Wheelchair Abuse

[goofyfan13]

Front of the line? Don't think so. At SSE look as you exit. Chair users will be found in a holding area waiting for a pause due to a chair being unloaded so one or two of the many chair users waiting can be loaded. That may be 10-20 minutes and it may be at a time when SSE is a walk on for others.

I can also confirm this, my sister was really sick on NYE (nothing contagious, just had a hard time walking long distances without feeling like passing out) so we got her a wheel chair to make it easier on her since she wanted to go to the park still, with it being NYE. Most rides at Epcot had things like SSE in place. For TT we were given a fastpass, and she didn't even bother going on Mission: Space, so it didn't buy us any new time either we were found waiting in most spots. Now at smaller amusement parks, they don't have a system like this in, so I get frustrated there when I see people not have to wait in line like the rest of us, but in Disney I know they do as much as they can to make it fair for everyone.

 

[goofyfan13]

I find it very un-disney to knock another persons opinion or idea.

Did you honestly just say that? Un-Disney? Wow......

Most of your comments deserved the response they got, especially because these boards house probobly every demographic possible. So your bound to offend someone the way you posted. Your comments were not well thought out, so don't get mad at people being offended by your "Un-Disney" comments. :wave:

 

[TheOneVader]

How do you determine who has a real disability and who doesn't?

The one's who get up out of the wheelchair and throw something away right in front of you aren't handicapped. Yes, that's happened before.

 

[wedway71]

i think its fair to say the person who posted this at first doesnt have issues with people who have a true need for wheelchairs and yes it is true that noone but the person or their doctor can really know if they require the need for one.if i read the post right hes mad at people who clearly abuse the system -some one who thinks they can cheat the system by renting a wheelchair just to cut in line.there is no way of finding out if someone needs or doesnt need one but if someone is caught abusing the system like renting a wheelchair to get on a ride then 5 minutes later is caught sprinting across the park disney should confront the guest.one time i saw a guy in a wheel chair get on an attraction quickly and didnt pay any attention but 4 hours later i saw him wrestle one of his buddies on main street joking around.

 

[inafog]

My DH and I were talking about this last time we were in WDW. I think you see so many large people in wheelchairs at WDW because they do their best to make it accessible to everyone. I'm not commenting at all on why they might need the wheelchair or scooter; whether they're overweight because they are in the scooter or if some underlying problem causes both obvious effects.

I don't know that I've ever seen anyone abusing a wheelchair at WDW. But then, I'm so focused on what we're doing next and keeping children from getting lost or running out of control that I'm pretty oblivious to things like that. On the other hand we were just at the grocery store and were nearly run down by a woman with about 5 kids hanging on to the side of her cart; I did comment to my 6-year-old that we didn't want to get run down in the grocery store. I pretty much don't notice unless someone is using the chair (or scooter or stroller) as a battering ram. Now, THAT bugs me.

We are considering renting a wheelchair for my dad this trip. He's 64 and has diabetes as well as no cartilage in his knees. Complete strangers have been known to wince when they see him walking. For someone like him, we could get a note from his doctor (I'd be willing to bet he could get a HC tag for his car too). But for someone who was sensitive to the heat? I don't know how Disney could put any controls on wheelchair rental.

 

[GTOKID]

Do NOT Assume that some one in a rented wheel chair who LOOKS fine is just getting a quick trip to the head of the line!!!!! I am dating a girl who has 2 brain tumors. At times when her hair had grown back in(3 operations, Kemo-oral and intravenous and multi beam radiation) she looked fine and for a while could walk short distances....BUT we rented a wheel chair cause she has seizures with out notice. (at the time she was only having simple partials, you would not even know she was having them...she could talk but would lose left side function) Last time we took HER wheel chair since she is not doing as well .(and went on very few rides) But we watched and cried at Wishes every night. It is so good!!! I am glad we got to go. It is likely we have made our last trip together.(unless God has better plans than the Drs) When I read this post I saw RED! If people are low enuff to "play sick" to get on a ride I think that is disgusting! I HOPE they never have to go threw what we have been threw.

