november trip with a wheelchair advice

Dorsetdisney · 12 Sep 17, 07:29 AM

hi all,

its been a rather difficult past year as our daughter became seriously ill and has been through hell of a lot not to mention having to cancel a booking twice! she was absolutely devastated but she is our little fighter and we cant wait to get her back to the happiest place on earth in november!

She needs a wheelchair to move around longer distances and while in queues etc. So just looking for advice really as we have been before a couple of times now and we cant remember any problem areas with a chair? We are mega disney fans and rarely leave while on holiday unless its for a bit of shopping or universal!

We use a manual wheelchair as its easy to collapse it and she loves to have her freedom when she can manage it. As this is all brand new to us we have been learning everyday on how to cope with having a healthy 14 year old, who now needs assistance with daily life

So just after some advice if there's anything we need to know while on our next trip just so we can forward plan please?

Guest · 12 Sep 17, 07:59 AM

We recently travelled with a wheelchair and couldn't have been more impressed with the facilities and access. We visited city hall on or first day and we're told that the queues are all wheelchair accessible and as my sister didn't have any problems with waiting in a queue we did not need a DAS card. Sometimes in queues we were sent a slightly different route but our whole party was always kept together. At the ride loading, my sister was always asked if she could transfer, her disability meant she generally couldn't so she didn't ride those requiring a transfer but disney really have worked hard to allow the wheelchair to load onto as many rides as possible. Flat ground through the parks and all toilets had an accessible one in.
If you have a blue badge in the U.K. You can apply for a temporary US version which allows you to park at the front of the parking lots.
Hope this helps and you have a great holiday - sounds like you deserve it 😀
P.s if you have other questions, please ask and I'll do my best to answer them

**fluffychicken** · 12 Sep 17, 09:38 AM

You need to park In The disabled area as the car park trams can't take a wheelchair. Other than that most things are accessible. If she can transfer once at the ride all rides are possible a couple have a separate wheelchair entrance ( small world and space ship earth) The only slight difficulty we had was at character buffets getting to and from then table as it was very crowded.
If you are staying on-site the buses are accessible you board first and they fasten the wheelchair down.

Gryff · 12 Sep 17, 10:00 AM

Check out a site called Rolling with the Magic a great source of info

Dorsetdisney · 12 Sep 17, 10:10 AM

Thank you very much Kj1975

, and thanks everyone for the advice and tips, yes we are staying at a royal guest room at port orleans. We will be using disney transport services during our stay so parking wont be an issue but thanks for the advice for future reference

Also she can transfer onto rides(this was one of her biggest worries) so thats good to know about the access queues etc. No doubt we will be riding "its a small world" at least 10000000 times haha as its a old favorite of our daughters!

ps, Gryff am going to check the site now

Twiggy1953 · 12 Sep 17, 11:47 AM

Book special assistance with the airline and ask if she can stay in her personal chair to the door of the plane. Also take any bits like cushion /hangers inside the plane with you. At the other end there is a special queue for wheelchairs at immigration so you get through quite quickly.
Hope you have a lovely holiday😎

johnandmaz · 12 Sep 17, 12:08 PM

Our experience similar to Kj1975 earlier post. Last year stayed 3 weeks at Boardwalk/RPR. DW was post surgery and could walk short distances - I'd say 50 yards max at the time. We have been with DD in a wheelchair/crutches a few times before.

Nothing negative to say about getting about at WDW - all so much easier than the thought of it. This time we did hire a wheelchair whilst out there instead of taking one with us. As we booked special assistance with the various airports, (we did boomerang - EM-Dublin-LGW-MCO) there was a wheelchair waiting to assist her on/off aircraft at every stage. Just figured it was a bit simpler than taking our own. Fine except for Gatwick but that seems to be a common problem there, reading other threads.

Everywhere geared for wheelchair - rides, boats, buses, resorts. Didn't obtain a DAS, as with a wheelchair and crutches, when we got to a ride, we were asked could DW embark unassisted and then shepherded to a short wait area.

