Concerned by some things I've been reading...

[SueM in MN]

-Let me put it this way, If a bear was chasing me I would run. It would hurt like crazy and I wouldn't be fast but by golly I would take the pain and bolt. My husband=bear food.

I'm not trying to be offensive-like I said when it comes down to it everyone knows their own limitations. I just believe that if I were not always around someone who had worse problems than me, mine would seem more significant.

I guess that makes me mother of bear food (but she would sign to him as he ate her).

 

[Amii]

A friend of mine also has an autistic son (like mine) and he appears normal at times (when he isn't having a meltdown). When somebody said something to him, his father replied with, " I will gladly trade my son affliction for this GAC card ". Which is brilliant.

I have said the same thing on a past trip. Once someone was complaining about us having a pass and my aspie son who was 5 at the time mumbled "Sorry they don't have a pass for cranky." She was not amused.

 

[loadsapixiedust]

"Sorry they don't have a pass for cranky."

That's a great one, hope I can remember that if ever the occasion should arise.

 

[Forevryoung]

We got a comment this week and my girl who is around 70 lbs right now (she can not stand unassissted) said "My pass comes with me and I am heavy"

I didn't mind lifting her onto the rides it was the "I want to try to pee... oh it ran away..." bathroom trips that did it

 

[3DisneyNUTS]

We used a GAC back in Feb since my son was having 3-4 seizures a day and one of the things we did to be courteous was to not "abuse" the system ourselves. Like rides that gave alt enterances we would only visit once when we could have gone again and again. Sometimes DS would want to reride the the attraction and the CMs were ready to let him since they would remember the GAC but we would purposely leave the ride because we did not want to "cut" all the others who were waiting if that makes sense. So we purposely would leave at least 3 hours before revisiting an attraction that had alt access. This way my sons needs were met but we made sure we did not take advantage especially at the alt enterance rides.

 

[Poohnatic]

The way we handled the 'multiple rides' with my DS was if it was a ride his brother couldn't go on, he could take turns with first mom, then dad. If we all went, he could only go once. It worked well, but that only works when you've got a little one!

Suzanne

 

[MommytoMJM]

Me and dd would be bear food too, so that makes me bear food and mother of bear food! ROTFLMMEO!!!!

 

[Talking Hands]

Count me as bear food. I run, I fall. Bear food for sure!

 

[Etoile]

I am 32 & look quite young for my age & at home I often get the 'looks' that are mentioned here. I have a disabled badge & I use a walking stick or crutch to help me walk & I got so fed up a couple of weeks ago when we pulled into the supermarket & a woman pointed out that I 'didn't look very disabled', I said to her that she didn't look very ignorant but disabilities can be hidden.

This is exactly the experience my mother had and what I am now going through. When she was finally diagnosed with arthritis at age 33 it was after years of doctors saying someone so young couldn't possibly have it. She received the exact same looks and complaints and I'm sure she had some good responses too! I am 24 and I have been dealing with arthritis for several years now. I have been resisting going to a doctor for a diagnosis because I just know they will tell me to take a couple of analgesics every day and that's all I need. I am planning to start cataloging all the ways my arthritis limits me and all the nights I lie awake in pain because of it...maybe that will help!

I am expecting to go to WDW for the first time sometime in 2006. I definitely plan to seek a GAC and possibly even an ECV if that seems like the best choice. I know I am going to be the recipient of many evil looks because I look young and healthy, but I will just have to deal with them and ignore them.

I think the reason so many people have the perception of "you don't deserve it" is because of how truly supportive Disney is to people with various types of disabilities. Where else can you get a separate place to wait out of the sun, or any kind of accommodation for a child who doesn't do well waiting in line? Dealing with other disabled individuals - the "I'm more disabled than you" crowd - is a matter of knowing when to advocate for yourself and when to back down. If someone who is clearly suffering more than I am needs to go in front of me, I will let them even if it means a little more discomfort. But turnabout is fair play and I would hope to receive the same treatment when it is my turn to be in those shoes.

 

[Rhon]

I was at WDW several years ago and saw very clear abuse of the use of wheelchairs (the 2 people who were using the wheelchair would switch which would push and which would ride). I noticed several groups of people doing this (at least 5 different times). I finally told an employee of these occurances and was told that they would take care of it. The couple that I had pointed out were asked to leave the park (they did so). The employee told me that the couple was using the wheelchair to go to the front of the line.

