Changes at Disney

We hadn't been to Disney still 2018 so we expected some changes such as new rides but we were surprised that the FastPass system which allowed visitors to reserve a time for an attraction and skip a long line was gone. In its place is Genie which has an additional fee per day per park. The fees starts at $15 but can be as high as $35. Genie allows visitors to chose a time to see an attraction but there are stipulations on how many reservations can be made per day and how much time must be allowed between them. It's confusing. It's also possible to buy individual Lightening Passes for $10 to $25 per ride. Tickets for Disney are expensive enough without adding these additional fees! We were lucky because we visited the week before Thanksgiving week when the park wasn't crowded. That and rainy weather kept the crowds down. We had very short or no waits for most of the rides but by the weekend before Thanksgiving the waits at standby lines had risen to 70 minutes or more. 

We were also surprised by the early closing of Magic Kingdom on many days in November and December for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. An additional $159 to $199 ticket allowed visitors into the park from 7:00 to 12:00 for a special parade, fireworks, and shows. Everyone with a regular admission for the day had to leave. In all the times we visited Disney over the years we'd never noticed that the park closed early for this party. This isn't new but somehow it escaped our notice.

Pandora, Star Wars, Tron, Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railroad, Remmy's Ratatouille Adventure were all new since our 2018 visit but unfortunately the only one that's accessible is Remmy's Ratatouille Adventure but a malfunction caused a shutdown which then caused a long line so we skipped it. Even though the two rides in Pandora and the two rides in Star Wars are not accessible the worlds created for each of them are fantastic and definitely worth visiting. The setting for Star Wars is the Black Spire Outpost, a haven for smugglers and scoundrels on the planet Batuu. We did not spend enough time just looking around at everything that was created. It's amazing! The number of gift shops was a bit too much though. The Valley of Mo'ara is the setting for Pandora's most amazing sight — the floating mountains. Trees and vines (fabricated) have grown high enough to wrap around the floating rocks. Paths wind around the valley and through gardens of real and fantasy plants. This is a cool place to visit when it's dark to see the luminescent plants. Unfortunately I didn't get good photos of either Pandora or Star Wars.

There are a few other small changes. MagicBands which store admission information are no longer free but you can use your phone or get a free plastic admission card. High tech security scanners now allow visitors to walk through without stopping so there aren't any lines except for visitors with strollers or in wheelchairs. If a wheelchair visitor can not stand they are required to pat themselves down which I found rather amusing. 

The crackdown on people using wheelchairs to access the fast lines has made a noticeable difference in the number of wheelchairs in the parks. There are still plenty of older people using scooters but few wheelchairs. Now that the wheelchair lines are gone the only people given special priority are those who, physically or emotionally, can not wait in a long line. They must register for the Disability Access Service which means they can book a return time for an attraction. That time corresponds to the time they would have waited in line. 

We stayed at Fort Wilderness Campground again on this visit, Even though it's ridiculously expensive it's so convenient and allowed us to get free parking at the Disney parks. We had a Preferred Campsite which is wider than the Full Hookup Campsite we had in 2011 so I could deploy my lift and still be on the asphalt. 

Everything else is pretty much the same from our visits in 2011 and 2018. Disney  28.39555, -81.55372

Fort Wilderness Campground

  This is a very expensive campground. It’s also very popular so make reservation early. When I checked for open sites a few weeks before we decided to go I couldn’t find any for our entire visit but I could make a reservation for each day. That was a pain since each reservation required filling out all of our information on the online form 10 times. When we checked in on our first day all of our reservations were combined and we had the same site for the whole ten days. Why that couldn’t happen in the beginning is a mystery to me.

  We were in the cheapest RV sites which feature concrete parking pads, tables, grills, water, power, sewer, cable, and internet. The concrete does not extend under the table so access is a bit difficult. The more expensive one are larger, closer to the amenities such as the beach and ferries to Magic Kingdom, and have more foliage between the sites. Other perks of staying in Fort Wilderness include extra hours for resort guests and free parking in the theme park lots. Parking for cars is $20.00 a day, RVs $22.00 – something to consider if you stay off site.

   Staying the campground is convenient. Buses run regularly to all of the theme parks and make loops around the campground.  A small ferry with a green flag goes directly to the Magic Kingdom. Ferries with different colored flags go to other resorts. We did not take any of the buses because I don’t like the lengthy process of loading and securing me and my wheelchair. We took the ferry to and from the park once but decided the walk to the ferry was too long to do everyday so we drove to each theme park from the campground on the other days. The green ferry is accessible but it may not be completely level with the dock.  Some of the other ferries are not accessible. The paved trails from the campsites are wide and smooth. The parking information from our trip in 2011 is still accurate. Campground   28.39555, -81.55372

         

       

More Disney

 

Five more days! I thought the last couple of days were a bit too much but Tony enjoyed each and every day. We had some very short days and we saw almost everything including stuff that we would have skipped if we had fewer days. We even played Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom, an interactive scavenger hunt  with spell cards and holograms.

     

The Epcot International Festival of the Arts took place during our visit. It featured culinary arts, visual arts, and performing arts. It was fun but seemed scattered and unorganized and the art and performances were not very impressive. 

         

I’m sure more Disney World is in our future but we may take advantage of the option to add days onto our visit instead of buying a 10 day pass. As long the days are added to an existing ticket before the last day and it’s within the 14 day timeframe the discount for more days is valid.  Disney  28.40876, -81.58172

Five Days of Disney

 We’re taking a break! We visited all four parks, Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios. Hollywood Studios is the only park that we finished in one day. We spent two days at Animal Kingdom and will go back to Magic Kingdom and Epcot this week.  We’re on a really relaxed schedule - get up around 7:30, eat breakfast, drive to the parking lot of whichever park we’re visiting, take showers, eat an early lunch and then finally go into the park. We take a break at dinnertime and eat in the RV before going back to see the evening shows. It’s a slow time of year and most of the attractions have a wait of 10 minutes or less.


