[blparent] [blaring] Disney World
Erin Rumer
erinrumer at gmail.com
Wed Aug 31 22:22:16 UTC 2011
Everyone has their own opinions about things like the fast pass lanes but
for me, since I'm paying the same price that everyone else is and missing
out on a ton of visual entertainment, the fast pass evens it out for me.
Talk about saving time too! A lot of popular rides can take up to 90
minutes or longer and the fast pass lane takes long enough as it is usually
cutting 30 minutes or so off of that. I guess it's not such a huge deal if
you get to go to DW every year since you have an ample opportunity to see
all the attractions, but when you have to save for years to have a limited
amount of time to see as many attractions as you can, you have to try and
make the most of your time. I don't feel entitled to get this perk, but I
definitely don't feel guilty using it since there are so many visual things
I'm missing out on so it's making my experience more enjoyable to make up
for that. I'm not insecure about my disability at all and know that others
aren't thinking of me any differently for going through this kind of line
and if some do, who cares! Those types are going to think things anyways so
I might as well get onto a ride in a reasonable amount of time. In short,
people who are blind or visually impaired should just do what they
personally feel comfortable doing and try and be understanding and
non-judgmental about the different choice someone else makes. Something
else is that I have chronic back pain that allows me to still do most
everything but if I had to stand in lines all day just to get onto a few
rides I would be torn up by the end of the day which would diminish my fun
tremendously. Sometimes we can really spoil our own fun just to try and
prove a point. My vote is to just have fun, take the few perks when they
come because they're rare, and relax and enjoy yourself.
Food for thought,
Erin
-----Original Message-----
From: blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Mary Jo Hartle
Sent: Thursday, September 01, 2011 12:25 PM
To: 'NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List'
Cc: 'Hartle, Jesse'
Subject: Re: [blparent] [blaring] Disney World
HI,
I wanted to share some insights with the list on this topic. My
husband Jesse, who also is blind, and I have been to Disney World every year
for the last six years. WE love it and are big fans. Of course our
navigation of the park has improved some since we have been there a few
times and learned the ropes of navigating it so to speak, but we've found
each of the four parks to be fairly easy to map out and the accommodations
offered to be quite useful. I should also mention that it wasn't until
about our third or fourth trip there that we went with anyone who was
sighted and even then, we were leading them around for the most part since
we had been there before. Here are a few tips I would offer.
We usually go in the off peak times as the parks are less crowded than
during the summer months and the lines are not as long either. We've been
at different times of the year too, including peak times like spring break
and Christmas, but the off-season times are definitely the best and still
just as "magical". . The rooms to stay at the Disney resorts or on Disney
property are also less expensive and often Disney throws in the meal plan
for free for resort guests during the off season. So, basically you get to
eat great meals at nearly every restaurant and counter top service in any of
the parks and only have to pay the gratuities at the restaurants. So, your
food is basically paid for which ends up being a huge savings. Another
advantage to staying on the property is the access to the buses that run to
and from the property hotels to the main entrances of each of the main parks
and Downtown Disney(closer than you can get if you drive or if you take some
kind of transportation outside of Disney property). This is great for us
since we can't drive ourselves there, and we don't need to pay for
transportation to and from the park. The routes getting from the bus drop
offs to the park entrance gates are very easy to navigate and there are
always a lot of cast members (Disney employees) or other people around to
ask directions from if need be.
I know one of the big perks a lot of people think about when it
comes to being a blind person and going to Disney World is skipping the long
lines. I'll admit that this is a nice and tempting perk, , but one thing
that Jesse and I have thought about is the kind of perception this gives the
public about blind people. For example, if we are willing to take a
discount or take a pass to the front of the line, we are helping to
perpetuate the public view that blind people are dependent and need to be
cared for, or need special treatment, or that we cannot be independent. I
know that other blind people may feel like cutting to the front of a line
isn't that big of a deal and you should use your blindness to get benefits
when you can, or feel justified in taking some of these extra perks, but for
the two of us, we'd like to just be seen as regular people who don't need
any special favors. This is not to say that we don't accept help or use
some of the accessible services offered at places like the descriptive
headsets, or that we don't have a cast member help us find things in a shop,
but we try to minimize the free-bee or special privilege aspect of things.
