Will we need FP for Jungle Cruise WC boat?

[JoannaOhio]

My future son-in-law won't be able to transfer from his electric wheelchair, so our party of four will have to go to the wheelchair entrance and wait for the special boat (Bertha) that has the wheelchair lift. Should we still get FastPasses, or will it make any difference? If someone else needing that boat is ahead of us in line but doesn't have a FP and we do, would we get to go before them - or is it strictly a wait-your-turn deal at the wheelchair entrance? (I'm not trying to cut in line - just want to know what the proper procedure is.)

 

[Cheshire Figment]

My experiences at JC are that wc or ECV use alternate entrance and are not expected to maneuver through the queue.

 

[BillSears]

My experiences at JC are that wc or ECV use alternate entrance and are not expected to maneuver through the queue.

I agree you do use the alternate entrance but I believe you need a fast pass to use it? It's really confusing and depends on the CM, how crowded it is and many other factors. But I know I've always gotten a fast pass for it.

 

[JoannaOhio]

I think we'll try to get FPs just to be on the safe side.

 

[SueM in MN]

i think it's safer to get a fastpass, but before doing that, it may be worth asking the CM at the entrance or the Fastpass area.

Jungle Cruise is not listed as an attraction with Mainstream Access (the type of line where you enter the regular line with everyone else). Usually the rides that are not listed as Mainstream Access have an alternate entrance for wheelchair/ecv users. We haven't used the special wheelchair boat yet, but our past experience at that attraction is that they don't exactly follow the order in which you appear. They do some "pairing" of parties because of the number of people in the party and the needs of the people Like we've noticed they didn't seem to want to have a whole boatload of people who needed to be lifted on the boat, and would take some people who could walk out of order.
If there are people with special needs waiting, I expect the CMs would keep track of the people who need to stay in their wheelchair so that they can load them in order. That's what happens at many of the other rides (like the Safari at AK and the Backstage Tour at MGM). Once we get to the front of the line, they may let others who are behind us on if they don't need the wheelchair car.
I'm quite certain that they would not let you go ahead of others waiting for the wheelchair accessible vehicle because you have a fastpass.

 

[taximomfor4]

This is just our experience with JC.
We got FP for it, and when we returned, we were routed to the alternate entrance. There, they asked WC people if they could get out of WC or not. THose that could not were lined up in the qeue with elevating ramp thingy. THose that could were lined up in other lines for Bertha. They only took, I believe, one WC on board Bertha each time. I am not sure, but I think everyone in the waiting area with us had produced FP too. Not everyone got to keep their whole party with them for this ride...too many special needs groups for that boat. The groups we saw, each wc took 1 person next to them while the rest of their party sat elsewhere (middle of the same boat).

You might not need the FP,but it is probably safer to err on the side of caution and get them!

 

[Buckimion]

Another $.02

Last November I attempted to ride JC in my wheelchair. (I could transfer.) The CM gave us >handwritten< fastpasses to come back at the time we would have expected to have passed through the queue (90 minutes)...leaving our tickets available to pick up fastpasses elsewhere.

 

[JoannaOhio]

From what I've read, Bertha can accomodate only one person who must remain in their wheelchair, so we know that we may need to wait for Bertha to come around again. However, since my dear son-in-law-to-be definitely won't be able to ride POC, we're willing to wait for Jungle Cruise.

 

[dclfun]

I've only done the lift Jungle Cruise once but you couldn't wipe the smile off my face as I hadn't been able to access this attraction since being in my power chair, and it's always been one of my favorites from childhood Disneyland visits. Enough said...anyway....I didn't have a fastpass but did have a GAC and did present it. As has been mentioned above, there is a line for those who cannot transfer and will thus need the lift. There was one party in front of me so the wait was about 20 minutes. I felt badly for the group behind me which consisted of many special needs guests and their companions who were going to need to wait a LONG time to accomodate everyone in their party- there must've been at least 7-10 who would need to use Bertha. If I had gotten behind them, my wait time would've been hours. I wish I could answer the FP question but I'd get one to be on the safe side. This way if there is a long line already waiting for Bertha you might be able to get someone to put a new time on your FP so you could do something else rather than wait in the queue line.
Kathy

 

[seashoreCM]

If you get to Jungle Cruise with your just matured fast pass and there is a long wait for Bertha, you can ask to trade in the fast pass for a matured fast pass to another ride of your choice.

My .02

If someone in the regular line gets to the merge point before you with a fast pass get there, he should go first.

There is probably no way to quicken the Bertha queue other than to add a second wheelchair lift boat, but it would be a fitting gesture to, after every other time Bertha departs (every 40 minutes), hand a bonus fast pass good for any ride to each person still in the Bertha queue.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

Shortly after It's A Small World re-opened this year I noticed that well in advance of the boarding area the waiting line reverse-merges into a left line (rear boarding platform) and a right line (front boarding platform). When the wheelchair roll in boat arrives, waiting wheelchair guests are loaded from the opposite side first (there is a paradox there too). One time I watched for several minutes and the wheelchair boat always landed at the rear platform so the left line moved a lot slower.