Invisible on wheels?

[dvc one day]

I forgot about the scenic view from the ECV --- you are eye level with lots of adult backsides.

Not usually the kind of backsides you would want to be level with either.

This may sound pretty silly but it could also be that people are programmed to think "pedestrians have the right of way". Maybe you aren't looked at as a pedestrian but someone in a vehicle. The thought all vehicles must yield to pedestrians. Maybe? It would make it very hard in disney.

It would be nearly impossible for an ECV to do that at Disney, for sure (they might never move). I use a manual wheelchair, so there is nothing about seeing me move around that would make someone think "vehicle". I'm human-powered just like someone walking.

What I find amusing is when a waiter will ask a child with me what I want to eat. Excuse me--who do you think is paying for this--the 9 year old or the adult?

This type of thing really frustrated me when I first starting using a wheelchair. People would frequently talk to me like I had mental difficulties in addition to the physical. I don't notice it as much anymore, not sure if I just automatically ignore it now.

This is particularly frustrating for people I have known who have CP. Sometimes they talk differently, but they are smarter than the person to whom they are talking. It's a physical problem with speech, not an intellectual problem for them.

Kids are actually pretty easy. Smiling and saying "I love your Mickey Ears" or something like that relaxes them and helps them see me as a regular person, and I'm a little less scary.

Kids can really be easy. Once you talk to them about something the are interested in (like Disney ), they can open up quickly.

 

[Carnator]

That's one of my favorites. I had a woman who was looking the opposite direction she was walking and ran into me while I was sitting completely still. She turned back and looked at me like I had done something to her. It was hard not to laugh right at her.

Been there, done that, got the t-shirt.

I was just sitting in my ECV, (didn't even have the key in) lady t-bones me. Then she went crazy yelling at me. It was really funny when her husband explained to her it was her fault and apologized.

 

[tigger&tigerlover]

I am wondering if decorating your ECV helps at all. Since we will be there in December, I saw another thread with some fun ideas for decorating the basket with Christmas lights, a cute sign on the back, etc.

I like the idea of the lighted balloon. I'm totally stealing that.

I'll be there early December, and I'm renting an ECV for the full stay so I'd have time to decorate the ECV. It's my first time with an ECV at Disney and I'm going solo as well. Yes, that's a lot to take in at one visit, but I've put off going to WDW for too many years because I was hesitant to do it solo. I'm determined I *will* go, and *will* enjoy myself.

I have several friends that require a wheelchair/ECV, so I'm used to seeing them ignored (no, it's not just at Disney), and I'm trying to mentally brace myself for that by practicing when I can.

However, any ideas for making the ECV more visible to others would be Greatly Appreciated!!

 

[PatsMom]

I forgot about the scenic view from the ECV --- you are eye level with lots of adult backsides.

And you know exactly how many young girls should add an inch or two to their pants! I hate seeing "cheeks" hanging down. Makes me want to have an umbrella handy to poke and ask if they took a look at their backside in the mirror before heading out for the day!

I use a manual wheelchair with my daughter pushing and it does make us pretty invisible. She hates it when we are going downhill and people walk in front. She is afraid that one of these days she isn't going to be able to stop me and I will get hurt.

 

[pbrim]

I forgot about the scenic view from the ECV --- you are eye level with lots of adult backsides.

Not to mention I am constantly amazed at the "adjustments" people feel free to make in public.

 

[LisaTC]

It's definitely a visual thing and what I refer to is unintentional obliviousness! People are looking for people and ECVs and WCs get lost in the shuffle. I did find it easier to notice the ECV's with a flag attached to the back or a balloon. People tend not to look down, I saw this in spades at WDW. Little kids were getting trampled left and right. I've always said, animals know how to move in herds much better than people know how to move in crowds. I think people unrealistically believe ECV's and WC using people should 'yield the right of way' which is dumb, especially if they were there first!

 

[ttintagel]

It's definitely a visual thing and what I refer to is unintentional obliviousness! People are looking for people and ECVs and WCs get lost in the shuffle.

Heck, half the time people are so focused on themselves and their destination that they aren't even looking for other people at their own eye level!

 

[LisaTC]

Heck, half the time people are so focused on themselves and their destination that they aren't even looking for other people at their own eye level!

