Special Needs Sharing Question: What do you think of WDW disabled parking?? About This Page:

[Sandra Bostwick]

We are starting a GREAT discussion about opinions on WDW disabled parking. I'd like to have this on a thread where people looking for this info could find it easily.

Those who have already offered their opinions...would you mind cutting and pasting a copy onto here? I think this is great info!

[SueM loves WDW]

Some of the handicapped parking is not really that close to the park entrance - in most cases, you will have a shorter walk by parking in the regular parking area and using the trams. The parking lot trams do deliver you right to the entrance to the park - closer than you will get from walking from the handicapped parking area.
The WDW online Guidebook for Guests with disabilities (now renamed "Guests with Needs") recommends just that:
QUOTE: Guests with the ability to walk short distances and step up onto the courtesy trams should park in the main parking lots of Magic Kingdom® Park, Epcot®, Disney's Hollywood Studios", or Disney's Animal Kingdom® Theme Park. The courtesy tram will transport Guests to the Entrance Complex. END QUOTE
Guests With Needs | Plain Text | Walt Disney World Resort
They recently re-formatted their online guidebook and got some things messed up (if you go to the top of the page I linked, you will find 2 links to ACCESSIBLE PARKING - one of which is stuck in the middle of the list of Companion Restrooms.

The new Guidemaps that the parks started using in early 2009 offer the same advice I quoted above and they say the following about Handicapped Parking:
QUOTE: "Parking for Guests with mobility disabilities, or who are traveling with personal wheelchairs, is available adjacent to the Entrance Complex. There is no tram service from this parking area. Inquire at the Auto Plaza for directions and parking option." END QUOTE
(their bolding).

All the handicapped parking areas do have courtesy wheelchairs areas so guests can use those wheelchairs to get from the handicapped parking area to the nearest wheelchair rental site, but we have seen empty courtesy wheelchair spots. This is a picture of the courtesy wheelchair area at AK.


The Studio - has the closest handicapped parking to the entrance and it is possible to walk from there to the park entrance fairly easily. It is also a small area, so it can get filled up quickly.
We have already arrived at the park at 10 am and found all the spot taken. This has meant that my husband has to leave my daughter and I off since she can't stand and her wheelchair doesn't fold to get it onto the tram (plus she can't step up to the tram and would not be able to sit in a moving tram seat). When we are ready to leave, she and I have to wait at the drop off area while my husband gets the car and brings it back to pick us up.

Epcot - has close parking if you are in the first few rows of the handicapped parking, but there are quite a few rows and the lot is quite wide. So, if you are on the far end of a row, it will be quite a walk. We have seen empty courtesy wheelchair areas fairly often.

MK - mechurchlady had a very good explanation on another thread:
QUOTE: Disabled parking at the TTC means walking down a an under crossing and then back up and on to the ferry or up the Mount Monorail. That place ruined my vacation as I could not get on the monorail. I had to walk about 1600 feet or 3 blocks to the ferry then 3 more blocks back. i was in extreme pain at the end of the day and worn out. Instead of parking near a tram I had to walk an extra block each way. TTC parking is the most disabled unfriendly in Disney parks and has needed changed for over 15 years. END QUOTE
There is a courtesy wheelchair area as you enter the TTC area. Since the monorail at TTC and MK have no elevators, using the monorail involves going up a very steep ramp to get on the monorail at each place and going down an equally steep ramp to get out of the monorail station. I usually suggest people with mobility problems staying at one of the WDW resorts plan to ride the bus even if that is the only park they take the bus to.

AK - The handicapped parking area at AK is the farthest away of any of the parks. It is far enough away that they have benches to sit on while you make the trip from the parking area to the park entrance. I think that says it all.

[Eeyore Tattoo]

I am glad we don't drive to WDW.. not too keen on the parking after reading this..

[SueM loves WDW]

Originally Posted by Eeyore Tattoo

I am glad we don't drive to WDW.. not too keen on the parking after reading this..

