should there be a waiting period for wheelchairs

[sweetpee_1993]

The OP sorta came off pretty harsh. I understand the frustrations when you see people blatantly abuse the system. That's true in everything as other posters have mentioned.

That said, I caution those who are quick to judge. You don't know those people or their circumstances.

Several years ago I worked with a really great lady, single mom, worked very long hours to provide for her 3 kids. Great human being. If you saw her on an ECV you might think that's a lazy overweight person who needs to get off their tush & walk. The truth is this particular lady has arthritis so she physically cannot be doing a lot of walking which in turn has caused her weight issues. Then the weight issues cause the problems with her arthritis to worsen. She has tried everything under the sun to get her insurance provider to pay for her to have surgery to address the weight problems but they refuse. And a single mom supporting 3 kids just doesn't have the money to foot the bill on her own. An ECV is not optional for this person. Her condition is not something she is too lazy to do something about. She physically cannot.

Another example. My aunt was in a terrible car accident 20 years ago. Her leg/foot/ankle were broken very, very badly. Here's a lady who is a painfully independent soul who wants nothing from nobody. She has always prided herself in being completely self-sufficient. Her broken bones have never healed properly and to this day is permanently disabled. If you saw her cruising thru the parks on an ECV you'd never know there was anything wrong with her. If you saw her standing you'd not know. Occasionally she takes a few steps that can almost pass as normal. However, getting thru any amount of walking is not a luxury she has anymore. Believe me, she'd far rather be on foot like us zipping about. Unfortunately that wasn't the hand she was dealt. Some of you may look at her & think she's another bum abusing the system. Not so. I'm proud to say that she does not let her disability stop her from doing anything she wants to do. She rents her cart, does WDW solo when she feels like it, and doesn't depend on anyone else to do for her. She's as big a Disney fanatic as the rest of us so I'm happy for her to keep on doing what she loves in spite of what others may think.

And finally, I'd like to tell you about my father-in-law. Three years ago he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He did a lot of research into all his options & elected to have radiation pellets inserted around the affected area vs. having the highly invasive surgery to remove everything. We were blessed in that the treatment worked and he's now cancer-free. The drawback is that there's still metal rods in there that weigh down & cause him excruciating pain when he stands or walks for prolonged periods. Also, that kind of activity can & has caused him to pass blood. Additionally, he has 3 vertebrae in his lower back that were broken when he was a kid. When on his feet or moving about for long periods he has numbness in his legs, shooting pain, and his back & neck cause him tremendous pain. My in-laws joined us at WDW in January. My father-in-law refused to rent an ECV. Following Illuminations one night we walked from just outside Germany to our resort bus. We had to stop 3 times for him to sit & rest. He had the worst time trying to keep moving throughout the trip and admits now that maybe he shouldn't have been so hard-headed about that cart. If you saw him in a park on an ECV you might think there's nothing wrong with him. If he parked his ECV and hopped off you might think, "Hey! That guy is being lazy!" In actuality, you couldn't be more wrong. My in-laws are discussing going back to WDW and a cart will be used by my FiL. I hope nobody says anything to him because they'll be peeling some of us off of them.

You can't judge a person by appearances or by 2 minutes of watching them. That's not fair. I understand there are those who would abuse the systems set up to help those who need it. I've seen those people myself. But is it fair to mistreat everyone because of those bad apples? I think not. Be kind. Leave the rest to karma. You never know, it might be you or your loved one needing a wheelchair or a cart someday. Treat those folks as you would want your loved one to be treated.

 

[wm49rs]

Perhaps, but I think the background check could be a bit onerous.....

 

[thelookingglass]

Um, for the record, simply being in a wheelchair or ECV does not automatically grant guests any priority in lines.

 

[Yankee Mouse]

The fact of the matter is that you can't tell what is wrong with a person simply by looking at them. I went in January 2009, I had to go in a wheelchair. Did I have a cast on my leg? Nope. By looking at me did I look healthy? Sure, young (30 at the time), a little overweight, but still able to play sports, been to the park many times and walked it enough to know how much walking is involved. I was also able to get out of the chair rather easily most times and walk around a bit. What was wrong? I had a slipped disk, ended up in the emergency room right before christmas after playing a hockey game. Went to disney exactly a month after. Had surgery to repair the disk in May, still hurts and I can't play hockey anymore. For that January trip I couldn't walk long distances, I tried to go without the wheelchair at DHS, ended up back at the hotel room by noon and in bed on painkillers the rest of the day.

