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Wheelchairs at WDW resorts
- Thread starter harryk
- Start date
For decades no place ever charged for ketchup when you bought a burger and fries... Now some place have started. Just because something was once free doesn't mean it always will be. For some reason you want free wheelchairs and seem convinced that no matter the cost Disney should provide them to you... well I would like a new Ferrari and I'm sure if Ferrari gave me one it wouldn't actually hurt the share price of FIAT... Sounds stupid doesn't? Well it is the same thing you continually ask for when you get down to the nitty-gritty of it.
disney4life2008
Well-Known Member
This is a very good point. Specifically, McDonalds in some places charges up to a quarter for ketchup, salt, and pepper, and water cups.
flynnibus
Premium Member
So where are our reduced rates after they decide they can't offer those services anymore?
Oh yeah... the changes are to help their numbers.. not decide to elminate offerings that are simply too expensive.
This is the same stupid argument when it comes to the rest of Disney standards. People argue 'they can't do that!!' -- and blatantly ignore Disney already proved them wrong in the past. If it were simply 'its too expensive' - then there should be lots of savings opened up when that cost is removed. The argument also doesn't hold up when you look at Disney's rate of increases vs the rest of the market.
No one is expecting time to be frozen.. and be paying .25c for milk. But these reductions in services can't be justified with 'escalating prices' given the whole environment.
flynnibus
Premium Member
Not because they need to - but such choices are usually to just introduce enough pain to limit waste/abuse.
You can continue to justify your belief with whatever analogies you like, but you keep ignoring the fact we're talking about a handful of wheelchairs across the parks and resorts. No one has called for a brand new shiny fleet of them, but rather to simply maintain, repair and yes, replace with new wheelchairs when necessary. Such decisions will not lead to the downfall of TWDC, a reduction in its profits or dividends, or the downfall of capitalism. It'll be ok, really....
I guess it just isn't possible to use logic with someone that has embraced socialist values to the nth degree. Would be your own financial ruin if your neighbors started connecting their water hoses to your house when you weren't watering the lawn and using the water for their own yards? How about they start using your car to go the market when you aren't using it.... For one moment think about what you are embracing and how it would be if YOU were the one having things used or taken and not being compensated for it.
Ahhh, now resorting to insults because I'm not buying your various pathetic analogies. Excellent....
And again, for the last time (because all you truly want to do is argue the value of your little metaphors), we're talking about a handful of wheelchairs. Their associated costs won't harm TWDC or its profits one bit. And capitalism won't fall by the wayside either....
ninjaprincesst
Well-Known Member
It is not so much the free or not free it's the not available. This is the reason my parents most likely will not get to come to Disney with us this year. In the past my Dad has had to use a scooter due to back surgery and being unsteady and unable to walk for long distances, well right before Christmas he lost his right leg below the knee, so now he has to have a scooter, we have tried a wheelchair in the past and it is just too hard for someone to push the wheelchair all day, so we will need a scooter. The problem comes on the last day when you have to turn the rented scooter back in, we have to be able to get him from the hotel out to the magic express bus, you can't bring the chairs rented in the parks to the hotel, one rented from an outside source would have to be turned back in the last day just like the scooter, we will not fly with his personal wheel chair due to the fact the broke the chair the last time we tried. It would be nice if thay just had them at the resort to rent.
Don't they have scooters at the resorts to rent? I've seen them at SSR by the bell hop desk outside.
Sorry, I'm going to side with Disney on this one. Why is it that people think stuff should be provided to them free of charge? If a member of your traveling party needs one, then bring one of your own or rent one. Quite frankly, it's not Disney's responsibility to guarantee that all your traveling companions are mobile - it's that individual's. I'm sure if there's an emergency, Disney will provide one (and probably has one or two tucked away in a resort just for this purpose). Disney has handicapped accessible rooms because the ADA requires it. I don't believe the ADA requires Disney to also provide a complementary wheelchair during your stay in a resort.
Americans need to go back to accepting some responsibility for how they conduct their lives. While I feel for and understand those of you who have family members with limited mobility (my dad the last year of his life needed a wheelchair to get around due to balance problems from advanced Alzheimer, so we went and bought one for him), it's not mine or the guy down the street or Disney's responsibility to make sure your loved one can get around.
Sometimes life requires us to make difficult choices, based upon our individual circumstances. Sometimes that means there are activities we can't participate in or places we can't visit. And instead of pointing a finger at a third party and saying "you need to make this doable for me!", we need to either accept our limitations or resolve it ourselves.
For whatever reason, Disney decided it was no longer feasible to provide complementary wheelchairs at resorts. I imagine that some of them made the trip home with the guest, because no one has ever taken items from a hotel, lol. I think a $450 change for not returning that complimentary chair is pretty cheap. We rented a scooter for our trip last summer when my daughter tore a tendon in her knee and wasn't able to walk very much, even with a cane or stand for long periods. The rental company was very accommodating for our checkout time. I'm sure @ninjaprincesst, they will be happy to accommodate your father's need to be able to get from your resort room to the bus.
Sorry, I'm going to side with Disney on this one. Why is it that people think stuff should be provided to them free of charge? If a member of your traveling party needs one, then bring one of your own or rent one. Quite frankly, it's not Disney's responsibility to guarantee that all your traveling companions are mobile - it's that individual's. I'm sure if there's an emergency, Disney will provide one (and probably has one or two tucked away in a resort just for this purpose). Disney has handicapped accessible rooms because the ADA requires it. I don't believe the ADA requires Disney to also provide a complementary wheelchair during your stay in a resort.
