Question about accesibility to rides

[Welivefordisney]

My son has been granted a wish from the Sunshine foundation and we are heading to Disneyland in October 2006. He is in a wheelchair and I have some concerns about his ability to ride many of the rides. He is six years old and in a wheelchair (he has no feeling from his hips down). Have you ever been to disneyland or have any information about transferring onto the rides? Specifically, do any of these rides hurt you in any way?

 

[SueM in MN]

Have you ever been to disneyland or have any information about transferring onto the rides? Specifically, do any of these rides hurt you in any way?

Could you be a bit more specific about what you mean? I'm not sure what you mean by "hurt". Do you mean are the rides rough and move around or are you asking about the type of seat?
Thanks, that would help a lot.

 

[SueM in MN]

My son has been granted a wish from the Sunshine foundation and we are heading to Disneyland in October 2006. He is in a wheelchair and I have some concerns about his ability to ride many of the rides. He is six years old and in a wheelchair (he has no feeling from his hips down). Have you ever been to disneyland or have any information about transferring onto the rides? Specifically, do any of these rides hurt you in any way?

Here's a link to the Disneyland Guest Services webpage for guests with mobility disabilities. It includes a list of attractions that are wheelchair accessible where he would be able to stay in his wheelchair for the entire attraction, those where you have to transfer to a ride car (but could bring the wheelchair close to the ride car) and those that you need to be ambulatory for.
If you click on each attraction, you will get a link to a description of that attraction and how you access the attraction.
Here's a link to the height requirement for different attractions. In our experience at WDW, they will ask you how tall your child is if he can't stand and will take your word for his height if he looks tall enough. I would imagine they would do the same at DL.

 

[Welivefordisney]

I am trying to figure out a way to explain this.... Since my son does not have the use of his legs, are there any rides that should be avoided for fear that he might not be able to hold on. I still am not sure if I am explaining myself.... sorry about that

 

[BillSears]

I am trying to figure out a way to explain this.... Since my son does not have the use of his legs, are there any rides that should be avoided for fear that he might not be able to hold on. I still am not sure if I am explaining myself.... sorry about that

I can't speak for your son but I have no use/feeling from the bottom of my ribcage on down. I've always felt safe on all rides at WDW. Keep in mind I'm an adult with very good arm strength though.

 

[SueM in MN]

I am trying to figure out a way to explain this.... Since my son does not have the use of his legs, are there any rides that should be avoided for fear that he might not be able to hold on. I still am not sure if I am explaining myself.... sorry about that

I think a lot depends on his balance and upper body strength.
We have not been to DisneyLAND with our DD, but she has been on some pretty wild rides at WDW. She has cerebral palsy and has trouble with sitting when she gets exited. The only one she had a problem with at WDW was Primeval Whirl, where you are on a roller coaster that also spins at the same time. She could not brace herself with her legs and ended up almost slipping out.

 

[CDoobee]

Hi! I am confused about the access to Universe of Energy. I have a motorised chair, but I am able to tranfer into the ride vechile. Do to this new rule about motorised wheelchairs on the ride, I am not sure if they will let me transfer.

Ashley

What is this about? Is there somewhere I could read about it? My DD33 recently passed away (in May). She had Osteogenesis Imperfecta (brittle bones) and was very tiny. She used a motorized wheelchair and for obvious reasons didn't go on any type of rough ride. She couldn't even ride PoTC due to the drop, or the safari at AK, due to the roughness.She was able to go on some rides using her motorized chair, even when the guide book stated she would need to transfer to a manual chair. I know she stayed in her chair for Universe of Energy, when did this change?

The CMs even tried to get her on a wheelchair accessible carpet at Aladdin's Carpet Ride (don't know the exact name as we always call it Madden's Alaggic Carpet Ride) at MK, but unfortunately, her chair was just a tiny bit too big for them to be able to close the door.

She had a problem with the CMs not letting her in Alien Encounter (this was on her last trip in 2003), even though she had done it several times in the past. There was a section in the back for wheelchairs and she would just back up there and pull the shoulder thing down as far as it would go, even though it was too high for her to hear everything. But this time they wouldn't let her.

 

[amycishere]

Do you know if they are strict about the manual chair rule? I have a small electric chair and my sister to help me transfer. I REALLY want to do some of these that say manual chair. I am very tiny. Can I ask my concierge planner to find out about it?

Edit: After seeing all these replies it seems as though they are flexible which makes me feel better!