Unfortunately, because people have abused the system, Disney now makes the people who do need wheelchairs wait with everyone else. It makes me sick for people who are healthy to cause this sort of change for those who need the help.

Also, remember that people who are giving you "looks" are the ones that are concerned that people are not abusing the system for those who need it. Instead of feeling defensive about the looks, know that if you need the wheelchairs, etc. that they are there for you.

 

[GroovyWheeler]

What really hurts me, is that people think those that have "visible disabilities" that can be seen from the outside, think they're "mentally-retarded". I have Apert Syndrome (which is a very visible physical disability), Dystonia, scoliosis, and arthritis (which are less visible, but which is why I use a wheelchair), severe hearing loss in my left ear with moderate hearing loss in my right ear (I am still able to communicate despite of hearing loss in both ears though, as I wear a bone-conduction hearing aid). Overall, I'm intelligent, have a great sense of humor, love to play practical jokes on my fiance' Dan, and being smart/funny. I've had my share of stares, being laughed at, called nasty names that most people would describe those that were "different", and have had stuff thrown at me.

During the multiple times that I've been to Disney since I was little, my mom/godfather would rent me a wheelchair, because my mom didn't feel like bringing my special medical stroller that she had for me. I don't remember how it was that far back, since I must have been at least 6/7 years old, but my mother did say that she got a lot of sympathetic looks, in addition to the "What's wrong with her?" related questions. My mom didn't have to get a GAC, because my disability was so "visible", and the fact that I was using a wheelchair, a Cast Member would spot us right away and lead us to the front of the line. I don't think we got any nasty/rude remarks from having to do that, other than the fact that I was definitely "different", and my mother had to deal with all of the questions and sometimes rude stares.

Today, I definitely have noticed that when I'm in my manual wheelchair, people would talk and ask questions about me, to whoever I'm with (my mom, dad, godfather, caregiver/my friend's mom, Bonnie), rather than to me. This happened a few times at Disney World, but rarely. Here at home, it happens a lot if I'm using my manual wheelchair in public settings. Of course, my mom and my friend's mom (being an advocate for young people with disabilities), would say something like, "Why don't you ask her yourself?"

I use my power chair more frequently than I do with my manual wheelchair, and people seem to want to talk to me more, than they would to whoever is with me. I've gotten comments on how new it looks after they ask how long I've had it (3 years, going on 4 in December), how pretty the frame color is (Candy Purple), plus how fast it goes.

Samantha

 

[Michigan]

Front of the line access with a wheelchair ended in 1998.

 

[SueM in MN]

I was at WDW several years ago and saw very clear abuse of the use of wheelchairs (the 2 people who were using the wheelchair would switch which would push and which would ride). I noticed several groups of people doing this (at least 5 different times). I finally told an employee of these occurances and was told that they would take care of it. The couple that I had pointed out were asked to leave the park (they did so). The employee told me that the couple was using the wheelchair to go to the front of the line.

Unfortunately, because people have abused the system, Disney now makes the people who do need wheelchairs wait with everyone else. It makes me sick for people who are healthy to cause this sort of change for those who need the help.

Also, remember that people who are giving you "looks" are the ones that are concerned that people are not abusing the system for those who need it. Instead of feeling defensive about the looks, know that if you need the wheelchairs, etc. that they are there for you.

I will assume that you are what you say you are; a concerned person. But, you have made a number of common assumptions that are false:

1. that people with "true" disabilities stay in their wheelchairs all the time, so if you see someone out of the wheelchair, they are abusing it.
2. that different people in the same party switching off with a wheelchair or ecv is always a sign of "abuse".
3. that wheelchair users get front of the line access (or got it in the past as a "perk" of being disabled.)
4. that "wheelchair abuse" led to making people with wheelchairs wait with everyone else.
5. that you can tell by looking whether or not someone is "truely disabled".
6. that people giving "looks" are helpful to people with disabilities.
7. that people looking at anyone using a wheelchair with suspicion is protecting the rights of people with disabilities.
8. that people with disabilities should welcome the "looks" of others.

