Disney World on Wheels

by Lynne P. Feiz
AllEars® Guest Columnist

Feature Article

This article appeared in the June 16, 2015 Issue #821 of ALL EARS® (ISSN: 1533-0753)

Editor's Note: This story/information was accurate when it was published. Please be sure to confirm all current rates, information and other details before planning your trip.

Lynne FeizWay back in early December, when my daughter Julia first injured her heel and ankle doing a round-off back handspring in gymnastics class, who would've thought that the injury would have a major impact on our vacation plans to Walt Disney World some four months later? Certainly not this Disney Mom!

As days turned to weeks and then months of crutches, walking boots, physical therapy, aqua therapy, and a multitude of tests and doctor visits, it became clear that this injury was not going to be one of the garden variety "stay off it for a few weeks and you'll be as good as new." No, this was a lingerer. A real pain in the foot.

In mid- to late March, when it was apparent that she was destined to remain on crutches for the foreseeable future, the vacation planner in me went into overdrive. Which attractions would be accessible to her? What changes would we need to make to our plans? And most perplexing, on a vacation as mobility-intensive as Disney, how would she get around?

With special, expiring tickets purchased through Disney Vacation Club, and vacation points already allocated to our studio, we were committed to make the best of it. After all, thousands of permanently and temporarily disabled people travel to Disney in wheelchairs, ECVs (Electric Convenience Vehicles), and other mobility vehicles. Just because it was all new territory to us didn't mean we couldn't learn how to adapt, right? So as with other challenges in daily life, when handed lemons, you make lemonade. And if there's one lesson we've learned about "making the best" of things, it's that there's no better place than Disney to do it. Where else can you count on receiving a sprinkling of pixie dust to help things along? In hindsight, it was actually a terrific learning experience.

You CAN Get There From Here

While we knew she'd be fine making it into and around the airports on her crutches, including that marathon walk through Terminal B of Orlando International to Disney's Magical Express. Our biggest concerns were for after that. Some have estimated that visitors travel upwards of 10 miles a day at Disney. While I've never measured it myself, I really don't doubt those reports. As my typically sore feet can attest, it's a lot of walking! And not just while within the parks: From your resort room to the bus stop, from the bus stop to the parks, and everywhere in between, being mobile is important. So we recognized early on that her traveling on one foot with crutches was going to be very, very difficult if not impossible. We needed options.

Fortunately, there are many. For starters, Disney rents manual wheelchairs in each of its parks for $12 per day (discounted to $10 per day if you pre-pay for your length of stay, except during peak times of the year) on a first-come, first-served basis. They also rent ECVs, though we didn't consider that option for our almost 13-year-old. While I've read that ECV supplies can be depleted on some days, I'd been assured that manual wheelchairs are generally plentiful in each park, and even when park-hopping, can be obtained fairly easily even later in the day. In fact, if you park-hop, simply show your rental receipt at the second park's rental location in order to secure a replacement without paying a second time.

For in and around the Disney resorts — like at Disney's BoardWalk, our home away from home — resort wheelchairs exist and are complimentary (requiring a $315 refundable deposit), but are based on limited availability and, from what we gather, primarily meant for guests with a short-term need, as opposed to being relied upon as a constant solution. The same applies to wheelchairs found at the park bus stops — at least the ones we saw first-hand at the Magic Kingdom and Disney's Hollywood Studios. These are meant to get you from point A to point B, with point A being your resort bus and point B being the rental location within the parks to rent an in-park wheelchair or ECV.

