Wheelchair Abuse

[inafog]

I'm pretty angry about the people shoving the small child in the wheelchair too. Better not do it in front of me...I get pretty sharp with people like that though in general I'm not very confrontational.

OT: Christina, have a great time in Greece! I was there about 8 years ago for a month--the trip of a lifetime!

 

[markc]

A lot of people on both sides are going back and forth on this issue; but I'll take a stab at it myself here. 99% of the time, the criticisms for the wheel chair argument are fair. Chances are, if you are in need of a wheel chair due to a health issue or disability, then you will bring your own to the parks!! I doubt anybody who seriously needs one would casually leave it at home and take the risk of hiking all the way from the TTC to the MK and hoping they have one for rent.

Granted, there are some folks who have limited mobility and can only take so much walking until they are in need of a wheel chair; but I highly doubt those are the same folks who are rushing to get onto Space Mountain or Splash Mountain...two thrill rides which would most likely be unsettling and uncomfortable to somebody in that situation. Likewise somebody made a smart remark earlier in this topic that you can not tell if somebody has recently had heart surgery if they are in a wheel chair; in response to that, I think it's fairly obvious that somebody hasn't had heart surgery if they are jumping the lines for ANY thrill ride (be it Space, Thunder, Splash, Mission Space, or Test Track), because NOBODY in that condition should even consider riding such a ride in the condition they are in.

And some rather tasteless comments have been made regarding overweight people in scooters; allthough I do have to agree, that at some point, it does get rather frustrating when you are held up in the parks behind a larger person in a scooter who is 1. Slowing traffic down, and 2. Eating something they probably shouldn't. Granted, people are free to be whatever weight they want to be, so long as it doesn't effect others. If you're overweight and slowing down traffic or lines with your scooter because you've chosen to eat yourself to a point where you can no longer walk, then perhaps instead of being at the parks, you should be concentrating on a way to lose that weight so that a scooter is no longer a necessity. It may sound mean and maybe unpolitically correct, but it's what a lot of us are thinking at the end of a long, frustrating day at the crowded parks.

 

[captcanada]

That is true I believe the lines should be the same if at all possible, but I would only agree to that if the average guest would not make their rude comments or cut ahead or shove these wheelchair individuals to the side while in line.


Yes I have an individual in my family that uses a wheelchair (in fact it is my child), and I have no problem with waiting in line with everybody else. I believe that is fair, but what I don't believe is fair is people shoving past me and knocking my two-year old's wheelchair around while I am trying to manuever it. If you want to talk about people abusing things, then you might want to add the average guest who takes advantage of the underpriviledged, because they can move around faster.

Anyone who would do that to your child on purpose is vile and disghusting. And if that comment offends anyone (which I doubt it will, since the people here seem to be better than average), too bad!

 

[barnum42]

people should have to go through the normal line, no matter if they are 100 percent healthy or dying and if the line is not handicapped accessible, they should wait in the handicap line the wait time in front says. this would prevent the cheaters.

You may have missed my posts that detailed, for the vast majority of attractions WHEELCHAIR USERS DO NOT GET TO JUMP THE LINE.

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

 

[Badger Brent]

Here's our delima about wheelchair use. My DD 14 broke her leg severely 3 years ago. She now has constant knee swelling, runs with a noticable limp, and ANY gym classes, aggrivate it to the point of pain. Yes, docters have looked at it, and not much can be done. These are problems she lives with and accepts. She plays jr. high sports such as volleyball and softball. With it comes pain, but she wants to compete with her friends.

The Last three trips to the world, she gutted it out for the first two days. She was in agony and to continue the trip we needed her to have the wheelchair. We did not abuse the disable line unless it was really a long line (30 minutes or longer) We went to the first aid station, and they wrapped it and gave her some tylenol. Now the funny thing is, my DD feels bad having to use the wheelchair. Yes, she can walk when she gets out of it. But if she didn't use it, her vacation is GREATLY diminished, due to the pain.

She hates the glares from people who see her get up and walk. I feel like ripping the wrap off her knee, show people the swelling, and the scars from her breaks in her leg. But I can't dwell on people that don't understand unless they are in the same situation.

Is there abuse of wheelchairs?? Of course, but please don't think someone who appears healthy is trying to screw people to just get into the ride quicker. And don't think it's a piece of cake trying to push that chair around WDW. Look at the walking terrain sometimes, it's has more steady ups and downs than you think. I look at overweight people in the motorized scooters and wonder why they are in them. But, maybe they have bad circulation in their legs or whatever. I'm overweight, and see people who look healthier than I, and wonder to MYSELF, why are they using the scooters?? I give them the benefit of the doubt, and worry only about my daughter. If anyone ever challenges why my daughter's use of a a wheelchair, I pity that person because I will probably give them an earful. Remember everyone, two side to every story.