I couldn't walk long distances or even sit in the chair for long periods of time so I would walk a bit (when I was walking my wife would sit in the chair since she had knee surgery in August), then sit in the chair a bit, to an ignorant person it might have looked like I was just fine, but in reality if I had been standing in a long line (peter pan anyone?) I would have been in a great deal of pain. Try getting out of one of the boats in Mexico, Pirates or small world with a bad back.

I would bet there are more people that need the wheelchair then those that don't and abuse it. I am sure I could have found something better to spend $100 on than a wheelchair rental.

Until you go to the parks in a wheelchair you don't know how difficult it is and quite frankly you shouldn't judge someone in one just because they don't have an obvious ailment. Your eyes don't double as MRI machines.

 

[Ausdaddy]

As Raven mentioned, there should be a limit on how many people can accompany someone with a disability on the ride. That's what hurts the line, not the lone individual in the wheelchair. Others have pointed out that Cedar Fair does this effectively. In the end, my wait time isn't affected by this all that much.

 

[Monty]

How exactly would you determine who is "legitimately" handicapped?

There are hundreds of thousands of people with hidden handicaps in the world. Heart problems, osteoporosis, MS, etc... to name just a few. Is Disney supposed to grill every guest who requests a Guest Assistance Card? Who at Disney is qualified to make a medical determination? Even if you demand that the handicapped provide a Medical Certificate [which happens to be an illegal requirement], who at Disney would be qualified to assess or understand it? Treating "legitimately" disabled guest like they're entering a Police State to weed out the relatively few abusers of the system is not a reasonable approach in my opinion.

It's all very well to express moral outrage on a web forum, but who here is a psychic and can read the minds of those you think are cheating the system? For every comment provided thus far in this thread, I can think of a perfectly valid circumstance that could explain a "legitimate" handicap, except for those who knew the individual in question and chose not to publicly confront them. An individual with chronic fatigue could require a wheelchair intermittently, and when not in need of it, keep it with them in case it's needed again and perhaps the person who had been pushing it earlier would ride in it. That scenario stood out to me, but all could be explained.

I happen to have what would be considered a hidden disability [I also have quite visible disabilities that in no way impair my in-park experience]. Both of my feet have had portions amputated, but outwardly you'd likely never notice because I don't walk with a noticeable limp [when both feet hurt equally with every step you take, you walk surprisingly limp-free]. I have, on occasions when the pain was just too much, used a GAC at Disney and had the great humiliation of other guests and sometimes CMs second-guessing my use of it. So a special "Thank You" to those of you who clearly know better. :wave:

 

[tigsmom]

i'm sorry this might sound mean but does it bother anyone else to see someone overweight or clearly able to walk, using a wheelchair to get to the front of a line, then watching them walk no problem onto the ride? shouldn't there be some sort of wait for them too? it just bothers me seeing some people ( not everyone) taking advantage of the system:shrug:

It does sound mean and YOU do not know what a person's limitations are as looks can be very deceiving. And that's all I have to say on this subject. :zipit:

 

[Bubb@]

Make em wait a while

There is nothing unfair about a person with a disability having to wait for a time approximating the wait for every one else. There may be a few situations where the waiting is itself problematic for a disabled person, but most of the time, there is no justification for going straight to the front of the line. If the policy required waiting for the expected wait time for everyone else, then there would be no reason for anyone to fake a disability.

 

[Babylon Control]

i'm sorry this might sound mean but does it bother anyone else to see someone overweight or clearly able to walk, using a wheelchair to get to the front of a line, then watching them walk no problem onto the ride? shouldn't there be some sort of wait for them too? it just bothers me seeing some people ( not everyone) taking advantage of the system:shrug:

You're the type of person I hated the most on my last trip. The people who would take one look at me on my ECV, see a perfectly healthy 30 something, then see the walking cast on my foot and then have this look cross your face that clearly said I was faking it to get to the head of the line.

I'd like to see you try to manoeuvre the parks in an ECV and cast for just 1 day and see what it's like to be on the other side of things.

You don't always get to be the first on the attractions. Most of the time, I had to wait until the CMs could fit me into the queue, thank you very much, which meant waiting just as long, if not longer than all of you able bodied people. As for getting on first, would you rather they loaded the ECVs onto an already crowded bus and the driver told you to vacate your seats for the ECV and then you got your toes driven over as the ECV got parked? It's not easy to park those things on the narrow buses. Why don't you try being swarmed by a bunch of able bodied people so that the driver can't see you and see how you feel.

 

[Mr. Morrow]

The wheelchairs no longer cut the lines :shrug:

 

[PirateFrank]

Um, for the record, simply being in a wheelchair or ECV does not automatically grant guests any priority in lines.

Um sorry, I have to disagree here. If by automatically you mean that sometimes a wheelchaired person has to wait for the 'wheelchair' car, well then you're right. However, they get priority when compared to other guests waiting on the attraction.

