The Chit Chat Chit Chat Thread

Cesar R M

Well-Known Member
It says it's supposed to reopen in the summer, but it doesn't give a date. I'm guessing it will be open by the time we go there at the end of July. I've never been on it and I'm afraid of heights, but I kind of want to see it anyway...so I'm wondering, I know you are in a seat kind of like a chairlift, right? How high up are you actually and are you strapped in pretty well? Does it feel sturdy?
Yes and Yes... and No to the height.
It depends on which seat they offer you.
The ones in the front will be the highest as they will be on top.
The chairs are pretty big and seat you and similar to those rollercoaster that turn around.. just not as tightly.
Id say you will be at around 10 meters above the floor in the bottom chair.

But if you have height problems.. you will have to try.. id say skip it because there are scenes that play the height thing A LOT.
like when you get close to a waterfall and then fall down towards a golf area.
 

Cesar R M

Well-Known Member
I read about that...that there used to be some sort of card you could get as a disabled person, and disabled people would offer themselves for hire to take families around and bypass the lines or something. So how do they work it now to prevent that? I mean...disabled people still need to have access, and obviously, if they are legitimately with a group and they want to experience it all WITH their group, how do they keep people from taking advantage of it?
I think they now limit the number of people you can bring with the disabled person.
Not sure what other requirements they give you.
But they give the equivalent of a fastpass I think.. they do not bring yourself to the front of the line anymore.

I think you have to ask @StarWarsGirl95 or other people.. while I am supposedly "disabled" deaf wise.. I can move and do things mostly normally. so I had no requirements like that.
 

Cesar R M

Well-Known Member
I'm betting they did it this way because they'll want to have it open in the summer when it's packed...they'll want both Frozen and Soarin up and running. But if Soarin is going to take 6 months and Frozen doesn't open until April, they'd have to have Soarin shut down for the entire summer rush. So I'm guessing that's why they didn't wait.
Correct, since it was new years eve and it was closing next day... no surprise they would want to close and work as soon as possible.
 

StarWarsGirl

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
I read about that...that there used to be some sort of card you could get as a disabled person, and disabled people would offer themselves for hire to take families around and bypass the lines or something. So how do they work it now to prevent that? I mean...disabled people still need to have access, and obviously, if they are legitimately with a group and they want to experience it all WITH their group, how do they keep people from taking advantage of it?
They have recently reworked the system. At wdw, we go at the begining of every trip with the MBs and register the DAS. Everything is electronic, but unlike FP+, you can't control it through the MDE app. You either go to Guest services, a FP+ kiosk area, or the attraction itself, and then a CM gives you a time to come back, usually the stand by time minus ten minutes. To prevent abuse, the person fot whom the DAS is issued must scan their MB first before the rest of the group may go.

There used to be a paper card that you would carry. The CM would write down a time and stamp the card. The card only allowed up to six guests. I like the new system better overall even though it has some technical issues. I think less people are using it because it's less obvious what it's for. You add people's MBs/cards individually, so you can have more than six people (although you have to go to guest services to enter manually). This means the person for whom the DAS is issued takes their entire group with them. I believe the limit is around 14 people, who have to be added individually.

There will still obviously always be abuse, though I think it happened less frequently in WDW than DL just based on observation. With it being less visible at WDW, I think it helps with the abuse because it basically lookjs like you're using a FP. I have yet to try the DAS at Disneyland (it was the GAC last time I was there, which was different), so can't give you an opinion on their system, though we'll use if in June when we're there. What also helps is that you have to have a mental disability that makes waiting in line difficult, such as autism or down syndrome. People in wheelchairs have to use standby unless there are steps in the line; they don't have DAS access. This cut down on a lot of abuse.

Obviously, there will always be people who abuse it, but the process makes it tougher. I think the lowe visibility at WDW helps ensure those using it actually need it.
 

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
You definitely won't fall out. Each seat has individual seat belts (like Star Tours) and for kids there is an extra safety strap that goes between their legs. I've seen adults use that extra belt. You can always request the lower level because a CM will assign you to a row. There was a trip I broke my ankle right before our trip (I had just gotten the cast off and into a boot) so I had an ECV. They put me in the lowest row every time that trip and I must have really been lucky because I never saw other people's feet. You could always close your eyes during a scene if it bothers you. :)
Good to know. Thank you! I'm determined not to miss it just because I'm a wuss.
And thanks to @Goofyernmost too.
 
