Advice for trip please!!!

[churchpilot]

Hello! My husband fractured his foot stepping into a lazy river and is in a walking boot now. He has had some problems with healing and his ortho doc said that he cannot walk all day for 9 straight days. He recommended a wheelchair or scooter. I am not up to pushing him around in the heat, so we are renting a scooter. The problem is that we don't know when he will start needing to use it because he has not been on his foot for a large period of time since the accident. He wants to walk as much as possible and only use the scooter in the afternoons or evenings. We are staying on site, but going back to the room everyday to get the scooter would not be ideal. Should we take it to the park and just park it somewhere and then go get it if he needs it, or take it with us as we tour, even though he might not need it at that particular time? When he does need it, we still anticipate parking it in stroller parking (if that is allowed) and walking/waiting in line. Any thoughts or advice on our plan? Thanks everyone.

 

[ibcrazie4dizney]

I had same problem twice at Disney. first time I tried to be tough, and walked the parks everyday all day. I will never do that again. my foot ended up not healing properly and I had to have surgery to put a plate in. I am sure this wasn't the only thing that caused me problems, but always look back knowing it definitely hurt me. so years later when I broke my foot again, I got a scooter. I had a boot. I rode scooter around from attraction to attraction, parked it with the strollers, and stood in line. it worked good for me. kept me off my foot for the long hauls but also let me get up and stretch some. I would recommend taking the scooter.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Take it to the park at the beginning of the day. Put it in stroller parking in the general area where you'll be, ideally under cover. Take the key. Worst case, you go get it for him and he uses it consistently the rest of the day.

 

[JennyDrake]

HI! I am just back from a similar trip and here is what I posted:

First time WC user : chair-walk-chair report!

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First of all thank to all who helped with info!!!

I am forty something and recovering from a ruptured Achilles. I am to walk as much as I can tolerate , but I am SLOW and tire VERY easily. The foot also starts screaming obscenities when i overdo it.

I rented a chair from walker Mobility--nothing but goo things to say about their rates and SERVICE.

Stayed at AS Music and my friend Cathy was with me, now known as She Who Offered to Push.

She would push me to the food court then onto the bus then into the park of our choice that day. We would park the chair, collapsed, either in obvious stroller/ECV parking or find an unobtrusive place (usually behind a trash can) and I would walk for a few hours. We tied a bright bandana to the hand grips.

This system worked PERFECTLY!!! On the buses I would transfer to a seat and we would collapse the chair. Boarding was quick and efficient. When departing, if I was not too tired, I would step off at the back door and Cathy would hoist the chair. Or I would walk down the ramp. If I was too tired and creaky, we would use the ramp. Going up/down the steep front steps would have been hard for me.

I am not overweight and unless you see my really nifty scar, I don't look like I should be using a chair. I got NO nasty looks from anyone, anywhere.

If you are even considering doing this, I cannot emphasize how easy and trouble free it was! And when in doubt RENT THE CHAIR!!! I could not have endured the parks w/o it.

 

[churchpilot]

Thanks for the replys. As many times as we have been to Disney, I could not remember seeing scooters parked in the stroller parking and I didn't know if this was allowed! I know strollers get moved throughout the day and I have never been on a scooter, so I didn't know how easy they would be to move without power. I doubt very seriously the stroller keepers would want to hang on to the key like valet parking!!! My husband is still trying to play the macho card and maintain that he doesn't think he will use it all ALL! I reminded him how he derailed our Spring Break vacation during the first 15 minutes when he stepped off into the lazy river and spent the next 7 hours in the ER---I don't want a repeat! Thanks for the responses everyone. We have two more sleeps and then we are Disney bound again!!!!!!!!

 

[ibcrazie4dizney]

I parked my scooter and took the key with me. don't remember cast members moving it like they move strollers as much, but there was a lever on the back that frees it up to roll. hope your husband considers a scooter, I felt alittle funny at first(even though I shouldn't have) but it was so worth it. if he does decide not to get one in advance, he can always rent one in the park if he finds he needs it.

 

[FortForever]

Thanks for the replys. As many times as we have been to Disney, I could not remember seeing scooters parked in the stroller parking and I didn't know if this was allowed!

I had this same dilemma the time I had to rent a scooter. Since I never had to use one before, I never paid attention.

I asked a CM at the first ride and she said I could absolutely use the stroller parking. I continued to do that at all four parks for a week with no problems at all.

The only place I parked it anywhere different was in The Land building at Epcot. There is a place when you first walk in the building - straight ahead - that you can park.

What I know now, that I didn't know then, is that you can take the scooter in many queues. I never occurred to me to do so, but had I known, it would have went with me in Soarin' for sure. I hate that queue.

 

[pbrim]

I doubt very seriously the stroller keepers would want to hang on to the key like valet parking!!!

Unless a CM asks you to leave the key, ALWAYS take it with you. If they need to move the ECV (say to straighten up stroller parking, or to move it from the get-on point to the get-off point for a ride), there is a lever on the back that basically puts the ECV into neutral so it can be pushed.

In fact, it is not a bad idea to look for that lever and experiment with it yourself. If he is having problems parking it on a bus, or going through the hotel room door, it may be easier for him to get off and let you push it into position. They are very easy to push in free-wheel.

 

[KPeveler]

Unless a CM asks you to leave the key, ALWAYS take it with you. If they need to move the ECV (say to straighten up stroller parking, or to move it from the get-on point to the get-off point for a ride), there is a lever on the back that basically puts the ECV into neutral so it can be pushed.

In fact, it is not a bad idea to look for that lever and experiment with it yourself. If he is having problems parking it on a bus, or going through the hotel room door, it may be easier for him to get off and let you push it into position. They are very easy to push in free-wheel.

Even if they ask NEVER leave the key with them. They know where all the freewheel levers are and if they have problems they can ask you to show them.

 

[WheeledTraveler]

I just wanted to agree with KPeveler about never leaving the key. It wasn't too long ago that a regular poster wrote about how a CM broke the poster's personal scooter moving it using the key/power rather than putting it in free-wheel mode.