 

[stitchlvr]

YES READ BARNUM'S PREVIOUS THREAD!! I know for a fact as well that having a member of our group in a wheelchair did not give us "front of the line privledges". In some cases it is NECESSARY to go to the front of the line because the line itself cannot accomodate a wheelchair. But most rides now can accomodate a wheelchair all the way through, thus no line jumping necessary. Those that couldn't take a wheelchair all the way through usually involved a wait before loading, and in many cases, as Barnum stated, we ended up waiting longer than the people in line.

You shouldn't judge those in a wheelchair because you don't know their story, and someone in a wheelchair shouldn't have to spend any part of their vacation explaining why they need one. Our situation was this:

My daughter broke her foot 3 1/2 weeks before we left for WDW. The doctor agreed to remove her cast before we left she she could still perform if she felt able to, as part of Magic Music Days, which was the whole reason we took this trip. She was also able to swim, which she couldn't have done if she still had her cast.

However, she was still healing from the break and ON HER DOCTORS STRONG SUGGESTION, he did not want her doing that much walking while she was still healing. Basically our agreement was that he would take the cast off early IF we agreed to rent a wheelchair and keep her in it as much as possible.

Now, understand she was 13, full of energy normally, and especially antsy after being held back for 3 weeks in a cast, so it was not easy to keep her in it 100% of the time. We are so fortunate that she is healthy and had the ability to get up and out of the chair whenever she wanted. So I'm sure there were times she hopped out of it to throw something in the trash, or to go to the bathroom or whatever. On several occasions she left the chair to get in line for a ride, but we usually took it with us because we didn't feel comfortable leaving it (as it was stolen on one occasion). And yes, there were several occasions that her siblings rode the wheelchair, because #1, it was fun for them (what kid doesn't like that),and because #2, my oldest who we rented it for needed a break from it at times, to stretch, to be free, to be a kid (and I completely understand that most kids in a wheelchair don't have this option and it breaks my heart for them). And I think that we, as her parents, had every right to make the decision as to when she needed it and when it was ok for her to be out of it. We were the ones who talked to her doctor, who said she didn't have to be in it 100% of the time, but strongly recommended she stay in it for the majority of our trip.

Bottom line is that you shouldn't make assumptions about anyone. Maybe someone you thought was taking advantage was my daughter. Maybe that person you saw jump out of the wheelchair to throw something away was my daughter. Maybe the family you saw with 3 kids arguing about who got to use the wheelchair was my family. There's nothing worse than the last row in Fantasmic (which is where the wheelchairs sit) or the front row of Its Tough to be a Bug (3d effects are not great in the front row, but thats where the wheelchairs sit). Those are examples of specific disadvantages of being in one. Its also a huge disadvantage having a wheelchair because it slows you down going from one ride to another. Its hard to manuver in stores etc.

 

[Julius & Boobah]

I thought what happened now was people in Wheelchairs wait at the side of a line where if they have a family member/members with them they wait in line and when their able bodied family members are at the front they are re-united and ride together. I think they got too many cases of 1 wheelchair in parties of 8 were just jumpng lines.. especially if a wheelchair is rented. A lot of lines can accomodate wheelchaired guests anyways.

 

[barnum42]

I thought what happened now was people in Wheelchairs wait at the side of a line where if they have a family member/members with them they wait in line and when their able bodied family members are at the front they are re-united and ride together. I think they got too many cases of 1 wheelchair in parties of 8 were just jumpng lines.. especially if a wheelchair is rented. A lot of lines can accomodate wheelchaired guests anyways.

What happens now is what I detailed in my thread http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.php?t=42507

WHEELCHAIR USERS DO NOT IN THE VAST MAJORITY OF CASES JUMP LINES (regardless of how many in the part)

For some shows they will restrict how many of the party can sit with a wheelchair user in order to accomodate as many wheelchair parties as possible.

 

[Scooter]

I don't have time to judge whether or not people are "faking" injuries while wheel chair bound.

I'm much too busy glaring and snarling at the 10 year olds in strollers who get out of them from time to time just to push their empty stroller around and pretend they are Nascar vehicles and race through the parks playing the " I'm Jeff Gordan at the Daytona 500 " game.

 

[Chape19714]

Ok, there's something wrong with this from the start. I went to WDW with my friends, once of whom just shattered her ankle bone. It was amazing how many people had judged us as a bunch of teenagers trying to skip the lines. It was better than her walking on crutches through the park. The disney CM's couldn't have been better about it. But the regular guests were not too happy. They stepped right in front of us, and then turned back and complained that we almost ran them over! It was terrible. But the day was memerable, just like any Disney experance. It was not at all busy that day, so we didn't feel so bad using the wheelchair enterances. And Buzz is the same line, So there's no way the family could have "skipped" it. Barnum's link is correct, except for the fact Peter Pan and Snow White Have seperate lines. On Peter Pan this is a disadvantage, because our party was so split up, the last 2 boarded the same ship the first 2 just got off.

