It looks like our 5 year old is going to be in a cast (leg above knee) for our trip (May 2021). For any of you who have done a trip with a young child in a leg cast, would you do it again or would you reschedule? How did the child enjoy the trip? Any tips?
Other possibly relevant info: We have 8 nights booked in a 5-sleeper studio (so he gets his own bed). Flight is 3 1/2 hours each way. He has an older brother (7) who will also be attending. We have park hoppers and planned to do 2 days at each park with a long break in the middle of the day to swim (not going to be possible with the cast), mini golf, non-park stuff.
Based on what you want to do, I would reschedule. Do you have any sense when your 5 year old will be out of the cast? And even then, will there need to be some strengthen the leg back?
My daughter had a broken leg when she was quite young, and even after the cast was off, it took her time to feel comfortable walking normally on it…and in her case it wasn’t so significant.
He will be in a cast for 6-8 weeks. Surgeon said it will be a walking cast and it likely won’t cause him much discomfort after the first couple of days. After the cast he will have a brace for a few months, which seems like it would be worse for walking a lot at WDW.
I know when our oldest had a walking cast he was running and jumping all over the place (despite us asking him to take it easy). It seemed feasible to do WDW with a cast (especially if we brought a stroller), but I also don’t want to go if he won’t enjoy himself.
If we postpone it will likely need to be for at least 8-10 months because we won’t want to deal with the crowds at WDW October - December of next year. Maybe go early September, but then they’d have to miss the start of school.
That doesn’t sound fun to me. May will be hot and likely rainy. My kids LOVE the pools so that would be a big disappointment for mine and probably the deal breaker. (Note, we HAVE a pool in our backyard and they still want to leave the parks to go swim.)
Maybe consider a summer trip - can he swim in a brace? Summer is hot, but we’ve always done that so we don’t miss school. I go either right after school lets out or right before it starts in mid-August and the crowds haven’t been too bad for those trips.
Something to keep in mind. If they still have socially distanced lines, then most of your waiting will be done outside in the direct heat. When we went in August, it was horrible. (Didn’t help that we happened to be there in record-setting heat for some of the days.)
For example, just to do CoP or Buzz, you were out in the direct sun for a majority of the time. Under normal circumstances, most of your waiting is done inside where it is air-conditioned, so you get frequent respite from the heat.
One of the standout pieces of data in the Unofficial Guide is that when asked what their favourite bit of WDW was, a big proportion of kids said the pool. What kids value and what we value are often very different.
So imagine being your 5 year old at WDW. Everyone else is having fun in the pool. What is he going to do? Watch them with growing bitterness and resentment.
WDW trips are wildly expensive and overflowing with emotional charge. I would wait until the circumstances are as ideal as they can realistically be before taking a trip.
I think I would also wait. No experience but I would want for my kid to have the full experience. Doesn’t sound like you would have to push back too long either…
I would absolutely reschedule especially since you know so far in advance. One thing if it’s a last minute thing but to know this all 6 months in advance gives you time to reschedule without too much pain.
Thanks everyone. I think I’ll see if I can find something closer to home to do before his surgery. We really need a vacation after this year and with border restrictions it doesn’t seem like we will be able to get to Disney before his surgery.
My son broke his arm flying over the handlebars of his bike from hitting a curb the weekend before we were going to the beach. Granted that was an arm but we rushed him thru the casting process and went anyway but again a beach. They sell these plastic covers that seal so you can get wet but they weren’t 100% and his cast did stink but he had a blast and swam a lot with that thing on. I’d just check into if there is something like that that’s better than when my son had his that really can seal out water.
Thanks! I’m definitely going to look for this. It would help even just with baths and showers. I remember how stinky my oldest son’s casts got by the end. Anything I can do to minimize the stink!
First, I’m sorry and hope he feels better soon. One of my kids had a minor foot issue that wasn’t usually a problem at all. Our last Disney trip he ended up in bad pain much of the time after just a few days. It’s just so much walking. I suppose that something like a scooter could be an option but if you can avoid that with rebooking then rebooking sounds preferable to me.