Yahoo Lifestyle 
Aussie's 'awful' Disneyland experience exposes major theme park problem: 'Brought to tears'
Getting through the front gate took him an hour. But what came next left wheelchair advocate Shane Hryhorec stunned.
Disneyland is on the bucket list of many overseas travellers. But while the Magic Kingdom advertises itself as the happiest place on earth, a recent trip to its Tokyo theme park by one Aussie TikTok blogger escalated into a four-hour “nightmare”.
More than 1.8 million people have watched Shane Hryhorec’s video review of the world famous destination which details his frustrations accessing rides in a wheelchair. It’s part of a darkly hilarious but extraordinarily important TikTok series he’s produced about the joys and struggles of travelling with a disability.
“Tokyo Disney was an absolute shambles. It was just awful. And I was actually almost brought to tears,” Shane recalled while speaking with Yahoo Lifestyle two weeks later from Paris.
What went wrong at Tokyo Disney?
The 39-year-old disability advocate and business owner’s ordeal begins with him trying to enter the park – something that took an hour to achieve.
RELATED:
But once he got through the ticket gates, Shane’s problems only escalated when he was asked to agree to dozens of terms and conditions.
"I finally got into the park to go to the first attraction, and Oh my god, the questions I had to answer as a person registered with a disability. No joke, it took maybe 45 minutes, and they just kept going," he told Yahoo.
Moment Disney asked Aussie wheelchair user to walk
His TikTok suggests Shane was then blocked from entering a ride by a Tokyo Disney staff member.
In the video, Shane can be seen reading a translated message on a phone screen which advises, “We will refuse service to wheelchair users.” He responds by asking, “So can I not go on a ride?” The Disney employee responds with a negative “Yes”.
Speaking later with Yahoo Lifestyle, Shane explained why he wasn’t allowed to proceed.
“I registered to go on a Star Wars ride, came back an hour later, and got all the way to the entrance. Then they said: Okay, you’ve got to leave your chair here and walk 50 metres,” he said.
“I was like: What, I can't do that. That’s when it became even more of a disaster.”
Would Shane recommend Tokyo Disney?
After spending four hours at the park, Shane became convinced the staff didn’t want him to go on any of the rides.
“What a day. It feels to me that this park wants people with disabilities to come to the park. They want you to pay. They want you to enter,” he concludes in his video.
“But when you get inside they don’t want you to go on any rides. Would I recommend Tokyo Disneyland for people with disabilities? No.”
Was Shane's trip to Paris any better?
Shane’s Wheel Around The World video series gives tips and ideas to travellers with disabilities, but it also provides able-bodied viewers with a fascinating insight into the difficulties of entering tourist sites in a wheelchair.
"People have no idea what it's like for us," he told Yahoo. "I think people are blown away to learn about it."
His next stop is Paris Disney, where Yahoo understands Shane had the polar opposite experience.
"I literally went to the both parks — Walt Disney Studios and Disneyland — in a day. There were two or three rides that weren't accessible. But I was able to go on 15 rides in a day," he said.
That doesn't mean the city of Paris has been an easy adventure though.
"Paris is stunning, it's got its beauty, but it's a difficult place for people with disabilities and its certainly not prepared to be hosting the Paralympics in two months time," he said.
SHOP:
Shoppers are raving about the new style Oodies for all seasons: 'I’m in love'
The sunless tanner with no smell and no transfer: 'My skin feels so silky'
"None of the restaurants are accessible. There's almost no public bathrooms. The only places you can go to the bathroom in public are museums, and then you have to go through security.
"There are plenty of places to eat al fresco, but if you need to go to the bathroom, you just need to piss in your leg bag."
Major network asked to run disability travel show
As Shane continues to travel around the world and upload his experiences to TikTok, he’s hoping one of the big entertainment platforms like Netflix or Amazon might pick up his travel show.
“It'd be great to see a streaming service, pick something like this up and make it the mainstream,” he said.
“People do need a more inclusive perspective on travel. It just doesn't exist yet. And we need it.”
Disney’s head office was contacted for comment by Yahoo Lifestyle but it did not respond.
Want the latest celebrity news? Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