 

[disneyfreak7036]

I agree with what you said about the card. It would be different if the child who the card was for was using it but they weren't.

As for the scooter on the bus. I don't know about the rules, but could it be that you are not aloud to sit on it in the bus. I am asuming that if someone has a scooter vs. a wheelchair there are differences. Like someone who can't walk at all would not be on a scooter but in a wheelchair. Anyway, I was just saying maybe you are not aloud to stay on the scooter on the bus, and have to take a seat. And the husband should not put the bag on the seat if people are standing, that is wrong.

All other times the people remain in the scooter and are provided with a shoulder strap seat belt.

 

[UltimtMickeyFan]

I must put my opinion in about the abuse of wheelchair renting at disney. My boyfriend and I love the mouse, we have annual passes and go every weekend, rain or shine. We are appauled by the abuse of wheelchair renting. My boyfriend is in a wheelchair and it is a permanent disability, trust me he don't have that expensive wheelchair just to jump in lines. My personal opinion is that you should have a doctor's note to be able to rent one, and if you legitimately need one, you probably own one and there is no need to rent. I have to rant about this because of how inconsiderate people in todays society are of people with REAL disabilities! Also disney does have a rule for preferred parade seating it is only supposed to be one guest in the area with a wheelchair. Also for lines it is a maximum or 4 people, 5 including the person in the chair, to be able to go through the disabled entrance. I have only seen one disney cast member in a year of going to the parks enforce this rule, I feel if they have the rule they should enforce it. I will say Disney is usually the most considerate of people with disabilities but they need to enforce the rules so the fakers have a harder time getting away with it.

 

[Shaman]

Three words:

GET OVER IT

(no sense in getting worked up about this, because there's nothing we can do about it)

 

[barnum42]

Barnum's link is correct, except for the fact Peter Pan and Snow White Have seperate lines. On Peter Pan this is a disadvantage, because our party was so split up, the last 2 boarded the same ship the first 2 just got off.

We only ever rode the Fantasyland rides when there were no long queues and everyone was boarding without a wait. I'd imagine that with Pan you'd still have to queue in the long area to the right of the ride and then peel off to the separate boarding entrance.

 

[mrtoad]

All other times the people remain in the scooter and are provided with a shoulder strap seat belt.

OK. I just did not know as I said. I was not sure if it were safe to have someone sit on durring a bus ride.

 

[Captain Chaos]

Tigger Rox, you complain about the abusers yet you did the same thing. What makes you any better that these people? You vent they cheat the system, yet, you did the same thing and disguise it as a TEST. That was poor judgement. Especially with your attack on the overweight. I happen to be over weight and took offense to your attack. STOP EATING THE ICE CREAM AND WALK, MAYBE YOU WOULD LOSE SOME OF THAT WEIGHT. I happen to walk all the time when I am in Disney. I am not lazy. Actually, I'll say you were the lazy one since you RENTED a WHEELCHAIR to TEST some theory. Very un-Disneylike of you. For your sake, I hope you or anyone in your family never need a wheel chair. Think before you rant.

 

[barnum42]

You vent they cheat the system, yet, you did the same thing and disguise it as a TEST.

If they really did this "Test" they would have found no advantage in most cases to having the wheelchair, so I still have huge reservations about the accuracy of the initial post.

 

[mrtoad]

If they really did this "Test" they would have found no advantage in most cases to having the wheelchair, so I still have huge reservations about the accuracy of the initial post.

When I was in High School, I "tested" smoking pot quite a bit. It was not because I wanted to get high it was because it aggravated me so much because I suspected that others were doing this and I wanted to "test" to see if I was right in that assumption. In the end I can't remember what the conclusion to my "test" was... :lol:

 

[Raven66]

When I was in High School, I "tested" smoking pot quite a bit. It was not because I wanted to get high it was because it aggravated me so much because I suspected that others were doing this and I wanted to "test" to see if I was right in that assumption. In the end I can't remember what the conclusion to my "test" was... :lol:

Oh jeez, that is too funny! :lol: I couldn't laugh out loud or my DD would want to know what I was laughing at and then I would have to explain. :lookaroun If we still had rep points you would get some. thanks for the laugh.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

WHEELCHAIR USERS DO NOT GET TO JUMP THE LINE.

what?? not even in the stunt show,

Im sure with a long enough run up......................