A lot of people think we are crazy when we say things like that we will wait
in the regular line and don't want to cut to the front, but again, we are
trying to just be normal and really don't need any special treatment. The
lines for getting on rides are pretty easy to navigate since you're
basically only moving a few steps at a time and there are rails or chains
along the side which you can follow with your cane as you make the switch
backs through the line chutes so there really isn't any way you can get lost
or go the wrong way when getting onto a ride. We can also tell when people
move up because our canes will feel the open space when they move, we hear
them step forward, or because the people in front or behind us will let us
know . So, there really is no physical reason that we as active, healthy
people who just happen to be blind really need to go through a different
line or skip the line all together. I will say though that we've been
directed a number of times to the disability entrance or to the fast pass
line even though we weren't looking for it and while it's nice to get n the
ride faster, we always feel a little guilty because the skip really isn't
necessary.
What generally happens if you get a guest card from the service
counter when you arrive (we know b/c we had to get one one time when Jesse's
mom was with us and in a scooter which couldn't go through the regular line)
-----is that the guest pass allows you to go through a different way and
basically cut the line. Most of the time, this is the same line as the fast
pass line which is offered to everyone and where you just get a time stamped
ticket to go on the most popular rides. I'll explain fast passes in a few
minutes as they are a really good tip. When you have one of those guest
passes, you do get extra assistance with getting on the rides, but this is
more designed for people with physical mobility issues who need to transfer
from a wheelchair or a scooter. We've found that the rides are easy to get
on with the use of our cane and the attendants are always very helpful no
matter which line we came through. The only time we found we needed any
real extra assistance was on the rides that have a moving track you have to
step onto. The only reason for this was that you jump on a little faster
b/c the cart comes up and wisks you away, so with these, we dind't have as
much time to find the place to stand with our cane and get lined up before
the cart came so the attendants can help you move there quicker and get
ready for the moving cart to come. This is for rides like the Peter Pan one
in Fantasy land, or the Nemo ride in Epcot or the Cali River Rapids ride in
Animal Kingdom that have moving platforms for you to walk on when getting in
the car or tram. It is also interesting to note that if you use the guest
pass card (which basically lets the cast member operating the ride know you
have a disability), we found ourselves having to wait for a special car or
train for the ride to go in, not just getting to cut in front of the other
riders who were waiting in the regular line because you are put in the cue
for a special car that is more accessible for those with mobility issues so
you don't always get right on the ride as most think. Sometimes when
waiting in this line, it took just as long as if we'd stood in the regular
line. As I said, we've had people direct us to this line without us knowing
when we've gone by ourselves and we've also gone in this line with Jesse's
mom because of some physical issues she has. Again, we don't really feel
that we need any special treatment by skipping the line. If anyone needs to
be allowed to skip the line, it's the family who is back there waiting with
two small kids having a meltdown rather than us no less capable blind guys
who are just doing it because we can.
Whether or not you want to take some of the perks like cutting to the front
of a line because of blindness is a personal decision, but keep in mind the
kind of perception this gives to the public about the capabilities of blind
people and whether or not it's really a necessity that you get help getting
on at a different spot than the rest of the riders or makes that big of a
difference in your ability to get on and off a ride. I also caution against
doing something like this because we feel entitled as blind people so we
deserve this kind of perk as again, it doesn't send a great message to the
public about our capabilities as blind people to be independent. So, just
some food for thought which you can take or leave.