 

[jimmyritt33]

I feel bad that by venting our frustrations with "apparent abusers" of the system that we lump the people that truly need wheelchairs and scooters. When my wife and I were down in MGM last August we were in the little alley-way between the Christmas decoration shop and the Muppet shop there was a group of 4 guests all in scooters. They parked there scooters at the Christmas shop went in for maybe 5 minutes came out, pulled their scooters no more than 20 feet across the alley-way across to the Muppet shop. These are the people I am referring to. Maybe they have a condition that I cannot see but not be able to walk the very short distance. Oh by the way did I mention that one of the guests walked to a trash can to throw out his soda and then into the Christmas shop. I am sorry for those who need a wheelchair or scooter but these "abusers" were clearly cheating the system. Ok now call me every name in the book for descrimination!

 

[mrtoad]

and one more thing, if i see one more fat person riding in a scooter and eating at the same time, i'm going to shove a pancake down their windpipe and chase them with a steemroller :brick:

You ever think the person might be overweight because they can't walk around a lot and get exercise?

Also, do you ever eat and walk in the park? Should someone shove that pancake down your windpipe?

People should just learn not to judge others. It might help you out when you try to ender the great beyond...

 

[barnum42]

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.
Any one care to comment?

I have spent a total of four weeks pushing my Mother in her wheelchair around the parks, so I'm going to call BS on this one as I'm fed up of people trying to stir things up.

You can not jump the whole queue for Splash - only at the point where the steps appear are you allowed to peel off and head for the offload bay.

You can not jump ANY of the queue for Pirates. You wait with everyone else.

You can not jump the queue for HM. You have to wait in an area behind the hearse and when enough wheelchair users are there you will be escorted in. Alternatively after a wait you may get the option to board straight at the offload bay.

Can't comment on Space or IASW as Mother is in no condition to ride Space and IASW was down for rehab the last time we were there and there was no queue of any sort for it the previous time.

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

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

If you do not wish to plough through it, the précis is that wheelchair users have to wait in the same lines for most rides. On some rides they have to wait longer - Buzz lightyear and the Safari to name two and most shows have limited seating, often just at the back.

The only line we completely jumped was Thunder Mountain.

 

[Robfasto]

The one's who get up out of the wheelchair and throw something away right in front of you aren't handicapped. Yes, that's happened before.

With a lot of people you can not tell.... period.

My wife, can walk short distances and stand for a short period of time. She can walk part of a day without a problem. She has no proof of being disabled yet we get a wheelchair or ECV everytime we go to any theme park. The thing wrong with her can not be seen with the naked eye, she has had 2 knee operations over the last 3 years and you can not tell by looking at her that she has a problem, but she also can not stand for a long time or walk great distances without being in major pain with major swelling.

Yes she could get a paper stating she is handicapped but would rather not until it she has to as she doesn't want to feel like she is disabled (other than vacation there is no problems).

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.

 

[dxwwf3]

Oh yeah barnum I forgot about the extra wait on Kilimanjaro Safaris with wheelchairs. About 15 extra minutes for us this trip.

 

[tigger_rox00]

once again, i didn't say that people should have to have proof to rent a wheel chair. I said that they should provide proof in order to use the wheel chair to get in the front of lines. As for the post that says i'm bsing, i'm not. I thought you had to wait in line if you were in a wheelchair, but apparently not. I'm sure that it varies by who is the cm at the front of the line or at the loading point.

 

[barnum42]

once again, i didn't say that people should have to have proof to rent a wheel chair. I said that they should provide proof in order to use the wheel chair to get in the front of lines. As for the post that says i'm bsing, i'm not. I thought you had to wait in line if you were in a wheelchair, but apparently not. I'm sure that it varies by who is the cm at the front of the line or at the loading point.

Medical proof can get certain people to the front of some lines. But they must have provided medical proof.

In 28 days of touring all four parks with a wheelchair user, we were not given special treatement to jump any part the vast majority of the lines. We were even turned away from Animation Tour, Fantasmic and Festival of the Lion King because they had run out of wheelchair spaces.

Again, the my http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.php?t=42507 thread for the truth about being a wheelchair user in the parks.

 

[awallaceunc]

I keep seeing this "to get to the front of the lines" thing... wheelchairs do not grant direct access to the front of any line that I know of. Some attractions use the FastPass return entrance for wheelchair access and some have a separate entrance or queue that leads to the boarding area and there is often a room in which you wait your turn (approximately the same amount of time you would have waited in line) to board the attraction. Others have no special entrance policy of any kind. The only real "line saver" would be those that admit via the FastPass return line, and even normal guests can still schedule their day with FastPasses. Add to that the inconvenience that a wheelchair brings (i.e. they often times move through the park and its crowds much more slowly than those on two legs can, or the time it can take to transfer onto a ride, etc.), then there isn't all that much time being saved in the end. It's just a different allocation of time that is more suited to the needs of the handicapped.

