[Idea] People with disabilities should be treated like others... including having to WAIT!

[monster heck]

I'm just going to go ahead and say it:

If you use a wheelchair, cart, crutches, GAC, etc. to get around Disneyland, I have no problem with you going through the exit. But you should have to wait the minimum of the posted wait time for that ride.

If the sign posted says 60 mins, you have to sit there for 60 mins and wait your turn. Sorry, but maybe this will make things fair for everyone!

[Alice in Wonderland]

Re: People with disabilities should be treated like others... including having to WAI

The people with disabilities, like someone in a wheel chair, may have more wrong with them then meets the eye. "invisible" disabilities that prevent them from going on every ride we all can, or make it harder for them.

If they are going through the exit trust me you don't get on too quickly, they do make you wait. But what's the point of slowing everyone down either just because it's "fair." Their disability isn't fair compared to the person thats perfectly healthy. I know for space mountain the time to get people into the special loaded car, then onto the track, takes a while. So that time should be accounted for too.

Maybe some people may get worn out, or not be able to stay as long because of their disability so I think personally it's just a nice gesture to help those guests have the best possible day they can at Disneyland..

But my dad has a serious disability, and he can't enjoy the park like we all do no matter what, so letting him on the rides the way they have it set up now, would make our day and his day that much better.

But of course to the "fakes".. that's just not fair. They shouldn't get that privilege.

[Disneytwins]

Re: People with disabilities should be treated like others... including having to WAI

I think they should use a card system in which you go to where the line starts, tell the cast member and the cast member hands a card to a guest entering. Once that guest gets to the end of the line and hands the card to the cast member, the disabled guest gets to board.

Their disability may not be fair to them, but that doesn't mean society owes them a front-of-the-line pass. I think this system would reduce the amount the system is abused.

[ohmyjustin]

Re: People with disabilities should be treated like others... including having to WAI

I think they should use a card system in which you go to where the line starts, tell the cast member and the cast member hands a card to a guest entering. Once that guest gets to the end of the line and hands the card to the cast member, the disabled guest gets to board.

Their disability may not be fair to them, but that doesn't mean society owes them a front-of-the-line pass. I think this system would reduce the amount the system is abused.

What happens if the ride breaks and the guest with the card decides to leave? Or whatever other reason that carded guest can't stay? It puts pressure on that guest, which isn't fair to them.

I am okay with the system in place. There is not an extraordinary amount of guests who use the handicap lines so my experience is not hindered by theirs.

[SeptemberJoy]

Re: People with disabilities should be treated like others... including having to WAI

What I find hilarious is that the general consensus is it's people with disabilities abusing the system. Guess what? The majority of us are happy to wait (and do depending on the ride - EG Space Mountain) and don't want to be singled out more than we have to be. I'd love to be able to enter via the regular queue, cuz if there's a wait involved I'd rather wait where it's been themed and made as interested as possible... as opposed to watching how many people go into the bathroom as it is at Space Mountain.

[Malina]

Re: People with disabilities should be treated like others... including having to WAI

A lot of GACS DO work that way. If you have a GAC that says you need to stay out of the sun (and that's no joke for someone with extreme sun sensitivity; there are a lot of illnesses and meds that cause it), you get to sit in the shade for your wait. If you can't stand, you can have a place to sit. A GAC does NOT mean that person is just running to the next ride vehicle. It's like the Single Rider line. Sometimes you wait a long time. Sometimes you don't. Sometimes the standby is the same way too.

Also, some things to keep in mind the next time you see someone going to the "front of the line":

1. At some rides like Small World, there's only one ride vehicle that can accommodate wheelchair users who cannot transfer. That means that a wheelchair has to wait until that particular vehicle comes around. If there's more than one wheelchair user? The wait will be super long. If you're only fourth in line and you're waiting for that vehicle to come around, and iasw is 15 minutes long...15 minutes x 4 guests waiting x 2 minutes for loading and unloading each party...you're going to be waiting LONGER than the standby line.

2. A lot of rides can only accommodate one or two transfers at a time. Go around the back of Splash Mountain sometime and look at the GAC line. It barely moves. Likewise, at Space Mountain watch how long the disabled have to wait before they can load into the rocket and be switched out onto the track.

3. The only ones who really get those "jump the line" passes are Make a Wish kids, and I'm sorry, I'm not going to protest is they offer that to a 5 year old with cancer who might not survive.

4. At a lot of rides they don't even need a disabled entrance so disabled riders go on the regular line, they just might have a separate unloading/loading area. Examples are BLAB and the Haunted Mansion. Rides with separate GAC entrances are those with steps, like BTMRR, or those that are too narrow for wheelchairs to navigate. Just because you see someone going through the GAC line at BTMRR it doesn't mean they will be on the ride in 5 minutes. You have no idea if they're going to sit for 30 minutes before they're loaded onto the attraction.

