Equal is not special. To make it equal, the person in the wheel chair should wait in the designated area with one or two members of the party while the rest of the party gets in the regular line. Then when the rest of the family shows up at the front of the line and it is their turn they and their family shoule be able to board the equal oportunity bus, or ride vehicle, that has a lift after waiting the same amount of time as all the other equal people who were there befor them.
That would be a true interpretation of the law.
But, they aren't "equal opportunity buses".
That would be true IF the person using a wheelchair or ECV had an equal chance of getting onto the bus when the rest of their family shows up at the front of the line. That would mean that whenever they got to the front of the line, they WOULD be able to get on, the same as the people who are able to walk on to the bus.
That is not the case though. There are only 2 spaces for wheelchairs/ECV on each bus.
And, that is if the lift or ramp is working (sometimes they are not), if the wheelchair tiedowns are operational (sometimes they are not) and if there is still room to manouver sufficiently on the bus when the person using the ECV or wheelchair gets to the front of the line.
So, it is very possible for someone using a wheelchair or ECV to not be able to get on the bus, even if there is lots of space for people who can walk to get on.
We have been refused entry onto a bus with DD's wheelchair for all of those reasons. And sometimes, just because the driver doesn't feel like it. If you want to read the view from the other side of the wheelchair/ECV,
here's a thread to read. The experiences reported in that thread are not rare occurances, I just linked to that thread because it has a lot of experiences reported in one place, rather than just a few in a thread.
There are good reasons for loading wheelchairs and ECVs first.
It's faster and safer to load wheelchairs and ECVs first because there is more room for manouvering and more room for the driver to move around to fasten the straps that hold the wheelchair or ECV to the bus. So, it may not seem 'fair' to some people, but it does make the process faster and makes it less likely that anyone will get their feet run over.
WDW generally considers a 'party' for a wheelchair/ECV to be a total of 6 people (5 plus the person with a disability). We have traveled with as many as 8 people, but when we have that many, we have DD, her dad and grandma board together. The rest of us wait in the line. Even if we had NOT boarded with the wheelchair, we almost always have gotten a seat.
Probably about 5-10% of the time there is some reason we can't get onto the bus - the lift doesn't work, the tiedowns don't work, so we can't get onto the first bus that comes.
If you think about it, someone who is able to walk onto the bus has the choice to sit on any seat or to stand. Someone with a wheelchair or ECV has only 2 places they can 'sit', so they only have 2 possible 'chances' to get on each bus.
We never get the buses, as I'd rather drive our hire car and get back to the hotel when i want, not have to wait for a bus.
BUT why do they let this happen?
If someone has been waiting in a queue for 10mins, let alone 1hr, why should someone in a wheelchair get priority?
Especially if its busy.
I understand about the GAC card, and that not all disabilities are obvious, but I wonder about this in the ride queues aswell. If your in a wheelchair, then why IN GENERAL should you not have to wait in a line with others? Please, I'm not trying to annoy anyone, just asking the question.
I think I answered for the buses.
GACs (Guest Assistance Cards) are not meant to give immediate or faster access. It says that right on the card and suggests using Fastpass to shorten your wait in line. There is more information about GACs in post #6 of the disABILITIES FAQs thread (link in my signature).
For the attractions, the answer is that people with wheelchairs and ECVs don't get ahead of other people. They mostly wait in line with other people. Those wheelchair accessible lines are called
Mainstream Lines.
Disney's Hollywood Studios and AK are newer and were built with Mainstream Access.
MK and Epcot were not built with Mainstream Access because of how long ago they were built, but as attractions were renovated or added, Mainstream Access was added as much as possible.
This is a list of attractions with Mainstream Access from the WDW Guidebook for Guests with Disabilities:
Magic Kingdom® Park
- • Ariel's Grotto
- • Astro Orbiter
- • Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
- • Donald's Boat
- • Judge's Tent
- • Mickey's Country House
- • Mickey's PhilharMagic
- • Minnie's Country House
- • Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor
- • Pirates of the Caribbean
- • Space Mountain®
- • Splash Mountain®
- • Stitch's Great Escape!™
- • "The Enchanted Tiki Room Under New Management"
- • The Hall of Presidents
- • The Magic Carpets of Aladdin
- • The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
- • Tomorrowland® Indy Speedway
- • Toontown Hall of Fame
- • Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress (seasonal)
Epcot®
- • FUTURE WORLD
- • Imagination!: All Attractions
- • Innoventions East
- • Innoventions West
- • Mission: SPACE
- • Test Track
- • The Seas with Nemo & Friends: All Attractions
- • The Land: All Attractions
- • Universe of Energy: "Ellen's Energy Adventure"
-
- • WORLD SHOWCASE
- • China: "Reflections of China"
- • France: "Impressions de France"
- • FriendShip Boats (NOTE: The WDW park rental ECVs don't fit on these boats).
- • Norway: Maelstrom
- • The American Adventure: "The American Adventure"
Disney's Hollywood Studios™
- • Disney's Hollywood Studios™ Backlot Tour
- • Fantasmic!
- • Lights, Motors, Action!™ Extreme Stunt Show
- • Muppet*Vision 3D
- • Playhouse Disney - Live On Stage!
- • Rock 'n' Roller Coaster® Starring Aerosmith
- • Sounds Dangerous - Starring Drew Carey
- • Star Tours
- • The Great Movie Ride
- • The Magic of Disney Animation
- • "The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror™"
- • Voyage of the Little Mermaid
- • Walt Disney: One Man's Dream
- • Toy Story Mania
Disney's Animal Kingdom® Theme Park
- • Caravan Stage: "Flights of Wonder"
- • DINOSAUR
- • Expedition Everest™
- • Finding Nemo - The Musical
- • Grandmother Willow's Grove: "Pocahontas and Her forest friends"
- • It's Tough To Be A Bug
- • Kali River Rapids
- • Kilimanjaro Safaris
- • Lion King Theater: "Festival of the Lion King"
- • Maharajah Jungle Trek
- • Primeval Whirl
- • The Boneyard
- • TriceraTop Spin
If there is something that makes the line un-accessible (like stairs), there is usually a bypass for people right at that point. In some cases, the boarding area is not accessible because people board on one side of a track and exit on another (Haunted Mansion and TSM are examples of this). Because it's difficult to get a wheelchair or ECV around/over the track, people with wheelchairs and ECVs board at the exit
after waiting in the regular line. FOr HM, that means missing the stretching room. The 'pull off' point is usually just before the regular boarding point.
People see us at the exit waiting to board. Those who were in line with us know that we waited in line the same as anyone else (and we frequently do see people who wer just ahead of us come off the ride after riding while we are still waiting). People who were not in line with us assume we just came in the exit and are getting on.
That's one of the reasons people think that guests using wheelchairs and ECVs don't have to wait. What you see can be deceiving though.
