Cost of Wheelchair Rental in the park??

[kristenrice]

Our daughter (who will be 9 when we travel) had knee surgery in January. As of now, her knee should be 100% healed, but it is only about 60%. She had holes drilled into her femur to try and stimulate blood flow to a lesion that had the circulation cut off. The lesion is on the part of her femur that absorbs 60% of the impact of every step so hard impacts and repeated stress can cause her pain. She cannot do any sort of repetitive impact (running, hopping, jumping and gymnastics) but she can walk without assistance. The problem will be walking *a lot*, combined with standing in lines. She will have to manage with standing in line, but I am concerned that the extensive walking in the parks will cause her some pain. Her doctor said that she can do as much walking as tolerated, but if she starts to have pain, she has to stop all weight-bearing until the pain subsides. I am trying to plan for the worst and incorporate the cost of a wheelchair rental into our budget. I don't want a length of stay rental, nor do I want to rent from an outside company. She won't need it at the resort, and she may not even need it every day. She is too big for a stroller and WAY to proud to sit in one.

So, in short, how much does it cost for a daily wheelchair rental in the parks?

 

[lanejudy]

I believe in-park wheelchair rentals are $12 per day, $10 per day if you do a length-of-stay purchase for multiple days. I'd like to point out, though, that these are adult-sized chairs and could become very uncomfortable for a 9 year old to spend much time in it. She'll either slouch so her knees hang properly at the edge of the seat, or if she sits up straight against the backrest she won't be able to bend her knees well. Offsite rentals may be less expensive, but more importantly you could get a smaller-sized chair that will fit her better. I believe standard wheelchairs are 18" seats, but some of the offsite locations offer 16" or 14" seats.

Enjoy your vacation!

 

[kristenrice]

I believe in-park wheelchair rentals are $12 per day, $10 per day if you do a length-of-stay purchase for multiple days. I'd like to point out, though, that these are adult-sized chairs and could become very uncomfortable for a 9 year old to spend much time in it. She'll either slouch so her knees hang properly at the edge of the seat, or if she sits up straight against the backrest she won't be able to bend her knees well. Offsite rentals may be less expensive, but more importantly you could get a smaller-sized chair that will fit her better. I believe standard wheelchairs are 18" seats, but some of the offsite locations offer 16" or 14" seats.

Enjoy your vacation!

Thanks!

I figured the Disney wheelchairs would probably be too big for her, but since I really don't know if or when she may need one, I don't want to commit to an off-site rental. If she develops pain in the middle of the day, we can either try to rent one at the park at that point, or if there are none available, we will just have to limp her back to the resort. She shouldn't need to spend a lot of time in a wheelchair anyways. If she feels any pain, she gets a little Tylenol or ibuprofen and rest until it's gone, which is usually around an hour. I'm really hoping that this is all moot anyways and that her knee will be all healed up. She is the reason we are going again next May! She wants to do the Expedition Everest Challenge!

 

[WheeledTraveler]

I don't know of the parks running out of wheelchairs. They can run out of ECVs, but that's not anything you have to worry about.

I'd rethink renting from offsite unless she's truly in wonderful shape by the time you go. Usually the least people walk is 6 miles a day and the distances between the entrance and the parking lots can be huge. (Renting a wheelchair in the park means she wouldn't be able to take it out to the car/transportation) While 6+ miles might work one day, the repeated strain of multiple days in a row could be too much both in terms of pain and actually be damaging if she hasn't worked up to it. Just because you rent a wheelchair from offsite and bring it to the parks, doesn't mean she has to use it all the time. You could use it to get between lands and then park it while she walks through queues. There may be a couple queues you'd want to consider bringing it in (Soarin' is 1/4 mile in and 1/4 mile out with no way to cut the distance). And don't underestimate the discomfort of the WDW wheelchairs on kids due to size. At 5'4" and approx. 170 lbs, I had trouble keeping in a position that didn't cause further strain on my body using one of the WDW wheelchairs because it was so big. You can also contact the offsite vendors after getting to WDW to rent if you decide after trying without that one is needed.

I do hope that this is all moot, but I'm one of those "hope for the best, plan for the worst" people so wanted to give you info for worst case scenario.

 

[JennyDrake]

I'm going to ditto what WheeledTraveler said. I went to WDW last year after surgery for Achilles rupture. I was out of the boot (for a whopping 10 days!) after having been casted for 3, long, long months. Around eth house and about town I was not using the boot or any other assistance. I'm a frequent visitor to WDW and I DO know about the walking involved, still I was reticent as I was supposed to walk as much as tolerated. My friend gong w/me all but insisted I rent a wc. BOY WAS SHE RIGHT. Rented from walker Mobility and had an excellent experience.

We would use the chair to get me into the park, then park it and I would walk as much as tolerated. Even w/ frequent rest, elevation and ice, 2-2.5 hours of total "leg time" was my limit. I found standing in line for attractions more tiring that just walking.

If I had not started out renting from off site, I can tell you that by the end of Day 1 I would have been making a phone call.

