Not disabled per se but maybe a wheel chair

jjsmouse

Lovin' That Mouse
Joined
Jul 31, 2011
We are long time Disney folks at Land, World and cruise ships. Going to WDW the week of Dec 14th and wife will be about 6-7 weeks off of a total knee replacement. Had one done earlier this year and it went very well so we expect the same for this one which means for us that she will be able to walk around but standing in line for more then 10-15 minutes at a time will be a problem. We also have to be wary of how we spend the day as she will "run out knee" (get tried etc.) and need to ice up and rest. We are trying to avoid a scooter for the whole trip as we think she will be able to negotiate transportation and the hotel without assistance. We will enact our usual plan of out in the morning, back to the hotel for a rest and back out for late afternoon/evening. We don't think DAS is necessary and are considering a wheel chair rented at the park(s) entrance as our answer. Daughter and Dad to power the chair for Mom.

Any advice and/or experiences of what we should expect or consider would be appreciated.

Thanks!:cool1:
 
We spent a couple of weeks at Fort Wilderness with my 72 year old mom last year. She is healthy and generally walks just fine. Can hike for 30-60 mins pretty easily. I insisted on buying a used wheelchair and bringing it.

She only sat in it for longer distances and we'd park it in various locations. Great place to store bags too.

More importantly, she didn't waste her energy on the long distances between parking lot/bus stops to attractions. She'd walk and whenever she was tired, could just chill in the chair. When we wanted to move fast, we could pop her in the chair and go.

We considered renting a scooter but costs and storage space needed changed our minds.

I am a big proponent of wheelchairs now even if not fully disabled. Makes the same sense as strollers in many ways :)
 
First time we rented a wheelchair was for my DGM in 1992/3. She tried to do the park the first day on her own feet. Her ankles swelled up and she was miserable. We rented a chair for her each day she went into the parks with us.

Next time was in 2017 for my Mom. She was limping into MK on our 3rd day in the parks. I guess I moved at too fast a pace for her the previous days. She kept saying that she didn't want a chair. So, we got through security, and I rented one for her. I think it was $12 for the day. I chose the pushed chair because the scooter was $70 or $80 per day. She was grateful and in the evening, she asked if I wanted to sit while she pushed me. I told her, "no." I wanted her mobile the next day. She had no issues after that.

Check out the price of a chair rental in the parks vs. renting one that is delivered to your room. Even if you don't use it at the hotel, you may save some money by renting it from a 3rd party. However, the good part about renting a Disney scooter is that if the battery dies, they are right there onsite to replace it. I rented a scooter in Washington, DC for my sister and it ran out of power after only a few hours. We were in the National Archives and the company didn't want to accommodate me. So, I told them that it was fine. I'd call American Express next. Suddenly, they had someone on their way with a new battery for me. They delivered it outside of the building since there was no easy parking nearby.
 


A tip if you do get a wheelchair, get some fingerless gloves for the people pushing the chair. Golf gloves work good or you will have blisters on your hands. I took my mom to Las Vegas and pushed her up and down the strip one day and my hands hurt something terrible and had blisters on the palms.
 
If you could bring your own or rent off site, that's the way to go. As far as buses, DH would sit in chair until bus came, then we would fold it up and roll it on like a stroller.

My DH always thought the worst part was standing still waiting for the bus.
 



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