 

[kaytieeldr]

Welivefordisney: Let me try to remember (I've only been to Disneyland once, but...) first, as others have pointed out, as long as your son can hold on with his hands where necessary, he should be fine. Note that Mulholland Madness at California Adventure is very similar to Primeval Whirl. Space Mountain is great - instead of three-person vehicles those each seat between eight and twelve people (it doesn't vary, I just forget). But what makes it great is that they can move a ride vehicle off-line, aka off the track - so there's no time restriction on boarding. Also, while it turns out I didn't need it, I was told the same could be done on the Matterhorn.
Note that while, just as at Walt Disney World, as many ride queues as possible are wheelchair accessible, the ones in FantasyLand generally aren't. Just look for the wheelchair symbol with an arrow sending you in the right direction, or ask any CM.

amycishere: It's not actually a matter of being strict or not - it depends whether your chair will fit in the space allotted. I know at Ellen's Energy Adventure, the wheelchair Guest can roll up a ramp right into the ride vehicle. A wheelchair will fit; an ECV won't; a power chair may or may not, depending on its size.


eta - couple of attractions I didn't notice mentioned.
ºOº Splash Mountain does have stairs to get to the loading area BUT also has a wheelchair 'diversion'. Follow the path with everyone else until you come to a gate with the wheelchair symbol and a CM.
ºOº Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse is entirely NOT wheelchair accessible. There are many, many stairs.
ºOº Jungle Cruise requires two big steps down, onto the seat then the floor, and the reverse. However, there IS one boat that it wheelchair accessible - the Guest remains in the WC/ECV and boards via a temporary ramp.

 

[amycishere]

Ok, thanks so much, maybe I could fit both manual and electric chairs in the van, or maybe my sister could carry me part way in the attraction so my chair wouldn't be an issue? Could I call with the dimensions of my chair? I am DETERMINED to make this work LOL.

 

[SueM in MN]

Ok, thanks so much, maybe I could fit both manual and electric chairs in the van, or maybe my sister could carry me part way in the attraction so my chair wouldn't be an issue? Could I call with the dimensions of my chair? I am DETERMINED to make this work LOL.

Calling with the dimensions of your chair would not do any good because WDW doesn't really have anything/anyone that information would mean anything to.
For most attractions where a transfer is needed, you can pull the wheelchair very close to the ride car (often even touching the ride car). Most times, where it talks about steps to get into a ride car, it's not steps like stairs, it's steps similar to lifting your feet over the side of a car or tub.
My DD can't stand up by herself, but over the years, she has ridden almost everything at WDW except for the roller coasters. For the attractions that require a transfer, we either lift her in or so a stand and pivot.

There are a couple of threads that will help you in the disABILITIES FAQs thread. They are in post number 3 of that thread and are sort of 'highlighted' as travel with a power wheelchair.

Are there specific attractions you are interested in that we can help you with?

 

[allie_to_you]

My DH is in a wheelchair and the only way he can transfer is to bring his wheelchair right up beside (parallel) with whatever he is transfering too (i.e. the car, bed, etc.). For rides like BTMR and Spaceship Earth, is the door wide enough so that he could just do a sideways transfer?

I think that with Soarin, if they let us go in a give us a couple minutes, I could help my DH transfer to that.

I know he can't do any kind of transfer where he has to lift himself up and over and then back up and out and I'm not strong enough for that kind of assistance for him.

We've been to Disney twice together and while there are a lot of things we do get to do together, I wish there were a few more things I could help him do so he doesn't have to miss out.

 

[SueM in MN]

My DH is in a wheelchair and the only way he can transfer is to bring his wheelchair right up beside (parallel) with whatever he is transfering too (i.e. the car, bed, etc.). For rides like BTMR and Spaceship Earth, is the door wide enough so that he could just do a sideways transfer?

Spaceship Earth is being renovated right now, so the ride car might change when it re-opens. The cars had a fairly narrow opening and it did not open wide enough to do a parallel slide onto the seat.
We can't take DD onto BTMRR, so I don't know if they have a ride car with a wider opening. There are a number of DIS posters who have paraplegia who have ridden it and can give a better answer.

I think that with Soarin, if they let us go in a give us a couple minutes, I could help my DH transfer to that.

Soarin is in a big room with sets of seats in rows. You wait in the 'preshow' area, separated out into rows to correspond with the rows/seats in the theater. During the preshow, you will see people filing into the seats, sitting down and fastening their seat belts. That should help you a bit with planning.
You enter the theater in lines and are led to your row by the CM. The rows are at least 6 feet apart, so you have a lot of room in front of the seat to manouver the wheelchair however it works best for you. There should be plenty of time. The CM for each section does not give the 'all clear' for the attraction to begin until everyone in that section is safely seated with seatbelt fastened.

 

[BillSears]

My DH is in a wheelchair and the only way he can transfer is to bring his wheelchair right up beside (parallel) with whatever he is transfering too (i.e. the car, bed, etc.). For rides like BTMR and Spaceship Earth, is the door wide enough so that he could just do a sideways transfer?

