Wheelchair needed when Magical Express drops us off

[RmeDad]

My wife is in need of a wheelchair to get to the gate when we arrive at the airport on Magical Express from WDW. How do we make that arrangement? Any ideas? Anyone done this before? Thanks.

 

[SueM in MN]

Yes - you would arrange it with your airline.

 

[nikkislaght]

When you book your airline tickets make sure you let them know that you will need a wheelchair and assistance.. and when you check in again make sure you let them know, if they haven't already got it all ready for you..

 

[Simba's Mom]

I have this same question. How do you get a wheelchair to meet you at DME when you checked in at the hotel? Do you mean that you need to tell them at Resort Airline Check-In at the hotel? Has anyone here done that and been successfully met? I'm really nervous about this because I've had very poor luck with getting wheelchair assistance from the airline, and have contacted them REPEATEDLY with complaints.

 

[RmeDad]

Thank you for your replies, but the real problem in question is getting a wheelchair at the DME drop off location which is some distance from the airline baggage handlers. I have notified the airline as I have in the past about needing a wheelchair. Never had a problem getting to the gate or from the flight to baggage check upon arrival. Getting a wheelchair at the DME drop off location seems to be a challenge.

 

[mamabunny]

@RmeDad: I would contact DME directly, and ask them if they have any way of reserving/securing a chair for y'all to use when you arrive back at drop off. When we were there last month, I saw a couple of chairs just parked against a wall - it may be that they keep a few there just for folks who need them.

Disney's Magical Express: (866) 599-0951

 

[RmeDad]

@RmeDad: I would contact DME directly, and ask them if they have any way of reserving/securing a chair for y'all to use when you arrive back at drop off. When we were there last month, I saw a couple of chairs just parked against a wall - it may be that they keep a few there just for folks who need them.

Disney's Magical Express: (866) 599-0951

Great information, thanks for the idea.

 

[ttintagel]

One time the wheelchair we requested from the airline didn't meet us at DME dropoff. The driver grabbed the nearest airport employee for us, and that person paged a skycap.

 

[RmeDad]

Thanks for that.

 

[JudyS]

I use a wheelchair, and have had terrible problems taking DME to the airport. (Taking Magical Express *from* the airport to the resort works fine.)

The last time I tried taking Magical Express to the airport, the driver just left me (sitting in my wheelchair) in a parking spot and drove off. After about 20 minutes of frantically waving my arms, trying to get someone to help me, a friendly pilot from Delta (which was not even the airline I was flying) pushed me into the airport where I could get a skycap to take me to the gate.

I was very distressed about this, but when I posted on this board, I got some hostile remarks. One person said I was endangering others because me and my wheelchair were in the middle of a parking spot. Another person here asked, "Why is anyone but you responsible for getting yourself to the gate?" (Um, maybe because US law says I'm entitled to assistance?)

I was thinking of just giving up and paying for a cab on my next trip, but people I know have been encouraging me to stand up for myself (well, figuratively speaking) and get the assistance I'm legally entitled to. The problem is, Disney's stated policy is that the airline is responsible for providing assistance: "If you need wheelchair assistance upon arrival at Orlando International Airport, please make arrangements with your airline. (https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/f.../magical-express-wheelchairs-orlando-airport/)

But, the airlines *can't* station skycaps in the area where DME drops people off. That area is leased by Mears, and the airlines aren't allowed to station personnel there. And the airlines can't send someone to come meet me when the DME bus drops me off, because Disney doesn't tell them when the bus will arrive (we all know how much variation there can be in how long the DME buses take to get to the airport), and Disney doesn't tell the airlines which parking spot a particular bus will go to. (The Mears parking area is quite large.)

I have asked and asked Disney about this, and all they tell me is that it's the airline's responsibility. (But they won't tell the airline when and where I will be dropped off so that the airline can have someone meet me.) I have heard there is some sort of disability services office at Disney corporate headquarters in California, and I would like to contact them about this. Does anyone have their number? You can email or PM the number to me

 

[JudyS]

One time the wheelchair we requested from the airline didn't meet us at DME dropoff. The driver grabbed the nearest airport employee for us, and that person paged a skycap.

Ttintagel, were there other times when the airline actually did send someone to meet you at the DME drop-off area? I would love to know more about this. I'd like to know whom to contact at the airline. (There are standard disability requests one can just make online when booking an airline reservation, but nothing about DME.) I also want to figure out how to tell the airline where and when to meet me. If you know, that would be great!

The problem I've encountered is, sometimes there is no one working at the area where DME drops people off. And even if someone is working there, they aren't actually skycaps and they have no responsibility to assist passengers. Once I was lucky and an employee was at the drop off area and paged a skycap for me, but another time, an employee *said* he was going to get a skycap for me, and just left and never came back.

 

[JudyS]

Yes - you would arrange it with your airline.

Have you ever actually done this? I've tried, but the airlines say Disney doesn't give them the information they need.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Has anyone tried telling the people at the Remote Airline Check-In? Any luck doing that? This seems to be a real problem.

 

[seashoreCM]

You can always get an earlier Magical Express bus back to the airport, just for the asking. This will give you more time to get assistance if needed.

(The normal deadline for making/changing DME reservations back to the airport is morning of the day before the day you will leave. You need to get a new confirmation paper whether or not you make a change if the paper you got originally does not have the desired time on it or if you never got the paper.)

I do not see how a car service can do better at getting you assistance when you are dropped off at the airport. The driver is not allowed to park the car anywhere along the curb while he goes inside or whatever.

 

[SMD]

In the OP's situation, If someone in your party is able to push the wheelchair, it might be best to just rent one at home for the length of your trip. Then you'd have it at both airports and at the DME pick up and drop off. It would take away all of the worrying over how getting help should work and how it might go wrong.

 

[RmeDad]

We have an ECV rented to be delivered to AKL. Typically the airline provides wheelchair service to the departing gate from the skycap stand and to baggage check from the arriving gate. In this case, the skycaps are NO WHERE near the DME drop off area. That is the problem. It has no bearing on whether we arrive early, late or on time 2 hours in advance (which we do). It is simply a matter of logistics getting a skycap to the DME drop off area.

 

[RmeDad]

@RmeDad: I would contact DME directly, and ask them if they have any way of reserving/securing a chair for y'all to use when you arrive back at drop off. When we were there last month, I saw a couple of chairs just parked against a wall - it may be that they keep a few there just for folks who need them.

Disney's Magical Express: (866) 599-0951

By the way, I contacted DME and they said it is not their problem, it is the airline's problem.

 

[bookgirl]

http://www.orlandoairports.net/mobile/contact.htm

Phone numbers at the airport. Call when you get there, let them know you need assistance.

 

[RmeDad]

Thanks much.

 

[ttintagel]

Ttintagel, were there other times when the airline actually did send someone to meet you at the DME drop-off area?

Not right AT the area, but close.