 
       

         


  
 We have not used any FastPasses which allow visitors to reserve a time to see some of the more popular attractions, bypassing a long wait in line. The thrill rides get the longest lines so getting a FastPass is a good idea. These rides require a transfer from a wheelchair and since I tend to slide around during the rides (which is kind of scary) we don’t go on them.

 I think if you’re determined and focused you can see most of Disney in four or five days but because of the way Disney discounts the tickets as more days are purchased it was hard for us to pass on the 10 day bargain. Five days costs $370.00 per person but adding five more days is only an additional $70.00 per person!

The parking and accessibility information from our 2011 visit is accurate. The main change is that now visitors in wheelchairs must get in line with everyone else. So many people were taking advantage of the quicker wheelchair lines that it was causing a problem. I’m glad they made this change because it never seemed fair to skip the lines. Some of the rides still have special lines because of the need for easier wheelchair access.  Visitors who can not sit in one spot for a long time because of physical problems or can not handle crowds and small spaces may get a special pass that gives them a return time comparable to the line wait time. 

Scroll down on this site to Guides for Guests with Disabilities for maps of the parks. Disney World   28.40876, -81.58172

Disney!

          

  We’ve visited Disney World many times, both before and after my accident. It’s fairly accessible and we always have a good time. Our last visit was in 2011 so we’re anticipating new attractions and a few changes like the computerized wristbands that are used for entrance to the parks, resort areas, parking lots and even to charge purchases.

Ticket prices start at about $100.00 a day and get cheaper per day as more days that are added.  We decided to go the full amount allowed for one visit – 10 days!  I think that might be a little too much but it will give us time to see everything and have some short and relaxed days.

   We’re off to see Mickey!

Disney World

  When we decided to visit Disney World, I looked on line for information about accessibility. I didn’t find what I was looking for which was just an overview so that we would know what to expect. I’m going to try to keep this concise because there are blow by blow accounts of the parks on the internet already.

 Fort Wilderness  -  We were so busy that I never got out of the motorhome at the campground. We had one of the lowest priced RV sites. It was level and fairly big. There was enough room for me to use the lift and still be in the site when I exited but I would have been in the sand. The more expensive sites have larger paved areas. Fort Wilderness is expensive but worth the price because you can park at any of the park lots for free, you don’t have to sit in traffic or waste time driving, and you get extra hours in the parks that non-Disney resort patrons don’t get.

The Basics – Disney World is very handicapped accessible. We didn’t use a lot of the facilities or transportation choices so I can’t comment on them. We drove our RV to the lots  and used it for taking breaks and eating meals. We tried to get to the lots early enough to get fairly close to the entrances. RV parking was different at each lot.  Each park has a special map for handicapped accessibility but if you don’t find one, the regular park maps have all of the rides marked for accessibility. This little graphic that is on the right side of the maps tells it all -
                                                                                                                                                            
If you use a standard wheelchair any ride with  the first or third symbol is very easy to board –just roll on. The rides with the second or fourth symbol, which requires that you transfer onto the ride aren’t easy at all. We tried the Haunted Mansion. Tony had to pick me up and maneuver into a very small opening on the car. We also got in line for the Pirates of the Caribbean but didn’t even try to get on the ride. It would have necessitated getting onto the floor and then transferring down over a foot into the boat. So unless you can stand a little or are very good at transferring, skip these rides. There are plenty of other things to do.

 Magic Kingdom –   Parking -we were directed to an end spot close to the exit. It wasn’t a far walk to the entrance but you must get on the monorail to go to either the Magic Kingdom or Epcot, accessed by a long, not too steep ramp. There are special lines for handicapped passengers but you still have to wait in the regular line until you’re at the top of a ramp. A small ramp is put in place to bridge the gap into the cars. The cars aren’t made for wheelchairs so the aisle is used. No tie downs but the ride is smooth. They cram in as many wheelchairs and strollers in as is possible.Since this is the oldest park it has more rides that aren’t accessible. As new rides are added they go out of their way to make them accessible. Some of them have transformer types of seating that are almost as entertaining to watch being transformed as the ride is to take. 

Epcot – Parking for RVs in Epcot is excellent, very close to the entrance in special RV spaces. There aren’t many spaces so get there early. Most of the attractions are accessible in a chair. I especially enjoyed an attraction in one of the Innovations buildings which used computers to put us into a video game. We mailed a link to ourselves and could play the game on our computers – very funny! But I lost the link! :(   

Hollywood Studios-   No special parking for RVs. This was farther away from the entrance than any of the other parks. Most of the rides are accessible.

Animal Kingdom -  We were parked in a big lot right next to the handicapped lot that seems to have been designated as the oversized and RV lot. It’s pretty close to the entrance. As the newest park almost everything is accessible – hang on if you go on the safari , a little bumpy and fast stops.  

Scroll down on this site to Guides for Guests with Disabilities for maps of the parks.

Guides for Guests with Disabilities

 A few tips – we went at off season, in the beginning of December and the parks were not crowded at all. Get to the wheelchair designated spots for the parades and fireworks early. Remember that your tickets are good for 14 days so if you’re not feeling well or the weather is bad, skip a day.
 Disney
28.40876, -81.58172