Happy Monday everyone! We are T-13 days from our quick 5 night trip to AKL to celebrate my retirement from teaching and also to “re-celebrate” my 50th-I was born the exact same month as Disney World!! Even though we were at WDW last August for my 50th pre-celebration and for our 20th anniversary, if Disney can celebrate 50 years for 18 months, then I can, too! It will be me, DH, and DS13.
This trip is coming up fast, and I thought our biggest challenge would be conquering Genie+ and ILLs. Nope! DS13 dislocated his knee a few days ago roller skating. My parting words to him when I dropped him and his friend off at the rink were “Don’t break an arm or leg or anything-we go to Disney in a couple of weeks!” 15 minutes later I got the call. In typical snarky teen age fashion, DS told me that technically he listened to me because he didn’t break anything, just dislocated something. . So, now with less than 2 weeks to go and DS just today being actually able to bend his leg without severe pain, we are facing the reality of needing a wheelchair for our trip. Any experiences with wheel chairs in the world? Renting/buying ahead of time and bringing with us (we are driving to Florida) or should we rent from somewhere in Orlando? This is our first knee dislocation-older DS made it through football, baseball, basketball, wrestling, and track without anything but our younger DS13 who isn’t into sports ends up with the injury…
If he can keep his knee bent without causing too many issues, try a knee bike. If he needs to keep it up - go with a wheelchair. I would rent one from a rental place. Really easy to find them. If you will be pushing him, makes sure it’s one that is comfortable to push for your height. If he’s propelling it, make sure it’s one that works well for self-use for him.
If you want a scooter I highly recommend Scootorlando.com! They are who we used a year ago based on the recommendation of someone on these forums. They have upgraded batteries so you can truly go all day long without recharging. Their customer service is excellent. Click on Specials on their website to find out how to get 10% off a 5 + day rental. Even without that they are much cheaper than the on site scooter rentals from Disney.
Also, as a fellow teacher retiree CONGRATULATIONS!!!
You will have a great time!
I would also download the Guests with Disabilities pamphlet (I don’t know the official name off the top of my head) because it will tell you which rides have accommodations/ accessibly issues.
Yay for a trip but boo to knee dislocation. Sadly, one of DDs had recurrent issues with dislocating her knee (one time was while we were at Disney). We have experience with wheelchairs and ECVs. We’ve found that renting one from an off site location was the way to go–they tend to be better quality, you will be able to have it with you at the resort and not just the parks, it’s less expensive and no issues if Disney runs out of wheelchairs.
Thank you so much! He sees the pediatric orthopedic doctor on Thursday, so we will get an update then. DS is hobbling around much better today, so we are hopeful improvement continues, but realistically I think it can take a few weeks to fully heal so we want a wheelchair there for him.
Yes, we were going to wait until we got to the parks each day but are concerned about availability and also walking to the park entrance from parking lot/bus drop off. DS is actually singing today and took a shower (woohoo!!!), so I know he’s feeling better at least!
Too bad. Wasn’t aware of that. Then I would go with a full wheelchair so you have a built in seat with you no matter where you are. Check Disney’s website for the pamphlet and also vendors for wheelchairs. I don’t think the company I recommended does wheelchairs. Agree that you want one that drops it off at your hotel.
During dd20’s 7th birthday trip, I pushed my MIL from the front of MK to HM and back (birthday dinner at Tony’s). That was ALL uphill and quite the workout!
I called dh that night and told him I won major DIL points!!
MIL usuallly rented a scooter, but didn’t join us in the park until later in the day. There was a scooter available after our dinner at Tony’s. Thank goodness!
Wow, I have SO MUCH to tell you about renting a wheelchair, I don’t know where to begin.
There are several factors that will help me to write a better reply to you @eightyeightkeys , sp please let me know what you would like me to address. I had one during a very busy time (Halloween 2019) for only one VERY LONG day (injury) that included a MNSSHP, and again in February 2020, where we were everywhere on property without a rental car.
Q - Are you are staying on property (where)?
Q - Are you relying on the Disney bus system, monorail, boats, and skyliner during your trip?
Q - Is the party needing the wheelchair under or over 200 pounds?
Q - Do you want to take other forms of transportation (i.e. - taxi, uber/lyft) during your stay?
Q - How many people are in your party (if any are children, are they needing child/baby seats in vehicles?)
Q - Are you OK to take apart an electric wheelchair (they can come in three parts, not hard to take apart or put back together)?
Q - Are you under a time crunch (because Disney resorts will only allow certain vendors to deliver electric wheelchairs/scooters to drop off or be picked up at the resort)?
OK, that should get you a list of answers that would be helpful from me, let me know! I promise my info is good!
Hi there! Here’s the info:
-DS13- he’s 5’8” and about 150 pounds
-Staying at AKL Jambo house for 5 nights
-Arriving around noon on our first day and not going to parks until 4:00 that afternoon
-We planned on using Disney transportation only, (bus to and from resort and skyliner/monorail between some parks),but we will have our vehicle there if needed.
-Will just be me, DH and our DS13
How easy/difficult is it to navigate the Disney buses with a wheelchair? I’m hoping by our trip that DS will be “walking”, but we want the wheelchair to use in the parks so he doesn’t reinjure the knee or hamper the healing of it.
Also, can you think of any rides he shouldn’t be riding or that will be difficult to ride? He’s worried about missing out on FOP and GOTG… any medical people feel free to chime in here on rides that might be unsafe for a recuperating dislocated knee injury!…
My parting words to him when I dropped him and his friend off at the rink were “Don’t break an arm or leg or anything-we go to Disney in a couple of weeks!” 15 minutes later I got the call. In typical snarky teen age fashion, DS told me that technically he listened to me because he didn’t break anything, just dislocated something. 
. So, now with less than 2 weeks to go and DS just today being actually able to bend his leg without severe pain, we are facing the reality of needing a wheelchair for our trip. Any experiences with wheel chairs in the world? Renting/buying ahead of time and bringing with us (we are driving to Florida) or should we rent from somewhere in Orlando? This is our first knee dislocation-older DS made it through football, baseball, basketball, wrestling, and track without anything but our younger DS13 who isn’t into sports ends up with the injury…
