[blindkid] Disney world and the Jedi Training Academy

[Rene Harrell]

Hey all!

So, we're just getting back from a wonderful trip to Disney World. We go
every other year and have always had a great time. For the first time
however, we ran into a problem while we were there. I signed the older two
up to do the Jedi Training Academy at Hollywood studios, where you "train"
to be a Jedi and fight Darth Vader. However, when they saw Clare was blind,
they refused to let her participate. They said it was a safety issue
because the platform they would be "training" on was raised and that
children needed to be able to be on the stage with absolutely no assistance.

Because none of my kids had participated before, I held off judgment on
their refusal until I had actually witnessed the show myself. Turns out
they did in fact have a separate helper up there for when kids would get
confused as to where they were supposed to be. They had kids as young as
four, and sometimes they'd get turned around, so there was a cast member up
there to point them in the right direction or help move them where they
needed to be.

The absolute biggest key is that they wanted kids to be able to follow a
set of simple directions, which Clare could in fact follow. There was
nothing in the show itself to preclude a blind child from being able to
participate with no additional accommodations beyond what they already had
on stage.

I followed up with Guest Services at the park, who said it was a decision
of the entertainment unit and gave me their contact information and now
that we're home, I'm planning on following-through with a letter. They told
me several times that they had *never* had this kind of situation and never
had a blind child attempt to sign up to participate before, of which I am
doubtful, so I thought I would inquire here to see if anyone has had their
child attempt to do Jedi Training Academy at Disney's Hollywood Studios and
been denied, or if their child has actually been allowed to participate.

Thanks!

Rene--- now calling Massachusetts home, mom to five including Miss Clare,
age 10, ROP, developmental delay, and autism.

-- 
" I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up
where I needed to be."
-- Douglas Adams