I've seen countless morbidly obese people in the parks advance themselves and their entire entourage on rides like small world, potc, etc just because said morbidly obese person is too fat to walk the park and they rented a scooter.

Are there people with justifiable illnesses and issues that require scooters/wheelchairs? Sure. But the people that game and abuse this system (and trust me, there are more than you think) ruin it for the legit people.....

and that's sad.


Then again, WDW is a cross section of life outside of the world. Plenty of people game/abuse welfare too.....

 

[wm49rs]

Um sorry, I have to disagree here. If by automatically you mean that sometimes a wheelchaired person has to wait for the 'wheelchair' car, well then you're right. However, they get priority when compared to other guests waiting on the attraction.

I've seen countless morbidly obese people in the parks advance themselves and their entire entourage on rides like small world, potc, etc just because said morbidly obese person is too fat to walk the park and they rented a scooter.

Are there people with justifiable illnesses and issues that require scooters/wheelchairs? Sure. But the people that game and abuse this system (and trust me, there are more than you think) ruin it for the legit people.....

and that's sad.


Then again, WDW is a cross section of life outside of the world. Plenty of people game/abuse welfare too.....

So, are you upset with those on a scooter or those in a wheelchair?

And if by priority (especially at shows) you mean people in wheelchairs have their own row (usually located close or at the back of the auditorium) then yes, I believe allowing them to enter a couple of seconds before the rest of the masses can be tolerated.

 

[smk]

The OP sorta came off pretty harsh. I understand the frustrations when you see people blatantly abuse the system. That's true in everything as other posters have mentioned.

That said, I caution those who are quick to judge. You don't know those people or their circumstances.

Several years ago I worked with a really great lady, single mom, worked very long hours to provide for her 3 kids. Great human being. If you saw her on an ECV you might think that's a lazy overweight person who needs to get off their tush & walk. The truth is this particular lady has arthritis so she physically cannot be doing a lot of walking which in turn has caused her weight issues. Then the weight issues cause the problems with her arthritis to worsen. She has tried everything under the sun to get her insurance provider to pay for her to have surgery to address the weight problems but they refuse. And a single mom supporting 3 kids just doesn't have the money to foot the bill on her own. An ECV is not optional for this person. Her condition is not something she is too lazy to do something about. She physically cannot.

Another example. My aunt was in a terrible car accident 20 years ago. Her leg/foot/ankle were broken very, very badly. Here's a lady who is a painfully independent soul who wants nothing from nobody. She has always prided herself in being completely self-sufficient. Her broken bones have never healed properly and to this day is permanently disabled. If you saw her cruising thru the parks on an ECV you'd never know there was anything wrong with her. If you saw her standing you'd not know. Occasionally she takes a few steps that can almost pass as normal. However, getting thru any amount of walking is not a luxury she has anymore. Believe me, she'd far rather be on foot like us zipping about. Unfortunately that wasn't the hand she was dealt. Some of you may look at her & think she's another bum abusing the system. Not so. I'm proud to say that she does not let her disability stop her from doing anything she wants to do. She rents her cart, does WDW solo when she feels like it, and doesn't depend on anyone else to do for her. She's as big a Disney fanatic as the rest of us so I'm happy for her to keep on doing what she loves in spite of what others may think.

And finally, I'd like to tell you about my father-in-law. Three years ago he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He did a lot of research into all his options & elected to have radiation pellets inserted around the affected area vs. having the highly invasive surgery to remove everything. We were blessed in that the treatment worked and he's now cancer-free. The drawback is that there's still metal rods in there that weigh down & cause him excruciating pain when he stands or walks for prolonged periods. Also, that kind of activity can & has caused him to pass blood. Additionally, he has 3 vertebrae in his lower back that were broken when he was a kid. When on his feet or moving about for long periods he has numbness in his legs, shooting pain, and his back & neck cause him tremendous pain. My in-laws joined us at WDW in January. My father-in-law refused to rent an ECV. Following Illuminations one night we walked from just outside Germany to our resort bus. We had to stop 3 times for him to sit & rest. He had the worst time trying to keep moving throughout the trip and admits now that maybe he shouldn't have been so hard-headed about that cart. If you saw him in a park on an ECV you might think there's nothing wrong with him. If he parked his ECV and hopped off you might think, "Hey! That guy is being lazy!" In actuality, you couldn't be more wrong. My in-laws are discussing going back to WDW and a cart will be used by my FiL. I hope nobody says anything to him because they'll be peeling some of us off of them.