With all these mobility aids available but not necessarily uninterrupted, we opted instead to rent a wheelchair for the length of our trip from an off-site vendor. The cost was approximately the same as if we'd rented in-park wheelchairs each day, but this way we would have unlimited use of the wheelchair everywhere we went, at all times. This seemed to be a much more reliable option for us, though others with different needs may be fine with in-park solutions. Furthermore, Disney has agreements with a specific list of featured providers who are allowed to drop off the mobility aids at the Disney resorts' bell services stands without guests being present. You return them to the same place at the end of your stay. (Non-featured providers can deliver mobility devices as well, but cannot leave them with bell services. Instead, you must be present to accept the wheelchair or ECV when it arrives and, I assume, do the same in reverse at your departure.) We chose the featured provider route, and our selected vendor had the wheelchair waiting for us upon our arrival at the BoardWalk and picked it up some time after we departed.

The World on Wheels

With our daughter settled comfortably into the rented, child-size wheelchair, and her crutches firmly secured to the back of it, we were off to our first park day: Disney's Hollywood Studios. (Hint: Take a bungee cord with you as we did; rented wheelchairs don't have a crutch-holder.) Having never pushed anyone in a wheelchair before, we 40-somethings in relatively good shape found it surprisingly easy to push over most of the terrain, given that the vast majority of walkways are flat and wide. We did find the occasional ramp or hill, but nothing we couldn't maneuver. On that first day, we took the walkway from BoardWalk to the front entrance of Disney's Hollywood Studios, breezed past bag check, and waited to be let in through the gates. With the new, broader entryways between MagicBand readers, and no turnstiles, we had no trouble fitting the wheelchair through the entrance. And, though we novice pushers had to be super-cautious not to clip anyone's heels, we found the vast majority of people to be extremely courteous and respectful — they didn't want their heels clipped either! — and allowed us the space needed to maneuver.

We made it to Toy Story Mania, which had little to no wait, and were ready for our first in-line experience. I had read that most of the lines were now "mainstream," meaning that wheelchairs and ECVs can enter the same line with everyone else, and for the most part, that's what we found. The cast member greeted us warmly and informed us that our daughter could remain in her wheelchair in the standby line, and that when we reached the next cast member just past where the 3-D glasses were distributed, we would be directed from that point. Sure enough, minutes later, we reached the point where the FastPass+ and Standby lines converge and were directed up a ramp that bypassed the stairs to the regular loading platform, through a special entrance that led to a separate platform for disability access. We were greeted warmly by yet another cast member there, who asked our daughter if she was able to transfer or if she'd like to remain in her wheelchair. She opted to transfer as she was able to hop a couple of steps. As we waited for our turn, the cast member complimented Julia on the red, white, and black ribbons she'd affixed to the handles of the wheelchair so we could easily identify it, and Julia let her know that it was actually the hair accessory that matched her gymnastics competition leotard. The young, female cast member smiled broadly and said, "Gymnastics, huh? Now, let me guess, is that how you wound up on crutches?" Julia nodded and we all stifled a laugh.

(NOTE: Some guests require Disability Access Services cards due to disabilities that prevent them from waiting in lines. I won't address that here, since our disability was solely mobility-related.)

After a short wait, the handicapped-accessible ride vehicle was available, and the track shifted and detoured the vehicle off the regular "path" and onto a separate one toward our platform. We wheeled our daughter right up to the vehicle, and she stood up, hopped a couple of steps, and was in. The cast member then took the wheelchair and told us she would park it for us, so that it would be waiting for us when the ride was finished. Afterward, we did notice another boarding guest who stayed in her wheelchair for the ride, and we stayed to observe for a few minutes and to marvel at the engineering of the ride vehicle as it "unfolded" and "disassembled" like life-size origami, to accommodate the wheelchair safely and securely. We also noticed that, unlike the regular ride vehicles that had just a pull-string in order to launch our ammunition at the targets, the handicapped-accessible car had a push-button on top of the launching mechanism, presumably for guests who could not operate the pull string.

At the end of the ride we pulled up to the handicapped-accessible loading platform to disembark, the cast member retrieved the wheelchair and pulled it right up to the ride vehicle so Julia could easily hop out, sit down, and we were on our way. As we left, we commented how easy and convenient the entire process had been, and with Disney's guidance and one successful attraction under our belts, we were confident that everything else would be just fine.

