Wheelchair Abuse

[DisneyFreak529]

My big gripe comes when their entire party can number 6, 8, 10+ and they all get to go thru the handicap line. I've always felt Disney should add the policy that the wheelchair and 1 companion can wait at the handicap entrance while the rest of their party goes on the queue.

That won't be fair either. People want to be as close to there family as possible. I don't want to be with one, I want to be with my whole family!

 

[dave2822]

How about we just let this thread go ...


There is nothing else to say that hasn't been said in the last 17 pages, no story that hasn't been shared in some other variation, and no "personal attack" that hasn't been fought.

Like pool hopping and monorail expansion, this thread could go 25 pages and no one's minds will be changed, nor will anything be solved.

 

[barnum42]

My big gripe comes when their entire party can number 6, 8, 10+ and they all get to go thru the handicap line.

I will assume you have not read the rest of this thread (given how many pages it's run to I in no way blame you) so I will repeat the post I have made numerous times:

THERE IS NO HANDICAP LINE. If you are in a wheelchair you wait alongside everyone else for the majority of attractions.

To read the truth about wheelchair access read the detailed thread I posted last year:

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.php?t=42507

 

[barnum42]

Like pool hopping and monorail expansion, this thread could go 25 pages and no one's minds will be changed, nor will anything be solved.

If I've been able to inform just one person that there is no magical queue jumping facility for wheelchairs then it will have accomplished something.

But you are right - This thread is stuck in a never ending cycle.

 

[dvcnut39]

I know I'm wrong, but I would like to think that these people actually need the wheelchairs. For example, they have bad enough medical conditons to warrant the use of the wheelchair, but have never gotten one for full-time use. I do know people like this. They are so proud! I have a very hard time convincing them that they need to use a wheelchair while at the parks. My wife one measured how far we walked at EPCOT during one day- 9 1/2 miles.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

This thread is stuck in a never ending cycle.

I thought it was stuck in a wheel chair.

but is it a cycle of despair

 

[Thrawn]

If a wheelchair is being abused, it can call its local chapter of the ACLU or wheelchair rights advocate.

 

[disneygirl_wdw]

People need to watch what they say or what they wish for as you never know when they might slip and twist a knee or ankle while on vacation and not be able to get a wheelchair because they have no proof the really need it.

I agree with this. I have been walking down Main Street and stepped on some tracks in the street the wrong way and twisted my ankle and knee. Now I walk on the sidewalks. I was on vacation and didn't need to see a doctor, but I couldn't walk or stand very long. But since it happened on vacation I had no proof of my injury. Also, during high school I injured my knee and a few times I went down, this would be months to years later my injuries would flare up and the last few days I would need a wheelchair because I wasn't able to stand or walk for long periods of time.

 

[robynchic]

I saw an example of that a few weeks ago. A woman tried to say that her son was handicapped and tried to cut in line to see Donald Duck. The attendant said "I'm sorry, but unless you have a Guest Assistance card, we cannot let you cut the line. Our line is ADA compliant." Then the woman had the audacity to say "So why do some families with children that look perfectly healthy get to cut the line?"

That irks me when people don't notice "Give Kids the World" or "Make-A-Wish" pins on a family. Or they do, and make some kind of rude comment about it. I wish more of them realized that the child is suffering from a life-threatening illness or a condition that alters the child's quality of life.

 

[Thrawn]

I don't have a problem with the wheelchairs - I always assume that there's some need for it, and I'm not one to judge..... My big gripe comes when their entire party can number 6, 8, 10+ and they all get to go thru the handicap line. I've always felt Disney should add the policy that the wheelchair and 1 companion can wait at the handicap entrance while the rest of their party goes on the queue. When the rest of the party reaches the loading area, then everybody can load up together. Recently though I've seen queues being widened so that wheelchairs can go thru them too. I think I've heard mention of party limits of 6 for a wheelchair.
Just a thought....

Please post in the default font and color. It makes it easier for everyone. Thank you.

 

[Avenger23]

Like pool hopping

People pool hop?!? :hammer:

 

[LoriMistress]

The OP was being less than factual in that you don't get to jump queues. I've spent two trips of two weeks each with a wheelchair user.

Looking at the rides they claim let them jump the queue:

I've not gone on Space Moutatin with her, but from other posts it appears wheelchair users get a pass to come back at approx. the time it would have been had they waited in standby.

On Splash Mountain you wait in the same queue up to the bottom of the steps when you peel off to the off-load platform, so you do save a little time there.

on Pirates you wait all the way in the same queue.

Haunted Mansion you have to wait by the hearse until either there is a free CM to lead you to the off load area (you end up missing the stretch rooms) or there are enough wheelchair users in a group for them to be led through a back door to the stretch rooms. All of which takes longer than the queue.

Can't comment on Small World, but the wide ramp indicates it would be like Piarate - wait in the same queue.

Also they make no mention of the rides where you wait in the regular queue then have to wait longer at the front for wheelchair access, or the attractions you get turned away from because the wheelchair spaces are all full.

