Many attractions have a ''disability entrance'' to provide any extra assistance necessary to guests. This might mean an escort to roomier theater spaces for wheelchairs, a temporary halting of a moving platform to enable a person with a disability to approach and board the ride, or simply a shorter wait for folks with limited stamina. At the guest relations facility just inside the gate at each park, visitors can pick up a guidebook for guests with disabilities that indicates which attractions offer such special entrances. What makes the parks so accessible is a general awareness and attitude by all its ubiquitous ''hosts'' and ''hostesses'' that all guests are respected equally, welcomed with equal warmth. There to help If you need information or direction, you rarely have time to worry about it before you've found someone with an answer.
Assistance is offered graciously, and the sense of inclusion is consistent.
The key to enjoying Disney World is to enter into the fantasy world of Mickey Mouse, magic carpets, bugs that talk and trips to the stars. Deborah Kendrick, a Cincinnati free-lance writer, is a nationally recognized advocate for people with disabilities. The Cincinnati Enquirer , a Gannett Co. Inc. newspaper.