots in the world.

To the pp who was worried about using a w/c or ECV, please don't let this experience keep you from getting the assistance you need. I use an ECV, and my children use a stroller as w/c (I have fibromyalgia and RA, they have mult. disabilities incl. ASD) Although it's not always easy, it's a lot better than me being exhausted and in pain and my kids being exhausted and overwhelmed.

What she said

 

[Ms_Butterfly]

I'm so sorry the nasty, insensitive idiots made you cry on your Disney holiday, that should be an illegal offense, punishable by enforced labour as a doll in It's a Small World (what, you didn't think that they were animatronics, did you?!).

So that's where the Disney jail is!!!!

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

To those who are concerned about going in a wheelchair:

I have posted this before, but I will post it again. On my first CP I was injured when an ECV ran over my achilles tendon (not the guy's fault and he was very apologetic). On my day off I had been planning on going to DAK and decided to go anyway. I rented a wheelchair since I wasn't supposed to be on my ankle for more than ten minutes at a time (I still don't know why I wasn't given crutches).

It was very difficult rolling it myself becuase I'm not the size of the average adult so it was little hard to reach over the armrests to push the wheels. It's also bumpy and hilly. I had jeans on so you couldn't see the brace at all. I'm sure I looked like some stupid twelve year old playing around (I look young for my age).

I never had one negative comment. In fact, I had several guests offer to help me on the dang hills. Everybody was extremely nice.

One trip we rented a wheelchair for my mom because her arthritis was acting up and we never had one negative interaction with other guests. This year for spring break my friend who is a leukemia survivor came with us. She is very large and has had both hips replaced. The chemo and steroids have really affected her bones, and her weight doesn't help. You can't see anything but that she is an obese twenty something, and I'm sure there were people thinking that we were using the wheelchair because she was too fat to walk or because we wanted to get in lines with no waiting. However, nobody voiced it to us and again, all of our interactions were positive.

The mean guests really are few and far between, but sadly, they are the ones that tend to make the biggest impression. Please do not let one nasty incident make you afraid to use a wheelchair if you truly need it. Nobody should have to suffer on their trip just to appease the few jerks in the world.

 

[michelle9343]

I am so sorry that this happened to you . I can not imagine some one dialing 911...
I did have a very similar incident happen at TFOLK in AK. It was a few years ago during the summer. We were seated in the WC area and a family seated behind us said" I don't want that THING in front of me!!! Well I happen to be very friendly with a CM that had seated us so I sent my son to get her. She came over and asked if they was a problem . The rude guy said " I do not what thet THING blocking my daughter. CM said that if they like she would be more then happy to move them to a back row so they would not be by and WC's . he said No. after the show started he kept kicking her WC. I was beyond mad and guest around me told him to knock it off.Log story short the guy took off ASAP and when I told my CM friend what happen she was more then willing to get security to go out with me to find the jerk. I just let it go. Luckily my DD was not aware of what happened....

 

[blondietink]

Both of my DS's use wheelchairs/travelchairs while in Disney and for anything else where there is lots of walking. We have been on the GMR many times and we have always been seated in the front row along with our chairs, so it has never been an issue of other people kicking our chairs or complaining. One time we also had 2 people with us in the front row who used scooters, which of course they left in the waiting area. They never complained either. So, I think the CM in charge should have seated you in the front row with your chair and made the other people sit somehwere else.

I have had my share of people complaining about our chairs at WDW in various places and I usually ask them if they would like to trade places with me, to feel free! That usually shuts them up. If not, I always find a CM to take care fo the problem.

 

[BCVOwner2002]

Thanks to everyone for your responses. I hope these people were the few and not the many at WDW or in the entire world. I just could not believe how I was made to feel. I was upset enough for my temporary situation and didn't need any extra stress!

Both of my DS's use wheelchairs/travelchairs while in Disney and for anything else where there is lots of walking. We have been on the GMR many times and we have always been seated in the front row along with our chairs, so it has never been an issue of other people kicking our chairs or complaining. One time we also had 2 people with us in the front row who used scooters, which of course they left in the waiting area. They never complained either. So, I think the CM in charge should have seated you in the front row with your chair and made the other people sit somehwere else.

I have had my share of people complaining about our chairs at WDW in various places and I usually ask them if they would like to trade places with me, to feel free! That usually shuts them up. If not, I always find a CM to take care fo the problem.

Regarding the CM putting us in the first row, this family "waited in line" and were "sitting in the row THEY waited for". I thought the CM was originally going to put my wheelchair to the side of the exit area and that would've been fine with me. I did not ask to be brought to the front of the line nor did I want to be treated any different than any other guest but this family made me feel like there was something wrong with me and that I had no right to be there It was honestly a terrible situation I hope never happens again!

 

[Ms_Butterfly]

" I don't want that THING in front of me!!!

That is so horrible!!!!! How dare somebody say that about somebody!!!! (A person's wheelchair is an extension of them.)

And just what on earth is their problem with a wheelchair?! Do they think they can catch your disability from it or something, LOL?! What is wrong with these ppl???

 

[DisneyWheeler]

I'm so sorry that happened to you. I've had that happen to me too, to where someone purposely kicked my wheelchair at Disney World. We were in the mainstream line for Kilmanjaro Safaris and some woman about my age who was behind DH and me, was complaining that me and my wheelchair were taking up too much space for their family to move forward when the line moved. My manual wheelchair is a Quickie 2, and is not much bigger than a standard hospital-style wheelchair, so I couldn't see what the problem was.

It was crowded, although the line to wait was only about twenty min. long. But, this woman continued to complain about me and my wheelchair to her husband during the whole time we were waiting. DH and I ignored her during the whole time we were waiting in line. That was, until I had to get out of my wheelchair to transfer into the ride vehicle because there was a man in a power wheelchair who was already occupying the wheelchair space. I had to walk a few feet, which was fine with me. But, because I have severe scoliosis and arthritis, my husband had to help me walk onto the ride.

The woman said loudly to her husband, "Why does that woman need to use a wheelchair when she can walk really well?" I knew that they were talking about me because they were right behind us in the ride car when we were loading. I turned around to her and said, "Isn't it obvious that I look different from everyone else because my hands aren't 'normal', and you can see the AFO on my leg (I was wearing capri pants since it was very warm that day). But, you can't see the real reason why I use a wheelchair."

The woman looked stunned and shocked, and kept quiet after that. Later, her husband apologized to me.

It was my own Quickie 2 manual wheelchair from home. So, I don't see what she was complaining about. But, I had totally ignored her during the whole time she was complaining, and went on to enjoy the ride, and the rest of the trip with my DH. We don't go to Disney World that often. But, when we do we always manage to have fun.

Samantha