Wheelchair Wanderings in the World-A Pretrip Trip Report!

We’ve gone to Disney 3 times in the past four years, and I’ve been wracking my brain to try and remember where the hilly parts of the parks are at!

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Thanks-will definitely check it out! DS13 is already adult sized at 5’8”!! :scream:

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Definitely the path from the front of the park to HM. It was 13 years ago so I am unsure what our specific path was that day once we hit the hub. :rofl:

We rented by the day for DS when he got vertigo during our most recent trip. Had we known sooner we’d have rented one from a rental company because the downside is you can’t take them from the parks, so that you’ve got to get from the gate to your mode of transportation on foot just the same. Sometimes they had a courtesy chair available, but not always. I’d reach out to Scooterbug which is the official company that Disney recommends and arrange to rent one for your whole stay. They’ll deliver to your resort and you’ll have it 100% of the time.

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Yes, I remember that now about your DS! How has he been feeling since your return home?

He was still wobbly off and on for a couple of weeks but seems better for a while now. I don’t ask lest I give him the idea to get all up in his head again (which I do think was part of his issue)

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If he can comfortably bend his knee to 90 degrees, then most rides should be okay. It may depend on whether or not he is in any type of brace for the trip. For my DD it was the boat rides like POC and IASW that were difficult with her knee.

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You would be surprised at the hilly parts that you didn’t notice were hilly until you started pushing a wheelchair.

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Sorry this is a long response. I just got back from WDW last week. I had researched wheelchairs prior to our trip because my DH had recently hurt his knee. He was feeling better before our trip and is stubborn and was refusing a wheelchair or scooter. I had it in the back of my mind to just rent as needed since he wouldn’t go for a length of stay rental from offsite.

We had previously used a wheelchair on our 1st family trip in 2009 when our then DS16 had ACL surgery 2 weeks before our trip. We borrowed a wheelchair from our resort (Riverside) for the length of stay. I don’t think WDW does this anymore but they did then and it was awesome and free to be able to use it the entire time. From this experience and knew all the negatives of pushing and transporting a wheelchair in the parks. We had a car and drove for the most part so the transport was easier than the bus. The parks are hillier than you expect also.

Fast forward to my trip last week, first day DS14 gets heat stroke and we end up renting a wheelchair for him since he was so shaky. 2nd day he is better but still not back to normal in the morning, so we rent another wheelchair in the park. By the afternoon he was fine but my DH can barely walk with his knee hurting s badly. He ends up in the wheelchair instead. We ended up using a wheelchair, rented from WDW at the gate on 4 out of our 5 park days and had my DH sit when needed and push when that made his knee feel better. (He gets stiff when sitting too long). My DH is around 275lbs which was difficult to push in some ride attraction ramps and some of the incline in Epcot. I had no problem pushing my DS14 or my other son last time. My DH has the upper body strength to wheel himself when needed or one time he just got out and walked up the steep attraction line.

We never had any problems get a wheelchair at the parks and we park hopped every day ( our last day we even hopped to all the parks) Scooters were not always available in the afternoon but wheelchairs always were. The one day we really needed a chair for the parking lot, HS did not have a curtesy chair available and let me take the rented wheelchair out of the park to put my DS on a bus back to our hotel with his dad. I wasn’t expecting that but took them up on the offer. It may be because my DS looked really bad (heat stroke day) or it may have been just because I asked. We didn’t really need one in the parking lot after that so never tried again.

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My parents were at an ice skating rink a couple of months ago and since he is a doctor, my dad was called over to help TWO skaters who each fell and busted open their heads and needed stitches within an hour. :scream: Skating rinks are dangerous places!

Very excited to follow your trip!

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IG I’m looking at you.

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Peeps need to wear protective equipment.

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This is what I’m afraid of! :joy:

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Does anyone know the protocol for getting a wheelchair onto a Disney bus to/from the parks? I’m predicting that DS will be able to walk much better by our trip judging by his vast improvement today already, so does the wheelchair fold and store on the bus sort of like a stroller would?

I think you would load with the scooters?

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With DS16 he was loaded with the scooters on the buses.

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I’m just not sure, but that makes sense. We will have our own vehicle there, too, so that’s always an option although we’ve always taken Disney transportation while we’re there. Since we are park hopping, we also want to travel on the monorail and skyliner (maybe…last year I unexpectedly freaked out while on it for the first time…lol!)

A hockey mom would know. :blush:

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He’s about my height and weight. Not sure how I feel about that … :thinking: :joy:

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Yep.

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