For the most part, the attractions in all of the parks worked as smoothly. While the vast majority used the same loading and unloading area, procedures, and vehicles as the mainstream line, some provided a short detour from the main line or an entirely different entry point altogether. For example, at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Space Mountain in Magic Kingdom as well as Spaceship Earth in Epcot, we bypassed the regular standby line altogether, and were directed to the ride's exit or Fastpass+ lines, where cast members were waiting to assist us with boarding. At others, like the aforementioned Toy Story Mania, The Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, and Tomorrowland Speedway, we joined the regular standby line and then veered off to a separate loading process or platform. Dumbo the Flying Elephant had a special elephant with a side door that swung open, making the entrance a bit wider to maneuver through. The Haunted Mansion, Spaceship Earth, and Buzz Lightyear were all able to slow the ride's conveyor system to make it possible for Julia to use crutches or hop without fear of falling or needing to go faster than she was able. The only exception was Peter Pan, where the cast members had no ability to slow the ride down. Julia was convinced she couldn't move that quickly, so we chose to bypass that attraction.

At shows like Festival of the Lion King and Finding Nemo: The Musical at Animal Kingdom, as well as the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular and Lights, Motors, Action Extreme Stunt Show at Disney's Hollywood Studios, special entrances and seating areas ensured us a good spot (some down front, some at the rear of the theater) where we could all sit together without her needing to transfer. In terms of nighttime shows, we didn't experience Fantasmic! at the Studios on this trip, but we did stay for the second Main Street Electrical Parade of the evening at Magic Kingdom, and the handicapped reserved area just over the bridge in Liberty Square was just about empty and available to us. Characters were sure to blow kisses or offer high-fives to her the entire length of the parade. And, while we didn't ask about the availability of handicapped accessible viewing at Illuminations: Reflections of Earth, a wonderfully kind older couple visiting with their grandchildren noticed us standing right behind them and gave up one of their coveted spots near the railing on the bridge near France so that Julia could move up and have an easy view of World Showcase Lagoon.

All in all, the trip was as magical as any we've taken, and our fears about being clueless travelers with an injury were unfounded. One point that can't be emphasized enough is this: We were never at a loss for where to go or what to do next. I'd read that we could've picked up a special guide map to each park, which would indicate which attractions had alternative entrances for guests travelling in wheelchairs, but believe it or not, we never needed one. The cast members are diligently on the lookout for guests needing assistance, and as we approached each attraction, the cast members always sought out my daughter before we needed to seek them out. They never failed to greet, direct, and assist us at every turn.

Even more remarkable was the fact that the spectacular service that Disney is already famous for really shone through. Instead of feeling like she was different or missing out, my daughter was treated like royalty. The warm and genuine greetings ("Hello, Princess!"), the friendly chit-chat ("Are you having fun today? What's been your favorite ride so far?"), and the occasional extra-special surprise thrown in ("Would you like to ride in the front or the back? It's your choice!") made her, and in turn us, feel extraordinary. And, as usual, it reinforced our conviction that, no matter what, injured foot or not, Disney is our first choice of vacation destinations.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
RELATED LINKS
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Wheelchair/Scooter/ECV FAQ

Traveling to WDW with Mobility Issues

Other AllEars.Net articles by Lynne Feiz:

A Disney Survival Guide for Parents

Navigating WDW with a Special Diet

Engaging Your Disney Senses

When Should I Take My Child to Disney?

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Lynne P. Feiz has been a marketing communications professional for more than 20 years, and an annual visitor to Walt Disney World since her first trip in 1974. Despite the frequency, she admits she still gets goosebumps when she hears those first few notes of the nighttime parade. Lynne and her husband Tony joined Disney Vacation Club in 1999 and call BoardWalk Villas their second home. Their first home is in central Massachusetts, with their daughter, Princess Julia.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Editor's Note: This story/information was accurate when it was published. Please be sure to confirm all current rates, information and other details before planning your trip.