It’s raining and cold here, so I downloaded some pictures of new Small World queue

[SueM in MN]

The line at Small World was recently re-opened after renovation and the entrance and exit were switched.
The first part of the wheelchair line is a dedicated line for guests using wheelchairs and other mobility devices. The wheelchair line entrance is inside the building, toward the right as you face the attraction (toward the Pinocchio Village Haus side).
Guests with GACs but no mobility devices were waiting in that line too, but I would recommend considering NOT using that entrance unless you have an ECV or wheelchair because the wait in that special area was much longer than in the regular line the 3 times we went. That first area is ramped and extends as a ramp across almost the entire front if the building. At very least, check on the wait in the regular line and look at the number of guests waiting in the accessible line.
This picture shows the wheelchair line on the left side of the picture.
The line on the right side of the picture is the exit - after riding all guests exit thru the same line (the guests coming toward the front of the picture were exiting).

Guests in the handicapped line continue down the ramp to the bottom, where there is a chain and you wait until a CM directs you. The next picture shows the area where ECVs, wheelchairs or other mobility devices are stored for guests who choose to leave them and walk onto the Small World Boat. The accessible line is to the left of the picture and the exit line is to the right of the picture. You can see the chain I mentioned at the bottom of the ramp, just in front of DD’s head.

This picture shows part of the wheelchair queue for Small World at WDW. The line to the far left of the picture is where guests with wheelchairs wait when it is almost time for them to board. That area is ramped fairly steeply and has a gate at the front, so guests can remain in that area until they board. When they board, they will usually be going into the boat right in front of them, so no crossing across traffic.
There is a parking spot for wheelchairs and ECVs behind it (toward the front of the picture) and some guests may be asked to wait in the area in front of the wheelchair/ ECV parking area, especially if they will need to be in their wheelchair or ECV until boarding. That was my vantage point for the picture.

The next line, which has a CM standing in it, is the beginning of the exit line. Guests with ECVs who need to drive their ECV to the loading area will be brought down that ramp by the CM for boarding and then the ECV may be brought back up to the parking area or parked just across from the boat.
The third row is the second part of the exit ramp - again very steep and it is used by all guests to exit.
The chained off area /next row is the handicapped waiting area. It is quite steep and many people pushing wheelchairs angled them sideways while waiting in line to avoid the wheelchair rolling. It is wheelchair and ECV accessible.
The 3 times we rode Small World in this trip, that line was backed up all the way to the top most of the time. A lot of the people in the line were not using wheelchairs or ECVs and would probably have had a much shorter wait in the ‘regular’ line. In our case, I watched the progress of the group that entered the regular line just before we entered the handicapped line. They got on and finished riding before we were loaded.
Above the handicapped line, you can see the start of the ‘regular’ line.

This is the end of the Small World renovated wheelchair line. We were waiting in the area guests enter just before boarding with a wheelchair or when walking using the handicapped line. Guests wait here until the CM comes to take them to a boat. In our case, we waited for the wheelchair accessible boat. Guests who can walk may park their wheelchairs or ECVs behind where I was standing and wait in this area. There is a small area to the middle right side of the picture where a small number of wheelchairs and ECVs can be parked for guests who need to use them to get down to the boat, but will be transferring to a boat seat.
The line up and to the right of the picture is part of the exit ramp (all guests exit toward the front of the picture, then make a turn up the ramp). You can see how steep the ramp is when you realize that the exit ramp is so high above the boarding area.

This is the wheelchair accessible boat. The guest in a wheelchair enters at the back of the boat (to the left of the picture) and continues down the ramp to the front, stopping at the white line. There are 6 seats on the boat and the other guests board from the side - although someone could walk down the ramp if they wanted to.

 

[BillSears]

Cool pics Sue, thanks!

One thing that I noticed is that if you are alone in the line using a wheelchair the CMs cannot see you when you stop at the gate. I was there late one night solo and I had the line all to myself. The CM had no idea I was there until I called out to her. That silver divider does a pretty good job of blocking the sight lines for us vertically challenged folks.

 

[SueM in MN]

Thanks, Bill.
We were in that line in each spot for a while each time we rode, so I took a lot of pictures and these actually turned out the best.

I can see how a single person in a wheelchair could be pretty well hidden from the CM working at the boarding area. There is quite a bit of silver fence hiding you, plus the line of people exiting the attraction.

