Guest Post: Josh's accessible trip to Orlando, Florida - PT2

In part two of our very first guest post, Josh continues sharing his family’s adventure to Orlando, with an honest and detailed look at their experiences at Universal Studios Florida and Walt Disney World Resort. From accessibility challenges* to helpful lessons learned along the way, this second instalment offers valuable insight for anyone planning a similar trip.

Part Two - Josh and family's Accessible Orlando Adventure

Universal City Walk, Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure and Epic Universe

We had a fantastic time at all of these accessible Orlando parks, and we rarely had any issues in terms of Charlie's disabilities.

I will cover the few downsides first, as one was apparent before we got to the parks. Prior to arrival Universal contacted us by phone to arrange Charlie's disabled access. However this call was made while we were flying, so we missed it. When we attempted to return the call after checking into the hotel, the phone wait time was initially 45 minutes. 10 minutes later, the wait time had gone up and not down, and was 90 minutes.

So we were unable to use the intended phone process for setting up Charlie's disabled access.

However if you are in a similar situation, don't panic! This was easily resolved by going to guest services after entry to the first park (in our case Universal Studios). They were really great and set everything up for Charlie reasonably quickly, after a fairly short queue. I'll cover what they set up later.

The only other downside was around accessible toilets. We found that there are often not separate accessible toilets, and instead the main toilets will have one or two accessible stalls instead. This means they are less private. But also, the fact that the accessible stalls are not signposted outside of the bathroom itself, so if you are looking for the disabled toilet logo you won't find it, and may assume there aren't any. This was also the only aspect of supporting guests with disabilities that the staff struggled to help with.

We spent quite a while looking for accessible toilets in the Jurassic World area of Islands of adventure, and asking confused staff, only to find they were there the whole time and just not signposted. Once we knew that, we knew what to expect elsewhere, but it was an odd hurdle to have when everything else worked so well.

As mentioned earlier Guest services within the park set up Charlie's disability access and were generally really helpful.

Using the park's Apple app, we could book onto one ride at a time, and confirming that booking would give us a time we had to wait until before we could get on the ride.

On arrival to the start of the queue at or after the stated time the process was usually for the staff member there to check Charlie's ability to transfer in relation to the specific ride. Our understanding was that not being able to transfer would not typically prevent being able to ride, but allow the staff to begin arrangement for support transferring if required, and for them to be aware that support would be required getting off the ride if it were to break down or in an emergency. Some rides, which have loading bays that are constantly in motion, had a separate static loading bay to use if required, and that would be established at that point as well.

A staff member would then escort us to the disabled entrance for the ride, often via the exit. Often we would need to take one or more elevators to get to the ride entrance, but once there we would then typically be loaded immediately.

After the ride if you get off in a different place to where you get on, Charlie's chair would be there waiting, having been moved by the ride operators - they would typically check with you that the brakes weren't on etc so that they could move it. Bags and items could be safely left on the chair.

The timeslot booking system worked really well for us. Charlie's mental disabilities mean that she would potentially get stressed and frustrated in a typical queue, but instead we could wait somewhere shady and with space nearby. The downside is that sometimes you miss some of the atmosphere building elements in the queue for the ride, but it was a small price to pay overall, and the rides where it was most important, particularly the Harry Potter ones, you'd still get some of it as you made your way to the loading area.

The staff were all excellent with Charlie and seemed well trained, and occasionally offered us single use express tickets when using the app wasn't possible or a ride had shut down temporarily.

Water was freely available around the parks by using the water option on the soda machines.

Highlights for Charlie were definitely Hagrid's ride, the Blues Brothers show, meeting Shrek, the cat in the hat, and E.T. She loved all the roller coasters, she has no fear at all!

The good

Guest services were brilliant

The ride booking system on the Apple app worked brilliantly and meant we almost never had to physically queue, while still being fair - one ride at a time and we still had to wait just in a place of our choosing

Staff were very well trained on the accessibility requirements for their rides

The bad

The process to set up disability access in advance by phone did not work for us. In places there were no separate accessible toilets and the presence of accessible stalls is not always apparent from outside the building. Also some of the elevators used for disabled access to rides are a little snug.

Disney World

Disney World is definitely a magical place, the theming of the fantasy areas is fantastic, there are some great rides and the fireworks display in the evening was amazing. Charlie in particular was mesmerized by the little mermaid, and absolutely loved Tron!

However, Disney World was much less good an experience in terms of accessibility and there are some definite things we recommend.

As we were staying at a Universal hotel, getting to the park was always going to be less smooth compared to the Universal Parks. After arrival at the park by car transfer, you have to choose between taking the monorail or the steam ship.