Spaceship Earth for example. We'd booked a FP+. Took the wheelchair to a parking bit inside and was moved in through the exit, straight to the front of the Q without using our FP+. And there were 8 of us. Most CMs at rides seemed to be trained to recognise mobility issues (wheelchair - go figure

) and move guests to a separate waiting area that was very short.

Rides that you embark whilst moving - like Buzz Lightyear - they stop the ride for a short time whilst getting on/off. Depending on the level of mobility.

Dorsetdisney · 12 Sep 17, 03:55 PM

Originally Posted by Twiggy1953

Book special assistance with the airline and ask if she can stay in her personal chair to the door of the plane. Also take any bits like cushion /hangers inside the plane with you. At the other end there is a special queue for wheelchairs at immigration so you get through quite quickly.
Hope you have a lovely holiday😎

thanks twiggy we will certainly look into this tonight

Dorsetdisney · 12 Sep 17, 04:01 PM

Originally Posted by johnandmaz

Our experience similar to Kj1975 earlier post. Last year stayed 3 weeks at Boardwalk/RPR. DW was post surgery and could walk short distances - I'd say 50 yards max at the time. We have been with DD in a wheelchair/crutches a few times before.

Nothing negative to say about getting about at WDW - all so much easier than the thought of it. This time we did hire a wheelchair whilst out there instead of taking one with us. As we booked special assistance with the various airports, (we did boomerang - EM-Dublin-LGW-MCO) there was a wheelchair waiting to assist her on/off aircraft at every stage. Just figured it was a bit simpler than taking our own. Fine except for Gatwick but that seems to be a common problem there, reading other threads.

Everywhere geared for wheelchair - rides, boats, buses, resorts. Didn't obtain a DAS, as with a wheelchair and crutches, when we got to a ride, we were asked could DW embark unassisted and then shepherded to a short wait area.

Spaceship Earth for example. We'd booked a FP+. Took the wheelchair to a parking bit inside and was moved in through the exit, straight to the front of the Q without using our FP+. And there were 8 of us. Most CMs at rides seemed to be trained to recognise mobility issues (wheelchair - go figure

) and move guests to a separate waiting area that was very short.

Rides that you embark whilst moving - like Buzz Lightyear - they stop the ride for a short time whilst getting on/off. Depending on the level of mobility.

thank you so much for the in-depth reply, lots of great advice

nothing is going to stop us enjoying this well deserved holiday! we will look into the idea of renting a chair as originally we were under the impression that taking our own would be easier?

Would you know what happens to our chair when we board at gatwick? would we have to wait when landed at orlando for the chair to be unloaded then leave the plane last?

Guest · 12 Sep 17, 04:21 PM

We flew from stansted but my sister stayed in her chair until boarding, she was first to board at which point the wheelchair was loaded into the hold. She had to wait until last to disembark and the wheelchair was brought up to the plane door. There is a separate queue at immigration though so you don't need to worry about being 'at the back of the queue'.

12 Sep 17, 07:59 AM	#2
	12 Sep 17, 07:59 AM Guest Guest
Guest Guest	We recently travelled with a wheelchair and couldn't have been more impressed with the facilities and access. We visited city hall on or first day and we're told that the queues are all wheelchair accessible and as my sister didn't have any problems with waiting in a queue we did not need a DAS card. Sometimes in queues we were sent a slightly different route but our whole party was always kept together. At the ride loading, my sister was always asked if she could transfer, her disability meant she generally couldn't so she didn't ride those requiring a transfer but disney really have worked hard to allow the wheelchair to load onto as many rides as possible. Flat ground through the parks and all toilets had an accessible one in. If you have a blue badge in the U.K. You can apply for a temporary US version which allows you to park at the front of the parking lots. Hope this helps and you have a great holiday - sounds like you deserve it 😀 P.s if you have other questions, please ask and I'll do my best to answer them Edited at 08:03 AM.

12 Sep 17, 04:21 PM	#10
	12 Sep 17, 04:21 PM Guest Guest
Guest Guest	We flew from stansted but my sister stayed in her chair until boarding, she was first to board at which point the wheelchair was loaded into the hold. She had to wait until last to disembark and the wheelchair was brought up to the plane door. There is a separate queue at immigration though so you don't need to worry about being 'at the back of the queue'.