Travelling in Dec, going to MK, MVMCP, and HS (3 days). Plus a day at DS as well.
My mother has told me that she goes to the gym and can “just about” walk 1 mile in like 30 minutes.
I’ve mentioned to her on numerous occasions that she should rent a scooter and that there is a TON of walking… upwards of 5 miles per day. Also told her the walk alone just to get into the park is quite long.
She said she’ll be fine because we’ll stop a lot. She doesn’t want to get the scooter.
How do I convince her she needs to get the scooter? Have any of you had to convince an otherwise mobile person that they needed a scooter? What worked?
Our time in the park is limited and she was tired and had to rest in a store yesterday. I don’t think she’ll survive all the walking in Disney! I believe she’ll enjoy it much more if she can just drive herself around and not worry.
My wife has arthritis in her back and hip and was the same way - “I don’t want a scooter, I’ll be OK”. She lives normally, with no walking assistance, working around the house, shopping, etc - with a number of short rest breaks. I strongly encouraged her to get one for the parks, but she was adamant. Our first day was DHS (the smallest of the parks). We did not tour aggressively, and most of an hour was spent sitting in the Indy theater. By noon she was in a lot of pain, by 2:00 she was almost in tears and we spent an hour sitting in Pizza Planet waiting for the spasms to stop. It started to pour, so we called it a day and went back to the resort. After that, she never again questioned using a scooter. She’s fine around the resorts, but the amount of walking required in the parks - especially EP - is just not feasible without one.
Feel free to share my story with her. But maybe you’ll have to do the same thing I did (and keep the “I told you so” to yourself).
thanks @bswan26 – I think we’re doing disney springs the first day we arrive so maybe she’ll have an epiphany there and realize there’s no way she can walk the parks.
My mother is similar to yours. Independent at home, but lots of walking, standing and waiting kills her. She uses my grandmother’s walker at the parks and it works out perfectly. It’s smaller than a scooter, still gives her some independence, as she can leave it to go to the bathroom or into a store or on to a ride. But it gives her a place to sit down in line or when we are waiting. It also gives her stability to take the weight off her back when we’re walking (think shopping cart in a large store). Also, there’s a place for her to put her purse and, as she has a small basket, we can put our waters and snacks in it, instead of carrying everything.
Remind your mother that these devices are there to enable her to have a full and wonderful time without pain. She shouldn’t have to give things up because of pain, when there’s a choice.
I was going to say this as well! A friend of mine was faced with your exact scenario. Her mother refused a scooter because she “can walk fine” at home, but like you said about your mother, has to stop and “take breaks” when shopping…so my friend was adamant about there being no way she could handle the massive parks w/o a scooter. She kept trying to nicely suggest it, even offered to set it all up for her but finally got so frustrated that she simply told her mother she’s going to end up impacting everyone else in the family’s time at the parks because of her refusal to utilize a scooter, and that if she didn’t get one they were second guessing going with her. She gave in and got one and in the end agreed it was the best thing and that she doesn’t know why she thought she could handle that amount of walking!
I just got back and I rented a scooter. To me, it was important to know that I could get up and walk around whenever I felt okay. There are places to leave the scooters and walk for a bit. If I didn’t rent the scooter, I wouldn’t have had BOTH options. That’s what I would tell your mother.
I am just about to rent a scooter for the second time for my mother . We rent from a 3rd party . This way she has it with her at all times. The resorts are quite large, as is the walk to the park. This way we also don’t have to wait to rent in a park.
We have used Walker scooters and we are again this time. We are staying off site also, so this time we rented the one that can be taken apart easily and put in the trunk of a car or in the back of a minivan. Last time we were very impressed. They dropped it off to us in the lobby and we left it with the Bell man for them to pick up. It was less than $200 for the week probably closer to $150
I rented from Best Price Mobility. After I read reviews I narrowed it down to 2 companies. Then I found out that they are the only company that answers their phones after 6pm, so if I had a problem with a scooter, they could be there. They answer their phones until 10. I didn’t need it but I have heard of some minor problems with scooters. All companies’ prices were very similar.
No problems at RD (but it will likely add 20 min or so to your AM). We hopped to DHS around 4PM one day to see the Osborne lights, and they had them then as well. Nice thing is that you only pay once per day, regardless of hopping. Just take the receipt with you and they will give you a scooter at the next park with no extra charge.