Ain't that the truth! I kept saying to DH, whatever happened to keep to the right??? People are walking around looking at all that is WDW with their heads looking up and run smack dab into somebody else. I don't know how many times I almost collided because people just stop short in front of you, nothing even thinking for a second there might be 40,000 people behind them! LOL

 

[Skmcpher]

I've rented a manual wheelchair for my last two trips to WDW and had a family member push me throughout the parks. During both trips (January 2010 and September 2012) I encountered many of the same things the original poster did. I have had people walk directly toward me, see me coming, and refuse to move out of the way until the very last second, like they expect me (or, more precisely, my wheelchair pusher) to move out of their path. I have had adults and/or children stand directly in front of me, blocking my view of both parades and fireworks shows, even when I had been parked at my location for quite a while before they got there. I have had people walk directly in front of me, stop suddenly, and get accidentally hit by the wheels on my chair, and then turn around and glare at me for hitting them.

I wasn't sure if this behavior was WDW related or not, but I confirmed that it was not on a recent family trip to Washington, DC. We rented a mobility scooter for that trip to relieve family members from having to push me and to give me some independence, and for that, the scooter was great. However, I saw a lot of the same behavior at the sights in DC as I did in WDW. People walk directly towards you and see you coming but don't move out of the way. They walk diagonally right in front of the scooter to get around, often tripping over the wheels. They hop onto elevators and leave no room in them for my scooter even though I had been waiting for the elevator before them. It is quite frustrating to say the least.

We will be returning to WDW this September and this time we will be bringing my newly purchased mobility scooter with us. I am very excited about our visit but I do also look at it with a bit of trepidation due to the issues I have experienced in the past.

 

[rewardsinlife]

Oh so very true...though I have had positive and negative experiences In a manual WC with a family member pushing.

Positive experience:
-Someone who actually IS paying attention to their surroundings will grab someone wo is ..well let's say .."captured by the Disney magic and unaware of anything else" ..and pull them out of the way..and usually will apologize or strike up a conversation.

- I have had more children steer clear and pull their parent out of the way! :rotfl

- great conversations while waiting with CMs for rides


Negative experience:
The hardest I think are people that will blatantly walk right in front of you..with less than a foot clearance and stop dead in their tracks.
This causes my family member to halt abruptly..which if I am not paying attention can throw me straight out of the wheelchair.

- refusing to talk to the WC user. It is very intriguing to me, that once a person is in a WC, ESP. A manual one with a pusher, the person is automatically 'mute' on their opinions. I have only had this happen a couple times at Disney..always by guests...never a CM. I had this happen to me the other day..though I wasn't at Disney..but think it is an interesting story so I will share.

Had surgery on May 1st for removal of large cysts from severe stage 4 endometriosis. Anyway...was doing well and then I started to downhill. Fever, nausea...turns out I have infection. Anyway, I had to go to urgent care to get it checked out. By the time I walked down the long hall I looked pretty tired I guess...you would too after only a week, after major surgery...not to mention it wa 98 degrees.. so I get to the end of the hall. The nurse Takes one look at me..says don't move as she runs down the hall to grab a WC. I really was ok but.lwhatever..they didn't want me to pass out I will sit in it. there were people there seeing that I was standing fine there and talking to my mom. The minute I sat in that chair..I disappeared. To the nurse...to the people in the waiting room. It was incredible! The nurse: when is her birthday...blah..ok I will let her slide a little as the desk is not WC accessible and it was kind of hard to see her way up over the desk. But the other people...oh what does she have..is she alright? Whenever they did this I answered directly...I am fine. I had surgery. I then think to myself ...you can talk to me...I am 25 years old..very capable of speaking...and have a masters degree. Why did the second I sat in a chair with wheels I became incapable of having a conversation with you? :

Anyway..it is frustrating to say the least. But kind of fun when you scare people as you roll up behind them and say excuse me I would like to get through. guess we will just have to work on our patience!

 

[FortForever]

I saw a woman pay for trying to cut off a scooter this past Sunday at Epcot.

A woman driving a scooter was driving down one of the alley-ways (don't know what else to call it) on the right hand side. There was a large planter in the center with brick work about six inches off the ground.

The scooter was turning left to cross into a store. There was not a single person coming up the sidewalk so the coast was clear. All of a sudden, a woman to the scooter's right, about 20 feet away, decided to make a run for it and cut off the scooter.

The woman on the scooter stopped in time from hitting her, but the woman trying to cut her off apparently didn't know the planter was there. She tripped and went airborne, flying over the planter and landing on the ground on the other side.

She laid there for a few like she was knocked out. I think she may have been drinking. People went to help her and tried to get up but her knee was badly hurt. I'll be she will think twice before doing that again.

 

[nanadeb]

My husband and I both use ECV's and finally gave up and bought orange flags from the bike store. They come with flexible poles and the hardware to attaché them to the bottom rear of the ECV. We added different Disney antenna balls to each of the flags. It was the antenna balls that really captured people's attention. We received several delighted comments from CM's, children, and even adults. It also made it much easier to find each other when we got "swallowed up" by the crowds!