Americans need to go back to accepting some responsibility for how they conduct their lives. While I feel for and understand those of you who have family members with limited mobility (my dad the last year of his life needed a wheelchair to get around due to balance problems from advanced Alzheimer, so we went and bought one for him), it's not mine or the guy down the street or Disney's responsibility to make sure your loved one can get around.
Sometimes life requires us to make difficult choices, based upon our individual circumstances. Sometimes that means there are activities we can't participate in or places we can't visit. And instead of pointing a finger at a third party and saying "you need to make this doable for me!", we need to either accept our limitations or resolve it ourselves.
For whatever reason, Disney decided it was no longer feasible to provide complementary wheelchairs at resorts. I imagine that some of them made the trip home with the guest, because no one has ever taken items from a hotel, lol. I think a $450 change for not returning that complimentary chair is pretty cheap. We rented a scooter for our trip last summer when my daughter tore a tendon in her knee and wasn't able to walk very much, even with a cane or stand for long periods. The rental company was very accommodating for our checkout time. I'm sure @ninjaprincesst, they will be happy to accommodate your father's need to be able to get from your resort room to the bus.
flynnibus
Premium Member
So who was disney stealling wheelchairs from.. er water from.. for the past decades?
Has anyone gotten their 'no more wheelchairs' rebate check in the mail yet?
flynnibus
Premium Member
How do you feel about wheelchairs in airports then? Are those in place too because we've gotten entitled?
I feel its more about the raping of customer service.. and the idea you should be able to pay your way through every offering. I just checked into my American Airlines flight a minute ago.. I had to decline 5 different offers of upsells just to checkin..
...or... they've simply decided its another way to tighten up the expenses. See how one can be sympathetic, or the same outcome can be nefarious?
I look at it as.. Disney used to be a leader in customer service and going above and beyond. That is what I don't like seeing eroded.
GrammieBee
Well-Known Member
You may see a scooter near the bell station for one of two reasons. Some of the scooter rental companies have an arrangement with Disney that they can leave a rented scooter with the bell man for either pick up by the customer or return to the scooter rental company. Or sometimes a scooter owner might leave their scooter there if they needed it to get to the car pick up area but know they will not need it for a short trip to somewhere like a grocery store that provides scooters.. We have done this after asking if it was all right to do so.
While it is annoying when something that was once free is no longer available or now has a price tag, I do have a problem with the thinking that when something that was complementary is no longer offered, for whatever reason, it has now become something to which one was entitled. How dare they take it away.
While it is annoying when something that was once free is no longer available or now has a price tag, I do have a problem with the thinking that when something that was complementary is no longer offered, for whatever reason, it has now become something to which one was entitled. How dare they take it away.
If you think Disney has become so terrible at customer service then feel free to let them know by going somewhere else on your vacations. You'll be as missed as a teardrop in the ocean.
And I'm sure for some the feeling would be mutual....
flynnibus
Premium Member
Are you psychic? Because that's what I've been doing. Including letting Disney know through their feedback mechanisms where I have been disappointed. So, are you going to contribute to the discussion or continue to retreat back into the passive aggression?
Me.. I'm still waiting for my windfall from the retirement of wheelchairs.. since you say it was such a cost burden.
I'm just going to try and stop trying to using logic with folks that ignore it. Pretty much the way I don't try to teach a cat to sing opera.
But hey I applaud your efforts to get change by going elsewhere.... I'm sure it will work for you and if not it just makes the park a little less crowded for the rest of us.
Logic? Like saying that those who will no longer visit are a drop in the ocean, but then state it will make your wait in line shorter? Back to the cats....
ninjaprincesst
Well-Known Member
I'm not asking for free, I'm totally willing to pay, the point is you can't even rent them now. Yes, I can and do rent a scooter for use during the trip from an outside source but those must be turned in to the bell desk on the morning of your departure. There is now no way to get from the bell desk to the magic express, the scooters you see at bell desks are rented from outside companies, yes we tried bringing his personal wheel chair from home, the airline broke it, so we had no way to get him to the car or from the car into the house and it we had to come up with the money to buy a new one because even though the airline paid for it, we could not wait to replace it, so we just don't care to go through that again. And I realize people like you think that because he lost a leg he should have to sit in the house and never leave, but if it were you or your family you would probably feel differently about that.
flynnibus
Premium Member
Logic? That's comical given your responses in this thread..
- that disney can't afford it (yet they did prior)..
- that the economics don't support this type of amenity (yet Disney has economies of scale more than anyone in this space... and Disney is reporting record numbers)
- arguments that Disney was being 'taken' by entitled socialists (nevermind that the industry is called HOSPITALITY... and a deluxe resort is supposed to offer ammenities...)
- arguments that things can't always be free - sure - but ignore what the consequences of removing those items (the costs just disappear in your world..)
- arguments that offering ammenities will lead to a slide of more and more... (uhh.. refer back to hospitality please)
- postualations that raising prices has hit a wall.. so they must trim elsewhere (yet, there is no sign of prices slowing)
- arguments that Disney doesn't really want handicap guests anyway (yet, they are the most accomodating amusement vendor around.. and why they are a popular destination for the disabled)
- postulate the removal is due to risk over stolen/abandoned chairs etc (yet ignore that people put down a deposit up front.. negating the majority of this)
That's not logic - that's throwing @%$$ out and ignoring the counterpoints that don't support your theory instead of accurately responding.
But when you are cornered.. you just go back to your good ol 'well then don't go'. The equivalent of take your ball and go home when you lose.