[JerrodDRagon]

Re: People with disabilities should be treated like others... including having to WAI

I think they should have to wait a little...but really if its two hours and they get on in a hour...good for them...I know someone who was in a chair for Cancer...on the outside looked fine (worn a wig so you could not tell she was bald)

And while some may abuse it...I am more then ok with them getting on the ride in half the time I am....some of them have tough lives...give them this one thing...tough it out for goodness shake if nothing else

[Malina]

Re: People with disabilities should be treated like others... including having to WAI

I think they should have to wait a little...but really if its two hours and they get on in a hour...good for them...I know someone who was in a chair for Cancer...on the outside looked fine (worn a wig so you could not tell she was bald)

And while some may abuse it...I am more then ok with them getting on the ride in half the time I am....some of them have tough lives...give them this one thing...tough it out for goodness shake if nothing else

ITA. There are so many illnesses and disabilities that don't show on the outside, so you never can judge. That 21 year old being pushed in a wheelchair by her friends might be a cystic fibrosis patient. That person who is "walking fine" might have an artificial leg under his jeans. That woman who seems energetic might be having one of her few "good days" between her rounds of chemo. You just never know.

[Malcon10t]

Re: People with disabilities should be treated like others... including having to WAI

I use a scooter, my daughter has a service dog. We don't want to get on faster, we just want to get on. I have no complaints when we wait in the HA line at IASW for 25 mins while someone walking up boards in 9 (timed it...) Just need to be able to avoid the stairs. Or how about POTC. Since they can only board 6 disabled groups per cycle, it is often considerably longer to wait there. We've seen it walk on, and we've had to wait 20 mins. To those who think using the HA line is a FOTL pass, come live in our shoes a while. I *LOVE* DCA. It is all accessible, and no one is giving you dirty looks for waiting in the same line.

There are some that try to abuse it, but karma, and learning there really is a wait, teaches them it isn't worth it.

[gomezaddams]

Re: People with disabilities should be treated like others... including having to WAI

This is a tough one, Monster Heck. I understand your point very well. As I understand it, the GACs are basically available on demand and there appears to be some abuse of the system. I've seen people who look a lot healthier than myself waltz up through the exit, get on the attraction and exit while I am still in line. Does that tee me off, No
The GAC program is intended or people with real difficulties. Just as importantly, there is the individual's companion who must help get the person through the day. I am sure that is not an easy task. The other four healthy people tacked on to the GAC are another issue, but I'm going to give them a pass, too.
In the overall picture, does it really matter is you wait a few minutes more to let the GAC go ahead? Most of your wait time is for people like yourself. To use the old adage,"Life is not fair." It may not be fair that you have to wait a bit longer for a GAC or two. It is not fair to the people that really need the GAC.
Yes, there are people who abuse the system. So be it. If their selfishness & arrogance is so great that they must scam the system at others' expense then they need help that no card or wheelchair can give. Life also has a way of leveling the score one way or the other. You may not see it, but it will happen.
The most important thing, however, is that you not allow the behavior of those abusing the GACs to affect your trip. You've saved & waited to go to Disneyland only to allow yourself to get irritated by them. You are ruining your own time over something with which you have no control.
For me, I much prefer waiting in line rather than need the GAC service. You never know how good it feels to be able to stand on your own two feet until you cannot do it anymore.

[Maleficent4811]

I use a scooter and you know what I wish? DL re constructed every single line so that they were ada compliant. So I don't have to go through the exit, so that I can see the full queue for each attraction and so others guest didn't get upset that it appears I get to skip to the FOTL.

But that is never going to happen. So in the mean time I will wait hidden away near bathrooms, in small confined spaces that only fit one or two wheelchairs (not including our companions), and listen to the comments from perfectly healthy people about how I must be faking it because I am young and appear healthy.

Let's stop assuming disabled guests get everything faster than the other guests and focus on why we are all in the park to begin with.

Forget we are all different, forget we are broke after this vacation, forget about work and school, and remember Walt, remember the magic in the park, and remember making magical moments possible for each guest that enters those gates and travels through those arches under Walts words.

Rant over, apologetically, your fellow Disney fanatic and disabled individual.

[Malcon10t]

Re: People with disabilities should be treated like others... including having to WAI

The other four healthy people tacked on to the GAC are another issue, but I'm going to give them a pass, too.

I am the grandmother to 1 adorable 18mos old girl. When we go to Disneyland, it is myself, my 2 daughters, my son and DIL and my granddaughter. My older daughter has her hearing dog with us. Should I not be allowed to enjoy the joy of my granddaughter riding POTC because my daughter and I need to use the HA line? Yes, on most rides, my son, DIL, and the baby could ride faster without me, but they wait with me. Why do you feel families should be split up because one of the 4-6 might be in need the HA line?

