^THIS. OP is a long time CM and now experiencing being in a wheelchair. They are passionate about subject now that they are having to depend on a chair for now. There is no reason for his opinion (a valid one) be diminished as Disney dropped a ball on this one, particularly considering the main character in the movie. Seriously, if you are designing a land about a movie, a major story line in the movie should have been part of planning.
Yes, Joe R is an artist, yes Joe R created a beautiful park with AK, yes I have great respect for his work and follow his social because he is so interesting. For creativity, AK is my favorite. BUT I'm not blinded by his flaws .......... he's like many artists, difficult to manage, difficult to stay in budgets and time frames and sometimes gets so caught up in the beauty of his work he forgets to come back to earth to see what is needed at the guests level. ROL is a perfect example of vision and reality being two different things. Designed beyond Disney's capability. Na'vi River, beautiful and stunning but no purpose ... completely lost what the end result would be. Has the potential, but they stopped with the beauty. Bottom line AK is Joe's baby from start to finish. He's there all the time, he talks about it non-stop and he wants all the applause and acknowledgements .... that means the buck stops with him on the creativity and design as well.
Having been on both rides there is no reason a WC boat and WC seating on FoP could not have been incorporated. Yes the boats are small but it could have been done. Build a fold out ramp and have them enter straight into back of boat moving forward. One or two could have fit with them with as single seats, they entering like normal. FoP, you don't even have to hold on. They could have built an enclosed box at the end of one theater room that a chair could enter, brakes set, be strapped down and be perfectly fine. Only one in the entire ride would make it an option for those who truly can not exit their chair. Those who can transfer would still use the regular seating.
Pandora focused on the beauty of the movie, but forgot some of the story. And Disney opted to exclude those guests from a brand new ride, that is sad.