I'm not sure where to start other than to tell you that all of these are false assumptions that people make.
Staying in the wheelchair/sharing a wheelchair
Many people have disabilities that make it difficult, painful or impossible to walk long distances, but can walk short distances just fine. They may choose to get out of the wheelchair and leave it parked while they go into some attractions/shops because the walk is short, the wait is short or they are tired of sitting. People also get stiff from sitting and need a change of position from time to time.
Some people can walk, but not the whole day. If they are with someone else who has similar problems, they may choose to share a wheelchair/ecv -sometimes to save on cost, sometimes because they don't want to sit the whole time and sometimes because if 2 people both need a wheelchair one of them has to be free all the time to push the other.
Even people who can't walk sometimes want/need to be out of their wheelchair at times. (if you see my DD sitting on a bench next to her wheelchair, that's why. When she was smaller and could still walk, she would walk behind her wheelchair. With no one in the wheelchair, it moved too easily and could get "away" from her. With her sister as a "weight", the chair became stable enough for her to walk behind. So, if you saw us in the morning, we would have one child in the wheelchair. In the afternoon, the "rider" from the morning would be pushing the wheelchair and the one you saw running around early in the day would be riding.
Obvious sign of abuse? Maybe to some people, but in fact the "original" rider of the wheelchair could only walk if she was holding onto the wheelchair, had someone in the wheelchair to slow it down and had an adult on each side of her in case she lost her balance.

front of the line access/ "abuse" led to people with disabilities losing it
Most of the lines at WDW are Mainstream Access, which means that the lines are wheelchair accessible and wheelchair users wait in line with everyone else. If you see someone "disappear" from the line and assume they are getting "front of the line treatment, you will be wrong. What you can't see is that most of the time, the people you saw disappear don't get on right away; they go somewhere else to wait.

When MK and Epcot were built, wheelchair access was not something people thought much about. If it was thought about at all, they thought mostly about people who could get out of their wheelchairs to board rides.
Some rides/attractions were accessible, if people boarded at the exit. If people with disabililties were not using the "regular" boarding area, it was not a "perk", it was because that was the only accessible way in. As new parks and atractions were added, they were made wheelchair accessible, and as Michigan noted, "Front of the line" access ended in 1998. For some attractions, there never was anything other than an accessible mainstream line.

Most people with disabilities don't want special treatment; what they do want is accomidations for their needs (which might be avoiding stairs, or having a place to wait out of the heat or in a quieter place.
The ADA requires accessibility, not special treatment. The ADA is why lines became accessible, not abuse by people who didn't need wheelchair.

telling disabilities by looking
Many people with disabilities look perfectly healthy. We have a friend who looks very healthy. His upper body is buff and strong - he lifts weights. He walks without a limp, at least most of the time. But, he's under 40 yrs old and has had 3 operations on each knee. Right now, he's waiting for knee replacement surgery on both knees because his bones are rubbing on bone. He went to a football game recently with my DH and had to stop walking 3 times between the car and the stadium because he was in so much pain. He's talking about renting a power scooter (ECV) when he goes to WDW next Spring. He might share with another guy who has similar problems, but doesn't want to use one all the time.
Will it look like abuse to some of the "lookers"? You bet.
But will it be?
No way. The only person who knows how much pain someone has is the person who lives in that body or is with the person enough on a daily basis to see their pain.

protecting the rights of the disabled/disabled should be happy others are "looking out for their rights"
Rather than disabilities, I'm just going to make up another situation to illustrate why this is wrong.
Let's say many people believe that many drivers of red cars are bad drivers. They know that some people who drive red cars are good drivers, but believe many are not. They are sure they can tell the bad drivers from the good drivers by looking at them, even if the car is parked. Every time they see a red car, they watch it carefully to see whether or not the driver is going to speed, go thru a red light or do something else that would "prove" the driver is a bad driver. They may make comments about the driver's skills (even if the car is parked) just because they feel that red car is being driven by a bad driver.
Now, let's say that you drive a red car. Maybe you always drive a red car; maybe you only drive a red car sometimes. You can feel the other people looking at you. You can hear their comments about your driving skill. If you know you are a bad driver, are those things likely to make you change your ways? Are you likely to stop driving red cars?

What about if you are a good driver? You may know that all of your friends who drive red cars are also good drivers. You may also know that 99.95 of all red car drivers are good drivers. You may also know that much of the general public thinks most red car drivers are not good drivers.
Would you think those who make the comments and stare at you are protecting your rights to drive a red car? Are protecting the world from bad drivers? Would you think you should thank them for staring at you and making rude comments? Or thank them for staring at your friends?

Or would you resent them because they know nothing about you, yet are judging you and your abilities based on what they think they know about red cars?

 

[Mike Bartenhagen]

Front of the line access with a wheelchair ended in 1998.

In my opinion I think this was a good idea. I have a 3 year old son that uses a wheelchair and I am not sure why that would give him the right to go to the front of the line. Like his 2 sisters he can wait in line with everyone else but there are times when his chair won't fit through the regular line and from my experience Disney has done a very good job with the GAC to make sure he can get through every line.

