update on Orlando attractions

[Betty Boom]

Haven't been online in a while but have some firsthand experiences to report... as a reminder, I am the person with MS in the AP story about Disney that zipped around the country.
SeaWorld said if I brought a "prescription" or letter from my doctor, I could use the Segway, so with my note in hand and visiting family in tow , I headed to SeaWorld. On arrival we were escorted to visitor services (after paying to get in) and told that if I wanted to stay I would have to use a wheel chair. I was so upset I was beside myself but as I did not want to ruin my company's day, I complied. It was my very first wheel chair experience and was humiliating to say the least! I hated it. So a week later when my company wanted to go to Disney Downtown, I was wary but was assured that Disney allowed Segways in public areas, just not in the parks. So off we went. Shortly after arrival, a security guard asked me for documentation that I had permission to use the Segway so I showed him my note and he left me alone. An hour later while scooting around with my sister-in-law separate from the rest of the family, I was stopped by 2 security guards and a "Disney cast member-- Brian from West Allis, Wisconsin" who was very officious and told me 2 wheeled vehicles were not allowed in D.T.Disney. I started to explain what it was used for and he said "I know what a Segway is, we use them all the time, I just got off mine because I prefer to walk" !!!!!!!!!!! Talk about adding insult to injury. Then he said I had to get off it right there and walk it out of the area! My sister-in-law blew a gasket at that point and said if I could walk that far I wouldn't be using the Segway in the first place. Things just got uglier from that point but I refused to get off and rode to collect the family. So with me on my Segway and a screaming two year old pulled away from the Lego kids park, we were escorted like criminals by 3 uniformed employees to the parking lot. My neurologist is drafting an iron clad (he says) letter that he says should work wherever I want to go, but I'm not sure how many more experiences like that I want to endure. My advise--stay away from the attractions with your Segway until somebody either sues them or they come to their senses.
Cheers,

Betty Boom

[Entil-Zha]

Betty:

I'm right there with you! I am another person that was quoted in the same AP article. My family, eventually, wants to go back to Disney World. Instead, I am taking them on our first cruise. I checked with the cruise line and they are allowing my Segway.

I understand your frustration, but recommend channeling your energy into effecting change in the world. Anger turned inward can only do you harm (physically and mentally) and serves those who kicked you out.

Collect your thoughts and post them on WWW.DRAFT.CC There are people there that, if it is in their power, will help you. They are, at the very least, a community sympathetic to your needs.

- Doug

[SegwayBill]

Betty
Do you have a handicap sticker on your machine? If not email your address and I will send you one.
I have been using a disabilty Metrocard from the NY MTA. It looks offical and says disabled on it.
Boycot Disney with the rest of us, Universal allows Segways in there parks last I heard.

Bill

[Dwarf84396]

quote:Originally posted by SegwayBill

Universal allows Segways in there parks last I heard.

Bill

Same with Six Flags, from what I've heard.
(http://www.segwaychat.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=7226&SearchTerms=,Six,Flags,Mexico)

Hopefully I'll be able to talk to the Guest Relations people at Six Flags Over Georgia soon and I'll ask them their view on letting Segways into the park.


Ben

My entire internet experience condensed into one little image:
http://ben.runslinux.net/img/smileys_lurking.gif

[ions82]

If I had a Segway and had to rule out Disney, I wouldn't be too disappointed. My favorite part of this post....?

"It was my very first wheel chair experience and was humiliating to say the least! I hated it."

Upon reading that, does anyone else wonder what it's like to spend every day in a wheelchair? If you really want to know, I can tell you. I think I remember an older post in this forum in which there was a description of someone being "forced into a wheelchair." Wow. A real act of dehumanization. Imagine having to be in a wheelchair!!! One time, a paraplegic fellow actually said in an interview that he would rather be dead than be quadriplegic. This was for an article that was to be published in a magazine for people with disabilities. I can understand where the guy was coming from. However, after reading comments like those mentioned above, I can also understand how someone that is quadriplegic might feel after reading something like that. Is living in a wheelchair "humiliating"? Every f***in' day. However, you just become numb to it. I can't afford a Segway. Vocational Rehabilitiation won't purchase one for me. Looks like I'll still be "forced" into my wheelchair when I wake up each day. What am I trying to say here? Forget about Disney and all of it's commercial bullcrap. Just be thankful that you have an OPTION and don't have to be "dehumanized" by using a wheelchair for the rest of your life. If you're reading this from a wheelchair, you know EXACTLY what I'm talking about. If you aren't, you can only try.

[SegwayBill]

Ben
Join Seg America they are raffeling off a Segway, Maybe you will get lucky. It is worth the effort of joining.

Bill

[Dwarf84396]

Bill,

I've already joined, but I am one of the many on this site that are under the age of 18, so I am not eligable for the giveaway (but I want it anyway!!!).

I talked to one of the Admissions supervisors at Six Flags Over Georgia, and he told me a flat "No", but I also think that he thought I was talking about a Razor scooter or the like. I wasn't able to give him a good description, so I'm going to try tomorrow. I hope to get some type of written confirmation from the park. (It does help working there, I can bug them every single day until they see it my way!

Ben

My entire internet experience condensed into one little image:
http://ben.runslinux.net/img/smileys_lurking.gif

[jrmiller]

Ben, Try and take some printed information that you can copy from the Segway web site showing pictures and general descriptions. I did that when I first flew SWairlines and it helped smooth the way. I think that many people still confuse the HT with other "scooters" and do not understand.