The number of handicapped and/or wheelchaired guests (legitimate and otherwise) isn't enough to throw off the lines and cause huge waits for all the other guests. I've never had to wait for any significantly longer period of time due to an influx of guests in wheelchairs. So while I do understand disliking what may appear to be abuse by some guests, I don't see how it really causes any inconvenience for any of the other guests. My advice: don't worry about it. (This post isn't meant to be at all combative. )

-Aaron

 

[Irene]

i,m a big man 350lb,i need a wheel chair because i have two bad knees.not from my weight but to many fights and coming down on them. im a retired c/o and only 46,so what do you think people think when they see me in one. My Hubby gave this first answer but what he didn't say was when we went last year he jumped into the pool on the 2nd day and blew his knee out. When we rented the wheeled chairs for the remainder of the trip we waited in line with the rest most of the time. At SM we were in linetill the stairs.In PoC he parked the wheel chair and stood in line with everyone else and almost fell on the person behind us. :lookaroun The women asked why he didn't have a wheel chair he told her that he does but he didn't think waiting in line was that bad. So not everyone abuses the system. This year he has no choice but it be in a wheel chair most of the time do to the fact that he has to wear 2 acl breaces from now on both knees are done for.

 

[Disneydreaming]

I suffer from asthma, sometimes severe. If I need to rent a wheelchair during part or all of my vacation, I deserve the right to do so, without getting any of my doctor's to write me a letter stating so. Most of the time my asthma is controlled fine with meds. However there are times when it becomes worse and I NEED to not exert myself, or I will suffer severe consequences. I don't look sick, I'm 43 but look many years younger and I'm like the energizer bunny sometimes. I've never had to rent the wheelchair for my asthma yet, thank god, but it could happen. I'm leaving this Saturday for a week at WDW and my asthma isn't behaving right now. If I have to rent the wheelchair and I get any dirty looks from anyone, I swear I may punch their lights out.

The message I'm trying to convey is...stop judging people. So what if they are in a wheelchair, its none of anyone's business why they are.If anyone abuses it for the wrong reasons, it will come back at them. Karma happens.


Linda

 

[Jekyll Baker]

The message I'm trying to convey is...stop judging people. So what if they are in a wheelchair, its none of anyone's business why they are.If anyone abuses it for the wrong reasons, it will come back at them. Karma happens.

I agree - karma's truly the great equalizer :lol:

However, on the case of abusing the system, on one trip to WDW I actually saw a family with 3-4 children, and the kids were fighting over who was going to ride the scooter next.

 

[captcanada]

But you don't think it is un-Disney to post negitive threads about wheelchair users?! :veryconfu :lookaroun

The thread is NOT about wheel chair users. It is about those who "fake" something to get a chair, and then use the chair as a "VIP" pass, while taking away from those who actually need the service.

True....many who use and need the chair may not be obvious. But I suspect that 3 out of 5 people in them, don't need them and are "cheating".

Assuming I inturpreted the original poster correctly, I agree with him/her 150%.

 

[mrtoad]

The thread is NOT about wheel chair users. It is about those who "fake" something to get a chair, and then use the chair as a "VIP" pass, while taking away from those who actually need the service.

True....many who use and need the chair may not be obvious. But I suspect that 3 out of 5 people in them, don't need them and are "cheating".

Assuming I inturpreted the original poster correctly, I agree with him/her 150%.

But say you are correct that 3 out of the 5 don't need them (that sounds way too high to me) how do you know which 3 of the 5? You may catch yourself judging the wrong person. Better off just not judging at all then...

 

[captcanada]

But say you are correct that 3 out of the 5 don't need them (that sounds way too high to me) how do you know which 3 of the 5? You may catch yourself judging the wrong person. Better off just not judging at all then...

Ok...maybe 3/5 was too high. 1/5 or 2/5 (depending on the day/time of year). So...I'll agree. And at the same time...I'm not trying to judge them, I generally pay no attention to them (unless the wheelchair person is particularily attractive). And....I do not see a way for disney to enforce it. Mainly....what I am saying is....
To those who DO abuse it for the sake of abusing it (and have no need at all for it).....shame!
Do I claim to know who is who? Nope. Not at all. (unless something rediculous happens, like the do backflips onto the ride and then run a marathon cuz they have too much energy, or something like that).

I guess....to sum it up.....
Tsk on the abusers.