Accessibility- Lessons Learned and Tips to Share

I've been traveling with my Mom, who has used an ECV since 2017, and for our most recent trip this month, her own electric wheelchair. This most recent trip, we utilized more accessibility features than ever before, and I thought this would be a great place to share some tips and information!

We have not yet booked an accessible room at any resort, and we've never been assigned one, but we have found that not all resorts are created equal when it comes to ideal layout of a Studio for wheelchairs/EVCs.

Rooms

• Boardwalk Villas- great layout! The wide entryway made it very easy for me to stand behind the door and hold it open for the wheelchair. There were plenty of outlets to plug in the charger and enough space to park the wheelchair overnight without it restricting the space to walk around the murphy bed while it was down.

• Saratoga Springs- very similar layout to the Boardwalk Villas and the same features applied.

• Polynesian Villas (Longhouses)- I was surprised that, despite the large size of the rooms, there wasn't an ideal place to park and charge the wheelchair where it wasn't in the way. Outlets were limited, and not near the available empty space, so our options were to park it in front of the 5th sleeper (which we fortunately didn't need), or to park it in the second bathroom area with the shower stall. The entryway was also awkwardly shaped for holding open a door (the wider side of the vestibule is on the opposite side from the direction the door opens, so I had to squeeze against the wall holding the door while my Mom drove her wheelchair around me and out).

• Animal Kingdom Villas- the rooms are smaller and the entryways are tight, but we have always managed to fit an ECV and charge it for the night in the room, though it can get a little cramped.

Elevators

• Boardwalk, Jambo House and Saratoga all have elevators large enough to turn around an electric wheelchair inside of, but not to turn around an ECV. At Polynesian, the Great Ceremonial House elevators were large enough, but the elevators in the longhouses were very small and we could just barely drive the standard sized wheelchair straight in and back straight out. I think it would have been very difficult to fit an ECV, especially with another person in the elevator to accompany the ECV user.

Parks

We discovered, in preparation for this 2026 trip, that there are 12 rides across the 4 parks that are wheelchair accessible. We utilized this feature at all of the MK attractions and most of the Epcot attractions and had a great experience with all. The dark rides have one seat for someone to accompany the wheelchair user, and the boat rides can accommodate larger parties.

MK

Buzz Lightyear

Its a Small World

Jungle Cruise

Winnie the Pooh

Little Mermaid

EP

Gran Fiesta Tour

Figment

Living w/ the Land

Remy's Ratatouille Adventure

Seas w/ Nemo and Friends

HS

Toy Story Midway Mania

AK

Kilimanjaro Safaris

Enchanted Extras

Both the Behind the Seeds tour and Keys to the Kingdom are wheelchair/ECV accessible. Our tour guides for both were great about making sure no one fell behind and everyone could see and hear throughout the tours.

Starlight Safari- you can't bring an ECV onto the Safari Truck, but you can transfer to a courtesy wheelchair or use your own. The trucks have limited space and can only accommodate 2 wheelchairs per tour, so be sure to call ahead of time to make sure they can accommodate the wheelchair. There is a lift to bring the chair onto the truck. The only negative here is that, while the seats go around the edges of the truck and guests can shift around a bit to see better, wheelchairs are secured in the middle of the truck facing forward, so you have a slightly more obstructed view, but Mom still thought this was the best experience she ever had at Disney!

Please share your accessibility tips!