Surviving the heat and footwear update

[Chance's Mom]

We went to Paramont's Kings Island on Sun. (It is in Cincinnati, Ohio). Temperatures were hovering close to 100 degrees!:eek:

I suggested to DH that maybe this wasn't the day to go, but he said it would be good practice for Disney in Aug.

The good news is, with all of the cooling tips I've gathered on the DIS, we were at the park from park opening at 10am until about 4:30 with our 5 year old ds. We had a blast and easily survived the heat. The mister fan was a wonderful thing! It also kept DS amused while in line. If you are going to Disney-take a mister fan! You will be glad you did!
We drank water constantly, this really helped. I think the gatorade/power aid drinks really helped, also. DS will drink this just like lemonade, and it tends to keep your body hydrated very well.

I forgot the Aquacool bandanas :rolleyes: so I can't report on those. (Gotta write a note to myself to remember these!)

Foot wear--I decided to wear my new New Balance tennies and the Thorlo Cool Max socks.. My feet felt great all day, with absolutely no hot spots or redness of any kind. I was worried that I would be too hot, but I wasn't . The Thorlo socks worked great. We got drenched on the log ride. I didn't think my feet had gotted wet until I took my shoes off. (which felt wonderful) My socks were soaked, but my feet felt dry. The Cool Max fabric had worked great.:Pinkbounc Can't wait to try all the DIS tips at Disney!

[Talking Hands]

Mister fans do not belong in the hands of 5 yo children. They are not toys and there are people who do not wish to be misted no matter how hot the weather.
I know I hate being misted because it can damage the controls of my wheelchair. My solution would be to ban misters from the parks. They are dagerous!

[Chance's Mom]

Gosh, I didn't know mister fans were that dangerous. What do you do when it rains?

[pwoodham]

I hadn't heard the tip about Thurlo Cool Max socks. I'm going to try them!! Thanks!

[travelbug]

I'm not familiar with the Thurlo Cool Max socks, but they sound great. Where did you buy them? I'd like to try them out.

[Chance's Mom]

You can get Thorlo socks at Galyan's, REI, any sporting goods store. You can also order them at www.rei.com.

I have the women's coolmax walking mini-crew. They are expensive (I think $11 or so) but worth every penny IMHO! I scoffed when my DH started wearing them-said I wouldn't pay that much for socks--am now eating my words!
They are great! Padded in all the right places.

[kshabare]

But you know, I have a habit of just putting deodorant on my feet. I read it in the Health magazine. Runners often do it to prevent blistering.

Kim ºOº

[juju]

I buy my Cool Max socks at a sock store at the outlet mall, they are a lot cheaper than at a store like REI, I agree they are great.

[Talking Hands]

When it rains I put on a poncho which covers both me and the controller and I head for cover asap. The controller is a very sensitive piece of electronic equipment and the cost to replace it would be several thousand dollars. I am anal about it not getting wet. The wheelchair is my legs at least until I learn to walk again.
And a wacked controller is not safe for others either since it makes the 250 pound wheelchair erratic. Nothing like a run away power wheelchair!

[PhillyDisnynut]

The cool max socks i just looked on the web, now they are like tube socks, that high up on you calf? is that correct, do you know if they have ankle ones:confused: yes also spraying your feet with anit persperant helps tremendously!! i usually always blister on the balls of my feet and i did that last trip, and nothing!!

[sharbear]

If you go to www.roadrunnersports.com they have a big selection of Thorlo socks and they are in many different styles. I agree I will only wear ankle socks and I like cool max ones. I buy mine at Lady Footlocker. They have a good selection and they don't give me any trouble.

Sharbear

[PhillyDisnynut]

Oh lady footlocker has them? I have one of them near me!!
i will check it out thanks:)

[Chance's Mom]

PhillyDisnynut-

You want the mini-crew sock. It is below the ankle. The neat thing about these socks is that they are actually sized small, medium and large. I wear a 7 1/2 and the mediums fit perfectly!:D

[tink2dw]

Isn't there some kind of plastic cover you could use to cover the controler in theme park type situations?? I know it wouldn't be water tight. But it would give you a couple extra minutes to get it dried off before it was damaged.

If you want my idea for one of these PM me.

[chrisn]

I also let my 5 year old son amuse himself with the misty mate and misty fan. It helps to keep him cool and happy as I worry about him getting heat stroke or exaustion or dehydrated. There little bodie's aren't as effective staying cool and hydrated as adults are. My misty mate is not dangerous and I will continue to use it as my son's comfort means more to me than someone else's annoyance. The cover to me seems like an idea?

[Chance's Mom]

Thanks chrisn! I was a little taken aback by the attack on mister fans, but since Disney hasn't banned cigarettes from the parks, I am pretty sure we'll be okay with our mister fans!;)

[Talking Hands]

Chrisn what you consider an annoyance is a $2000 repair bill for me and possibly a runover foot for you or another guest when the wheelchair becomes a runaway. I am thinking of other guests safety as well as my own by being anal about not having the controller wet. It is NOT AN ANNOYANCE. It can well be a very dangerous situation that you can prevent by controlling your child's use of a mister. If you don't care to take that responsibility then have the common courtesy of staying away from those of use who require the use of a power wheelchair to get around. Fortunately castmembers are more understanding than you seem to be.