 

[kristenrice]

Thank you for the great information!

I don't know what her knee will do in the next 4 months. We are hoping and praying that it decides to heal and that the bone will grow as expected. Since she has been off her crutches, she has only had a handful of times where she felt pain and had to sit down on the couch for a while. She has been "running" all over the backyard with the dogs, but only for about 5 minutes at a time. She looks and acts like a normal 8 year old, and she rarely complains of pain. I can picture her doing fine, denying any problem and then out of nowhere, "Mom, my knee hurts!". That's when we'll need the wheelchair! I would like to get her out for "test runs"...taking walks of 1-2 miles at a time to see how she does. The only problem is that her doctor said she is still not ready for that and we'll have to wait until her next set of x-rays. That appointment isn't until the end of August which, if she's cleared, will give us about 6-8 weeks to prepare. I'd like to ease her into it, but we may be crunched for time.

I looked at the Apple Scooters website, which I think is one of the "authorized" scooter providers. How much lead time do they need? Do they accept same-day requests? I am definitely the "plan for the worst, hope for the best" kind of person.

 

[WheeledTraveler]

I've booked through Apple less than a week before my trip. Other people have posted about not realizing they need the offsite rental until after they arrived and being able to get one in under 24 hours from time of contact. The only reason having a little extra warning might be useful is because you will be looking for a smaller wheelchair than the "average" ones. I'd suggest probably asking for a 16" width, unless she's particularly small, in which case a 14" may work better (standard adult is 18" and I strongly suspect that the WDW ones are at least 20" since my personal chair is an 18" and I was swimming in the WDW chair).

 

[BWV Dreamin]

I didn't realize the ECV rentals were that cheap? Is it wheelchairs or ECV for $12/day?

 

[Goofy14sure]

I didn't realize the ECV rentals were that cheap? Is it wheelchairs or ECV for $12/day?

In park wheelchairs are $12 a day. In park ECVs are around $50.

 

[Lurch]

Uggghhh! Thanks for the update and information. I will be going in for a similiar surgery next Wednesday (6/18) with a trip scheduled the 2nd week of September. They told me I would be out of the boot by then and walking normally, but I suspected that I may need a bit of help. I am leaning toward renting a chair in the parks day to day just to keep me off my feet between attractions to avoid hauling a chair on the busses.

As someone who didn't use a chair prior, how was the strain or effort on your arms? I was relegated to a walker previously, but never attempted a 6-10 mile day.

I'm going to ditto what WheeledTraveler said. I went to WDW last year after surgery for Achilles rupture. I was out of the boot (for a whopping 10 days!) after having been casted for 3, long, long months. Around eth house and about town I was not using the boot or any other assistance. I'm a frequent visitor to WDW and I DO know about the walking involved, still I was reticent as I was supposed to walk as much as tolerated. My friend gong w/me all but insisted I rent a wc. BOY WAS SHE RIGHT. Rented from walker Mobility and had an excellent experience.

We would use the chair to get me into the park, then park it and I would walk as much as tolerated. Even w/ frequent rest, elevation and ice, 2-2.5 hours of total "leg time" was my limit. I found standing in line for attractions more tiring that just walking.

If I had not started out renting from off site, I can tell you that by the end of Day 1 I would have been making a phone call.

 

[WheeledTraveler]

Uggghhh! Thanks for the update and information. I will be going in for a similiar surgery next Wednesday (6/18) with a trip scheduled the 2nd week of September. They told me I would be out of the boot by then and walking normally, but I suspected that I may need a bit of help. I am leaning toward renting a chair in the parks day to day just to keep me off my feet between attractions to avoid hauling a chair on the busses.

As someone who didn't use a chair prior, how was the strain or effort on your arms? I was relegated to a walker previously, but never attempted a 6-10 mile day.

Rental wheelchairs are not meant to be self-propelled. They're very heavy and clunky and most full-time wheelchair users I know wouldn't be able to self-propel one of the rental wheelchairs. I barely managed 100 feet in one when an emergency came up (luckily, after I'd gone that far, I was somewhere that I could fix the problem with my personal chair). If you're going with people (preferably more than one) who can push, you'll probably do fine. If you're going solo or with people who can't push, I'd really suggest an renting ECV (schooter) rather than a wheelchair. Renting offsite is substantially cheaper when it comes to an ECV and you'd still have the option of WDW transportation and/or using a car (some of the offsite rental ECVs break down into pieces to be put into a car for transport).

 

[Lurch]

Thank you so much for the information. I will ask my wife if she feels up to pushing or if she would prefer I rent an ECV if needed. I guess I may have to swallow my pride; it is really challenging for me to rely on assistance from someone for something so basic.

 

[Lurch]

Thank you so much for the information. I will ask my wife if she feels up to pushing or if she would prefer I rent an ECV if needed. My wife thinks I am a bit mule headed when it comes to my injuries, I may just have to agree with her and ask for help.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

In park wheelchairs are $12 a day. In park ECVs are around $50.

Thanks! That's more what I thought an ECV should cost.