Explorer31462981168
Feb 2025
I was at Disneyland January 23/24 with my husband and my 3 kids (13,11,9).
When switching parks (leaving Disneyland Park) on the 24th at 8:30pm, we had a horrific experience. I have ALS and cannot speak or use my legs/arms.I have to use a power chair to get around, attached to a speech machine I use with my eyes. If you know someone with a disability, you know nothing is ever easy. You are constantly figuring out how to adjust given the current circumstances in front of you. The handicap exit was blocked off for no apparent reason with a worker standing in front of it. My best guess is that she wanted everyone to go through the gate to count, so the staff member told me to go through the regular exit. I did, and the 2 automatic doors closed in on my legs as I was just trying to go through, digging in to them-I have pictures and videos-leaving a gauge and lots of bruising. My kids jumped towards me and started trying to pull the doors off me. The staff member saw this and started yelling at my kids to stop because they would break the gate. They kept trying because they saw the fear on my face and knew I couldn't do or say anything about it. My husband then said, “do you want a broken gate or broken leg.”
This was all horrible, but the shocking part of it all was the staff. The lady continued to fuss at all of us and just very rudely said I should've gone slower and that was the problem, as I tried again it still didn’t work! My husband had to physically drive me through-his theory was that the sensor wasn’t catching either my height or the doors only allotted enough time for a typical person, not a handicapped slow moving person like me. Then she just turned her back and ignored my husband and caregiver as they tried to talk to her. She knew we were upset and didn't want to deal with us so she called someone else over. Jian came over and basically said he heard what happened and didn't know what we wanted him to do about it. “Do you need medical attention for your injuries “ he kept repeating. My caregiver told him that acknowledging how poorly it was handled and how rudely we were treated along with an apology would be nice. Stone cold he said, "OK, I''m sorry. And I will speak on her (the other staff member) behalf and say sorry for her. It was pathetic. I just turned around and drove off in amazement. I didn’t feel like Jian really ‘got it’ either, unfortunately and I didn’t have my speech machine to communicate.
There were two problems in my opinion. The first one being a power wheelchair or any wheelchair should never have to be required to go through the automatic doors, this is exactly why the handicap opening RIGHT NEXT TO IT is there for. Secondly, the situation could have gone entirely differently had she just responded differently upon seeing my kids holding the doors from crushing my leg. A simple “oh my gosh how did that happen, I am so sorry that happened! Here let me show you so that never happens again “ would have diffused the tension.
I've always been a huge Disney fan and have LOVED Disneyworld trips in the past. In fact, this trip was gifted to my family by Team Gleason Adventures, an ALS organization that aids families in making dream trips/memories a possibility. Of all the places, I chose Disney for my trip. To say I was disappointed in Disneyland's staff is an understatement. In fact, there were many occasions on this trip that the Disneyland staff was cold and not helpful at all. The exact opposite of what one would expect from a company like Disney whom prides itself on customer service.
I'm trying to get this word out to as many people as I can. I'm hoping that there would be some accountability for the Disneyland staff regarding the way they treat people with mobility disabilities because I have heard this from multiple people regarding their Disneyland vs their Disney world experiences since this trip. I am not recommending this trip to others in my situation. I typed this whole email with my eyes and has taken me several hours, but I really feel like it is worth my time so that hopefully no one else has to experience what I did and also hopefully the staff will be better equipped on handling special circumstances.