BookLover23
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Nov 10, 2009
I'm no stranger to the Disneyland Resort. I've been an Annual Passholder two years in a row from 2010 to 2012. I know the park backwards and forwards and know every trick in the book. I love everything that has to do with Disney and the Parks and as such, this last trip I've made, left me with a sour taste in my mouth and a disappointment that I never thought I could have.
We arrived at Disneyland yesterday, the Saturday before the start of the Diamond Celebration. It’s not that we didn't want to be a part of the new and exciting events that would come with the 60th anniversary, we just knew that it would be impossible for us to do anything in either park while we were there. Getting through Disneyland, one of the most magical and happy places on this planet can be difficult enough when you are able to use your own two feet, but when trying to navigate in a wheelchair, it’s a disaster waiting to happen.
We are, unfortunately, no strangers to using a wheelchair in Disneyland. For years we would go with a grandmother who could not walk and would need to be pushed through the parks. This was a joy for us as she was a main instigator for our Disney love and appreciation. Then there were the times that family members were recovering from serious injury and traumatic experiences and needed the time to heal emotionally as well as physically. What better place to forget your trouble than the Happiest Place on Earth? Other times, wheelchairs were needed after sprained ankles received from the hours of walking through the parks, something that was not uncommon for our slightly accident prone family. So to say we are experts on how to navigate Disneyland with wheelchairs is an understatement.
This year we arrived at Disneyland early hoping to avoid most of the crowds that were going to be coming for the next week. We understood that Grad Night would entail many school groups but we reasoned that we would be alright if we stuck to the mornings and later evenings for our rides. However, right after the park opened, when lines for attractions we 15 minutes at most, at the very first attraction, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, we were stopped by a Cast Member who had to reference her scanner to see what time we would be allowed to ride.
Disney has apparently implemented a new policy requiring people in wheelchairs and/or handicaps to “check in” at the handicap entrance to get a time where they can come back and go on the ride, even though there is no one waiting in line at the moment. We were fortunate to get to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at the beginning of the day but were unfortunately required to return to Pirates of the Caribbean two hours from the time that we arrived at the wheelchair entrance. This seemed incomprehensible to us as the regular line for the ride, if we had not had the wheelchair, was only 60 minutes long. Not only that, but the new system works like fast passes do, where you can’t “check in” to another ride until the time for you to ride the first one has passed.
According to several cast members, this new policy has been implemented to eliminate those individuals who try to use the wheelchair entrances for their own benefit by having a member of their party, who is not injured or requiring assistance, ride in the wheelchair so that they can bypass the lines. While there are those who do abuse the system meant to help those with legitimate needs, the only people that are being punished in this case are those who really need the handicap accessible areas. We were left on our own, scrambling to make the trip one that would be an enjoyable time for the person who was being singled out by the park as a nuisance that the Disney Company had to “deal” with because of legal reasons that required them to help those with “disabilities”.
We were treated like we are lying about our reasons to have someone in a wheelchair since there was nothing visibly “wrong” with them. This is completely unacceptable and I know many others who would agree with me. If an individual does not have a brace on their leg or show physical characteristics of disability, this does not mean that they do not have a physical or mental handicap, or are in need of extra assistance. Just because they don’t have a handicap hang tag or note from the doctor, it doesn't mean they don’t need help getting to and from their vehicles.
This discrimination against a woman who needed compassion and service, something that she freely gave to others, was appalling and made me very disappointed with the Disney Company. I have never felt so unwelcome at the “Happiest Place on Earth” as I did when trying to help out my good friend who was the individual in the wheelchair. I can’t imagine what it must have felt like to be the one who actually was in the chair.
Normally, we would be treated well by the park cast members but time and time again our friend in the wheelchair was treated with disrespect by those who staffed the park. When ordering at one of the cafeteria style restaurants, the server did not address my friend in the wheelchair for confirmation of her order, but our other companion who was able to stand, even when our friend was sitting right in front of the server. This was something we could not tolerate and strongly corrected the server.
When going into the line of the Haunted Mansion, they had kept the queue chains and poles up to regulate the longer lines. In an extra wide wheelchair this was impossible to navigate and we were hitting pole after pole with the wheels of the chair. Because this was part of the regular queue and not a separate entrance, the people behind us were getting irritated with the delays of rushing up to just wait in another line. My friend was embarrassed and stressed about trying to get to the entrance. She even refused to let us wheel her in all the way but chose to walk the rest of the way rather than go through the humiliating experience again, even though she knew she would be in pain.
But we were not the only ones. Everywhere we went we saw others receiving the same treatment. When returning on the tram to the parking lot we saw guests exiting the handicap shuttle at the opposite end of the unloading area as the elevators that would take them to their parked cars. They had to walk, limp across the farthest distance possible to get to the “handicap” parking that was so “conveniently located” on every level of the parking structure.
The handicapped areas for the so called fireworks, (that only lasted five minutes because they were trying to save money for their grand firework shows that will be starting next week mind you) are located right behind trees that block the view of the castle and any lower fireworks and displays that would be seen when standing. This is insult quite literally to an already legitimate injury. Needless to say we have never used that handicapped area, but located areas that have been better suited for our friends who need a clear view in front of them.