What about a mom and dad with 2 small children?

I think Disney has a good handle on the GACs and the HA as it is. Are there cheaters? Yes. But I would rather have a few cheaters, than have someone in need denied.

[Leviathan]

Re: People with disabilities should be treated like others... including having to WAI

I'm just going to go ahead and say it:

If you use a wheelchair, cart, crutches, GAC, etc. to get around Disneyland, I have no problem with you going through the exit. But you should have to wait the minimum of the posted wait time for that ride.

If the sign posted says 60 mins, you have to sit there for 60 mins and wait your turn. Sorry, but maybe this will make things fair for everyone!

How would you make it fair for everyone including rides where the handicap line takes much longer than the standard cue? If it takes 120 for a handicap party to get on space and the standard line is 60 mins (yes it happens) are you going to tell the standard line they have to wait and let empty cars go though the ride until they catch up on sending the handicap car around just so everyone waits the same fair time? I know due to evac reasons they are only allowed to have a limited number of wheel chairs on the loading deck and that makes some rides take longer.

[Fortune Cookie]

[Disneytwins]

Re: People with disabilities should be treated like others... including having to WAI

What I find hilarious is that the general consensus is it's people with disabilities abusing the system. Guess what? The majority of us are happy to wait (and do depending on the ride - EG Space Mountain) and don't want to be singled out more than we have to be. I'd love to be able to enter via the regular queue, cuz if there's a wait involved I'd rather wait where it's been themed and made as interested as possible... as opposed to watching how many people go into the bathroom as it is at Space Mountain.

I'm not saying people with disabilities are abusing the system, I'm saying the people without the disabilities are abusing this system.

ohmyjustin:
If the ride breaks and the carded guest leaves, the guest with the disability will get on if the guest hasn't shown up with the card after the current estimated wait time.

[Bob Weaver]

Re: People with disabilities should be treated like others... including having to WAI

My Mom is 93 and in a wheelchair. I took her on small world, and the total time we were at the attraction, including waits to get on and waits to get off, was more than one hour. Most able-bodied guests spent maybe 30 minutes total at that attraction. I don't think being disabled necessarily gives you any time advantage.

[TONY THE BEAT]

Re: People with disabilities should be treated like others... including having to WAI

It's always funny to me to always see these threads, along with the FP's complaints. I never mind waiting for an attraction. It's just something to expect with visits to DLR. I just enjoy being there for the day and hanging out with whoever is with me for that visit.

[SLUSHIE]

Re: People with disabilities should be treated like others... including having to WAI

I'm just here to say how awesome it is to go with someone in a wheelchair. Last summer I went to Disneyland I went with my aunt, she had broken her pelvis and was healed at the time but hadn't recovered enough to stand for 10 hours.

It was a crowded summer day and we didn't have to wait for anything! The longest we had to wait was at Star Tours because they make you do the outside portion, but it wasn't anything, then when you get to the entrance of the building they slip you though another door and up an elevator.

We didn't do just Disneyland though, we did Disneyland and California Adventure in one day! Supposedly a lot of the rides at California Adventure accommodate a wheelchair and you have to wait in the line, but it didn't work that way. Toy Story Mania had a line well over an hour, and the CM at the entrance just told us to come back in an hour instead of waiting in the line.

Even though she was in a wheelchair I think she enjoyed it, when my family used to go to Disneyland together when I was younger she was always the one leading the pack running from ride to ride. She didn't have to wait for anything and she had people pushing her around all day, she must have thought it was awesome.

[Mr Wiggins]

Re: People with disabilities should be treated like others... including having to WAI

I'm just going to go ahead and say it:

If you use a wheelchair, cart, crutches, GAC, etc. to get around Disneyland, I have no problem with you going through the exit. But you should have to wait the minimum of the posted wait time for that ride.

If the sign posted says 60 mins, you have to sit there for 60 mins and wait your turn. Sorry, but maybe this will make things fair for everyone!

I think your suggestion has less to do with "making things fair for everyone" and more to do with the mis-assumptions about GAC advantages that are so often voiced on this forum -- no matter how frequently they are refuted with the facts about what a GAC does not provide.

Someone with a GAC should have to follow the procedures that Disney has set as its policy for GACs -- no more, and no less. It is the responsibility of Disney's CMs and management to enforce those procedures fairly, the same as with Disney's other policies regarding their guests.

[TSTLSOOM]

Re: People with disabilities should be treated like others... including having to WAI

the only problem i have are the people to come to the other theme parks and assume that the GAC is a front of line. its only to help the person with the problem. there is also a reason why they started to make everything in DCA wheelchair accessable