4 park days w/ a kid with bad knees?

[Lees3rwe]

My son is almost 13 and was recently diagnosed with Osgood-Schlatter, a defect in the growth plates of the bone just below the knee that causes extreme tendonitis type pain. Unfortunately, he seems to have it in BOTH knees.

We are scheduled to pay off our trip next week and now I am wondering if he is going to be miserable the whole time.
He is in his first flare up with it, so I don't know if it just goes away and comes back or what.

Any advice would be appreciated. We are Disney vets so I am curious if the walking is a lot easier...

help!

 

[Dizisfun]

It's not as much walking as WDW but there's still going to be plenty of walking and lots of standing in lines. If it were me I would consider renting him an electric wheelchair and getting a doctors note of form and getting him a GAC from guest services.

 

[aubriee]

It's not as much walking as WDW but there's still going to be plenty of walking and lots of standing in lines. If it were me I would consider renting him an electric wheelchair and getting a doctors note of form and getting him a GAC from guest services.

No rental company is going to rent an electric wheelchair to someone who is not experienced at driving one. We tried to rent one for my mom once and was told that since they are so much harder to control than an ECV, that unless she was used to driving one at home they would not rent one to her. If you are talking about an ECV, almost no company will rent one to anyone less than 18 y/o old. I know we rent an ECV for my mom when we take her down there and have rented from both Apple Scooters and Walker's Mobility. Both have it posted on their sites that they will not rent to anyone under the age of 18 y/o. Here is the comment I just copied and pasted from Apple's website:

Rentals are available to qualified customers only. Minimum drivers age is 18 years old. Rentals are subject to availability.

If the child is used to driving an ECV and has one at home that he uses, Randy's will sometimes rent to someone younger than age 18 y/o, but they deliver the unit and observe the customer's ability to use it. As far as I know though, Randy's is the only rental company that will even consider renting to someone under the age of 18 y/o and then only to a kid that is experienced with one. Really the only option for the OP is to rent a wheelchair, that the parents push. Depending on how big the child is, they may need a pediatric wheelchair as the adult wheelchair's seat may be too big for him and cut into his knees making it very uncomfortable.

Also you do not need a doctor's note for a GAC and in fact the CMs will not even look at it. Due to HIPPA laws, they are not allowed to ask about a disability and only want to know what accommodations the child might need. If it's just a walking/endurance thing their recommendation will just be to get a wheelchair for him.

OP: Even though Universal does not have as much walking as WDW, I would think it would still be too much for your son. There is no use him being in any more pain that he has to be. I'd rent him a wheelchair from offsite. They will ask for your son's height and weight and can make sure he has a chair that he can be comfortable in. If he feels like walking, he'll still be able to and may feel better having the chair to lean on, as he pushes it. He could leave it with the strollers and walk onto rides if he wanted. At Forbidden Journey, my mom had to transfer from her ECV into a wheelchair (since ECVs are not allowed in that line). She got to see part of the queue, but then they had us get into an elevator, so we missed part of the queu.

Just FYI: due to several arthritis my mom has terrible knees (needs surgery but refuses to have it). There is no way she could do Universal without a mobility device. If she couldn't have an ECV, we'd be pushing her in a wheelchair. Both at WDW and Universal when we've asked about a GAC, their response has always been the the GAC is for hidden disabilities and if the person is in a W/C or has an ECV that's all they need as long as there is not some other hidden disability that might need a different accommodation (autism, poor vision, etc). Their response to endurance or mobility issues is to rent an ECV or W/C.

 

[bumbershoot]

My brother had it, and while he was miserable while jogging, doing normal walking was OK. I'm not sure how he would have felt about a themepark at the time, but I bet he would have been vocal about it if it got bad.

For the ongoing future, yes it's something that is outgrown with time. My brother doesn't really even remember having it because he outgrew it and never looked back. He also had knee manipulations done as a teen by our chiropractor who was trained in working on knees (not all are...I was not when I was practicing, I focused on the spine...so you have to make sure the person knows how to do it), which I think helped him quite a bit. (that sort of thing got rid of my shin splints, too)

In the meantime, see if arnica cream works! My son gets rotten leg aches; the same kind I used to get and my mom used to get before me (mine were so bad as a kid I was tested for juvenile RA...obviously lower leg problems run in my family!), and we tried arnica with him, and they work like a charm. (ice packs help, too) Maybe it will work for his OS!

 

[Dizisfun]

I'm sorry, I guess I meant an ECV....But there's always the option of a standard wheelchair

When did they start not giving the disability pass to person's in a wheelchair? My SIL always gets the pass from guest services. She uses a wheelchair at the parks bc she has breathing problems and requires oxygen when she get short of breath. It's never been a problem at Universal, guest services gladly accommodate her. How the TM's handle the pass has varied tho. When I have been with her we have been backdoored into the ride or attraction, other times the TM has us go through the express line, and then there have been times that they have assigned her a specific time to be back at the ride. We go back at the assigned time and we are shown to the front of the line. She has never been told by anyone at Universal to just stand in the line with everyone else....

Although she has had a different experience at Disney. She has been told to get in the long lines at Disney by the CM working the attraction and then there have been other times that she was put in the front of the line. (At Disney they she has been told that she didn't need the pass.)

 

[Dizisfun]

I'm back....I just checked and what my SIL gets from guest services at Universal is called a AAP (Attraction Assistance Pass). How this works is that if the line is shorter than 30 minutes she is escorted to the front of the ride or attraction. If the line is longer than 30 minutes, she is given a time to return to the ride or attraction. Once she returns she is then escorted immediately to the front of the line....

 

[Lees3rwe]

Thanks so much for the replies.

Like I said, this is his first flare (2 weeks now), so I am kind of a newbie with this.

We are going to see how it goes this weekend and then make our decision on Monday. I guess we could always rent a chair and take it with us and use it if we need it.

I will check into the different treatments as well (the cream and the chiropractor). I am thankful that it is something that he will outgrow.

Thanks again for the help.

 

[tricky1]

Walker mobility.com will deliver and pick up a wheelchair to your hotel.
very reasonable .