Here in Anaheim I have been going to Disneyland several times a day. (And you thought I was following the Universal Design track at the American Society on Aging Conference!)
Actually, I am doing both. The tourist transit system (Anaheim Resort Transit) travels between hotels using the main entrance plaza of Disneyland as its hub.
Each bus is outfitted with a Ricon wheelchair lift The design requires the driver to leave the driver's seat to open the access door from the outside, operate the lift, stap (or unstrap) the four wheelchair strap-downs, and then return to driving. Drivers and passengers have been wonderfully good natured about the tedious process but it is easy to wonder why accessible design segregation (disabled passengers as special afterthoughts) rather than Universal Design integration was not used to begin with.
Design considerations clearly went into making the coaches. The problem is its superficiality.
Each coach looks like an old red trolley - complete with parkbench-like wooden seats (retrofitted with thin padding due to passenger complaints one imagines) and leg room for the average nine year old Disney denizen.
I'd rate the system a marginal "good enough" for now but he cost in time and emotion due to thinking only as far as "cute" in the design phase and not doing the real work of human centered development must be quite high especially at peak tourism season.
Posted by rollingrains at March 16, 2006 02:16 AM