NO one wants to wait in a long line, so here are some other
alternatives you can try if you don't want to skip lines just because you
are blind. WE have found that going in the off peak times is great b/c the
lines are so much shorter and the parks are easier to navigate because they
are not as crowded. The longest line we've ever stood in during the off
peak time was a half hour which by Disney standards is great. There is also
an ap on the iphone that can tell you ride wait times too. Even when we've
gone through the line with the guest card or had a cast member put us at the
front b/c we were blind, we still waited for about twenty to thirty mins. So
it's about the same.
I mentioned the fast passes above. These are passes you get in the
morning at each ride that print you a receipt telling you when to come back
and ride that ride . Then, when you come back, you skip the main line and
go through the fast pass line which reduces your wait time. Its best to get
to the parks early and get these early so you can plan out your day and
where you'll go and when, but they really help the ride waiting process.
,Another advantage to staying on property is that the parks offer extended
hours at different parks each night. This means that because you are
staying at a Disney hotel, you can stay up to three hours at the parks
either before the parks open or after they close at night depending on what
that park offers for the days of your stay. This cuts down the crowd size
too so you are more able to walk on rides. Also, if you are going on a ride
that another member of your party isn't going on, they can still wait in
line with you and then once you get on the ride, they can exit and meet you
where you will get off. When we went last year, I was pregnant and unable
to go on many of the rides, so I waited for Jesse and our friends (also
blind) and became the designated cane holder. But this allowed me still to
hang out and chat in line with them during our trip. Disney also has a ride
swap deal for families which is great so if one parent goes on with a child,
the other parent can wait with a child or other individual who can't go on
the ride and then when the first person comes back, the second one can go
without having to go back and wait in line again.
Both Jesse and I use straight canes, so when we get on rides, we use
our canes up until we get in the car or train for the ride and then hand our
canes to the ride operator when he or she comes to check the seatbelts and
lap bars. They put our canes right on the wall so when we come back, they
are right there to hand to us. IN the cases where the ride ends up at a
different place than it starts, they've sent the canes down so they are
there when we get off the ride. For the most part, we haven't had any
trouble with this, except one time they forgot to bring our canes down, so
we had to wait a couple of minutes for them after we got off the ride. A
folding cane really could be useful though because then you wouldn't have to
worry about where your cane was since it could collapse down. We've been
thinking we should start taking a folding cane with us to make this process
a little easier and also to have a backup in case the straight cane breaks
while on the trip.
My last piece of advice for this novel has to do with navigating the
park in general and the use of the descriptive headsets. Both Jesse and I
have really good travel skills. WE both graduated from the Louisiana Center
for the Blind, have traveled in lots of different environments, and are
pretty good problem solvers. I'm also a certified o and m specialist. So,
we are not afraid of getting out there and doing a little discovery
learning. Yes, we've been turned around and disoriented at the parks, and
had to have cast members or other people show us the way to things before,
but we didn't feel like we couldn't go or needed a sighted person to go with
us for us to have a successful trip. We just learned to ask questions, pay
attention for audio cues or land marks, and figured things out. The parks
really are pretty easy to navigate and people are usually very helpful,
though asking a cast member at a food stand or ride for direction is always
best b/c they really know the parks. One really great thing we discovered is
the new descriptive headsets. These are great and gave us so much
information. We still had to know how to travel around ourselves, but the
devices gave us info as we passed by things b/c they work on GPS. WE would
get info like what we were passing, if a rest room was close by,
descriptions of decor at a ride, and a description of the scenery while on
the ride so we would know what was happening. For example, on the Pirates
of the Caribbean ride, it describes the little scenes as you enter each room
so even though we knew from the dialog or music of the ride that we were in
a village, the description would point out how the figures were dressed or
some of the actions and scenery. It was so great because we really got more
out of the ride. It works on the rides much like a descriptive movie. Each
device has a menu option too which you can select which tells you what is
around in each area or sub park of the Disney park such as Frontier land or
Adventure land in Magic Kingdom. This menu gives you a listing of all the
eateries in that part, with description, all the rides, and all the shops.
