Thanks for the update.
They also said the pre-show load area was small and could not accommodate the larger devices. Aside from astonishment that disability access was not fully integrated into a new ride’s design (as stated by previous poster); my wife’s chair was accommodated after demanding a leader be called and the leader allowed the chair if Nancy put the chair in manual mode.
The important words here are “larger device”.
I know the preshow area accommodates my daughter’s manual wheelchair because she’s been thru the attraction several times.
It does meet the ADA guidelines, but the fault is with the guidelines not meeting the requirements of some of the larger devices - specifically
ECVs, which can’t turn as sharply as a power wheelchair (which might even be the same length and width as the
ECV).
I think another issue is some CMs unfamiliarity with different powered devices. I know some are very familiar, but many tend to see a power wheelchair as having the same capabilities as an ECV (clearly wrong). My guess is that’s what happened to you.
Also, power wheelchairs tend to look much bigger than they actually are. Even I look at my daughter’s power wheelchair and see it as HUGE when I know it is only slightly larger than her manual chair and can turn in almost the same space.
For Pirates, I knew a CM who worked there and the issue is getting the wheelchair from the load area to the unload area in the time it takes to ride.
The unload area is actually down one floor and in another building from the load area, with a rather small elevator to get from level to level. If the elevator is out of commission for any reason, the ride can’t accommodate wheelchairs.
In the way past, they loaded lighter/smaller/folding wheelchairs onto the boat in the back seat. I’ve heard the reasons they stopped doing that were CM injuries from the awkward lift and a wheelchair that either shifted or actually fell out of the boat.
I know there have been situations where the guest arrived at the end of the ride before the wheelchair did; as a result, CMs even ask people with their own manual wheelchair if they can use an attraction wheelchair (they keep some at the unload area).