Trip Reports

• Time of Year: Winter
• Travel Method: Plane, Rental Car
• Resort: Offsite
• Accommodations: Standard Room
• Ages Represented in Group: Teen, Adult
• WDW Experience Represented in Group: Infrequent
• Comments: Beth Floro's friend Andrea and her family visited WDW in February. What makes this trip notable is the information Beth and Andrea provided on handicapped access and other such details.

My friend Andrea just got back from the WDW vacation that *I* helped her plan, and everybody had a wonderful time! <thank you, thank you very much> We used all possible guidebooks and many helpful tips from RADP. She came over this morning for a cup of tea and gushed out the following details, which have been pre-edited for your reading pleasure by my Swiss cheese memory...

The gang

Andrea & husband Terry (both 40-something), daughter Caren (13); met up for one day with FL college son Dan & his girlfriend Courtney, & Terry's Mom & Dad. Their most recent WDW trip was 1989.

Andrea has MS - her symptoms manifest with visual troubles, weakness in one hand and leg. She can walk w/o a cane but is very wobbily, and she has an electric scooter. She has to rest every afternoon, so they left the parks about 2 each day, then came back about 5 pm. Terry is on a special low-fat diet.

Travel Arrangements

Flew from Rochester NY to Orlando, US*Scare - uneventful trip. Got a rental car from Avis (no trouble), and a rental scooter from Care Medical.

Lodging

Stayed at the Holiday Inn-Niki Bird, handicapped room. It was "huge", large enough for the 3 of them, the scooter, & a regular wheelchair. They said they were considering holding a formal ball in the bathroom, so I guess it was roomy. Andrea said she'd rather try to stay on-site, but if they can't, they're going to the Niki Bird and nowhere else. Really liked it.

Disney / MGM Studios

Skipped

• TZToT
• Animation tour
• Evita
• SuperStar TV
• Toy Story Parade

Did everything else.

Meals

• Commisary

Especially Liked

• almost everything!

Disappointments

• No Sorcery in the Sky fireworks :-(
• Dinosaur Gertie sold only hot drinks; no ice cream, no cold drinks! (What's up with this??)
• Beauty & Beast show - they wanted to see it at night, but it wasn't shown after 4:30pm

Notable

• For Muppets (and HISTA in Epcot) Andrea couldn't "see" the 3D effects, but enjoyed the "2D" show anyway. Rest of the family loved both. (Be sure to get in the theater chairs if you can, to get all the special effects.)
• Indiana Jones show - Dan got picked to be an "extra", but said it wasn't much fun because he didn't get to SEE the SHOW. He didn't want to stand around and yell, he wanted to DO the stunts...
• Monster Sound show - Dan got picked again. His "footsteps" were a little too quiet, but the rest was fine. He did enjoy this one.

Andrea's Favorite

• Great Movie Ride (got the gangster)

Epcot

Skipped

• Canada - ran out of time & energy

Meals

• Coral Reef - 11:30 lunch, choice seats near aquarium, wonderful meal.

Especially Liked

• Cranium Command
• Living Seas
• Journey into Imagination
• Honey I Shrunk the Audience
• El Rio Del Tiemp
• Maelstrom
• Living with the Land

Disappointments

• Germany & Italy "had nothing to do"
• UK shops not accessible for her scooter,
• France's pastry shop was closed (gasp!!!)

Notable

• Got their Epcot passports stamped everywhere

Andrea's Favorites

• Wonders of China movie & "show" (live performers)
• Living Seas
• Living with the Land
• Journey into Imagination

Magic Kingdom

Skipped

• Treehouse (not accessible)
• Tom Sawyer Island (not accessible)
• Remember the Magic Parade

Meals

• grabbed snacks

Especially Liked

• Haunted Mansion
• Alien Encounter
• Timekeeper
• Mickey's meet & greet
• Lion King
• Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
• Spectromagic Parade
• Hall of Presidents

Disappointments

• couldn't find the wishing well at the castle
• Space Mtn broke down while Terry & Caren were waiting in line. Andrea was waiting for them elsewhere & didn't know what was going on. They finally met up, but had lost @ 2 hours & had to re-do their planned schedule.
• Sleepy Hollow (food) was closed. Terry had trouble finding something he could eat.
• Jungle Cruise skipper was lousy.
• Magic Kingdom CM's seemed "annoyed" at having to deal with a handicapped person.
• At Haunted Mansion (you enter through the exit) one CM let her drive up to the ride vehicles on her scooter, another time the CM made her leave the scooter and walk. It was too far for her, and Terry had to go back, get the scooter and come pick her up so she could get to the vehicles. (You *may* wheel all the way up the exit.)
• The Jungle Cruise CM discouraged her from even trying to get into the boat w/o Terry. (My comment - She would have needed more than the token "hand" to make it down the steps, and maybe was expecting too much help here. Terry showed up and they rode.)
• Pirates CM insisted she switch from her scooter to a wheelchair for the queue, and then refused to help her get TO the ride vehicle, so she ended up waiting for Terry again.
• Adventureland Challenge - After 35 minutes the CM announced that it was over. Terry (who had refused to ask anybody for help or directions) was only about 1/2 way done, and is still stewing about it. You'd have to know Terry. ;-)

Notable

• Parade Viewing from Handicapped area at the Hub was excellent, and family members were allowed to stand there too (not always so).

Andrea's Favorites

• Toontown (Mickey's Meet & Greet)
• Haunted Mansion

Disney Village Marketplace

They had wanted an "old fashioned" picture, like the one they got there in '86, but they were told the camera had burned up and not been replaced. Said "World of Disney" was almost *too* big & crowded. Liked R & R Bookstore & Rainforest Cafe (20 min. wait at 11am).

Character Breakfast

Fulton's Crab House - *Loved* it! Have done others in the past and say this is the best by far.

Pressed Pennies

Used the "shiny" recipe from RADP and found the coins had tarnished again by the time they got to the parks. They made just a couple of squishies and were satisfied.

Care Medical Scooter

Andrea had a flat tire in one of the parks! The inner tube actually blew out, and part of the tire hit Caren! Caren was not hurt, but very shaken up. They had Caren checked over and waited for WDW to call Care for some help with the scooter. After a long wait and no progress, they called Care directly, and someone was there with a new scooter for her in 15 minutes.

What I Got Out Of It

A huge mug, @ 20 oz., with a picture of Mickey in the Morning. He's wearing a red bathrobe & white gloves, and is slumped at a table with a cup of coffee and the "Morning Mouse" newspaper. The famous *ears* are drooping, the eyes are at half-mast, and I swear you can see stubble. I LOVE it!!

If you've read this far and want to know more about "scooting" at WDW, see Deb's Disney Digest at http://www.wdn.com/dwills/wchair.htm

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