Then, as you pass by them, it will tell you the name. Also, as you pass by
something, you can select to hear a brief description of that attraction
again. We really enjoyed using these and found them pretty easy once we got
the hang of it. It really helped us map out our routes better too. You do
have to pay a deposit when you get them, but you get it back when you return
the device. You get these from the customer service building at the front
of the park. Unfortunately you have to check out a new one at each
park--Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, or Hollywood Studios, so if you
are park hopping , or going to more than one park a day, you have to take
time to return them and get new ones, but they are definitely worth it.
Just be sure they set it for audio description and not amplified listening
which is for people who have some hearing loss. This happened to us at
Animal Kingdom and we couldn't switch it back b/c the cast members have to
do that. Apparently they see something that says audio and assume it's the
right one b/c it's happened to others we know. Once we were already up at
the back of the park where we wanted to start when we realized this, and
didn't have much time before the park closed, so we didn't take it back and
change it. By the way, another savvy Disney travel tip, start at the back
of a park early b/c most people will go to the first ride they see in the
front and work their way back, so you can beat some of the crowd and line
rush this way. Anyway, the descriptive devices are really neat and I highly
recommend you use them. I would also recommend bringing your own headphones
as the ones that come with the devices are a little bulky and you will be
wearing them as you walk around and go on rides, so you still want to be
able to carry other things and hear out one ear while you're traveling. The
devices look like a stream or old walkman and have a lanyard so you can wear
them around your neck or shoulder.
So, there you have it. These are some of my tips we've learned as a
blind couple navigating Disney World, for what it's worth. We love it and
will continue to go for years to come I'm sure. Its definitely possible to
get around as a blind person there too if you have good travel skills and a
sense of adventure to learn your way around. Please feel free to email me
for more info or with any questions. Also, Pam and Roland Allen, a blind
couple from Louisiana, go almost every year too so if you know them, you
should talk to them too. Feel free to email me if you have other questions
for me about this.
Thanks.
Mary JO Hartle
Original Message-----
From: blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Michael Baldwin
Sent: Tuesday, August 30, 2011 7:59 PM
To: 'NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [blparent] Disney World
Oh yes, forgot about those, I might have to try it out at least one day of
the trip.
-----Original Message-----
From: blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Melissa Ann Riccobono
Sent: Tuesday, August 30, 2011 16:35
To: 'NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [blparent] Disney World
Hello Michael,
They do have a cool device at Disney that gives audio descriptions of the
rides while you're on them, the places you are in the park, etc. You do
have to put a deposit down for the device, but it is returned to you when
you return the device. My husband and I tried the devices when we went to
the park this summer. Unfortunately, they did not work for us because the
employee set them to amplify and not to descriptive mode... So make sure
you check that they are working propperly before you get too far from the
pick up point. The menu should talk if they are set propperly, which is an
easy way to check. We have friends who used the devices successfully and
thought they were really informative.
Hope this helps.
Melissa
-----Original Message-----
From: blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Michael Baldwin
Sent: Tuesday, August 30, 2011 11:01 AM
To: 'NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List'
Subject: [blparent] Disney World
Hi,
I know some of you have been to DW on here, and we are planning a trip for
June 2012. My question isn't really parenting related, because there will be
4 adults, and 3 kids, so the kids should not create an issue for 1 blind
dad.
What is the best kind of cane to take. I was thinking the telescoping kind.
Easy to collapse before getting on rides, and it will be small enough I can
just put it in the stroller with a kid if I don't feel like using it at the
time.
if I am the only one who wants to go on a ride, will the Cast Members
assist, or will my wife need to go to help me get on, but then she not get
on herself.
Other tips for a blind adult at DW?
I know of the Braille maps and guides, but those don't interest me much,
unless I can get them ahead of time. I don't want to take time away from the
kids' play to read a guide.
Thanks,
Michael
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