Wheelchair and GAC ?

[LisaBi]

We just got home last week, using wheelchair and no GAC. Without GAC, at rides where the main queue is not wheelchair accesible they either send you to the exit or thru fast pass depending on the ride and the queue structure. If the main queue has stairs or is too narrow to accomodate a wheelchair you will go thru the alternate entrance. You don't need a GAC to use the alternate entrance if it is also the only entrance that will accomodate a wheelchair.

I believe the only rides we did not use main queue were BTMRR (used the exit - I believe there are stairs in the main) and Space Mountain (used the FP line - I KNOW there are stairs in the main line and not the FP line).

LisaB

 

[kaytieeldr]

I had the guidebook, I knew which attractions had mainstream access and which didn't. At several attractions for which Fastpass IS the only wheelchair-accessible entrance the CMs refused to let me in without the GAC. Maybe that's not Disney policy, but I know it ruined my day in MK because I got separated from my card.

I have to ask - if YOU needed the GAC, why weren't YOU carrying it?

My experiences have been different from yours. I've never needed a GAC - as Sue has pointed out, the ECV is, in effect, my GAC. Granted, there are some attractions I don't ride (Space & Splash Mountains due to difficulty getting in and out of low vehicles; Pirates because the queue simply does NOT accept ECVs and I have nobody around to push me in a wheelchair).
But I've never needed a GAC. I've always either been directed to the regular queue, or an alternate entrance, or at Living with the Land last time, I was given a handwritten FastPass to return x amount of time later and use the FP line.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I understand that Disney's POLICY may be that you don't need a GAC to use the standard wheelchair entrances. But I can tell you, based on visiting all 4 parks a few months ago, that I CONSTANTLY was asked for it by CM's and was prevented from getting on several attractions when I didn't have it.

The CM's may be misinformed, but they expect to see the GAC to use the Fastpass line, even for those attractions that are listed in the Guide as having the Fastpass entrance as the wheelchair entrance. Once again, policy is one thing, practice is another. I agree that for rides that use mainstream lines, you don't need it, but I believe that every park has at least a few that use Fastpass or another entrance, and MK has a lot of them. Even when the line is mainstream access, you sometimes have to turn off at some point and board the ride at a different point, and again, the CM wants to see your GAC at that point.

By the way, JenJen, for the rides that use different entrances, the GAC only gets access to the special entrance for 6 people total, so for those rides your party will have to separate.

Again, my experience differs from yours. I was NEVER asked for a GAC. I would ALWAYS approach the mainstream queue and get the attention of the Greeter. I would then be given instructions/directions on exactly how to access the specific attraction. Even when I could ride Splash Mountain, and would travel through the Mainstream queue to the turn-off point, there was always a CM there to let me in and never any questions asked.

Is it possible you went DIRECTLY to the FastPass line, without first approaching the Mainstream queue Greeter? I can see ANYONE not being allowed in that line without a FastPass or other written documentation.

 

[SueM in MN]

We have been going to WDW with a child (all right, she's an adult now, but she's my child) at least once a year for 17 years. She got her first wheelchair when she was 2 1/2. We usually spend 7-9 days on vacation and go to a park (sometimes 2 every day). She has other needs besides access, so she does have a GAC, but we don't use it for attractions unless we need it (ie, we don't have a Fastpass and the regular line is 20 minutes or more). We do use Fastpasses when we can and we sometimes wait until later in the day to go on an attraction if there is a long wait.

Things have changed over the years, but the way things are handled has been pretty stable since 2000.
First, the current online version of the Guidebooks for Guests with Disabilities and the most recent printed version I have do not list rides/attractions where access is thru the Fastpass line. They basically say to consult the greeter.
There have been times when we have talked to the greeter at attractions with alternate entrances and taken in fairly quickly and other times when we have been given a slip with a time to return on it. Sometimes we have been given an explanation of why (they already had as many people with special needs in the building as allowed by fire codes). Sometimes we have not been given an explanation. This is usually without showing our DD's GAC.

Again, why are you opposed to people getting the GAC?
I'm not,if the person has needs other than a need for an accessible line. If the regular line is not accessible and an accessible line is needed for someone with a wheelchair or ecv, they do have ways set up to handle that without getting a GAC. If that's not happening, each ride/attraction has a supervisor who does know how things work. Getting the supervisor involved will correct the CM so the same thing doesn't happen again.

If I don't know what attraction you had a problem with, but in all the years we've gone, we have a had a handfull of attractions where we had a problem. And, being on this board and other Disney boards since 1999, I've only seen a handful of people who have reported having problems with accessing the wheelchair accessible lines without a GAC. Some of them were misunderstandings that (with explanations on the board) were able to be cleared up. Some were CMs who didn't know what they were doing.

The attraction that has come up several times has been Splash Mountain. There is a stairway at one point when you enter the line (fastpass or regular line). There have been situations where the CM has told people with wheelchairs that they can't leave the line at that point -even people who had GACs that allowed them to use alternative entrances. And even when the people (including us) pointed out that the person they were with could not walk and the wheelchair couldn't go up the stairs. That CM just kept saying, "I can't let you skip ahead in line." We asked to see a supervisor, who explained to the CM that she had to let us go thru the alternate entrance because there was no way we could use the stairs with a wheelchair. So the CM got corrected. In that case, a GAC did not help. A supervisor did.
So, if things are not being done as they should be, the way to correct it for the future is not to get a GAC that isn't supposed to be needed, it's making supervisors aware so that they can correct the CMs involved.

 

[pugdog]

I'm right there with you Sue. We have been going for 18 years with DW using both manual and power chairs. And have Never got a GAC. The only problems we have run into have been CM's that are new to the ride and don't know what is going on. And just bringing in the superviser always clears it up.
It's almost always an education event waiting to happen if it happens.