One of the first thing that any visitor to WDW will notice is the sheer number of strollers in the parks. You can’t walk more than a few feet before seeing a haggard parent pushing their little one(s) from attraction to attraction. However, there are some areas of the park where strollers just aren’t allowed… ride lines, certain indoor areas, certain modes of transportation.
This is probably a good thing from a practical standpoint. Imagine if everyone with a stroller was allowed to bring into the ride line. When it comes time to board the ride, what are you going to do with all of those strollers? There just isn’t enough room or enough Cast Members to manage the logistics of that sort of operation. That’s why most people are required to park their strollers in designated areas before getting on line.
However, there is an exception to this rule.
Let’s say you have a disabled child who needs to be transported in a stroller. Essentially, they are using their stroller as a wheelchair. In those cases, Disney will allow you to bring your stroller anywhere where a wheelchair is allowed. This includes ride lines, transportation, and indoor areas where strollers are restricted.
But how does Disney distinguish using a stroller as a wheelchair from normal usage? That’s where the “Stroller as a Wheelchair” stickers comes in.
If you have a child who needs to stay in their stroller, you can go to any WDW Guest Services location inside or outside the parks and ask the Cast Member for a special “Stroller as a Wheelchair” sticker that you can attach to the stroller. Just explain to the Cast Member why an accommodation is needed (“child is unable to stand in line, etc”). You do not have to show a note from a doctor or provide any medical diagnosis. The Cast Member will ask how long you will be visiting the parks and mark your dates on the sticker accordingly. Presumably, this is a fraud prevention measure.
Once you receive your Stroller as a Wheelchair sticker, attach it to your stroller in a prominent location so that Cast Members will know that you are allowed to bring your stroller into a restricted area.
As a family, we have used this for our dear daughter when she was young enough and small enough to fit in a stroller. Cast Members are very familiar with this accommodation, so we had no problems using it. Maybe once or twice a Cast Member said something, but that was usually because they did not see the sticker at first glance. Once we pointed it out, their apologized and that was that!
Now that she is older and uses a wheelchair while in the parks, we haven’t had to get the sticker. However, it is great to know that such an accommodation exists.
As a side note, Universal Orlando has a similar accommodation. In their case, it was a printed pass… one pass for each day. At the time, it was a bit more of a pain in the neck. At first, they only wanted to give us the pass for our day of visit. That would mean that we would have to return to Guest Services at the start of each day! However, we got a supervisor, explained to them that we had tickets for X days and asked (firmly but politely) if we could get a pass printed for each day. Thankfully, logic prevailed and they did that for us.
Once we had that pass, we showed it at the start of each ride line so that we could join the line with our stroller. I didn’t like that as much as WDW’s sticker in that the sticker is just “there” and does not have to be pulled out of one’s wallet every time it is needed. However, the UO employees were just as knowledgeable about the pass as WDW Cast Members.
I hope those with young children with mobility issues have found this information helpful. As always, do not be afraid to insist on the accommodations that you require and are entitled to!
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