Another HUGE reason for the amount of wheelchairs- they get to cut to the front of all the lines. After I had knee surgery in my 20s, I had many people request to go to Disney with me so we could all jump to the front of the line.

I go to Disney frequently (several times a year) and there's actually far fewer scooters now than there was about 5-6 years ago. I think when Disney changed the rules on how they handle disabilities/waiting in line, a lot of people decided they weren't as disabled as they previously claimed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As someone who works with people with disabilities, I can tell you that what a Disney does for accessibility is unparalleled. Many families who could not manage a trip to the beach or almost any other popular vacation destination because of disabilities, can handle Disney.

As a result, many families where one member has a physical disability choose a Disney for repeated trips. The result is more scooters.

I can tell you that not all of these people were physically disabled. I am 100% certain of that.

Since I was 18 I've had severe arthritis - from the middle of my back, down through my pelvis and hips, through my thighs, shins and in my ankles. I'm 40 now, and you still will never see me limping. But I have cried at night from how much pain I'm in at the end of a day filled with a ton of walking. My body picks up on changes in barometric pressure up to 150 miles away. So if it's raining one state over, I'm feeling it. And you would never, ever know. I do back walkovers, dance around with my kid, go bike riding, etc. But I can absolutely see myself needing a scooter. And you'd look at me and think "She's FINE!"

Anonymous wrote:you let this bother you for weeks - even over x'mas holiday break? you need a mental scooter.

Is everything you post on dcum something that has been bothering you for weeks? I just happened to be thinking about it today. Did I say I have been thinking about it non stop? What a wonderful addition to the thread.

you let this bother you for weeks - even over x'mas holiday break? you need a mental scooter.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As someone who works with people with disabilities, I can tell you that what a Disney does for accessibility is unparalleled. Many families who could not manage a trip to the beach or almost any other popular vacation destination because of disabilities, can handle Disney.

As a result, many families where one member has a physical disability choose a Disney for repeated trips. The result is more scooters.

I can tell you that not all of these people were physically disabled. I am 100% certain of that.

You've seen the X-rays of their knees? And the results of their latest EKG's? How can you possibly know this?

-- someone with arthritis of the knees who can manage well enough walking and going upstairs to look just fine, but has severe pain with extended standing still and going downstairs that I would use a scooter at Disney.

When I was in middle school I went with my family to Disney. My obese grandmother joined us. She didn't have major health problems she was just fat and she rendered the scooter to get around. My mother was mortified.

I'm positive that there are a lot of actual disabled people at Disney but the sad reality is that there are also a lot of people with poor health habits that are simply fat and cannot walk through the parks. It reminds me of Wall-E.

Watch out when the scooter riders are swinging a turkey leg in your direction.

DANGER!

Anonymous wrote:Ok I get it, obviously some people have a legitimate need but just got back a couple weeks ago from Disney and I literally could not believe how many scooters were there. Some people have got to be getting them because they simply don't want to walk. Everything took longer because the transit buses have a special lifter thing for scooters and there was not one time we rode a bus that this didn't have to be used. Also it was clear that some people had no idea how to steer them and were very close to knocking people down. Do you have to show a legitimate need to be able to request one? There has got to be some abuse going on.

No--you just rent one. Many people rent them from 3rd party vendors (not through Disney). As far as I know, anyone who wants to rent/buy a scooter and ride it around anywhere is allowed to.

Anonymous wrote:As someone who works with people with disabilities, I can tell you that what a Disney does for accessibility is unparalleled. Many families who could not manage a trip to the beach or almost any other popular vacation destination because of disabilities, can handle Disney.

As a result, many families where one member has a physical disability choose a Disney for repeated trips. The result is more scooters.

I can tell you that not all of these people were physically disabled. I am 100% certain of that.

As someone who works with people with disabilities, I can tell you that what a Disney does for accessibility is unparalleled. Many families who could not manage a trip to the beach or almost any other popular vacation destination because of disabilities, can handle Disney.

As a result, many families where one member has a physical disability choose a Disney for repeated trips. The result is more scooters.

Fat does not equal lazy. These people are lazy.

Op I'm assuming many of these people were simply fat?

Agree. We went to Disney for the first time last month and the scooters were out of control. People would just suddenly stop right in the middle of the path and sit there. So annoying.

Ok I get it, obviously some people have a legitimate need but just got back a couple weeks ago from Disney and I literally could not believe how many scooters were there. Some people have got to be getting them because they simply don't want to walk. Everything took longer because the transit buses have a special lifter thing for scooters and there was not one time we rode a bus that this didn't have to be used. Also it was clear that some people had no idea how to steer them and were very close to knocking people down. Do you have to show a legitimate need to be able to request one? There has got to be some abuse going on.