Disney Makes Submarine Ride Accessible
Back in June, Disney opened the long-closed submarine ride. It had been changed into the Finding Nemo ride, which caused a lot of uproar about changing the classic Disney rides. I read complaints that EVERY ride at Disneyland needed to have some sort of movie tie-in, while completely ignoring the fact that original submarine ride was an advertisement for 10,000 Leagues Under The Sea, a Disney movie.
During all the complaining, it seems like no one noticed that Disney went above and beyond the call of duty to make the ride handicapped accessible. Since it’s impossible to get a wheelchair down the spiral staircases and into the submarines, they created a new observation deck experience.
The “Imagineers” at The Walt Disney Co. couldn’t retrofit the hatches and spiral staircases of the original 52-foot submarines to accommodate wheelchairs.
So they did the next best thing. The undersea voyage has been photographed with state-of-the-art equipment, and the high-definition images will be displayed on a 61-inch plasma screen in a theater designed to resemble an observation outpost.
The viewing site is also intended to accommodate people who are claustrophobic.
Kudos to Disney for taking care of everyone on this ride. Okay, everyone except the Disney purists.