Universal now requiring documentation be sent to a third party for accessibility

[greeneyedchick]

Has anyone gotten their call recently? We emailed them back our trip dates for August 10th and are still waiting for them to call us.

I submitted my daughter's info the first day of this post. She was issued a temporary card. We still haven't gotten a call from Universal.

 

[wilkeliza]

I go back and forth on if this is good or not.

Uni denied my fiance's accommodation request and said he could take his medicine with him in line and hand it off to a TM at ride time. This completely ignored heat intolerance and other portions of his disability. We ended up minutes from a calling an ambulance but were able to get him stabilized and back to the room to manage his condition ourselves (not uncommon with people who have the same thing). After that experience and the fact we ended up wasting HHN and HHN express because he couldn't get day time accommodations he has swarn off Universal.

Disney on the other hand was 100% understanding of his needs and accomodations and he had a fantastic 3 days at Disney and can't wait to go back.

So if providing Drs note (which being a Vet getting VA care can take forever) would get him accomodations with out all the crap from before it would be worth it. Having it br insinuated he is lying and then have Universal not understand the actual danger someone put themselves in from trying to do with out accomodations and lack of any understanding when we wrote customer service after the fact really but a damper on that orlando trip.

 

[gottalovepluto]

…if providing Drs note (which being a Vet getting VA care can take forever) would get him accomodations with out all the crap from before it would be worth it…

The only thing different is a 3rd party now decides if Universal should even talk to you to start with. Universal never sees the note you submit to the 3rd party. If the 3rd party approves you then you still have to do the Universal interview and Universal decides if you should be accommodated or not.

 

[wilkeliza]

The only thing different is a 3rd party now decides if Universal should even talk to you to start with. Universal never sees the note you submit to the 3rd party. If the 3rd party approves you then you still have to do the Universal interview and Universal decides if you should be accommodated or not.

I was just hoping a it would have a little more weight if you had the "proof" that you need accommodations. Now if it is still a mess and doesn't help them actually understand needs then they won't get our money. We've been to enough other theme parks that understand you may need more than one accommodation but Universal legit heard his first point and nothing else and then shut him down when he tried to continue with his accommodation request. Of course when you look pretty fit untrained individuals will make assumptions and act like you can't possibly be disabled enough to need accommodations.

 

[kps7795]

I submitted my daughter's info the first day of this post. She was issued a temporary card. We still haven't gotten a call from Universal.

Have you tried contacting Universal to move the process along? If a phone call or email doesn't work, you might want to contact them via twitter. They are surprisingly responsive to guests on social media, unlike Disney who pretends that guests' social media comments don't really exist.

 

[kps7795]

Today or first day in universal.
Guest services was dealing with a lot of people that didn’t knew the proces.
When i showed the card they where happy to see that we where prepared.
It took only 2 minutes.

If you don't mind me asking, did you get a call from a Universal Team Member prior to going to the park? Whether you received a call or not, I assume that the card that you received from IBCCES doesn't change or does it? Do you get a new card that does read "Temporary" on it?

 

[Ollivier]

If you don't mind me asking, did you get a call from a Universal Team Member prior to going to the park? Whether you received a call or not, I assume that the card that you received from IBCCES doesn't change or does it? Do you get a new card that does read "Temporary" on it?

I got the IBCCES Card approval 48 Horus after applying. 4 days later I emailed universal. Standard reply that I will receive a call. 7 days later I got the call and got a case id from universal.

 

[kps7795]

I got the IBCCES Card approval 48 Horus after applying. 4 days later I emailed universal. Standard reply that I will receive a call. 7 days later I got the call and got a case id from universal.

When you say that you got the IBCCES card approval 48 hours after applying, was this the card that reads "Temporary" or something else?

 

[lanejudy]

I was just hoping a it would have a little more weight if you had the "proof" that you need accommodations.

Thing is the IBCCES card is generic and given for pretty much any/all documented disabilities.

