Credit: UniversalA recent Universal Orlando Resort Guest has spoken out after an “absolute garbage” experience with the Parks’ disability accommodations.
Related: Accessibility Expert Bashes Universal Disability Accommodations
Like many Theme Parks, Universal Orlando Resort offers extensive accessibility information on its website. Universal Studios Florida, Universal Islands of Adventure, and CityWalk are largely wheelchair accessible and have specific policies to accommodate Guests with manual wheelchairs/ECVs, cognitive disabilities, prostheses, oxygen tanks/other medical devices, hearing/vision disabilities, service animals, and more.
Though most attraction queues are wheelchair accessible, Universal Orlando Resort offers an Attraction Assistance Pass, similar to Disney’s Disability Access Pass (DAS). This allows Guests with disabilities that make it difficult to wait in line to receive a return time for attractions and do other things in the Theme Parks while they wait. Universal also offers this pass for Haunted Houses and attractions unique to Halloween Horror Nights.
Navigating the return times was the biggest issue for this Guest, who shared their experience on Reddit. User u/beksaurus, who visited with their partner, called it “needlessly frustrating and not accommodating.”
“The whole point is that if you can’t wait in a super long line you get a return time, but instead of any of this being digital you have to get an employee to sign a little paper card for you,” the Guest explained. “Instead of Disney where you can pick from a list on the app and wait from anywhere in the park you need to physically walk over, push past a bunch of people giving you dirty looks because they assume you are trying to skip the line and then hopefully catch someone’s attention so they can sign the paper.”
The Guest was stuck waiting for an elevator and medical storage lockers at Jurassic World Velocicoaster for over an hour after telling Universal Orlando Resort that their disability made it difficult to wait in line. “We waited longer than the standby queue because of a barrier universal created to use a locker,” they wrote.
Additionally, the Guest alleged that some Universal Orlando Resort Team Members aren’t adequately trained on the Attraction Assistance Pass. When Harry Potter and the Escape From Gringotts broke down, one Team Member told them to ride another ride instead. But the Team Member at another ride wouldn’t let them on.
“This was so frustrating, watching my partner have to negotiate and explain herself over and over and over and then wait for the employees to decide what to do all while adding extra time and travel when the pass was supposed to aid in navigating that in the first place,” the Guest recalled. “I almost feel like we paid a lot of money just to have a crap time.”
Have you experienced the Attraction Assistance Pass at Universal Orlando Resort or Universal Studios Hollywood?
Please note that the story outlined in this article is based on a personal Universal Orlando Resort Guest experience. No two Guest experiences are alike, and this article does not necessarily align with Inside the Magic’s personal views on Universal Citywalk, Universal Studios Florida, and Islands of Adventure operations.