As Sue said we don't want any special accomidations for him just some help to make sure we can get him around the park.

Mike

 

[SueM in MN]

In my opinion I think this was a good idea. I have a 3 year old son that uses a wheelchair and I am not sure why that would give him the right to go to the front of the line. Like his 2 sisters he can wait in line with everyone else but there are times when his chair won't fit through the regular line and from my experience Disney has done a very good job with the GAC to make sure he can get through every line.

As Sue said we don't want any special accomidations for him just some help to make sure we can get him around the park.

Mike

A little history lesson to go along with your good comments.

We have been coming to WDW since 1986. We started coming with a wheelchair in 1988.
At that point on time, there were much fewer lines that were totally wheelchair accessible and wheelchair users were often pulled out of line and put on the ride right away.

It wasn't a priviledge.
it wasn't a special "perK".
It wasn't so we wouldn't have to wait.

It was because there was something about that ride that was not accessible, so we could not board in the usual way.

in many cases, the queue started out wide enough to drive a wheelchair thru, but as the line progressed, it got narrower and narrower to force people into single file for easier/faster boarding. And once you got to the boarding area, there was a space big enough to walk thru, but it led to narrow gates that (you guessed it) were wide enough for people to stand single file for boarding. Some people who could walk thru those narrow areas, but had other reasons that the narrow lines didn't work for them.

Or, the regular line led to an area with steps. Wheelchairs don't do steps (or very steep ramps, either). Some people have disabilities that mean they don't do steps well either.

Many rides boarded in one place and ended in another place. Very efficient (keeps the boarding crowds away from the exit crowds), unless you are using a wheelchair and you are at the exit and your wheelchair is at the entrance.
How they handled that was to take people with wheelchairs out of the line at some point, have them board at the exit, which in most cases was the only place they physically were able to board. Sometimes, you couldn't board at the exit and you had to board at the entrance - but only if they had enough staff at the time you came to bring the wheelchair to the exit to be waiting for you to get off.
Or, maybe the moving walkways were not something you could do. The only way to stop them for boarding was/is at the exit.
Sometimes that meant they took you to board right away, while they had staff to help. Sometimes, it meant they told you to come back at a certain time, when they would have better staff and could accomidate you.

Everything was very efficient, at least for people who fit thru the line and could do stairs, and didn't have problems with the narrow queues and didn't have any special needs.

People who saw you looked, but it was mostly nice looks - with an attitude of "I'm glad WDW is doing something to make sure this family can enjoy their stay at WDW the same way my family is." Any comments made were along that same line -"You look like you are having fun."
A few people looked with pity or "I'm glad we don't have any wheelchair users in our family." Some of those people made comments too. They didn't feel so good, but at least the feeling behind them was not hostile.

Some of the people using a wheelchair or special accomidation felt "funny" about it. They could understand why this special "handling" was necessary - without the special handling, they could not ride at all.
But it was embarrassing at times and they wished they could just ride like everyone else. They knew a few other people were looking at them with pity, some with envy, but whatever it was, it didn't feel good when it happened.
There were very few wheelchair users or people with obvious special needs in the parks - we could go all day sometimes without seeing another person using a wheelchair if the parks were not busy.

Word got out that WDW could and would accomidate people with special needs. This was refreshing, since if you asked for accomidations at other places, you would often hear "NO. We can't do anything. Wheelchair users don't (fill in the blank with whatever you asked to do)."
We actually went to a local park, got in the line (driving a wheelchair past a CM who was standing at the entrance to the line - she waved to my DD as we entered the line), and got to a point where the line got too narrow for my DD's narrow pediatric wheelchair. Was there a way out without going thru the narrow point (and a turnstile at the end of it)? No, of course not. Wheelchair users were just supposed to know they couldn't ride it. No way out meant we had to back out of the line (which meant people had to back out of the line who had been behind us) until we got to a point where there was enough space to get past people without making them move and finally get out. We heard some comments as we left - some were pity at my child's need for a wheelchair. Some were pity at my "stupidity" for thinking my little girl might be able to ride.

So, it's no wonder that word got out that WDW was a good place to go if you had special needs.
As time went on, more people with special needs started going to WDW.
A few (those envious ones from before) heard there was "special treatment" and they wanted it too, even if they didn't have special needs.
Some people saw that and thought when they saw more people with special needs, that meant that more people were pretending to have special needs.
In the 1990s, they were mostly polite enough to just think that. As time went on, some felt a right to say it too (in the hearing of anyone they thought was pretending).
Laws changed (in the early 1990s) to make accessibility be built into things so that people with disabilities could use the same access as everyone else.