Betty, My heart goes out to you. What an embarassment and disasppointment for you and your family. A large shadow of SHAME should fill the sky over Disney for thier insensitivity and ignorance. JR SEG-ON SEG-RIGHT

[jrmiller]

Betty, Have you joined the DRAFT group ? You might get more and/or additional help at that site. Maybe your journalist friend would bbbe interested in a follow-up article on the WDW issue????? JR

[Dwarf84396]

jrmiller,

I'm going to try that next.

If anyone who is an owner in the Atlanta area wants to help me out, I could try and cover the admission cost to the park for a day to see if we can geta Segway into the park.

Ben

My entire internet experience condensed into one little image:
http://ben.runslinux.net/img/smileys_lurking.gif

[Betty Boom]

Here's a quick update--it turns out you CAN use a Segway (at EPCOT anyway) but there is a catch--you have to RENT one from them at an astronomical hourly fee. Now I am really beginning to think there is a discrimination angle to this. The reason they state is that they can control which key you use (black only)--so I wonder if you turn in your other keys for them to hold while in the park if they would let you in?? Or is it really all about they money. Some one might want to try it if they really want to go...might work at other parks too.

Betty Boom

[Okeechobee Wind]

quote:Originally posted by Betty Boom

I was stopped by 2 security guards and a "Disney cast member-- Brian from West Allis, Wisconsin" who was very officious and told me 2 wheeled vehicles were not allowed in D.T.Disney. I started to explain what it was used for and he said "I know what a Segway is, we use them all the time, I just got off mine because I prefer to walk" !!!!!!!!!!! Talk about adding insult to injury. Then he said I had to get off it right there and walk it out of the area! Betty Boom


I had the same initial experience while at Downtown Disney. A guard who said I must leave stopped me. I said no and I mentioned that I do not believe Disney would want to go against the ADA. We continued in polite conversation while he radioed for a supervisor. The supervisor arrived and his name was Brian, which may be just a code name for daytime supervisor. I do not know.
I ran through what I could do and may do if not allowed to ride my Segway. We discussed his use and that of other cast members.
I believe all the time he was sizing me up as to what the extent of my disability was and as to my character.
Not a reference to a Disney character.
The inter contact took no more than 30 minutes.
I was treated with respect and understanding and allowed to use my Segway for the remainder of my stay at Disney. My stay lasted 6 months.
One out of ten contacts with security personnel at WDW would turn ugly.
There was an instance when a security guard tried to hit me with his car to stop me. When I said it was a disability vehicle and I wanted his name and badge #, he ran off in his vehicle like a scarred rabbit.
There was another time associated with transportation, and night management.

I am saving the full stories to post one day on the DRAFT site.

We spent six months within the Disney gates at Fort Wilderness. The stories go on and on.
As a pioneer of the Disney Segway experience, I made some of the first reservations for the Epcot Segway tour. It is fun and worth it. The more disabled persons who take the tour the better.

Disney believes we will eventually go away. Out of site out of mind.

The idea is not to boycott Disney but overwhelm them with persons wanting to enjoy their park.
Disney goes out of its way to make life easier for the individual with a disability whether it be permanent or of a temporary nature. There is no way to understand what they are thinking as a corporation since they are not sure themselves. I have been told by more than one individual at the corporate level, one day Segway HT’s will be permitted for persons with a disability.
The security personnel that we all encounter are only doing their job and doing what they are paid to do. They have to be told from the top to let it happen well before it happens on a regular basis.

DEMAND DISNEY UNDERSTAND THE DESIRE TO USE SEGWAY.

Keep Segway and Disney in the news.

Let Disney know that the desire to use Segway HT’s as a disability mobility device will not go away.

Jimmy

[ions82]

6 months at Disney? Jeez. What do you do there for that long?! I can't believe that the guy tried to hit you with his car to get you to stop. It's amazing what positions of authority do to some people. A little metal badge can turn a person into an animal. If you would've been hit, the media would probably jump all over it. Well, unless Disney opened it's wallet and silenced everything. I wonder how hostility towards disabled Seg users will be viewed by the general population? Good for Segway? Bad?

[SegwayUtah]

Jimmy,

You are certainly paving new ground for future generations.

What Disney property were you on for 6 months, BTW?

Chris

[SegwayBill]

Six months at Disney would make me goofy.

Bill

[jrmiller]

Hey Ochee.... haven't heard for you latley. I am going to call Sitnseg (Lenord) and see what the status is and get more onfo. I am for a group presentation of HTs at the gate to see what they would do if a group of us "less than abled" folks wanted access to the Kingdom. Maybe at the same time Betty Boops reported would be in the crowd with us for validation sake, incognito hopefully. I ttried you telephone # the other day and was told by recording that it was no longerf a valid number. E-mail me with your # if it is different. Thanks JR SEG-ON SEG-RIGHT

[Okeechobee Wind]

quote:Originally posted by SegwayUtah

Jimmy,
What Disney property were you on for 6 months, BTW?

Chris

Chris, we stay every year for a number of short stays or one large one as last year in Fort Wilderness Camping Resort. I travel in a motor coach and always when leaving or returning to Florida stop for a day stay or extend to a few weeks. This past year it ran from October to March. The best way to explain is, this is my winter home in Orlando. It is a great place to park the coach and still be able to do business as needed in South Florida. Every year is different, you know how cold it gets in Fort Lauderdale during the winter. :)

Jerry, my phone numbers are the same and intact. I will email you with a number once again.

To this day I believe the guard I mentioned was a off duty Orange County Deputy Sheriff filling in at Disney during Speed week in Daytona. This time of the year brings a rowdy crown to the parks. He acted like he was not familiar with being a "Security" guard and was acting more like a sworn law enforcement officer out of his realm.

Jimmy

[jrmiller]

Ochee, I will await the e-mail and the number. Thanks ahead of time and I"ll call you when I get it. JR SEG-ON SEG-RIGHT