What does your post have anything to do with my comment to someone else? Why don't you use your speech to someone else who is complaining about using a wheelchair for the purpose of "getting on the lines faster." My thread was directed towards people (and towards a particular person), that complains about people who abuse wheelchair privilages but they do the exact same thing that they're griping about. Your point to your comment towards me was..? (And to let you know, I'm not being sarcastic...I just don't understand your reasoning to make a post towards me that has nothing to do with the subject that I was discussing.)

 

[DisneyFreak529]

This thread is stuck in a never ending cycle.

I second that! Lets just call it quits on this one!!

 

[wdwishes2005]

bump to bump down white pride thread

 

[TheDisneyGirl02]

Ok, I know i have not been on this site for very long now, but I feel I deserve my one chance to rant. I just got back from a week at WDW (my 21st time there) and I have never seen so much abuse of the wheelchair. I watched in amazment as a family of 6 rolled their way right on to Space Mountain in rented wheelchairs. I later saw the same family roll their way onto Buzz Lightyear, no wait, just went right on. I also saw other families with rented wheelchairs just roll onto other various rides and it really makes me mad to see people abuse this. So you know what I did, I rented a wheelchair for just a day to see what would happen. I was able to get right on Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Pirates, HM, and IASW. I was really upset that someone like me, who is not handicapped or paralyzed in any way, was able to just get a wheel chair and abuse it. Now, I understand that some people have a legitamate reason to get them, but I do notice people that are truly handicapped bring their own wheelchairs (my uncle does when he goes and he's paralyzed from the waist down).
I think that Disney should rethink their renting of the wheelchairs to just anyone. I think that if Disney is just going to rent out a wheelchair, then that person shouldn't be allowed to just get on the ride. Now if a person is legitamately handicapped, then they should be allowed that right. I'm sorry to go on for so long, but I am not trying to be mean in anyway . I just get bothered by people abusing something. I am just trying to see if there is anyone else who sees it other than me or my brother. My uncle sees it when he goes and he gets offended by seeing people that abuse it. Ok, now i'm done.

Any one care to comment?

I personally had to be in a wheelchair for most of the three days we were just at Disneyland. I ended up in the ER twice last week before we arrived at Disneyland because I had altitude sickness and a severe asthma attack. I had a hard time walking a few feet and even getting out of a car was an effort. We got a wheelchair for me at Disneyland (even though I promised myself that I would NOT be in one even if it killed me). I didn't have the strength to stand in the lines because my breathing was so bad. Not only was I having problems breathing, my mom had bronchoitus (I can't spell tonight, just ignore me) and my twin sister hurt her knee very badly so we all could have used a wheelchair. I didn't want to be in a chair while at Disneyland, thankfully by our last day my breathing had gone back to normal to the point tha I was able to walk all day without it. We are not one of those families who rents a wheelchair just to get on the rides first. As a matter of fact, we got in line for HM and had to back track because there were steps in the queue.

I understand that many people do take advantage of the wheelchairs at the parks, but there are many people who do need one while at the parks who may not appear to be handicap.


TheDisneyGirl02

Sorry to keep this thread going guys, but I just had to add it since I was just at Disneyland less than a week ago.

 

[barnum42]

What does your post have anything to do with my comment to someone else? Why don't you use your speech to someone else who is complaining about using a wheelchair for the purpose of "getting on the lines faster." My thread was directed towards people (and towards a particular person), that complains about people who abuse wheelchair privilages but they do the exact same thing that they're griping about. Your point to your comment towards me was..? (And to let you know, I'm not being sarcastic...I just don't understand your reasoning to make a post towards me that has nothing to do with the subject that I was discussing.)

I was pointing out that the the original poster was not being truthful about being able to jump queues by hiring a wheelchair. That they claimed to have done so appeared to have rightly annoyed you.

All I wanted to get across is that there is nothing to get annoyed about as the whole "wheelchair is an automatic pass to the front" thing is a myth.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

All I wanted to get across is that there is nothing to get annoyed about as the whole "wheelchair is an automatic pass to the front" thing is a myth.

Unless its a man using it then its a mythter

 

[barnum42]

Unless its a man using it then its a mythter

Or the man is in charge, then it's a marthter

 

[weluvtink]

It's sad because these people don't realize they aren't going to get on the rides much faster then everyone else and it's a pain to push those things around all day.


READ my post and youll see that not everyone who pushes a child fits this bill some of our kids really cant walk that much in 1 day....just responding to your post since it fits my situation :lookaroun

I fully understand that some kids can't walk for long periods of time. I was referring to lazy kids who don't want to walk.

When we had to use a wheelchair for my mom, it was due to the strain of walking. She stood in line with the rest of us for each attraction. We didn't even attempt to use any wheelchair enterances.

 

[BonzoAPD]

After spending 8 days pushing a wheelchair (our group of 11 consisted of 4 in wheelchairs), I must say that it really doesn't save you any time. Actually most attractions you have to wait LONGER. Some attractions can only handle a certain number of wheelchair guests at one time, like Splash Mountain. And I'll guarantee that anyone in a wheelchair waits more on Buzz Lightyear than reuglar guests.

And we also must remember that alot of the people in the wheelchairs might be able to walk fine for short distances. But they just couldn't make it for an extended period of time, especially in the heat.

So just to clear things up, most places you have to wait longer with a wheelchair. Trust me, I just lived it

very well put