Bum knee at Disneyland?

[sgrap]

In September, we booked a trip to Disneyland in early March. In October, I injured my knee. I am doing all sorts of physical therapy and exercises to rehab it, but I am afraid that it will not be completely healed by our trip. I really do not need a wheelchair, but I can see where it might come in handy when I need a place to sit! Standing for periods of time is especially problematic. What types of accomodations will DLR make for someone in my situation? What type paperwork do I need to bring? If I need to rent a wheelchair, do they require a doctor's note for that? How early in the day to I have to rent one in order to have availability? Thank you so much for any help/recommendations you can give me. Our girls are SO excited, and this was part of their Christmas present, so we are going one way or the other!

 

[sonnyjane]

You will not need any type of documentation to be able to rent a wheelchair, but unfortunately I can't help you with regards to how early you need to rent them as I have no experience with that! It might seem like overkill, but as far as what special accommodations they provide for people that have a hard time walking or standing for extended periods of time, they will recommend renting a wheelchair or ECV.

 

[jennameowse]

In September, we booked a trip to Disneyland in early March. In October, I injured my knee. I am doing all sorts of physical therapy and exercises to rehab it, but I am afraid that it will not be completely healed by our trip. I really do not need a wheelchair, but I can see where it might come in handy when I need a place to sit! Standing for periods of time is especially problematic. What types of accomodations will DLR make for someone in my situation? What type paperwork do I need to bring? If I need to rent a wheelchair, do they require a doctor's note for that? How early in the day to I have to rent one in order to have availability? Thank you so much for any help/recommendations you can give me. Our girls are SO excited, and this was part of their Christmas present, so we are going one way or the other!

You'll want to rent a wheelchair first thing. Unless you don't care what kind you get. The electric ones always go first. And no paperwork is required. They can no longer ask to see any in order to rent a wheelchair or get a Guest Assistance Card. And if you don't need a wheelchair and think you can handle just taking breaks to sit on the benches or at restaurants, you could try to get a GAC at guest services. They'll recommend you get a wheelchair but will give you a pass too. Hope you all have a blast.

 

[Disney Dreams]

From an injury mid-last year I have knee "issues."

Initially, I was not able to stand for long periods of time or do stairs. Now, I am supposed to sit occasionally and cannot do stairs.

Initially, DLR told me that my best choice was to rent a wheelchair or ECV to help with the standing. As mentioned above, you do not need any documentation for this. You can rent a wheelchair or ECV if you are willing to pay for it and get there while there is availability. (In fact, there has been discussion on these boards where people have stated that they rent ECVs because they think they are fun. My point being, anyone can rent one.)

Once I no longer needed the ECV, I still needed to avoid stairs -- and still do. I now go to City Hall and tell them that I need to avoid stairs when possible. They issue me a GAC that has a stamp on it that allows for alternate routes without stairs to get on/in and off/out of attractions. Not all attractions have a way to completely avoid stairs so you will need to make the determination of what you can and cannot do.

Note: Sometimes this means I have to wait longer than those in the regular line.

HTH,
Dreams

 

[bumbershoot]

IN your situation I would want a wheelchair or scooter. (scooter actually, as I would not be strong enough, as a non-wheelchair-user, to push myself, and I would not want to hurt my husband by making him push me around)

And I would almost certainly want it *before* I got to the parks. There are many companies that rent them offsite, but the one I've heard the most about is Deckert's.



And FYI if you ride the Pooh ride, do NOT sit in the front seat. It has the least leg room. You would think it has more, but trust me, it does NOT. Get the middle or back row.

 

[sgrap]

Thank you for all of the suggestions. What kind of accommodations will DLR make for situations like WOC and Fantasmic? Will they allow you space on benches if you have a note from your doctor? I don't think my knee will tolerate standing from the time we show up for the show through the show. Even just the length of the show would be hard for me to stand in one place.

If you rent a scooter ahead of time, do you just take it back to your room with you? How difficult is it to manage the scooters around the park through crowds, etc? So far I am OK with some stairs, but it is the massive walking and the standing I am worried about.

Thanks again!

 

[Grumpy~N~Dopey]

Thank you for all of the suggestions. What kind of accommodations will DLR make for situations like WOC and Fantasmic? Will they allow you space on benches if you have a note from your doctor? I don't think my knee will tolerate standing from the time we show up for the show through the show. Even just the length of the show would be hard for me to stand in one place.

If you rent a scooter ahead of time, do you just take it back to your room with you? How difficult is it to manage the scooters around the park through crowds, etc? So far I am OK with some stairs, but it is the massive walking and the standing I am worried about.

