Hey there – I’m Amber, the person behind the blog. Access the Mouse was created as a guide for people who need a little more information than you can find in the standard guide books.
How Access the Mouse Started
The idea came to me back in 2017 with the opening of Pandora – The World of Avatar. My wife and I were visiting for our anniversary, and were both disappointed to learn that neither of us were able to fit the test vehicle due to the limitations of the restraint system. While trying it out, several others came up to try out the seat and many walked away feeling defeated – not only was the vehicle not designed with larger bodies in mind, but taller guests and people with some medical conditions were unable to use the restraint system comfortably, if at all.
The original plan for the blog was a database focusing on rides and restraint systems specifically for guests with bigger bodies (what currently exists as the Fat-Friendly Parks Series, which will hopefully be expanding soon). But by the time I finally got the nerve up to publish it six years later, I had realized I had a lot more information about various accessibility issues that could help others better plan for the parks. My family has multiple disabled family members with various limitations and needs and several people with dietary restrictions due to celiac disease and food allergies. These were issues I was used to navigating at Walt Disney World, but to someone who had never visited before, it was daunting to say the least.
A longtime participant in Disney-related facebook groups, I was always seeing the same questions: Will I fit on the rides? Where can I eat safely? How does the Disability Access Service work? How do people with scooters access this ride? I’d do my best to answer, educating about various systems in the park, reassuring them that with very few exceptions Disney’s rides are very accommodating, sharing which restaurants are most likely to be able to handle multiple food allergies in each park. But while there were several big Disney blogs, very few focused on the experiences of families like mine.
More Recent Developments
This year has brought some very controversial and alarming changes to what we’ve traditionally considered the most inclusive theme park for years. The changes, particularly to the DAS program, have disabled people rethinking whether the parks are a safe option for themselves and their families. A new study authored by Prof. Barbara Burgess-Lefebvre and her daughter Johnna Lefebvre was presented at the 2024 Themed Experiences and Attractions Academic Symposium, as part of the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAPPA) showed that 89.9% of survey participants reported increased anxiety about applying for DAS, that 2 in 3 previous DAS users reported being denied the DAS under the new changes as of Augutst 2024, and that 86% of those disabled guests who were denied DAS will visit the parks less often or would not return. Prof. Burgess-Lefebvre was interviewed in today’s USA Today article about the results of the study and about the changes to the accessibility program.
Disability Services
The announced changes to the Disability Access Service in April, followed by the implementation of those changes in May and June have wreaked havoc in the Disney X Disability community, with many unable to access safe, workable accommodations for their disabilities.
This change led to the creation of the RTQ Database Surveys & subsequent release of the Return to Queue and “Alternate Accommodations” Database. This database is currently updated weekly overnight on Sundays.
Every now and then, I share updated quantitative data collected from the anonymous surveys: Four Months of “New DAS” was published in September 2024, with the most recent data at that time. I do also share ride highlights for the surveys as well (most popular, which seem to be working for the most disabled guests)
It also led me to post What Now?: Where Should Disney’s Disability Services Go From Here? (my recommendations for changes that would get Disney back on the right track for accessibility and inclusion in the parks) in response to the changes.
Food Allergies
There was also a lot of controversy in August surrounding a lawsuit filed in Florida related to the death of a doctor after eating at a Disney Springs restaurant, and Disney’s choice to attempt to force arbitration on that lawsuit because of the terms of service for a one-month Disney+ subscription the husband of the deceased had signed up for years prior. Within a week, the company put out a statement that they would be waiving arbitration due to the sensitive nature of the case. This lawsuit has not concluded, so we don’t know how it ends, but it does highlight the need for more education around the differences between Disney-owned and operated restaurants vs. contracted restaurants on Disney property.
Access the Mouse 