 

[tigger&tigerlover]

My husband and I both use ECV's and finally gave up and bought orange flags from the bike store. They come with flexible poles and the hardware to attaché them to the bottom rear of the ECV. We added different Disney antenna balls to each of the flags. It was the antenna balls that really captured people's attention. We received several delighted comments from CM's, children, and even adults. It also made it much easier to find each other when we got "swallowed up" by the crowds!

I like the flag idea, I'm stealing it and having it ready when I go out there. And antenna balls.

I noticed the attention/non-attention aspect in a different way. That story reminded me of an interesting observation I had from last year at DL. My mom and I ended up in WCs and we had volunteers from the family to help push. We'd gone into a store, and my mom and my SIL who was pushing me got distracted at a display. So I took off on my own in the store using my arms. I had been ignored when someone was pushing me, but as soon as I was on my own (but still in a WC), I had people offering to help me reach something (or bring something down to my level), people were getting out of the way more, etc. My experience was only limited to a few stores, but it was so different than what I'd seen a few minutes earlier that it was very noticeable.

So, anyone have any other ideas of how to make the ECVs more visible?

 

[FortForever]

My husband and I both use ECV's and finally gave up and bought orange flags from the bike store. They come with flexible poles and the hardware to attaché them to the bottom rear of the ECV. We added different Disney antenna balls to each of the flags. It was the antenna balls that really captured people's attention. We received several delighted comments from CM's, children, and even adults. It also made it much easier to find each other when we got "swallowed up" by the crowds!

That's awesome!! If I owned an ECV, I would have it all decked out. My dad has one and it makes me want to get him a flag and antenna ball.

So I took off on my own in the store using my arms. I had been ignored when someone was pushing me, but as soon as I was on my own (but still in a WC), I had people offering to help me reach something (or bring something down to my level), people were getting out of the way more, etc. My experience was only limited to a few stores, but it was so different than what I'd seen a few minutes earlier that it was very noticeable.

Now, that's interesting. Since my ECV experience, I have been meaning to talk to my WC bound son about his experiences. I only talk to him on the phone since he lives 1,000 miles away so the subject hasn't come up. I hope since he drives himself in a manual WC, I hope he has had people be helpful rather than ignore him.

We do have a family WDW trip scheduled for November. It will be his first time on most of the rides since becoming a paraplegic. Thanks to info I've gotten here, he is looking forward to it.

 

[ttintagel]

Oh so very true...though I have had positive and negative experiences In a manual WC with a family member pushing.

Positive experience:

One of the best experiences is that you're at the level of a lot of kids' faces, and you get to enjoy their excited reactions even more than their parents probably do!

 

[tigger&tigerlover]

One of the best experiences is that you're at the level of a lot of kids' faces, and you get to enjoy their excited reactions even more than their parents probably do!

I had not thought of that! Thanks! That will give me something (other than Disney itself) to look at and look forward to when I'm there solo in an ECV, both for the first time.

 

[I Love Pluto]

Thank you for your post! I use an ECV - and I have used the words "Am I invisible?" many times.

The funniest time was in Epcot several years ago. I was on my ECV. A French gentleman in his 20's was walking with two friends, looking at the Epcot map. A short time later - he was IN MY LAP, apologizing over & over again!

We all got a good laugh!

In answer to your post - yes! You ARE invisible on an ECV!

 

[Piper]

I have often joked that I could rob a bank on my ECV and no one would see me do it!

 

[I Love Pluto]

I have often joked that I could rob a bank on my ECV and no one would see me do it!

Now THAT is hysterically funny!

 

[KPeveler]

I forgot about the scenic view from the ECV --- you are eye level with lots of adult backsides.

I am a full time wheelchair user - I call this "rear eye view." Not something you really want to see all day!

Yes, I am invisible. Unless I can be useful to a person, then, I can be seen and touched. I have been leaned on, stood on, and one person even used my push handles when dancing at a concert once. So, yes, my wheelchair can also be a stripper pole.

It is more than becoming invisible when you use a wheelchair. You cease to be a person. You notice even that foul article in the NY Post kept talking about the "Handicapped," not the PERSON with the disability as if we become the disability.

Sometimes I feel we are more than disabled, we actually cease to be, and just become wheels, illness, and inconvenience.

The other option is that we become the cute new puppy in the room, with everyone wanting me to do "tricks" in my wheelchair. Next time someone asks me to do tricks I am going to start barking and ask for a cookie.