Park at Epcot & take monorail to MK?

[JoannaOhio]

Someone from another board told me that the handicapped parking spaces at MK fill up much faster than those at Epcot. We'll be visiting MK on 12/20 for MVMCP. We want to be able to park and get to the entrance gates by 4pm, so we can have as much time as possible at MK. The person I chatted with thought it was unlikely that any of the MK handicapped spaces would be vacated by morning visitors by the time we get there, since many people stay till after the afternoon parade. He suggested that we park at Epcot (where he thought finding a handicapped space wouldn't be a problem), and take the monorail to MK.

DSIL needs a handicapped (or end) space in order to open out the ramp on his van for his electric wheelchair. Also, since we won't be able to utilize the trams with his electric wc - and I will be being pushed by DD in a manual wc - we don't want to risk having to trek a long way from a parking space.

Anybody have any opinions about this? (Some of the information I got from this other person made a lot of sense, but some of it seemed unneccesarilly alarmist and pessimistic.) I'd like to hear what the people on this board think. TIA for any responses.

 

[Talking Hands]

Who is this person who is advising you? What are his qualifications. How many times has he gone or is he a castmember. We have not really has problems parking in the handicapped parking at Magic Kingdom. In fact the place we had a problem was EPCOT in the afternoon. We were told we would have to park in regular parking and they tried to refuse to even let us go done there and let my husband unload my wheelchair and let me go myself and he would then go park the car. He then would meet me at Candlelight Processional or after at the American Pavillion. If we had not demanded a supervisor I would have missed it all together as my wlectric wheelchair would not had enough power to drive from way out and also go to the back of EPCOT after being in another park all day.

 

[seashoreCM]

The handicapped areas are located nearer the park entrance but you could still be some distance from the center aisle.

How long does it take to charge the battery? Perhaps you could bring an extension cord and plug in while you are resting somewhere in the park.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

Never, never try to jump start a car with your electric wheelchair, you could blow out circuitry.

 

[Talking Hands]

To fully charge it takes 12 hours. Do plug in at Epcot but that ormally just gives us enough juice to get back to the room at the resort.

 

[JoannaOhio]

Who is this person who is advising you? What are his qualifications. How many times has he gone or is he a castmember. We have not really has problems parking in the handicapped parking at Magic Kingdom. In fact the place we had a problem was EPCOT in the afternoon. We were told we would have to park in regular parking and they tried to refuse to even let us go done there and let my husband unload my wheelchair and let me go myself and he would then go park the car. He then would meet me at Candlelight Processional or after at the American Pavillion. If we had not demanded a supervisor I would have missed it all together as my wlectric wheelchair would not had enough power to drive from way out and also go to the back of EPCOT after being in another park all day.

Thanks for your input. As far as I can determine, the person who gave me this advice is not a castmember, but is a frequent guest at WDW. He is not disabled himself, but has a deaf & blind daughter with CP & epilipsy. I think that some of his unpleasant experiences happened when she was younger and they were using a stroller as her "wheelchair". He always stays on site, too, which is why I questioned his knowledgability about the parking situation. I think I'll try to get my gang going early enough so we'll have time to check out alternate plans if satisfactory parking isn't available at MK. If everything goes smoothly and we wind up with "extra" time, we can go visit the GF to see the Christmas decorations and gingerbread house in the lobby.

 

[Michigan]

MVCP doesn't start until 7:00 and once the park closes from the guests not going to MVCP you won't have a problem finding a parking place.

 

[SueM in MN]

I think that some of his unpleasant experiences happened when she was younger and they were using a stroller as her "wheelchair".

That may have been his problem. Some of the special needs strollers look pretty much like regular strollers, so CMs might question more.

Parking at Epcot to go to MK makes no sense.
If the handicapped parking at MK was full (which I think would be very unlikely), they would need to make some other arrangement for you. Let the parking lot CMs that you come to know that you have a power wheelchair.
If your DSIL is the driver of the wheelchair van, he's probably quite experienced in dealing with parking when the spot is less than optimal. If he's not the driver, whoever is the driver can let him out then park.

 

[Talking Hands]

Thanks for your input. As far as I can determine, the person who gave me this advice is not a castmember, but is a frequent guest at WDW. He is not disabled himself, but has a deaf & blind daughter with CP & epilipsy.

Strikes me strange if his daughter is deaf-blind that she would use an electric wheelchair. Sounds more to me that he is bashing Disney for some reason. Could you private message which board this is. I am curious.

 

[SueM in MN]

Strikes me strange if his daughter is deaf-blind that she would use an electric wheelchair. Sounds more to me that he is bashing Disney for some reason. Could you private message which board this is. I am curious.

Good point. A deaf-blind person would be very unlikely to be using a power wheelchair.