I am visually impaired and use a GAC with the same stamp so I can see the Aladdin show up close. I attended WOC May of 2012 so it's been a while and the CM's may now handle it differently but this was my experience...
They had no idea what to do with me. I was passed from one CM to another until they finally put me in the HC section which was awesome because I was right up at the rail and could see everything perfectly. The downside was that we did get wet at one part of the show (which really wasn't that big of a deal but hair was damp) and I had to stand in front of people in wheelchairs. I would have gladly stood behind someone but by then the HC section was packed and we couldn't move around much. Believe me, I felt really bad.
I also saw WOC in October 2012 but I went with my huge family so I stayed with them. We were standing along the rail in the blue section closest to the water to the far right. I felt so disconnected with the show because I couldn't see it very well.
Honestly, if I can't get the up close spot then I'd rather skip the show altogether. It is very frustrating to see a show when you are only seeing blurred shapes/colors.
I will be going to DCA on October 10th and with just me and mom (who hasn't seen the show yet) so I do plan to get a FP and get to my section early so I can find that prime spot. I would not stand in the HC section again though just because it's not fair to the people in the wheelchairs.
the part I bolded has been our experience with Disney and the visually disabled. often it is thought either you can see, or you are totally blind... so therefore we have braille guides, and audio descriptions.,etc.
we had a similar experience with GAC for front of shows and Illuminations at Epcot.
the only area set up for "handicapped" was basically meant for wheelchair/ecv users. we were tole we could use this area, but edon't stand in front of wheelchairs. when I askded what areas were set aside for those with low vision, I was basically told "um, none".
so we went in, and the wheelchairs were about 5 rows deeps. my husband and I stood behind the last row of wheel chairs.
now, this "handicapped" area (which really was only a wheelchair/ecv area) was farily large, so there was a huge gap between us, and the back rail . there was a family back there. there was a man and woman in ecvs, and a whole bunch of others, laning back on or sitting on the back rails.they came up to us and asked us to sit on the ground, as we were blocking their mom and dad in their ecvs. I explained that my husband did have a GAC, fo vision issues, and they said "well, they are in wheelchairs!"
but they wanted to be in the back so the standing people in their party had the rail to lean back on.. now how could we stand
behind the ecs when they were already as far back as you could be?
I'm sorry, I didn't feel bad at all when . about half way through the show, mu husband couldn't "squat" anymore and I told him to just stand, and if they wanted to move up, we would stand behind them.
so. long story short, Disneyworld doesn't provide accomadations very well for those with low vision. and I'm not surprised to discover the same is true for Disney land and DCA. so sad.
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we will get fast passes and try to get near the front. I was jsut hoping since this was a relitivey new show, they would have considerd other disablities besides "wheel chair/ECV areas"
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16 Days