We came to Disneyland hoping to give my friend, a fellow DisBoard poster, a well-deserved vacation, three years in the making. After all of this, I am saddened with the way we were treated and this trip has made me rethink where I will be spending my next vacation.
We arrived at Disneyland yesterday, the Saturday before the start of the Diamond Celebration. It’s not that we didn't want to be a part of the new and exciting events that would come with the 60th anniversary, we just knew that it would be impossible for us to do anything in either park while we were there. Getting through Disneyland, one of the most magical and happy places on this planet can be difficult enough when you are able to use your own two feet, but when trying to navigate in a wheelchair, it’s a disaster waiting to happen.
We are, unfortunately, no strangers to using a wheelchair in Disneyland. For years we would go with a grandmother who could not walk and would need to be pushed through the parks. This was a joy for us as she was a main instigator for our Disney love and appreciation. Then there were the times that family members were recovering from serious injury and traumatic experiences and needed the time to heal emotionally as well as physically. What better place to forget your trouble than the Happiest Place on Earth? Other times, wheelchairs were needed after sprained ankles received from the hours of walking through the parks, something that was not uncommon for our slightly accident prone family. So to say we are experts on how to navigate Disneyland with wheelchairs is an understatement.
This year we arrived at Disneyland early hoping to avoid most of the crowds that were going to be coming for the next week. We understood that Grad Night would entail many school groups but we reasoned that we would be alright if we stuck to the mornings and later evenings for our rides. However, right after the park opened, when lines for attractions we 15 minutes at most, at the very first attraction, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, we were stopped by a Cast Member who had to reference her scanner to see what time we would be allowed to ride.
Disney has apparently implemented a new policy requiring people in wheelchairs and/or handicaps to “check in” at the handicap entrance to get a time where they can come back and go on the ride, even though there is no one waiting in line at the moment. We were fortunate to get to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at the beginning of the day but were unfortunately required to return to Pirates of the Caribbean two hours from the time that we arrived at the wheelchair entrance. This seemed incomprehensible to us as the regular line for the ride, if we had not had the wheelchair, was only 60 minutes long. Not only that, but the new system works like fast passes do, where you can’t “check in” to another ride until the time for you to ride the first one has passed.
According to several cast members, this new policy has been implemented to eliminate those individuals who try to use the wheelchair entrances for their own benefit by having a member of their party, who is not injured or requiring assistance, ride in the wheelchair so that they can bypass the lines. While there are those who do abuse the system meant to help those with legitimate needs, the only people that are being punished in this case are those who really need the handicap accessible areas. We were left on our own, scrambling to make the trip one that would be an enjoyable time for the person who was being singled out by the park as a nuisance that the Disney Company had to “deal” with because of legal reasons that required them to help those with “disabilities”.
We were treated like we are lying about our reasons to have someone in a wheelchair since there was nothing visibly “wrong” with them. This is completely unacceptable and I know many others who would agree with me. If an individual does not have a brace on their leg or show physical characteristics of disability, this does not mean that they do not have a physical or mental handicap, or are in need of extra assistance. Just because they don’t have a handicap hang tag or note from the doctor, it doesn't mean they don’t need help getting to and from their vehicles.
This discrimination against a woman who needed compassion and service, something that she freely gave to others, was appalling and made me very disappointed with the Disney Company. I have never felt so unwelcome at the “Happiest Place on Earth” as I did when trying to help out my good friend who was the individual in the wheelchair. I can’t imagine what it must have felt like to be the one who actually was in the chair.
Normally, we would be treated well by the park cast members but time and time again our friend in the wheelchair was treated with disrespect by those who staffed the park. When ordering at one of the cafeteria style restaurants, the server did not address my friend in the wheelchair for confirmation of her order, but our other companion who was able to stand, even when our friend was sitting right in front of the server. This was something we could not tolerate and strongly corrected the server.
When going into the line of the Haunted Mansion, they had kept the queue chains and poles up to regulate the longer lines. In an extra wide wheelchair this was impossible to navigate and we were hitting pole after pole with the wheels of the chair. Because this was part of the regular queue and not a separate entrance, the people behind us were getting irritated with the delays of rushing up to just wait in another line. My friend was embarrassed and stressed about trying to get to the entrance. She even refused to let us wheel her in all the way but chose to walk the rest of the way rather than go through the humiliating experience again, even though she knew she would be in pain.
But we were not the only ones. Everywhere we went we saw others receiving the same treatment. When returning on the tram to the parking lot we saw guests exiting the handicap shuttle at the opposite end of the unloading area as the elevators that would take them to their parked cars. They had to walk, limp across the farthest distance possible to get to the “handicap” parking that was so “conveniently located” on every level of the parking structure.
The handicapped areas for the so called fireworks, (that only lasted five minutes because they were trying to save money for their grand firework shows that will be starting next week mind you) are located right behind trees that block the view of the castle and any lower fireworks and displays that would be seen when standing. This is insult quite literally to an already legitimate injury. Needless to say we have never used that handicapped area, but located areas that have been better suited for our friends who need a clear view in front of them.
We came to Disneyland hoping to give my friend, a fellow DisBoard poster, a well-deserved vacation, three years in the making. After all of this, I am saddened with the way we were treated and this trip has made me rethink where I will be spending my next vacation.
