dislvr75 said:
SueM,
My DS6 has Spina Bifida, he travels long distances in a Convaid Cruiser, he also uses crutches and his disability is visible (he wears AFO's on both legs and he's got a tube (shunt)under his scalp near the front of his head. Even still, I have had CM's ask if we had a GAC. I think I'd tell everyone to get one just in case. I thought it was primarily for "invisible" disabilities but now I would say get one anyway. Has anyone else had that happen?
if what you are looking for is wheelchair accessibility, then you don't generally need a GAC. If your child requires more than just accessible lines, you won't be allowed to do more without a GAC.
Specifically people with younger children, not using traditional wheelchairs, have reportered some problems with being able to use their child's mobility device in line. A 6 year old in a Convaid Cruiser may be obviously using a special needs stroller to someone who is familiar with Convaid Cruisers, but to a parent sho has never seen one before or to a CM who doesn't have a lot of experience with them, it's just a 6 year old in a type of stroller they haven't seen before.
Anything below the waist (like the AFOs) are often not noticed by the CMs. And the shunt is probably more visible to you as a parent than it is to others (besides, not every child with a shunt would need a GAC).
So, if you don't have a standard wheelchair (one with 2 large wheels in the back), especially if you have a younger child, you may need a GAC to use it in lines.
That said, a GAC or wheelchair don't always protect against clueless CMs. We have had problems (even with a wheelchair
and a GAC) on Splash Mountain. Other people have reported the same on that ride. There is a point where the regular line (and FastPass lines) goes up a flight of stairs. Just before that, there is a chain with a wheelchair symbol on it. More than once, we have told by the CM that we need to continue along the "regular" path because if they opened the "wheelchair" chain for us, we would be missing some of the wait in line. The last time we rode, the CM would not budge and wanted us to take DD up the stairs. This was even though I explained that DD could not walk at all and that there was no way we could bring her wheelchair up the stairs (and I'm not talking about a small child in a special needs stroller, I'm talking about a 5 foot tall, 85 pound teen in a standard wheelchair). That CM finally got her supervisor, who said, "Of course", we could not go up the stairs. The original CM did make some comments (which her supervisor heard, so we didn't report it) about how it was not fair for us to "skip" part of the line.
That is the only ride/attraction we have personally had problems with or heard other people complain about.