[Accessible Japan]

Hi,

OK… bad news.

I just called USJ and they confirmed that you must have a Japan-issued Handicap Persons Handbook to get the Guest Support Pass.  That is the only option.

For those without a Japanese Handicap Persons Handbook, they suggested telling staff at each attraction and negotiate directly.

Disappointing.

I’ll update our website to reflect this new information.  Thank you for informing us.

I left an official complaint about the rules as being unfair to foreign guests.  I suggest you do the same.

[dannidandan]

Hello again,

please could you advise how to complain? I have checked the USJ website without much joy.

Also would you be able to speak to them again to see if they would make an exception for Danielle please? We planned and booked our trip to japan and USJ before they changed their rule so I would hope that could make an exception in this case.  Especially as Dannielle has been in tears since I told her the bad news and is unlikely to be able to attend the park. This will ruin the end of a holiday celebrating her 30th birthday in Japan.

Any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated given the state Danielle is now in due to USJ rule change. We have a GP letter and permission to import her medication which is the only hard copy proof of her condition. She is registered disabled in the UK.

Again many thanks for your help.

Sincerely,

Ross.

 

[Accessible Japan]

Hello,

I’m very sorry that this is ruining your trip :'(

I think I need to clarify.  You can still go to the park, you will just need to wait in line at each ride.

As for getting in touch with USJ again, getting in contact directly would likely be the best option so you can explain the situation more directly.  Since you mentioned you are in Japan now, you can call them at 0570-20-0606.  Option number two is for English, and then select 1 to speak to the operator.

Hope this helps.

[dannidandan]

Thank you again. We appreciate we can go in to the park however Danielle would have issues with being stuck in the queue for a long length of time despite sitting in a wheel chair.

Thank you for the contact details. As we are staying at a universal partners hotel we are also hoping we can access the park early to get through quickly to some of the rides.

Again thank you for your help, greatly appreciated given we are far from home not sure who to speak to!

kind Regards,

Ross.

[Accessible Japan]

Wish I could do more.

Please keep us posted!

[Unknown Member]

That’s unfortunate, but would love to know how things turned out! Happy birthday to the partner btw.

[dannidandan]

Hi pumpkin90,

Thank you have passed on the birthday wishes 🙂

So we went to guest services outside the main entrance before going through the ticket barrier and they weren’t much help. Through iPad translation I think the lady indicated that an overseas handicap/disability card or book with name and photo ID would suffice which we didn’t have on us. Danielle has a UK blue badge with photo ID to allow us to park more easily but we left that at home, I’m not sure if that would have been accepted or not.  As far as I’m aware the UK don’t issue a disabled persons ID photo card.

The lady advised us to talk to the attendants at each ride to negotiate entry. Once we entered the park and had our wheelchair we headed to Jurassic Park and fortunately the attendant issued us with a guest pass! I assume the wheel chair helped and crutches attached to the back. They had a card with a flow diagram saying yes or no to having a handicap book. If no then you wait in lines of yes they issue a guest pass. At this point we presented Danielle’s Doctors letter hospital letter describing her condition plus the Japanese narcotics/medication import/export licence listing her medication with a Japanese office seal and told them that guest services told us to come to the ride to negotiate and obtain a guest pass. Again all done through iPad translation.

I’m not sure if we just got lucky or if that’s an approach that would help for others. If you’re from a country with disabled photo ID cards/books then I assume you maybe ok.

We didn’t go back for the second day as Danielle didn’t want to go through it all again (they only issued a one day guest pass).  She felt humiliated and discriminated enough already to want to go through another session of having to plead for a pass!  Instead we went into Osaka and spent her money in Disney stores 🙂 Disney in Tokyo was a much better experience than USJ from a disability point of view not just because they had batter assisted wheel chairs that made it easier for me to push 🙂 Although to be fair to the staff

in the park on the rides they were all brilliant and plenty of elevators up to the rides not on the ground.  At both Disney and USJ they took about 10 minutes of the queue time and went through the check list each time plus on a few of the rides asked Danielle to sit in the ride seat they had by the entrance of the ride to show she could sit in it comfortably and secure.

happy to answer any other questions you may have, tried to cover off as many points above as I could that may be relevant, especially if you’ve not been before.

Ross.

[Accessible Japan]

That was really helpful, I’m sure it will help others as well when deciding whether to go or not…

Hope the rest of the tip goes better!  Please do start other topics and share what you experienced.