Does Disney World have facilities for the hearing Impaired?

With an average of around 58 million visitors each year Disney World facilitates guests from all walks of life. Disney World prides itself for being inclusive and goes out of its way to make sure everyone can enjoy the most magical place on earth, no matter their background.

Disney Worlds Hearing impaired services include: Guest room amenities, assistive listening, handheld captioning, video captioning and sign language interpretation. Below are some helpful numbers to get more information or to book a service or device:

• Guest Services: 407-939-5277 guest.services@disneyworld.com
• Disability Services: 407-560-2547 Disability.services@disneyparks.com
• Disability Access Service (DAS) Video Registration Link

Below I have for some more information to save you time at the parks. After all, we all go to Disney to get lost in the magic.

Let’s dig a little deeper.

Mama Odie, The Princess and the Frog

Are Interpreters or hearing devices available in all disney world parks?

Interpreters for hearing-impaired Disney fans are provided by Disney for specific live shows on a rotational basis. They have a breakdown of which parks they are at on specific days. Here is the list; Animal kingdom on Tuesdays and Saturdays, Hollywood studios on Sundays and Wednesdays, Epcot Fridays, Magic Kingdom on Mondays and Thursdays.

Disney provide an updated schedule on a weekly basis which, is downloadable here or you can get a copy from guest services on arrival. You can also email them at the following address WDPRsignlanguageservices@disney.com.

If you would like sign language interpretation for a special event or dinner show you can request this 14 days in advance. Requested events like Disney’s spirit of Aloha, Hoop-Dee-Doo revue or Disney’s Keys To The Kingdom Tour can all be signed. For a list of those events and dinner shows and to book contact guest services on (407) 560-2547 or by email at disability.services@disneyparks.com. They will contact you before you arrive with all the details including interpreted performance times and dates. 

in addition, Handheld Captioning and Assistive Listening devices are available and can be used in all Disney World parks.

Do Disney Characters Sign?

Disney World has “Signing Characters”, Yes! there have been may occasions where Mickey, Minnie, Tinkerbell and many other characters have made a visit to the parks a very memorable and magical time for hearing-impaired individuals. It goes without saying accessibility is taken very seriously by Disney and in fact I would maybe go as far as saying it’s part of their core message and identity. 

I’ve done a little bit of digging to find a story that represents an emotional and unexpected Disney moment created for a hearing impaired child. I hope it gets you like it got me.

“I hear you! In a moment captured in a touching family video, Shaylee Mansfield, 4, who is deaf, got the surprise of her life, when Tinkerbell was able to sign with her during a trip to Walt Disney World…” I you click on the picture below it will take you to the video from the Dailymail.co.uk…

A List of Services available for the hearing impaired at Disney World

Let’s take a look at all the available services for the hearing impaired. If I discover any more I will add to this article. So feel free to check back in from time to time.

As of right now, in 2020, there are five popular devices and services readily available when you get to Disney world. These are first off your guest room amenities, assistive listening devices, there is handheld captioning, video captioning and of course as mentioned above sign language interpretation. As we have went into the interpretation in more detail above we will only go through the other four in the section. So let’s do it.

Guest room amenities

Disney being Disney, they pull out all the stops for hearing impaired guests. If you want you can have your guestroom kitted out with some fancy gadgets to help you on your vacation. Problems knowing when somebody is at the door? Why not get alerts on your cell or maybe request a bed shaker notification to let you know, or maybe give you a tickle. Sorry I got carried away! Hey, you know what would be cool, if you could have a Text Typewriter Telephone installed. Wait! You can! Woop! What about a phone amplifier. Yip! 

Ooo Ooo, guess what! Wanna smoke detector installed in you room that has… STROBE LIGHTING! Well you can! but don’t ask for that if you’re just wanting a disco in your room. That’s a big no no. Definitely frowned upon… cough.

…moving on..

Disney’s Handheld Devices 

If you decide to get one of Disney’s handheld devices they come with two fantastic features that stand out for the hearing impaired,  Assistive Listening and Handheld Captioning. 

Assistive Listening is great as it amplifies sound through headphones or an induction loop when you’re at specific rides or attractions. If you have a mild or moderate hearing loss this is a great option for you. This is available at the following: 

Handheld captioning, which is great for anyone who can read, is a way to present on-screen text on location at selected theatres and attractions. 

The handheld devices are available at Guest relations for a fully refundable, on return, $25 deposit. All 4 parks have them but you can only get them on a first come, first serve basis. So if you turn up and they don’t have any then you’ll know why. But please don’t get too upset as you can still have a great time. You might even get one the following day. While you wipe away your tears here is a list of locations that have handheld captioning:

Video Captioning

This can be seen in a lot of places these days. But Disney has had this for a very long time. When you turn up to a pre show or exhibit area and you see a “CC” symbol then that space has video captioning. If it needs to be activated you can contact a cast member and in some locations Disney’s handheld devices can turn it on. Lets check out the current places that have Video Captioning:

In addition, there are a few other aids that can be requested to lend assistance when needed. As mentioned somewhere up the top there, in your guestroom you can use a text typewriter telephone. If you’re out and about requesting a TTY from guest relations is cool too and there are some available at public phones. This is great as it will save you time not having to go back to your room to make or receive a phone call. Of course, if you want to burn off a few calories every time you eat a churritio then the running might be a good choice. But hey, each to their own.

Reflective captioning, which is an alternative to video captioning at Disney world, is available at selected locations. If you’ve never heard of reflective captioning, in Lehman’s terms, it’s a see-through mirror-like device that is placed in front of the user using LED display tech to show text from a show or event that’s in front of them. Obviously you have to watch the show mostly through the glass but from what I’ve been told its fine. However it may take a bit of time to get used to. 

You can also request written aids which are available in most places where a show is on and in some attractions. Just contact a cast member well before entering the venue or lights up.

Last but not least, service animals are always welcome at Disney World. I’m not going to say any more than that. If you have a service animal you probably don’t need me to tell you how it all works. I think you’ve got that figured. Anything I would say on that would probably be a bit ruff! Get it “Ruff” … it’s a Service Dog … Nevermind.

Conclusion

As Disney has incredible customer service, in my opinion probably the best in the world, every guest is important to them. When it comes to hearing aids, devices or anything that can help enhance and improve a guests experience, Disney will most likely do it. Always have a quick check before you arrive to see what is available or to find anything that is brand-new you could take advantage of. If there’s anything that you can pre-book, or if you are required to, make sure you do it in plenty of time so you’re not disappointed. 

Hope you had a good read and got the information you needed. For anything else have a look through my other articles and see if you can find an answer. If you can’t then of course you can contact Disney and they will be happy to help.