Accommodations at a specific theme park are determined by that theme park. How a specific disability is accommodated may differ between different theme parks. So Six Flags may offer your DH “A” while Universal offers “B”.

 

[Ollivier]

Do you get a new card that does read "Temporary" on it?

The case id is now on the Card.

 

[Ollivier]

When you say that you got the IBCCES card approval 48 hours after applying, was this the card that reads "Temporary" or something else?

At that point the temporary was not longer on the card.

 

[wilkeliza]

Thing is the IBCCES card is generic and given for pretty much any/all documented disabilities.

Accommodations at a specific theme park are determined by that theme park. How a specific disability is accommodated may differ between different theme parks. So Six Flags may offer your DH “A” while Universal offers “B”.

So if the lack of accomodations was a Universal issue even with a card from the 3rd party confirming an alternate queue experience is appropriate they could still say No. So I am starting to agree with others what is the point? It won't lessen time at the window and won't prevent people who need an accommodation from being denied. The only positive is prevent potential fraud since it requires a Dr to sign woth their practice code.

 

[kps7795]

At that point the temporary was not longer on the card.

Thank you for the information about your experience. I hope that you have a great time at Universal Orlando!

 

[notatallmagic]

I submitted my daughter's info the first day of this post. She was issued a temporary card. We still haven't gotten a call from Universal.

Same. And we're Passholders with tickets to Orlando in 2 weeks for a pop up trip. Guess we'll be going to Disney; they've gotten their act together and got DAS renewed quickly and easily. Regretting wasting the money on Uni passes. We did NOT get our money's worth.

 

[kps7795]

Same. And we're Passholders with tickets to Orlando in 2 weeks for a pop up trip. Guess we'll be going to Disney; they've gotten their act together and got DAS renewed quickly and easily. Regretting wasting the money on Uni passes. We did NOT get our money's worth.

Have you reached out to Universal Orlando to ask about the hold-up? I would recommend first either calling and/or sending an email. If that doesn't work, tweet at them to ask why you have not gotten the call from a Team Member. They are refreshingly responsive to social media posts.

 

[SueM in MN]

I‘ve seen a couple of reports on social media where people were notified their application for IBCCES was denied because the documentation was ‘too old’, but they could not find guidance for what period of time would have been acceptable.
One person posted their application was rejected because their general practitioner had written a letter and it needed to be from their specialist

 

[notatallmagic]

Have you reached out to Universal Orlando to ask about the hold-up? I would recommend first either calling and/or sending an email. If that doesn't work, tweet at them to ask why you have not gotten the call from a Team Member. They are refreshingly responsive to social media posts.

Thanks for the tip on social media. I've called twice and been told "we should be hearing from someone shortly."

But I'm not a last minute planner and needed to make resort reservations so switched plans to Disney. Disappointing.

 

[lanejudy]

even with a card from the 3rd party confirming an alternate queue experience is appropriate they could still say No.

The third-party doesn't actually confirm any accommodations, just that documentation was submitted stating a disability exists. I believe the website even states something to the effect of it doesn't guarantee any accommodations.

It  should be a quicker process in the park because they call and approve accommodations. in advance after the IBCCES card is approved.

 

[lanejudy]

I‘ve seen a couple of reports on social media where people were notified their application for IBCCES was denied because the documentation was ‘too old’, but they could not find guidance for what period of time would have been acceptable.
One person posted their application was rejected because their general practitioner had written a letter and it needed to be from their specialist

I can probably understand "too old" depending on how old it is. But PCP vs specialist is picky

 

[EveDallas]

Have you reached out to Universal Orlando to ask about the hold-up? I would recommend first either calling and/or sending an email. If that doesn't work, tweet at them to ask why you have not gotten the call from a Team Member. They are refreshingly responsive to social media posts.

I got my son's card the second day after this was announced. Waited over a week with no word from Universal, finally emailed them, got a reply asking for our trip dates and a good time to call which I answered. It's been almost a week since and nothing. Our trip is in 15 days.