We asked a cast member which was more suitable for Charlie, and they advised that neither option had a disabled queue, and the wait time for each at that time would be similar. We then made the mistake of opting for the steamship, assuming it would mean a nicer view and experience with wait times being the same.

I strongly recommend you take the monorail. When waiting for the steamship there is not a queue as such, more a holding area. It was tightly packed and a very stressful environment for Charlie. Because it was a holding area and not a queue, when the boat arrived and boarding commenced it was a free for all to get on. Most people are understanding and considerate of people with disabilities but unfortunately a few aren't, and in that crowd situation where everyone is impatient and keen to get on getting Charlie on to the boat was difficult.

Charlie’s chair is big and heavy with footplates on the front and anti-tipping bars at the back and at the best of times it is difficult to ensure safe separation and not bump into anyone. Also when stressed and frustrated Charlie will sometimes grab at the people around her, and so in such a situation we’d try to give her space, especially from strangers. But any gap we left was quickly closed by people squeezing into it. This was a very challenging situation for Charlie and us all and would be for people with other disabilities as well, someone with a significant visual impairment for example would really struggle with the scrum to get onto the boat.

The long wait in the holding area and on the boat would pose problems had Charlie needed the bathroom as well, but fortunately she did not.

On our return journey we opted for the monorail and on exit there was also not a disabled queue. The queue was very busy and the snaking barriers difficult to negotiate as a result, as we needed to take wide corners and give Charlie space. Difficult to do sometimes without making it seem like you are just trying to sneak or push ahead. Halfway through the queue cast members appeared and pulled us out along with other people with disabilities and at that point did take us to a separate loading area, where we were given our own cabin when loaded.

It begs the question why there was not just a disabled queue entrance in the first place.

So, opt for the monorail if possible and consider using the bathroom before joining the queue.

On arrival at the park proper we then had to arrange Charlie's disability access. We knew it was possible to do in advance remotely but encountered ‘Oops we have a problem’ type error messages when we tried to do so. Our experience with Universal meant we assumed it would be easier to do so via guest services in the park rather than keep trying. This is not the case, and so if at all possible it seems you should try to follow the remote process before arriving at the park – if it’s working. However the lady who assisted us at guest services said issues with it aren’t uncommon.

At guest services we ultimately were provided an ipad to do the remote process anyway, which included a video interview. The access pass provided was not as good as Universal's, but ride booking could be done in a similar way. So, arrival and set up of access was unfortunately more stressful and less smooth than we had hoped. Staying at a Disney hotel would presumably make both points a lot easier.

After booking onto a ride in a similar fashion to Universal using an app, we found that the rides we went on did require some physical queuing and occasionally negotiation of crowds. The park was much busier than Universal throughout (save maybe Hogsmeade in Islands of adventure) and so having to do more waiting for rides is presumably a result of that.

The “Family Room” bathrooms were good at Magic Kingdom but infrequent and the disabled stalls within the larger bathroom facilities were a little tight and perhaps insufficient as they were often occupied by families with children without visible disabilities. 

There were disabled sections set aside for the regular parades, and multiple disabled sections for the fireworks show. The sections for the fireworks did fill up so you may wish to get to one early to guarantee a spot.

The park is beautiful at night and though the day didn't start great the fireworks were a very good way to end the day.

The Good

There were disabled sections with good views for the parades and fireworks displays

The Bad

Neither the steamboat or monorail have a disabled queue and, at least when busy, taking the steamboat is not advised

Guest services cannot arrange disability access, it must be done remotely and takes a while. Physical queueing is still required even with disabled access

Hopefully if you've read this far you've found some of this useful. I've focused on the practicalities but the rides and shows were excellent, the food was really good, and the staff at the parks were all friendly and helpful. It was not the America you see in the news. I can recommend visiting accessible Orlando, especially Universal, as we found it very disability friendly. I can also recommend flying with Virgin Atlantic. Overall Charlie had a fantastic time on this holiday and we all had a great time with her.

Huge thanks to Josh for taking the time to write such a detailed review of his family’s accessible Orlando trip to Universal Studios Florida and Walt Disney World Resort. That wraps up part two of the series, we hope you enjoyed following along on the adventure!

If you missed part one, you can read it here.

If you would like to write a guest post about your accessible trip experience, please get in touch with us, we’d love to hear from you!

*Please remember that Josh and his family are sharing their unique personal journey. Everyone’s experience is different, so take what resonates with you and remember that your own path may look different. As Charlie is unable to give consent to be included, we’ve changed her name and blurred her face in the photos.