Here's what the WDW Guidebook for Guest with Disabilities has to say about Stamina or Endurance concerns, which is basically what your brother has:
Stamina or Endurance Concerns
Some Guests may be concerned that they do not have the stamina to wait in our queues. We strongly suggest these Guests consider using a wheelchair, personal scooter or Electric Convenience Vehicle (ECV), as the distance between our attractions is much greater than the length of our queues.
If he were to ask for a GAC, he would probably get that advice, based on his needs.
That is actually very good advice because the amount of time and distance spent waiting in lines is very small compared with the amount spent just getting around the parks. Many queues involve a fairly long distance walking even when the wait is short - the Kilamonjari Safari, It's Tough to be a Bug, Fantasmic - are some where you will walk a fairly long distance even if you can walk right in and don't have to wait. And, there are many situations where you wait and a GAC would not be useful, such as waiting in queues to buy food, etc.
Just for thought - It's about 1.3 miles to go around the waterway at WS in Epcot and it's at least an equal distance from the park entrance to that point.
Check into the disABILITIES FAQs thread near the top of this board for more information about renting wheelchairs and
ecvs.
So, that said, what is a GAC?
The GAC (Guest Assistance Card) is a tool for CMs to have some information on what accomidations are needed by someone with an invisible disability. It says right on the GAC card that it is not meant to shorten or eliminate waits in line, just to provide necessary accomidation.
It is also printed on the card that if the guest want to avoid waits in line, they should make use of FastPass.
The accomidations are based on the needs that the guest explains to the CM at Guest Services in the park. There are several stamps that can be added to the GAC to give sort of general instructions, (things like "avoid stairs", etc). The cards have icons and the different messages are stamped in different colors so that the CM can glance at the card and see what general needs there are (they don't need to read the whole card and are not being lazy if they don't - they can get what they need by a quick look).
NOTE: Please don't list specific things that the stamps say. Disney tends to change them periodically, the stamp you think might be the best for you might not be the most helpful and having the exact language might lead to abuse.
How to get one - the guest with a disability needs to go to Guest Services in any of the parks and be able to explain their needs - you don't need to give a diagnosis or specific medcial information; what the CM needs to knwo is what the problems are and what sort of accomidations would help with that situation. The GAC is usually issued to be valid for your entire length of stay and the GAC you get at one theme park is valid at all the other theme parks (not Disney Quest or the Water Pardks though). The GAC can be for up to 6 people - 5 plus the peson with a disability. There are times when you may be asked to split into smaller groups - 1 or 2 plus the person with a disability because either the waiting area or the seating area for people with special needs is limited in size.
Not all attractions offer the same accomidations - most don't have any place to sit and wait (some may have quieter places to stand and wait, but if you need to sit, you are not guaranteed that unless you have a wheelchair or ecv).
When CMs let someone with a GAC bypass part of a line, it's usually for what they would call "operational reasons", i.e. right at that time, they may be better staffed and/or have no one with special needs on the ride, so it is easier for them to have you board right away.
In your brother's case, I would suggest a wheelchair or ecv. He will have a much more pain-free trip and will be able to keep up with the rest of your party. All queues are wheelchair accessible and most are ecv accessible.
AK and the Studio were built with
Mainstream Access which means that the regular lines are accessible and wheelchair/ecv users wait in the same lines with eveyone else. MK and Epcot are older parks, so not all the queues were able to be upgraded to Mainstream Access, but all Fastpass queues and newer rides are mainstream.
Someone who can get out of their wheelchair/ecv and walk a few feet will be asked to park it and walk from the wheelchair holding area to the attraction car. For those who can't, the wheelchair/ecv can usually be pulled up to within 1 to 2 feet (or often even closer) to the ride car.
As was already noted, people using a wheelchair or ecv don't need a GAC because the CM can see that they need to use an accessible entrance. The exceptions would be someone who has additional needs that are not met just by having an accessible entrance and children with strollers they are using in line or special needs strollers (many of them look like regular stroller and are not recognized as a mobility device by CMs without a GAC that says they can be used as a stroller).
The only time we have had a problem was having to stand while waiting for Fantasmic! so I guess that was the only reason I was asking about the GAC...that and we usually have to sit in the blue lined area as after standing that long the stairs into the ampitheater are not an option.
