- Joined
- Aug 23, 1999
To request a GAC, go to Guest Services in any park with your child. You need to be able to explain your needs/problems to the CM. You don't need a lot of complicated medical terms (the CMs are just regular people, with no particular medical information backround). You also don't need documentation, although some people feel better asking for a GAC if they have something that explains their need. What is not helpful is a doctor's letter full of medical jargon or a prescription that says "Let Little Timmy get on the rides without waiting."littlesuitcase said:
The GAC that you get in one park is valid in all parks (though I have been told that you need to go to Guest Services in the water parks if you need a GAC at the water parks). The GAC is usually issued to be good for your entire length of stay for up to 6 people (5 plus the person with a disability).
They used to give a little GAC 101/ Basic GAC Etiquette talk when they gave out the GAC. I don't think they do that anymore, but the main points were:
- The GAC is meant to provide accomidation necessary for someone to be able to ride, not immediate access or better access than the general public without special needs.
- If fastpass is available and you are able to use it, you should use it as much as possible/practical. (Always look at what the standby wait is too. We have been on attractions where the CM by the fastpass machine was basically begging people to get in the regular line because it was very short, but people were so "into" fastpass being the only way to do it that they were getting fastpasses for 2 hours in the future and then standing there trying to figure out what to do in their 2 hours).
- The GAC is issued to the person with a disability and is for their use (can only use it for rides/attractions the person the GAC is issued to will be going on).
- If the wait in the standby(regular) line is 15 minutes or less, use the stand by line. (Keep in mind that the signs that tell what the wait is are counting the wait from the point where the sign is. So if the line says 15 minutes, but everyone in line is way farther into the ride than the sign, then your wait will be less than 15 minutes. If the line extends outside the ride way past the line, the wait will be much more than 15 minutes). The CM at the ride entrance can answer questions for you about how long the wait will be.
- Exactly how the GAC is handled may not be exactly the same on every attraction, or even on the same attraction at different times. Something they call "operational considerations" might make a difference in how the GAC is used. "Operational Considerations" include things like how much staffing they have at the time, how many cars are operating at the time and how many other special needs people are already on the ride/in the waiting areas (there are fire safety/evacuation rules about how many special needs people can be inside a ride at one time).
- Even though you are using a GAC, there may be additional wait time (over and above what someone waiting in the regualr line would wait) if a special spot or special car is needed (For example, we have gotten to Little Mermaid to use our fastpass and all the wheelchair seats were already taken, so we had to wait for the next show).
- Even though the GAC is "valid" for up to 6 people, there may be times when you are asked to split into smaller groups (for example, if the waiting or seating area is small, there may not be room for your whole group there).
- If the standby line has a long wait, you may be asked to come back later (more "operational considerations").
There is always a general level of people at WDW, but we have pictures from all the parks that we took during "slow" seasons where there is not even one person visible in our pictures.
DH and I went in July by ourselves (July is definately busy season) and DH took my older DD, neice and nephew to MK in March (right at the height of Spring break). By going early in the morning, we were able to go on everything with hardly any wait at all. The parks start getting busier after 10:30 or so. If you get there before that, you can go on many things without waiting at all.
Also, some of the things that are a long wait around the middle of the day, may have minimal wait later in the day. A prime example of this is Spaceship Earth at Epcot. Because it is the first thing people see when they go into the park, a lot of people get right in line. So, the lines early in the day may be 1 hour. If you wait until mid-afternoon, you can often walk right on.
And for Suzy, the CMs say the WDW strollers can hold up to a small 12 year old (I have seen some pretty big kids in them, but I haven't actually seen any adults yet - I will have to keep my eyes out).