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Songbird76

Well-Known Member
Boy lets hope so, Summer goes from what June 21 through September 21 or something close. Disney has learned to give themselves lots of wiggle room and have been known to just tack on months at a time. Test Track they quietly extended the refurbishment that was to be from April to September 2012. Very shortly thereafter it was quietly bumped to November 30. When that didn't happen it was briefly After the New Years week January 2013. It soft opened early in December 2012. The pixie dust people were cheering Test Track was coming out of refurbishment early forgetting about September 2012 & November 30th 2012.

I was there for the last day of Test Track, flew in that morning and my first stop a few times that afternoon. While we all knew it was going down, but to the general guest there wasn't an indication until the wall went up overnight. So my advice is stay guarded. If it comes out of refurbishment on time WooHoo. On a trip in 2014 I thought I'd be able to ride Dwarf. Missed it that trip by a month.
Yeah, I worry about the Frozen ride, since that's the one I really do want to see what they've done. Right now it's scheduled for April, so that gives me several months leeway if they extend it, but still, you never know, do you?
 

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
I have to go start my truck and pick up DD from job #2. The car got encased in ice last Sunday, would not start at all with the cold weather on Wednesday. She spent the night here last night and I put it in the garage and drove her to work today. So wasn't in the mood for her to get stranded at 730 pm on a very cold Sunday night. So I have 5 minutes till I have to go warm up mine to go fetch her. It is zero with a wind chill of -21. Joy Joy

FLORIDA
Do you plug your cars in at night over there? In Wyoming, you have to at night or the car will never start. But I understand that in most places, cars don't even have tank heaters. A friend of mine in college was from Arizona and he started taking pictures of the front of several cars and I asked him what in heaven's name he was doing and he said his friends didn't believe cars had plugs on the front to plug the car in at night, so he was sending pictures as proof. But Illinois gets pretty cold, too, so I thought maybe you actually do have them?
 

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
Sound doesn't bother him as much. If it gets super loud, it bothers him, but I've only ever seen him put his hands over his ears a few times. We're very fortunate because he doesn't have the issues with sound or traveling (although his first trip here was at 5 months, so he got used to traveling). His primary issues lie in verbal communication. He is verbal, but doesn't always understand and tends to not form sentences correctly (for instance, personal pronouns like "I" and "you" confused him). He also fixates on thing very easily. It's a bit like living with Sheldon from Big Bang Theory.

At the parks, he tends to fixate on a specific ride and won't settle until he's been on that ride. We started using the pass several years ago when we were in DL and he got fixated on Radiator Springs Racers, which was over a two hour wait all day. We finally got the pass (slightly different and called GAC back then) and had a much better trip. We have gotten the pass ever since.
It's a good idea to get it, even if he doesn't always NEED to use it...you can decide when it's needed and when it's not. I'm not anticipating any problems like that with DS. He does tend to have problems if something doesn't go how he thinks it should...like if he knows we have to cross a street but I cross in a different place than usual. He'll insist I'm going the wrong way. And he feels very strongly that he should get to go first for things, but he strangely, in spite of that he doesn't seem to have problems with the concept of waiting in line. Unless he sees someone cutting in line, THEN he freak out. Is there a separate line for people with the pass you have? I hope either there's a line for pass users, OR we don't encounter that, because if DS sees someone going to the front, he WILL have a meltdown.

Oh, it looks like you already answered that where it just looks like it's a fastpass. That's good. I can explain the fastpass system to DS and he'll be fine. He's just very black and white about rules and following them. If he knows that's the rule, he's ok.
 
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Figgy1

Well-Known Member
It says it's supposed to reopen in the summer, but it doesn't give a date. I'm guessing it will be open by the time we go there at the end of July. I've never been on it and I'm afraid of heights, but I kind of want to see it anyway...so I'm wondering, I know you are in a seat kind of like a chairlift, right? How high up are you actually and are you strapped in pretty well? Does it feel sturdy?
You'll be fine and like others have said if it gets bad close your eyes and hold your dh's hand. BTW it's already closed so it should be open before you get there. They'll want to have that and Frozen open for the summer rush starting mid June.
 

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