You can't judge a person by appearances or by 2 minutes of watching them. That's not fair. I understand there are those who would abuse the systems set up to help those who need it. I've seen those people myself. But is it fair to mistreat everyone because of those bad apples? I think not. Be kind. Leave the rest to karma. You never know, it might be you or your loved one needing a wheelchair or a cart someday. Treat those folks as you would want your loved one to be treated.

Very well said. Thank you.

 

[Monty]

Um sorry, I have to disagree here. If by automatically you mean that sometimes a wheelchaired person has to wait for the 'wheelchair' car, well then you're right. However, they get priority when compared to other guests waiting on the attraction.

I've seen countless morbidly obese people in the parks advance themselves and their entire entourage on rides like small world, potc, etc just because said morbidly obese person is too fat to walk the park and they rented a scooter.

Are there people with justifiable illnesses and issues that require scooters/wheelchairs? Sure. But the people that game and abuse this system (and trust me, there are more than you think) ruin it for the legit people.....

and that's sad.


Then again, WDW is a cross section of life outside of the world. Plenty of people game/abuse welfare too.....

Most rides at WDW are capable of having wheelchairs/ECVs access through the regular queue. Only rides where the queue is not navigable by an ECV or wheelchair or where load/unload requires different access have different treatment for wheelchairs/ECVs. Space, IASW, Peter Pan and a few others are older rides and the regular queue cannot accommodate guests in wheelchairs/ECVs. POTC is accessible, but only for guests who can transfer.

 

[smk]

The fact of the matter is that you can't tell what is wrong with a person simply by looking at them. I went in January 2009, I had to go in a wheelchair. Did I have a cast on my leg? Nope. By looking at me did I look healthy? Sure, young (30 at the time), a little overweight, but still able to play sports, been to the park many times and walked it enough to know how much walking is involved. I was also able to get out of the chair rather easily most times and walk around a bit. What was wrong? I had a slipped disk, ended up in the emergency room right before christmas after playing a hockey game. Went to disney exactly a month after. Had surgery to repair the disk in May, still hurts and I can't play hockey anymore. For that January trip I couldn't walk long distances, I tried to go without the wheelchair at DHS, ended up back at the hotel room by noon and in bed on painkillers the rest of the day.

I couldn't walk long distances or even sit in the chair for long periods of time so I would walk a bit (when I was walking my wife would sit in the chair since she had knee surgery in August), then sit in the chair a bit, to an ignorant person it might have looked like I was just fine, but in reality if I had been standing in a long line (peter pan anyone?) I would have been in a great deal of pain. Try getting out of one of the boats in Mexico, Pirates or small world with a bad back.

I would bet there are more people that need the wheelchair then those that don't and abuse it. I am sure I could have found something better to spend $100 on than a wheelchair rental.

Until you go to the parks in a wheelchair you don't know how difficult it is and quite frankly you shouldn't judge someone in one just because they don't have an obvious ailment. Your eyes don't double as MRI machines.

Well said!

 

[cassiedoodle]

We're getting away from the subject here, people (go figure)

We're talking about the Disney BUSING SYSTEM, NOT RIDES.

Wheelchairs on rides are COMPLETELY understandable, but the thread is about buses.

 

[Monty]

We're getting away from the subject here, people (go figure)

We're talking about the Disney BUSING SYSTEM, NOT RIDES.

Actually, you are the only person thus far talking about buses. Everybody else [with the exception of one who agreed with your post about buses], including the OP has been discussing rides.

 

[DisneyJoe]

but it is frustrating when you've been walking all day in the hot sun, wait in line for a bus for a half hour and someone in a wheelchair jumps right in front. I think in this situation, it is the fault of the system. I would feel so guilty if I were in a wheelchair and I got on before everyone else, and I know a lot of them do!

Do you realize that when they get to their final destination on the bus that they need to wait until everyone leaves the bus, the driver puts the bus in the proper mode, comes to the back, lowers the lift, and then they get to exit the bus?

You probably also don't realize that while you strolled easily out of the park (in the vast crowds) to get to your bus stop to wait the half hour for the bus, that those in wheelchairs or ECV's were having a much more difficult time just maneuvering through the crowds - and it took them quite a bit longer to just exit the park?

 

[Mad Stitch]

I’ve always thought that attractions with a separate wheelchair entrance should have a machine at the start that spits out a ticket with the current time plus the stand by wait. Then the disabled party waits in the wheelchair queue until their ride time. That way everyone waits the same amount of time regardless of which line you’re in.

 

[cassiedoodle]

Gotcha. The OP and I were talking privately about the buses so I thought that was his intent on the thread.
I have no problem at all with wheelchairs on rides, but the buses are what drive me absolutely mad (with the system being broken, not with the person.)