[Chance's Mom]

:rolleyes:

[Talking Hands]

You can roll your eyes all you want but I sincerely hope your child never gets hit by an out of control power wheelchair. I've seen it happen. Not my chair fortunately. Unfortunately the foot run over was my daughter's and she spent 6 weeks in a cast. I have good reason for being anal about those blasted misters.

[beattyfamily]

While I understand your fear of getting your wheelchair wet and I would never roll my eyes at your fears or try to make you feel badly, I think it's impossible to ban misters and highly unlikely it will happen.

I'm sorry you feel you have to defend your fears in this thread but you have to understand that mister fans won't be banned and all you can do is get out the word in a nice way that parents should make their children aware that they cannot mist anyone but themselves. It's just being considerate.

Luckily, you won't have this problem from us. We go off season when it's not as hot and have never used them.

Good luck
:D

[chrisn]

Actually I find this entire conversation about the "danger" of misters "anal" but my son as well as any other child who wants to amuse himself with a mister has just as much right to be in the parks with his mister as you do with your highly sensitive electronic wheelchair. You won't find me saying "jeez those wheelchairs are a danger to society when they are constantly bumping into the backs of our heels and legs and running into us sometimes avoidably. I understand your concerns completely and my son does not go around misting strange innocent machinery on purpose. Mostly he drinks the water and keeps himself cool and hydrated and in good health and spirits. As I said before, my son's happiness means more to me than anything and if he was to get overheated and dehydrated or sick from heat stroke or exaustion, it would be a hell of a lot more than $2000 if he had to be hospitalized because of it not to mention terrifying and worrysome. My son is not replaceable. That is all I have to say on this matter.

[Talking Hands]

Wethen I hope you don't mind when I yell at your son to get the H__L away from me with the mister. And I will and have and castmembers have backed me up on it.
Btw my daughter's broke foot from a runaway wheelcahir cost over $30,000 and she now has a great weather predictor.

[chrisn]

There are a lot of things that I could say to you however let's just say that if you mess with me that is one thing but if you mess with my children, you'd see a tigress protecting her cub with the ferocity of which will have you on your a$$ and us both getting ejected from park. You are not above everyone else because of your handicap and I do not and will not EVER tolerate deliberate and cruel treatment toward my 5 year old son. This conversation is assinine and pathetic.

[Jeanny]

talking hands...... at first I was, I'll admit, very taken aback by your comments, but then considered your side. Yes, I can understand being in a wheelchair and it's complex designs.

But you could use a little sensitivity in your responses. you get more with honey than vinegar! I know you'll probably be upset with my response too, but you know what???? this is supposed to be a friendly board, so educate us, don't lecture us.

[Disney Dee]

Ok, this thread is getting out of control, and it will either be locked or deleted, please obey the rules, thank you.

[Debi]

Hi everybody! Just a reminder that the DIS does have established posting guidelines, found by clicking here. (http://www.wdwinfo.com/guidelines.htm) Please pay attention to the no fighting guideline - it takes away from the appropriateness of the thread and the original post. We moderators ask that the fighting ends here; any furhter pulic fighting or personal attacks will cause this thread to be locked/deleted. If you have any questions, please feel free to PM or e-mail any Tips Board moderator.

Thank you for your anticipated cooperation! :)

[A kid at heart]

Holy mackeral! I'll have to check this out on my uncle's wheelchair, there was nothing in the manual to say if it got a little misted by water that it would be ruined like this. I see lots of people in wheelchairs like this riding down the street in the rain and such with no problems. I wonder why this one is so sensitive?
To be on the safe side why not make a cover to go over it to protect it like suggested here? This way you won't have to get nasty with someone who acccidentally misted in your direction(or the wind could blos some water your way too!) Personally I would rather have a kid amusing himself this way instead of annoying everyone around him with his whining or antics and such. My kids and I play with ours at times in line.
By the way if you're in a wheelchair how come you're in line with everyone else? Don't you usually go in thru the exits like the rest of the wheelchair users?

[4crusinransiers]

Well... I must say that being born and raised in the cool Pacific Northwest, my main concern about going in Aug. was the affect the heat would have on my DS 11 and DS 9. soooo, I bought us all Mister Fans!!!!!! Yippee and they do worh great!
And I did ask them not to spray anyone unless they BEG to be sprayed....LOL:bounce: :Pinkbounc :bounce: :bounce:

[Talking Hands]

Those in wheelcahir go through the mainsttream lines now unless the line is not accessible such as Small World. Most if not all the lines at Animal Kingdom allow mainstream access. Magic Kingdom is where you will see people going through alternate entrances as it was built before accessibility was the law. MGM is also mostly accessible, EPCOT is about 3/4 accessible.

Only time I have not gone through the mainstream line at AK was for Tarzan because one of the interpreters pulled me out of line to take me through the backstage area to where they do the interpreting. I could not at the time transfer from the wheelchair at all except to a bed and needed help to do that. The interpreter knew I was coming to the show and met me since he knew the situation.

[Talking Hands]

ChrisN I would thank you not to threaten me. I would never purposely runover a child. But you do need to realize the danger that can be caused by a controller that has gotten damp and shorted out. It is not my fault or any power chair users fault when this happens and it happens unexpectedly. Do you think I enjoy not being able to control my power wheelchair? It is dangerous to me as well. Since I have seen it happen I have to be anal about the controller staying dry. Sorry you don't like it but that is they way it is!
I am taking Tink's suggestion to make a cover and have suggested it to the makers of my power wheelchair.

[Disney Dee]

Ok, it looks like this thread is not going anywhere good, so I am going to lock it.