Wheelchairs & new Haunted Mansion

[BroganMc]

I don´t know if they have changed things since we went in October or if the CMs who let you do that were not aware of the changes the CM told us about. DD had her manual wheelchair and the only option we were given was to carry her in or do a "baby swap" as I mentioned above, since DD can not walk (not offered one of their manual wheelchairs even as a possible option).

I was there October 7-23. The week I did the stretching room was the 14-23. I don't know if that was after your trip.

It all happened because I asked if I could do the stretching room and mentioned that they let me go in before. The CM went off to ask and came back with the manual chair for me to transfer.

Now both times I did the stretching room it was at night and the crowds were low. I think there were only 4 of us in the room, two being CMs and the other two being us.

No one ever mentioned a "risk assessment" thing. In fact, they seemed pretty routine about it.

Oh and I was very "please please with sugar on top" about it. It's neat to do the stretching room but I can live without it.

Now that I think about it, this "risk assessment" thing sounds like a passing the buck excuse. Could it be they're worried about having a wheelchair in a dark room full of walkies? I thought the change was due to the backstage entrances they're using now, although they didn't seem especially hard to maneuver.

 

[Barbday62]

Now that I think about it, this "risk assessment" thing sounds like a passing the buck excuse. Could it be they're worried about having a wheelchair in a dark room full of walkies? I thought the change was due to the backstage entrances they're using now, although they didn't seem especially hard to maneuver.

They really need to learn from Disneyland. We not only do the stretching room but DH does it in an electric wheel chair. we are always last to load and last to unload. Then they take us down a roped off area to wait for the special doombuggy with the bat on it. Then we ride the ride all the way back to the place we got on and go back up the roped area and enter the Stretching room to ride backwards (room shrinks instead of stretch, lol). Then they ask us not to exit until the room is full again and we slip out the side.

 

[Shorty82]

They really need to learn from Disneyland. We not only do the stretching room but DH does it in an electric wheel chair. we are always last to load and last to unload. Then they take us down a roped off area to wait for the special doombuggy with the bat on it. Then we ride the ride all the way back to the place we got on and go back up the roped area and enter the Stretching room to ride backwards (room shrinks instead of stretch, lol). Then they ask us not to exit until the room is full again and we slip out the side.

The issue with that is that the Disneyland Mansion is designed a lot differently than Walt Disney World's.

At DL the Stretching Rooms are elevators used to get the guests low enough to go under the berm and railroad. At WDW the Stretching Rooms you stay at the same level and the ceiling moves. At DL the SRs are the only way to get to the loading level.

Of course I don't know all the details but I don't see why guests in any kind of chair can't see the SR. As long as they aren't busy they should be able to do what they've done in the past and have a CM take the WC and party into the the back way and be the only people in there.

 

[Barbday62]

The issue with that is that the Disneyland Mansion is designed a lot differently than Walt Disney World's.

At DL the Stretching Rooms are elevators used to get the guests low enough to go under the berm and railroad. At WDW the Stretching Rooms you stay at the same level and the ceiling moves. At DL the SRs are the only way to get to the loading level.

Of course I don't know all the details but I don't see why guests in any kind of chair can't see the SR. As long as they aren't busy they should be able to do what they've done in the past and have a CM take the WC and party into the the back way and be the only people in there.

All movement aside, the room is a room. People cram in and leave to get in another line. Really its the same for both WDW and Disneyland as far as I can see. we cram in we spill out another side. Wheel chairs cram in and spill out the same. (Of course there is that little movement inbetween at DLR)

 

[OneLittleSpark]

I think what Shorty was saying was that in DL you have to go through the stretching room to get on the ride, whereas in WDW it's only a preshow and may be seen as an 'optional extra'. I do think it's a shame they don't still have the policy of allowing chairs in routinely, especially when, as Barbday said, they do this every day at DL.

 

[Shorty82]

I think what Shorty was saying was that in DL you have to go through the stretching room to get on the ride, whereas in WDW it's only a preshow and may be seen as an 'optional extra'. I do think it's a shame they don't still have the policy of allowing chairs in routinely, especially when, as Barbday said, they do this every day at DL.

Exactly. The mansions are designed differently. At DL the only way for chairs to get to and from the load/unload level is using the Stretching Rooms. Due to lack of space they had to put them at different levels. At WDW there was plenty of room and the load/unload areas are at the same level as the Stretching Rooms but the front entrance to the building is not accessible.

 

[zaksmom]

When we were there in October 07 it was pretty busy. The times we were at the Haunted Mansion the CMs told us that wheelchairs were not allowed in the stretching room because of the crowds it wasn't safe. Although we weren't able to do it, a manager type there said if we came back right before closing or when the park opened that they would let my son in - he has a manual chair. Maybe if we had gone back at that time someone else might not have let us do it. So maybe if you pick a really slow time they might let you. Worth a shot. Good Luck.