 

[chaoslobster]

I wonder why it is that there seem to be so many more people than usual waiting in the accessible queue? I'm a bit wary because of what you said regarding waiting so much longer in the accessible queue - normally I take my scooter all the way down to the end because the regular queue is just too long for me to walk. But there generally aren't many people in the accessible queue. I've never, ever seen it backed up so far the way it is in your pictures. Is the backup just due to the logistical changes in how the queue is handled, or are there actually a whole lot more people in there?

 

[SueM in MN]

I wonder why it is that there seem to be so many more people than usual waiting in the accessible queue? I'm a bit wary because of what you said regarding waiting so much longer in the accessible queue - normally I take my scooter all the way down to the end because the regular queue is just too long for me to walk. But there generally aren't many people in the accessible queue. I've never, ever seen it backed up so far the way it is in your pictures. Is the backup just due to the logistical changes in how the queue is handled, or are there actually a whole lot more people in there?

There were a lot of people in the accessible line - which was why I noted that people without mobility devices might want to go in the regular line. All the times we were there, the wait in the regular line was shorter, but probably not more than 5 or 10 minutes difference on average.
Both the regular and the accessible lines are quite steep and in either line you would be standing on a steeply ramped area. THe distance from the start of the accessible line to the actual accessible boarding area is probably 1/3 to 1/2 the distance walked in the regular line (depending on how much of the regular line they are using).

One of the reasons the line was so long was that there were many people in the line when we went who were using Guest Assistance Cards and did not have a wheelchair, ECV or other mobility device. Two of the 3 times we rode, they were taking people from the “special” line strictly in the order they were in the line. This is probably because they don’t have an easy way to pull walking people past the wheelchairs and ECVs. There is also not space to pull guests in wheelchairs or ECVs past guests standing ahead of them.
This meant that we saw the wheelchair boat go by several times without a wheelchair in it while we were waiting because we were not at the front of the line. (We missed it one time by 2 groups). That meant that instead of waiting for the next boat, we had to wait for the next wheelchair boat. And, those who were behind us had to wait for us to get on, even if they would have been able to walk to the next boat.

On our last ride, they pulled the several of us with wheelchairs and ECVs out of the line when we got toward the end. We were directed to wait in front of the parked hCVs and wheelchairs (which is how I ended up with the good pictures of tbe ‘holding pen’). There is a limit to the number of guests who would need evacuation in case of emergency who are allowed on the attraction at one time, so they do kind of slowly load from the special needs area.

 

[toocherie]

Question: when not on an ECV I use a cane; would that be sufficient to utilize the wheelchair accessible boat? (I don't necessarily need to be in a wheelchair for that boat--I could walk down the ramp--my issue is with stepping up and over the side of the boat.)

 

[kaytieeldr]

You would have to ask the Greeter. Probably, but not absolutely. And if there are a number of people in that line, you should expect a long wait.


Oh, and it's possible everything has changed over the last eight+ years .

 

[SueM in MN]

Question: when not on an ECV I use a cane; would that be sufficient to utilize the wheelchair accessible boat? (I don't necessarily need to be in a wheelchair for that boat--I could walk down the ramp--my issue is with stepping up and over the side of the boat.)

I agree with what kaytieeldr wrote.
I have seen people walk onto the boat. Important to be aware though the even if you are walking on the ramp, the seats are still fairly low. You would not need to step over the side of the boats, but you may find getting up and down from the seat and walking on the ramp with no rails to hang onto may not be as easy as you think.

They do have attraction wheelchairs at the bottom of the ramp that you can request and the accessible boarding line is ECV accessible.

 

[mamabunny]

Before I hit the point I am at now, I asked one time (this was probably 3? years ago) to do a "walk on" on the accessible Small World boat. The greeter told me that I didn't have to use the attraction wheelchair for the ride - I could transfer to a seat - but that if I was going to need to use that boat, they preferred to load me with either my personal chair, or the attraction supplied chair (no ECVs allowed). Since I use my personal ECV, they had me park it at the mezzanine, and hop in the chair. I was then wheeled onto the boat by a CM, and transferred (and the chair removed from the boat) and then the process was reversed when I got off the ride, except that they let a family member go get my personal ECV and bring it down, since I could still walk on my own at that point.

 

[toocherie]

Thanks everyone!! I am good with either process. It's not so much the getting up it's the stepping over that is the issue. Last time I tried to ride I basically was told there were no accommodations. Then I saw the accessible boat (while my friends were on the ride) and I was like "whaaaaaatttt????" So want to be prepared next time.