And, as time went on, rides and queues became Mainstream (which meant they were accessible to everyone, as much as possible). The Disney MGM Studio and AK were build with Mainstream Access. Rides that were renovated or added after the Studio opened were mainstreamed.
A lot of people were not aware of that and thought that anyone with special needs was getting special treatment at almost every attraction. Some remembered going with a grandma in a wheelchair in the early 1990s and getting into some rides thru the exit. Some think that's how all rides were (not just the ones they went on or the ones they remember). Some think that's how things still are - well, they aren't. The world (WDW, that is) changed.

So, some people spend their time in the parks judging who "should' be getting special "priviledges" and who shouldn't.

But, most special treatment is no longer there, the people who were using it never asked for or wanted it in the first place. It wasn't a priviledge; It was the only way that certain things were accessible.
As Mike said, "we don't want any special accomidations .... just some help to make sure we can get ... around the park."
.

 

[Michigan]

In my opinion I think this was a good idea. I have a 3 year old son that uses a wheelchair and I am not sure why that would give him the right to go to the front of the line. Like his 2 sisters he can wait in line with everyone else but there are times when his chair won't fit through the regular line and from my experience Disney has done a very good job with the GAC to make sure he can get through every line.

As Sue said we don't want any special accomidations for him just some help to make sure we can get him around the park.

Mike

I wasn't saying wheelchairs should have front of access just pointing out to the poster 2 above my post that said she just witnessed on her last trip people renting wheelchairs to get front of the line access that this ended in 1998

 

[Lucky4me]

Some people can walk, but not the whole day. If they are with someone else who has similar problems, they may choose to share a wheelchair/ecv -sometimes to save on cost, sometimes because they don't want to sit the whole time and sometimes because if 2 people both need a wheelchair one of them has to be free all the time to push the other.

Thank you for posting this.
My friend and I both have chronic leg and hip pain that make it difficult to stay on our feet an entire day in WDW. On our planned long days in the parks, we will be renting an ECV and will be switching off. We would not ask for any preferential treatment even if we could get it. We just want to be able to enjoy ourselves by keeping our pain levels minimal.

 

[waltfan1957]

Hi,
I hope you don't mind me posting here -I'm form the UK & will be visiting Disneyland Paris very shortly. My DH & I have visited WDW twice but at those times I did not have so many problems with walking (I have rheumatoid arthritis).
I am 32 & look quite young for my age & at home I often get the 'looks' that are mentioned here. I have a disabled badge & I use a walking stick or crutch to help me walk & I got so fed up a couple of weeks ago when we pulled into the supermarket & a woman pointed out that I 'didn't look very disabled', I said to her that she didn't look very ignorant but disabilities can be hidden.
Thats the rudest I think I've ever been to someone. My DH thought it was great as the woman stood there with her mouth gaping like a fish as we walked away.

Hugs & pixie dust to you all

we were wating for the lifts on the disney magic, when one opened all the people pushed in in front of my wife who did'nt even have time to turn her power chair round as the lift doors were shutting my wife said its ok i'll take the stairs the looks of embarrasment were a picture,

 

[SueM in MN]

we were wating for the lifts on the disney magic, when one opened all the people pushed in in front of my wife who did'nt even have time to turn her power chair round as the lift doors were shutting my wife said its ok i'll take the stairs the looks of embarrasment were a picture,

I like that quote. i can just imagine the looks. Thanks for sharing.

 

[rjthkids]

As Sue said we don't want any special accomidations for him just some help to make sure we can get him around the park.

I think that's such a great way to put. We don't want "perks" either, we just want our daughter to have the chance to experience and do the things that her sighted peers can do. We don't take advantage of accomodations she doesn't need.

Probably our worst experience was when I was describing a play for her. It was a small community theater and it was a show for *children*. They didn't have descriptive services, so I was describing what was going on to her. Someone in back tapped me on the shoulder and said that we were supposed to be QUIET. I explained politely that I was describing the show for my daughter so she could "see" it and enjoy it too, since she doesn't see with her eyes.

They muttered and huffed, and in the end, when they left with their two children, I overheard them complaining to a staff member that they shouldn't be handed out special treatment, and what was a blind child doing in a theater anyway if they couldn't see.

It still makes me mad to this day.