9 year old broke ankle 2 days before we leave!!!

[sweet41625]

Can anyone give me any advice on how to deal with this.
My 9 year old broke his ankle last night and we leave for our 9 day trip in 2 days.
He is devastated.
We had an amazing doc who put him
In one of those black walking boots untill we get back then they will cast him. They said he could take it off to cool down in the pool but that's about it.
I will obviously have to rent a wheel chair bc that would be way to much walking- even with a walking boot.
I'm guessing for a 9 year old- the push wheelchair would be better then the motorized ones.

Can anyone give me info on how it will work getting on the rides? Do we just enter the regular lines with the wheelchair?
I don't want to seem like "that family" abusing the system at all.

Any and all advice is greatly appreciated- thank you.

 

[SueM in MN]

Can anyone give me any advice on how to deal with this.
My 9 year old broke his ankle last night and we leave for our 9 day trip in 2 days.
He is devastated.
We had an amazing doc who put him
In one of those black walking boots untill we get back then they will cast him.
They said he could take it off to cool down in the pool but that's about it.
I will obviously have to rent a wheel chair bc that would be way to much walking- even with a walking boot.

Even though he has a walking boot, you still will want to minimize his walking. Keeping mind that an average day at a WDW park involves at least 3-6 miles of walking. So, you are wise to get a wheelchair for him.

One other thing to think about is being very careful getting in and out of the pool and even playing in the pool ( it would be easy for him to walk around in there without realizing he is doing that.

I'm guessing for a 9 year old- the push wheelchair would be better then the motorized ones.

You will not be able to rent a motorized mobility device (called mobility scooter or ECV) for a 9 year old. The parks and off site rental companies only rent them to adults, for use by adults. One company rents for use by older teens, but even then it is on a case by case basis after they evaluate whether that particular teen seems mature enough to use one.

Most children will do better in a smaller wheelchair than can be rented in the parks. You can rent smaller ones from one of the off-site rental companies.
Follow the link in my signature or look near the top of this board for the disABILITIES FAQs thread.
Post 2 of that thread has information about wheelchair rental.

Can anyone give me info on how it will work getting on the rides? Do we just enter the regular lines with the wheelchair?
I don't want to seem like "that family" abusing the system at all.

Any and all advice is greatly appreciated- thank you.

Most of the regular lines are wheelchair accessible all the way to the boarding area, so you will be waiting in line with everyone else.
If you are using Fastpass Plus for any attractions, most of those lines are also wheelchair accessible.
For those few attractions where the line or boarding area is not wheelchair accessible, the CMs at the entrance will direct you where to go and what to do.
Some attractions have a wheelchair accessible ride car and he could remain in the wheelchair for those - that does often mean an additional wait for that ride car to come along.
If the boarding area and unload area are in different spots, the CMs will take care of moving the wheelchair to the unload area for you.

 

[lanejudy]

I definitely recommend a wheelchair rather than trying to walk with the boot all day everyday. Check out the disABILITIES.FAQ sticky for offsite vendors, and ask about pediatric chairs. He'll fit in that much more comfortably than a standard size chair. The chair can be folded on transportation, and also taken through most attraction queues.
Enjoy your vacation!

 

[SueM in MN]

All shows have wheelchair spots with room for one companion to sit next to the wheelchair user. Others in your party would not be right by, but would be close.

You can pick up a Guidemap for guests with disabilities in the entrance area of each park - look for the maps with a black border at the top.

The disABILITIES FAQs thread also has some posts that will be very helpful. Posts 18-21 on page 2 of that thread have information about getting into attractions and which might be difficult transfers.
Post 22 has information about attractions with stairs and moving walkways. You will be directed at the attraction on how to go around the stairs.
Most of the moving walkways can be slowed, but will not be stopped. Peter Pan and Tomorrowland Transit Authority can't be stopped or slowed.
Most of the rest can be slowed, but they avoid stopping them for the safety of other guests (when an attraction stops, some guests panic and try to get out of their ride vehicle).

 

[clanmcculloch]

When my 13yo was 10 she broke her ankle shortly before our trip. After talking with somebody at a wheelchair rental company we determined that she would probably fit best in a 16" (both depth and width) chair. The standard size is 18". She was 4'8" and 80ish lb. On our most recent trip we rented a chair and still requested a 16" chair (other issues, not another broken ankle). She's current 4'11.75" and 110 lb. A bigger chair for either trip would have been uncomfortable for the amount of time that she was sitting in it. For the earlier trip we could probably have gotten away with something smaller but it's so much easier to find 16" chairs than something smaller. If your DS is somewhere around these sizes then 16" is the way to go.

You'll see 2 types of chairs: standard wheelchair and transport chair. A transport chair is a lot lighter but with a regular wheelchair he will be able to wheel himself short distances (my DD insists on this so we never get a transport chair). This will be to his benefit if you're shopping or looking around and he wants to wander a little like he would if he was walking.

I would recommend that you bring some ziploc bags to the park. If his foot or ankle start to swell then get some ice from any concession stand or QS dining location to put on it (obviously removing the boot temporarily to do so). I'd also recommend bringing white kitchen trash bags. If it starts to rain, these fit really nicely over the boot. Just tie a knot at the top to keep it in place. I treated them like disposable covers so I didn't worry about having to rip it to take it off when we were done in the park or the rain stopped.

 

[sweet41625]

Thank you all so much for all the great tips!!
I didn't even think about things like the trash bags for rain!

I ordered a 16 inch wheelchair from apple scooters and contacted the airline to let them know we will need one there also.

Hoping this all works out ok! Can't believe this happened right before our trip.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

was not at Disney but had daughter break her arm while on vacation so it could be worse. just make sure he does not walk on it esp at pool. have a great trip even with it

 

[amykathleen2005]

Even with a walking boot he should not be walking on a broken ankle.