For us, the distance doesn't really doesn't matter as long as we have enough room by our van to get our daughter's wheelchair out and get her into it.
I feel bad for the people who don't have wheelchairs or ECVs and park there thinking it will be a short walk.

[PamelaK]

Thanks for the info.

[mechurchlady]

Waves to Sue

I so wish mom would sell the house so we could go to WDW and then live like queens in a disable friendly home and have a nice van to take her places. Until that day there is not WDW for me.

AT both WDW and DLR it is a long walk for some guests. 100 feet may not seem far to me but for some people that is impossible. If you can find an wheelchair in the parking lot there is still the problem of finding someone to push you to the entrance. I had to buy a scoorter because the walk from the parking lot then to the tram then to the entrance of DLR parks was too much let alone crawling to my car at night.

Disney refuses to fix TTC despite begging and letter writing and public disdain and complaints. I off roaded on Tom Sawyer Island at DLR with more ease than the TTC monorail ramp. Try pushing a stroller or wheelchair up that ramp. Disney is right that guests should get wheelchairs before coming to parks but some just do not even understand the basics of trip planning or do not think about such matters.

Disabled parking next to trams is great except when a guest cannot climb into or out of a tram. The solution would be a 20+ year begged for repair of the TTC to make it more user friendly, put in computer kiosks for guests to avoid making in person reservations an buy admission, and the much neglected disabled and stroller friendly entrance. It is a crying shame that WDW and DLR are so backwards in dealing with disabled guests.

Yes it did ruin my vacation because I was exhausted and begging trams to stop but they would not stop. I walked in pain about to collapse and then nearly passed out driving off site to a motel. More than once I slept in a restaurant parking lot or WDW parking as I was too tired to get to my motel. I got sick because there was no sweatshirts in my size. I wonder at times why I want to go back to WDW after the pain, sickness and sheer exhaustion from being in the parks.

[bitterchickey]

Agreed, for as disabled-friendly as the parks themselves are, the parking isn't close to that standard. Logically, no, everyone can't have a front row parking spot, but there are definite flaws in the design. AK in particular, I was thinking "are they making us park at the lodge???" lol! Knock wood we've always had luck at Epcot and when you are in the closer spots, it is quite convenient. Dhs also would rank 2nd to Epcot for ease imo. MK/TTC--lost cause! Plus MK is notoriously the park with the fewest ECV/wheelchairs available for rent as well!

[CinderAbby]

I agree about the AK disabled parking but I must be an odd duck when it comes to the TTC. I don't think it's that bad. I actually prefer the disabled parking the way it is. Lenny uses a scooter and it's not one of those that can be broken apart so it has to go in our van the way it is and we have to put down a ramp in order to get it in and out. The ramp is at the back of the vehicle, not the side, so it sticks out into where traffic drives and where some people walk without looking (meaning they might fall over it because they're oblivious) and they also get in the way at times. In normal parking lots, people rush by in cars and crowd us making it unsafe for Lenny to do that. In the handicapped section, most times other people are doing the same thing as us (getting some sort of medical equipment in vehicles) so if it takes us 15 or so minutes to get the ramp down and get the scooter back in (or out), Lenny can do it safely without people honking at him or giving him looks or just rushing by with their cars inches from Lenny. And the people walking in this section seem to pay more attention to their surroundings and what others are trying to do (therefore not getting in the way).

Anyway, that's my two cents on the disabled parking. You can agree or not but I don't think the TTC parking needs to be moved or fixed in any way other than maybe adding more spots. But the same could be said for each and every parking lot at Disney.

[bitterchickey]

I think the ttc lot is just harder for people who don't have their own equipment, and have to trek into the park before they can rent something.

[CinderAbby]

I think the ttc lot is just harder for people who don't have their own equipment, and have to trek into the park before they can rent something.

That may be true, but it's also why Disney recommends this

Guests with the ability to walk short distances and step up onto the courtesy trams should park in the main parking lots of Magic Kingdom® Park, Epcot®, Disney's Hollywood Studios", or Disney's Animal Kingdom® Theme Park. The courtesy tram will transport Guests to the Entrance Complex.