Thanks again!

you will want to go to city hall and get a GAC. tell them your limitations and they will make accommodations that you need for rides and shows. There are several off site places to rent scooters (which I recommend because they are way cheaper!)
I have used a scooter4u (562) 697 - 7725 and another very popular one is Deckerts (714) 542-5607 . these both deliver and pick up at your hotel. Some hotels even rent them in the lobby, maybe call your hotel to check.

 

[sgrap]

you will want to go to city hall and get a GAC. tell them your limitations and they will make accommodations that you need for rides and shows. There are several off site places to rent scooters (which I recommend because they are way cheaper!)
I have used a scooter4u (562) 697 - 7725 and another very popular one is Deckerts (714) 542-5607 . these both deliver and pick up at your hotel. Some hotels even rent them in the lobby, maybe call your hotel to check.

Thank you so much! We are staying at the Disneyland Hotel. Do they rent their own scooters, do you know by chance? UG, I hate the thought of having a scooter (or wheelchair) to deal with, but I guess it is better than being in pain the whole time. At least having the option to use would be good. Are they hard to drive? What does DLR have people do with them during shows (like WOC/Fantasmic), etc? Can you keep them with you to sit on? That might be worth the $ alone!

 

[bumbershoot]

Having watched my aunt be in pain, and doing more and more damage to her knees, because someone in a scooter ran over her daughter's foot once and she won't have a scooter, I want to remind you that this is about your health and healing.

Get the wheels.

If you have a scooter or chair, that acts as your GAC. I really urge you to avoid all the stairs you can. Don't be fooled by Toy Story; those stairs are steep and relatively long and go up then down. Radiator Springs has stairs, too. and Big Thunder. And California Screamin'.

There's just no need to hurt yourself more by doing the huge amount of walking and standing. You're doing the work in PT, and I'm sure they'll let you know an appropriate amount of walking to do, but other than that, I'd rest up.

I don't think DLH rents scooters. Seriously, I'd go with a place like Deckert's. They deliver it right to the hotel, you plug it in at night, it's ready to go in the morning... And they are MUCH less expensive than the scooters at Disney. And they go "home" with you; they don't make you turn it in as you leave Disney then walk painfully back to the hotel.

Best of luck to you!

 

[sgrap]

Having watched my aunt be in pain, and doing more and more damage to her knees, because someone in a scooter ran over her daughter's foot once and she won't have a scooter, I want to remind you that this is about your health and healing.

Get the wheels.

If you have a scooter or chair, that acts as your GAC. I really urge you to avoid all the stairs you can. Don't be fooled by Toy Story; those stairs are steep and relatively long and go up then down. Radiator Springs has stairs, too. and Big Thunder. And California Screamin'.

There's just no need to hurt yourself more by doing the huge amount of walking and standing. You're doing the work in PT, and I'm sure they'll let you know an appropriate amount of walking to do, but other than that, I'd rest up.

I don't think DLH rents scooters. Seriously, I'd go with a place like Deckert's. They deliver it right to the hotel, you plug it in at night, it's ready to go in the morning... And they are MUCH less expensive than the scooters at Disney. And they go "home" with you; they don't make you turn it in as you leave Disney then walk painfully back to the hotel.

Best of luck to you!

Thank you so much! BTW, when I saw your "Bumbershoot" user name, I knew you must be from Western WA as well.

 

[ArchOwl]

Thank you so much! We are staying at the Disneyland Hotel. Do they rent their own scooters, do you know by chance? UG, I hate the thought of having a scooter (or wheelchair) to deal with, but I guess it is better than being in pain the whole time. At least having the option to use would be good. Are they hard to drive? What does DLR have people do with them during shows (like WOC/Fantasmic), etc? Can you keep them with you to sit on? That might be worth the $ alone!

I had to use an ECV for a visit when I had a broken ankle. The DLH does not rent their own scooters, I used Deckert's and they delivered to the DLH where I was staying. There is a good way to judge if you need an ECV or not. You can easily walk 8+ miles a day at the Resort. If you can't walk that much at home, you can't do it at the Resort either.

They were easy to drive and I was able to get the hang of it fairly easy. Just be sure to set it on low speed, especially when you put it in reverse!

For WOC, be sure to get your WOC FP and when you arrive they will show you the handicapped section. You remain in your ECV and watch the show from there. I haven't done F! in an ECV, so hopefully someone else knows. I do know they have a handicapped section.

The ECV acts as your GAC, so unless you have other needs, you don't need to get a GAC. You can get an idea of how to access rides from the Disneyland Mobility Guide here: http://adisneyland.disney.go.com/media/dlr_v0200/en_US/help/Mobility_11192012.pdf

Have fun!

 

[algae]

As others said, just get at least a wheelchair to be on the safe side. Last time we were there, I needed a wheelchair for an unexpected ankle problem. We stayed at the PPH and they directed us to the GCH concierge to rent one. They had both electric and standard in stock (from Deckerts!) I remember paying $30, but don't remember if that was for 1 day or 3... probably 3. All we had to do was sign a rental agreement and give them a credit card.

