Hills and Valleys

[JJS2K3]

Hi! My DW has RA and some good days and bad days so sometimes we rent a chair, and sometimes just later in the day.

Are there a lot of hills at the parks? For example, Busch Gardens in Williamsburg is a lovely park but very hilly - it's a struggle for me to get her up those hills sometimes

Any help with the Universal parks would be appreciated also, thanks.

 

[DJBounce]

The only park that I can think of that has any noticeable inclines is Animal Kingdom, and even then it is minimal. The inclines/decline I can remember with sore muscles is the ramps up to/down from the monorail.

 

[SueM in MN]

Welcome to disABILITIES.
I agree with the other poster that AK is sort of hilly, but mostly gentle hills. The walkways are "themed" as dirt paths in some cases and can be bumpy and uneven. I don't know much about Universal, but I can give info about the WDW parks.
First, the monorails. If you get on or off at any of the MK resorts (CR, GF, Poly), you are at second floor level and will be going straight on or off. When you get on or off at MK, TTC or Epcot, the monorail station is at second floor (or higher) level and there is a long, steep ramp to get there. I have heard there is an elevator at Epcot, but I've never seen it. Ask a CM about it.
At Epcot, here are the hills I can think of:
The Land has a long, steep ramp to get up to the building. Once you are inside the building, there is a ramp that goes down about 1 to 1 1/2 floor to the Garden Grill restaurant area (directly across an open balcony from the entrance), the Circle of Life movie (to your right when you come in) and the elevators to get to the lower floor (to the far left of the entrance, just before you pass the restaurant).
The Wonders of Life Pavilion has a smaller ramp to go up to the building. Once you are inside, there is a ramp to get down to the floor of the building.
In WS, Canada and Mexico appear to have only steps to get up to the pavilions, but there are hidden ramps to get where ever you need to go.
In WS, there is a sort of bridge area that connects the UK area and France. This is a long, fairly steep hill that goes down from France into the UK. One ride that comes to mind is American Adventure. The theater for the show is at 2nd floor level. The hall you enter the theater from (when the CM opens the doors) has 2 flights of stairs - one on each side of an escalator. So, stay to the center to take the escalator. If you have a wheelchair, ecv or would rather not use the escalator, there is a small elevator just to the right of the doors you enter the main room from. Sometimes when it is busy or close to show time, CMs forget to show people to the elevators (we've seen people is line for the staris and sent them to the elevator).

At MK, fantasyland is higher than the other "lands". To get there from the area in front of the castle, there is a ramp (fairly gentle, but still a ways up). There isn't much of a difference between Fantasyland and Tomorrowland, but there is a fairly steep hill between Fantasyland and Liberty Square. Other than those, it's fairly level or gentle hills.

The Studio doesn't really have anything that comes to my mind.

 

[Talking Hands]

You are not going to get a lot of hills in Florida. If they are there they have been built in and are very gentle. A suggestion would be to get her an ECV and let her do the driving. The feeling of independence it wonderful!

 

[JJS2K3]

Thanks for the helpful info.

We find, generally, that by the time she feels she needs a little wheel power (if she does at all) the ECV's are already long gone.
She's pretty good at maneuvering on her own and I don't mind getting her 'there'

It's those parks (and zoos - a lot of zoos!) that have hills bigger than what you see on the 'Sound of Music' that wear out my calves

Thanks again!

 

[Talking Hands]

That's why most people rent ECVs from offsite places. As aone with diabetes, fibromyalgia, neurofibromatosis and sciatica I find I enjoy Disney better is I use my wheelchair from the get go and not wait until I really need it. By the time I feel I need it I am miserable and pay for it for several days.
Sometimes it is accepting that we need not push ourselves to the limit and enjoy the time relatively pain free.

 

[indigo]

Hills Hills and more Hills.

My wife and my first trip to WDW, she was just my fiance at the time, she spent 9 of the 11 days in a wheelchair. Not only were the hills a problem, but so were the distances, crowds, and most suprisingly, the textured pathways.

Yep. Anytime good 'ol Imagineering decided it would look better to make that smooth pathway surface into cobblestones, artificial dirt, what have you, the wheels of the wheelchair would vibrate and cause my fiance to get naseaus (sp).

We've actually spoken directly with some of the imagineers about this and were told "tough, it's good theming." Oh well, they can't get everything right.

The Studios has the fewest textured surfaces (although this is changing), EPCOT the most and Animal Kingdom a close second (if not tied). MK is about 50/50 right now and moving toward texture.

All in all, another argument for the motorized wheelchair. The tires have more give in them resulting in absorbing some of the texture differences and making for a smoother ride.

-indigo

 

[JJS2K3]

Thanks

 

[DisneyVillain]

The hills I found most troublesome:
1) The bridge between France and UK in World Showcase
2) Incline from Liberty Square to Fantasyland.
3) Going down the monorail ramp at MK, when it was wet. (Up was no problem.)
4) The entrance to the Land was not really a problem, but it was annoying to go up a hill to enter at a level that is above everything in the pavilion, just to go back down a ramp. (Same think at Wonders of Life, but not as big a hill and ramp.)

I didn't have any problem with distances or textured walkways, but she almost did a face plant when I dropped a wheel into the trolly rail slot on Main Street.

Overall, I would say that the hills were much less of a problem than the few people with cow manure for brains who would try to walk in the gap I was leaving between us and the people in front of us. This often resulted in bruised heels. People stopping suddenly on a hill were also a problem, but I find that more forgivable than rudely and intentionally cutting in front of us, and I was always able to avoid hitting them.

My biggest problem with pushing the chair was one that I didn't even realize until after we were home. With both hands on the handgrips much of the time, I took almost no pictures this year!