I truthfully believe that if you can't walk short distances or step onto the tram, then you should be the owner of some sort of equipment to begin with (or at least be renting from an off site company to have it with you at all times). And no offense, but people who don't do this really are hurting noone but themselves and have no one else to blame if they don't.

[Teresa]

I think that there should be two types of handicapped parking - what my family calls "The Walking Wounded" meaning those that can walk, but need to do so in short spurts or have trouble and will need to procure a wheelchair or scooter, and those with their own wheelchair or scooter - THOSE are the ones who need larger spaces, but don't need to be as close to the front entrance.
I feel that way about all parking lots, not just WDW.

[mechurchlady]

I need a scooter and was turned down by SCAN. Secure Horizons will not repair my mom's wheelchair nor mine so that meant I had to pay $125 for a used scooter that does not fit in my Nissan XE Sentra plus a lot of money to buy mom a new wheelchair.

Many of us who need mobility aids do not get them or end up fighting the medical red tape.

My problem is that I can touch my toes and run a bit and am very flexible for my weight. The thing is that if I have a system failure or if I am tired then you need a tow truck to move me. I went to DLR on Sunday and still have not recovered fully.

Some people believe they can walk into the parks then rent an aid but do not realize all the walking needed just to get in the parks. Disney offers rentals os like lets get one in park.

[yalibrarian]

If you've never been to WDW before, you have no way of knowing about distances and obstacles like the monorail ramp. Even reading a guidebook doesn't substitute for experience, and after hearing how disability-friendly WDW is, I am sure the less than ideal transport situations are a big surprise to many, although OPEN MOUSE does a pretty fair job of highlighting mobility issues. Our chair rental from Buena Vista Scooters was under $75/week with tax, but if a scooter is needed, that is well over $200 for the same time.

Wheelchairs and scooters are a big expense. We don't yet own either one because of uncertainty over whether my husband's diabetes-related condition would improve or not. Insurance companies are loathe to pay for unnecessary durable medical equipment--and some folks just may not have the coverage at all. This year we are trying to get the neuro guy to write a request to the insurance to allow us to buy at least a chair. We are lucky in that we can afford to pay a few hundred dollars for one if we have to, but again, not everyone who scrapes up the $$ for a dream trip of a few days at WDW can afford the mobility aids beyond a cane or transport chair (cheaper than a self-push); it may be an either-or situation: scooter or trip.

Although I have visited WDW 17 times, pushing my husband in his wheelchair down and then up from the MK parking to TTC about killed me last year. I was very surprised to encounter this difficulty as this was the first time I'd ever had to do this. We avoid the monorail at MK and always take the ferry, as it is much easier to get on/off. I will say that one time the handicapped parking was full and they actually flowed us over into the AAA Diamond parking area which probably peeved AAA customers (we are AAA members) but was helpful for us. I really think they need to consider some modified tram cars so chairs or scooters could be transported from regular parking.

At AK, we had no problems. Fairly close parking and a nice, flat roll to the gate.

At DHS, the parking was full when we arrived, so I did another loop and dropped my husband and chair off at the curb. I was able to push him back out to our parking space on foot, but boy, was I pooped!

At Epcot, we went an extra day beyond our wheelchair rental, so we rented one at the park. We were a little farther out than I would have liked, but it wasn't too bad walking in. As we exited at the end of the day, we were told we could use a courtesy chair to go to the parking lot, and that was very helpful.

[Sandra Bostwick]

Originally Posted by yalibrarian

As we exited at the end of the day, we were told we could use a courtesy chair to go to the parking lot, and that was very helpful.

Thanks for the info. Can you tell us a little more about the courtesy chair?

[saxgirl2003]

What happens if u get to the park and there are no handicapped parking spots available?? My mom will have a scooter from an off site company. she can step on the tram, its just a matter of getting the scooter to the gate too.

I'm guessing if no handicapped is available i'll be to drop her off and go park on my own.