I think that with Soarin, if they let us go in a give us a couple minutes, I could help my DH transfer to that.

I know he can't do any kind of transfer where he has to lift himself up and over and then back up and out and I'm not strong enough for that kind of assistance for him.

Spaceship Earth is being renovated right now, so the ride car might change when it re-opens. The cars had a fairly narrow opening and it did not open wide enough to do a parallel slide onto the seat.

I spoke to a CM at the exit last month about this. She seemed very knowledgeable about the rehab and even knew about how hard a transfer Spaceship Earth is because of how narrow the opening is. She said that there were no plans to change the opening of the car, not even changing one of the cars to make it easer. She said that they had wanted to do this but Seiman's the people sponsoring the update didn't want to spend the extra to update the cars.

BTMR does have a special car with a wider opening but it does require dropping down about 6 inches to get to the seat. Here's a picture of it. I do a 2 step transfer. First from the chair to the pad on the side of the car then slide down to the actual seat.

If you're up for a bit rougher roller coaster that's still not too rough Expedition Everest is a very easy transfer. It involves a straight transfer to the side without ups and downs. I'm not sure how much time you have to transfer though but I'm guessing they have it worked out for people who take longer to do the transfer.

 

[SueM in MN]

I spoke to a CM at the exit last month about this. She seemed very knowledgeable about the rehab and even knew about how hard a transfer Spaceship Earth is because of how narrow the opening is. She said that there were no plans to change the opening of the car, not even changing one of the cars to make it easer. She said that they had wanted to do this but Seiman's the people sponsoring the update didn't want to spend the extra to update the cars.

Thanks, Bill.
As I understand the ADA, if they change the boarding or exit area, the ADA would require them to make reasonable efforts to make at least one ride car more accessible.
If they don't touch the boarding or exit, then the renovation is likely going to be considered "cosmetic" and they don't need to make any changes to the ride car.
It does seem like it would not be all that hard to redo a couple of cars to make a wider opening though, so I'm with you on the

 

[goingroundthebend]

hi kn ow old thread but cna anyone tell me how many of the childen rides are accesiable , ds cna mange a few steps but i can not but can self transfer and throw myself about a bit if needs

 

[SueM in MN]

hi kn ow old thread but cna anyone tell me how many of the childen rides are accesiable , ds cna mange a few steps but i can not but can self transfer and throw myself about a bit if needs

That’s OK. It does have some very good pictures, although some things have changed since this thread began.

For more information, you can look on the disABILITIES FAQs thread, which is located near the top of the thread list for this board. You can also get there by following the link in my signature.
On page 2 of that thread, there are several posts about access for the rides in the individual parks. I think it is posts 18-22. Those posts will tell you which attractions have a wheelchair accessible car, so won’t require a transfer at all. They also indicate which attractions require a transfer and whether it is a step down or not - sort of how difficult a transfer it is.

It would be helpful to have more information about which parks you are asking about. If you want to list the rides you are interested in, that would also be helpful since what one person calls a children’s ride may not be what someone else calls a children’s ride.
I do have pictures of the ride cars for most attractions at WDW - I don’t have all of them posted, but if I know which attractions you are interested in, I can post a picture or 2.

ALSO - it would helpful to know the age of your child because for some attractions, a small child may need help getting in. And, it would be helpful to know if it will be just you and the child or someone else who can assist you. For some of the ride cars, it is possible to get close and then sort of ‘throw yourself about a bit’ to get in, but gravity is helping with the getting in part and it will be harder getting out, especially if you have no one who can help you.

 

[JoannaOhio]

When we last visited WDW in 2005, my son-in-law was able to wheel aboard one of the boats at "It's A Small World". (Transferring is out of the question without the use of a Hoyer lift - LOL). We're coming again in 2012, and the current list seems to indicate that a transfer is required for Small World. Please say it isn't so.

Joanna (from Ohio, but now in Virginia)

 

[kaytieeldr]

It isn't so.

Small World has a wheelchair-accessible boat. See the FAQ 'sticky' at the top of the list of threads on this board for more (tons more) information!



eta: the boards are acting up again. I'm answering the post after mine

 

[SueM in MN]

When we last visited WDW in 2005, my son-in-law was able to wheel aboard one of the boats at "It's A Small World". (Transferring is out of the question without the use of a Hoyer lift - LOL). We're coming again in 2012, and the current list seems to indicate that a transfer is required for Small World. Please say it isn't so.

Joanna (from Ohio, but now in Virginia)

Small World is WHEELCHAIR accessible, but guests using ECVs may need to transfer.