Most lines can accommodate the wheelchair, so you'll wait with everyone else in line, but some rides like StarTours and Screamin will divert you to an elevator to avoid the stairs near the end of the line. Don't use the wheelchair line at Small World, though. There's only one boat that can accommodate the wheelchair and even a short line for that boat can take _forever_. On Toy Story, the wheelchair car has shooters that are button activated as opposed to the pull-string. The button is much easier to fire off than the pull-string

 

[sgrap]

Thanks so much to everyone for the help and suggestions. Much appreciated.

We are doing Carslbad/San Diego for 4 days before DL. I'm wondering if it would make sense to rent a scooter for the whole time. We are flying into Long Beach, renting a car for our days in San Diego and then plan on coming to DLR, checking in and then having DH return the car to Long Beach and get a taxi/shuttle back. Would it make more sense to rent one scooter for the whole time (but then we'd have to transport it) or try to rent separate scooters? Has anyone ever rented one in Carlsbad? Or are there places by Long Beach to rent them? We are thinking of taking either a taxi or shuttle back to Long Beach when we leave DLR to fly home. Trying to figure out how that all would work. I can walk, it is just the long distances and long periods of standing that have me concerned.

Thanks again!

 

[sgrap]

When someone is using an ECV, and they go to WOC or Fantasmic in the handicapped section, does their family get to go in that section with them? I really wouldn't want to be watching the shows without my kids.

 

[lovebug33]

When someone is using an ECV, and they go to WOC or Fantasmic in the handicapped section, does their family get to go in that section with them? I really wouldn't want to be watching the shows without my kids.

Rent the ECV! I had gallbladder surgery a week before going to Disney and I had to rent one because I couldn't walk. Don't rent it from DL. It was a lot more expensive and I coudln't have walked from the hotel to the resort. When we did WOC, as many people as had fast passes could sit in the wheelchair section. So, only DH had a fast pass and was allowed to sit with me. Just be prepared that on some rides, the line for wheelchairs with the GAC is longer than the line for non-wheelchairs. We found this out on Pinnochio and Pirates. However, I couldn't stand, so we had to do it. I don't know how it worked on big rides, like Splash, because I couldn't ride those.

 

[sgrap]

Rent the ECV! I had gallbladder surgery a week before going to Disney and I had to rent one because I couldn't walk. Don't rent it from DL. It was a lot more expensive and I coudln't have walked from the hotel to the resort. When we did WOC, as many people as had fast passes could sit in the wheelchair section. So, only DH had a fast pass and was allowed to sit with me. Just be prepared that on some rides, the line for wheelchairs with the GAC is longer than the line for non-wheelchairs. We found this out on Pinnochio and Pirates. However, I couldn't stand, so we had to do it. I don't know how it worked on big rides, like Splash, because I couldn't ride those.

Awesome, thank you! I can walk, I just don't think that my knee will take the amount of walking and standing required to do DLR. If I can walk, can I just park the ECV?

Did you do Fantasmic? If so, is there a section for wheelchairs there, and can families stay with you?

Thank you so much for the help!

 

[Disney Dreams]

When someone is using an ECV, and they go to WOC or Fantasmic in the handicapped section, does their family get to go in that section with them? I really wouldn't want to be watching the shows without my kids.

Disney isn't going to make you separate from your children simply because you are in an ECV.

When I was in an ECV and saw WoC with my DH, we were able to go to the "accessible viewing area." There are benches in that area for the friends/family so that no one blocked the view of those in the wheelchairs/ECVs.

As for Fantasmic!, there are two choices. If you get there early enough, you can sit in your ECV in the very back row of the seated only section down in front by the water. Your family/friends can sit on the ground in front of you. Everyone in that area must sit on the ground the entire show once in begins (except for those in wheelchairs, ECVs, and strollers IF they are in the very back row only). The second choice is the "accessible area" to the far right of the viewing area if you are facing the river. In this area, anyone with you must stand (in theory behind those in wheelchairs or ECVs).

HTH,
Dreams

 

[Lorinda]

When someone is using an ECV, and they go to WOC or Fantasmic in the handicapped section, does their family get to go in that section with them? I really wouldn't want to be watching the shows without my kids.

Pretty sure they do and even without the handicap area it can be viewed in the sitting area with an evc parked in back(fanstasmic) For woc you just get the fastpasses and go to your color area and they will direct your group.

I also recommend the scooter then no need for someone to push you around. You can call deckerts if you are staying within walking distance they can deliver to your hotel and you can ride it over to the park. If you don't need it all the time it can be parked in the stroller parking and left as you explore the world then moved on to the next area when ready. Just drive it into your room at the end of the day and charge it. I did this staying at HOJO's and never had a problem with battery life at all.