Disney Etiquette

Great article! Your ride etiquette reminders resonate with my family after our trip to the Magic Kingdom in September. EVERY time we rode Pirates, the people behind us took lots of flash photos. I think it might help to add several translations of the cue line recording, so that all visitors hear "no flash photography" in their own language. Thanks again!

I am not very tall and when I am waiting for fireworks or a parade I always seem to have someone show up just as it starts and put their kid, sometimes sleeping, on their shoulders. Please look behind you. We get in our place early and end up not being able to see.

All of the above are important, but I would include using cell phones privately or discreetly especially on a bus or in a restaurant. I really do not need to hear all of your plans, problems, etc.

Do people try to get in the fast pass line without having one?? Really? I would never even think of trying that!

when in a rope drop 1st thing in the parks....please don't be rude & nasty if you are "bumped" into, or your feet are accidentally stepped on...it's gonna happen, & if you don't like it, don't get in it...

While I definitely agree that one should never be rude to anyone renting an EVC...I think it's safe to say that the MAJORITY of people doing so really dont need to. I have such a hard time believing that SO MANY people truely NEED them. I'm sure I'm not the only one that has thought this...but it's not my place to ever judge. Just saying...

I have to add in on being appalled at the way people are commenting on those of us that need assistance. Disability is most often not obvious at first glance. Be glad that you yourself are not suffering from massive pain or fatigue or invisible injury and show a little kindness to those of us who have to live with it.

I adore Disney but every visit is a challenge. I often hurt so bad that I have to spend half of the day in my hotel room NOT enjoying the park I have paid for, waiting for my drugs to kick in. When I am finally able to go out my pain is not visible at all. I look like a perfectly healthy person, but if I was not using a ECV I wouldn't be able to enjoy the parks at all. Being able to use the quicker line means that I actually get to enjoy almost the same number of rides a healthy person can in the full day that they are lucky to be able to endure.

I'm sorry if you feel it is rude to ask people to move, but there are so many times at Disney when the path is packed. A walking person could maneuver through the space, but we need more space so that we avoid hurting anyone. It is very hard maneuvering those vehicles through a crowd. They are not as quickly responsive as walking is and they take up a lot more space, and people, especially children, weave around and don't keep to a straight path. It is hard work to avoid hitting someone. Asking people to move is us trying to be courteous and protect you from harm. If we didn't ask often the way is so crowded that we would be sitting in the same spot for 30 minutes.

Any of the other comments you can make about us, I guarantee you that there are also reasons for why we do that, and while some people might be rude about it, the proportion is no greater than the number of rude people in general. Singling us out as a group and complaining about the things that we would LOVE to not have to do is just mean! Be glad you have your healthy bodies and don't have to deal with what we do every day.

Handicapped line?? I've never seen such a thing at WDW! I guess Laura meant the wheelchair/scooter gate at rides or shows. That gate usually comes up some distance from the start of the queue and often very close to the actual boarding area of the attraction. At shows, you are immediately shunted off to a special parking area to await the next show since all wheelchair and EVCs have to go in at the very back where the handicapped seating is. And since so many of the attractions now accommodate wheelchairs and ECVs in their queues, I've found very little advantage to being in one and, in fact, there is often a disadvantage.

Just because they clump us all together doesn't mean we get to jump in line ahead of you. More often than not, they insert us, one by one, in the regular line (Haunted Mansion) or we have to wait for a special ride vehicle (there's usually only one or perhaps 2) to come around so our wait is sometimes longer then yours (Toy Story, the Epcot Ball, the boat rides). You always sit in the very back of the auditorium in shows -- and I don't see anyone fighting for those seats -- and miss out on any special seat effects and, truthfully, the 3-D effects are just not as good that far back. The only true advantage I've seen is at parades where you have a special viewing area.

I'm heading to WDW in a week and I'll be one of those that -- hopefully! -- will be riding in a wheelchair but will be able to get out and stand in line on occasion. As I've been pretty much glued to my wheelchair for the past 3 WDW visits over the last 2 years, that will be a HUGE step forward for me. I'll be using a cane so perhaps I won't be as judged and scorned as those who don't. I've had a hard enough time accepting the fact that I am now a quasi-cripple without having others judge me without knowing anything about my formerly active lifestyle, my MS diagnosis, and my spontaneous hip cartilage tear (to the bone) that never healed properly despite surgery. None of those things "show" when you look at me.

I would certainly prefer to use an ECV so that I could maintain my independence somewhat but I can't use one because of MS-related visual problems that left me without 3-D vision. There's no way I could navigate lines, go up or down ramps, or keep from hitting people if I attempted to use one. I am doomed to being pushed around in a wheelchair by someone else and, believe me, it's no fun. I envy the people who are able to use one. They are the lucky ones.

Renting an ECV is expensive so I find it hard to believe that people would go to that expense just to get a marginal (perhaps fictional) jump in line. I truly believe the majority of people using these things really need them. Have some compassion -- just getting from the bus to the park entrance or to their hotel room may be all a person can do in a day. It sure is for me. Others may have heart problems or MS (getting "spaghetti legs" when you get hot isn't fun, trust me) or joint problems that you can't see. Or bad lungs -- and I could go on.

Wheelchairs and EVC are walking aids, just like canes are. They are meant to help people who can walk to better navigate distances. That means that people should be able to get off them and walk short distances and that may mean getting off to stand in queues or only getting off to board rides. Disney cast members are happy to accommodate transfers and they will park ECV or chair until you get off the ride. Disney bus drivers do not allow you to stay on your ECV or in your chair while they are in motion unless you absolutely can't transfer and then they have to strap you down and that takes time and gets them off their schedule. They love you if you sit in a regular seat.

I think people would be more compassionate if they realized that being in an ECV or wheelchair didn't give anyone an "unfair" advantage. I visit during off-peak times so I can assure everyone that at least during those times it definitely doesn't -- perhaps it makes more of a difference during busier times but since I don't go then, I wouldn't know. The bottom line is that there might be an advantage on some rides, a disadvantage on others, but most of the time you are in a regular line just like everyone else. It all comes out even in the end.

Have you ever had people glare at you from the regular line, when you were in the Fast Pass line? And you are thinking, what's their problem? Why don't they just get a Fast Pass, too? Well, perhaps we look at you all, standing there in the queue or walking around the park, and we yearn to be like you. We may not be resentful of you but some of us sure are grieving our loss of ability to do what you take for granted. We aren't thinking, oh goody, I get to jump in front of everyone else or I get to ride the wheelchair boat. We are trying to figure out how to maneuver safely on a moving sidewalk or board and exit a ride without hurting ourselves or how and where to stash our cane on a ride. Put yourselves in our shoes. One day you might be us.

i would love tips for navigating wdw with ECV. My family with 7 and 9 year old kids will be joined by my mother who has been using walker to get around since back surgery last year. we plan to rent evc for week. any tips for her and us? do all park busses accomodate ecv?