What is the status of the Special assistance pass for someone in a wheel chair these days? How does it work now since they tightened up the rules from a few years ago?
My friend is going next week and she had emergency surgery about a week ago, and needs to take it easy.
its like this--- you roll up with your party (park rules are a max of 6 persons) of any size and go to the exit of most rides. if you given any slack about having too many people in your group tell them "they didnt tell me that at city hall" and your WHOLE group will ride
most CMs are scared to "challange" someone in a wheelchair because of the legal recourse a guest has if the park has not followed the AWD Act, so you more than likely wont go thur the "how many in your group?" question
^It is pretty easy, if you use a wheelchair, the CM at the entrance is supposed to hand you an Assistance Guide when you enter. This explains the attractions where you need to use the exit (which is some, but not all attractions at Disneyland. At DCA, EVERY attraction has wheelchairs use the REGULAR queue, since it was built after the ADA rules were placed in effect). If the CM doesn't hand you the guide, just go to City Hall and pick on up (the Wheelchair ramp is on the north side).
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BTW- It's no longer called a "special assistance pass".
Now it's a GAC...Guest Assistance Card.
They don't want people to get the idea that it is either special or a "pass".
And no GAC is needed if you are in a wheelchair or have a cane/walker. Oh yeah, or rent an ECV.
If you want more valuable info re: these GAC's, do a search. Plenty of threads covering this topic.
What the posters have said above is true. If you are in a wheelchair or ECV you won't get any questions, and will be allowed to use the handicapped entrance. Just make sure your friend can get in and out of the rides that require a quicker loading time.
I had a broken leg and got surgery for it, so I've visited DLR with an ECV, walker and cane ... and all the times I've been allowed handicap access since I can't stand for too long. But, if the line is short I will take the regular line (now that I can walk).
Should she really be going on the rides that soon after surgery? I'd say don't underestimate just how much these rides bang you around. Watch the monitors on Star Tours sometime, it's surprising just how much throwing around goes on.Originally Posted by Leofoenget
If your friend needs to take it easy why would she be going to Disneyland? I mean if I just had surgery and the doctor told me to take it easy I would rather go someplace more relaxing like hawaii or yosemite. A theme park is a bit much.
If you have a wheelchair you don't need the pass. You can get the guide from a ticket taker or in city hall.
Be safe after surgery. Take it easy.
Well normally no. But they bought a package and her husband and 2 teenage boys really want to go. She will mostlikely keep it quiet with her 2 year old. She had a grapefruit size cyst on her ovary that twisted and she had emergency surgery either last week or the week before. My guess is she will hang out at the DLH or in toontown with the little one and let the boys do the boy thing. She will probably be the place holder for Fantasmic etc. She is getting a motorized something or other.
thanks for the info.
jan
She can use the HA entrances, however, she needs to ride for the family to use the entrance. Toontown is pretty much accessible, so just use the regular entrances. Fantasyland is not really accessible, so she wil be advised to use the exits. Be aware, the lines are strange there. Soemtimes you will go right on, other times they line people up, then forget about them! <g> Had that happen on Pinnochio. Hopefully she will take it easy, a lot of the rides will be hard on her.
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Wow, I would NEVER consider doing this. When we go in a large party, we send my daughter to the handicap entrance and she tells the CM she will wait til we come thru the line. The rule says 6. We have gone with 7 and didn't worry about it. Fantasyland is the only area that is really a stickler for 6.
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While it is correct that if you have a disability that requires the use of an assistance device (wheelchair, cane) you do not need a GAC. However, if you can get out of the wheelchair and go into the attraction then it is still a good idea to get one. I always use a cane and I sometimes use a wheelchar/ecv and I always get a pass anyway. The pass they give me has the wheelchair stamp and the no stairs stamp. The CMs at City Hall sometimes will tell you that they cant give you a GAC if you have one of those visible disabilities, just continue to insist that you need one. I told them that I had been harrased and turned away on a few rides (which i had) and they gave me the pass. It can come in handy on attractions like Space Mountain because you can then just go in through the FastPass entrance (without getting a FastPass-you dont need it) as long as you can board within a certain time frame. Likewise you can go in through the exit of Pirates and show them your pass (or cane) and get boarded quickly without waiting in the wheelchair line. In DCA several attractions (Soarin', Grizzly, Screamin) will hand write you a fastpass to return if you have difficulties waiting in line wither sitting or standing just show them you GAC. Hope this is helpful.
On disneyland.com, you can look at a list of rides and it will tell you what kind of loading it has.
The handicapped pass at City Hall does work, but you won't get many places any faster
It doesn't help you on lots of things but it does help. It helps (if you can get out of the chair and walk to the ride) on Space Mountain, Pirates, Soarin', Grizzly, Screamin'; those are the ones I use it on.
I just wanted to let people who are not in wheelchairs they changed how they handle POTC as of 1/1/07. It was interesting, because we did it one way on 12/31/06 and different 1//1/07.
We do not use a chair. We have a service dog. I used to put the kids in the access line, go to the person managing the HA and let them know the size of our party and that we did not have a chair. Because we did not interfer with the number of chairs on the dock, similar to DisneyGeek, they would bring us forward after a bit and take us in thru the exit gate. On 1/1/07, they changed how they do this. Now, if you have a GAC and no chair, you now wait in the outside line til the "lamppost", then they take you to the exit gate instead of the wheelchair gate. Just wanted to update so people know the changes.
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