Any advice for having 73 MIL on wheels?

[madelinesmum]

Hey guys,

This is my 73 year old MIL 2nd trip to Disney, she went with us this past December and was estatic when we asked her along for this trip. However Houston, we have a problem. She broke her back and it's in a place where it can't be operated on so we have to go for a wheel chair this time. I've never had to deal with a disabilily at WDW before and any advice you could give me would be great. This may be her last trip so we want things to go smoothly for her and for the rest of us as well.
Any advice? I know there's a DISabilities board but...this is not a normal thing for us and I don't want to go over the top.
Do I need to inform POP about this? She can walk, just not very long or long distances.
Thanks guys!

 

[philaround]

Would your MIL be able to drive a scooter or will you have to push her arioeund in a regular wheel chair? Both are available fro rental at each park but can only be used in the park. You would have to gfet to the park and back to your resort without them. You can rent from outside companies who will drop off and pick up at your resort and would be cheaper then renting daily from DW. All teh resorts have a limited number of wheel chairs available for guests on a first come first serve basis. I don't know exactly how that works as I have never used that service. I would suggest rgat you request a ground floor room to make it easier for all of you. If you rent a scooter form one of the off site companies I strongly suggest that you request an accesable room to be sure you can get the scoooter in your room at night. Please note that an accessable room has 1 king size bed only.
To get the contact info for the off site rental companies check on the disabilty board.

 

[DizzKneeGeek]

You can rent from outside companies who will drop off and pick up at your resort and would be cheaper then renting daily from DW

This is the route I would take. MIL did this in April and the company had her scooter at POP when we checked in. She charged it up in the room at night. And if there were any problems with it; there was a phone number to call and they would bring a new one to her in the parks or at the resort if need be. Wish I could remember the name of the company. But it's 3 A.M. and I just got off work. So my road tired brain can't think of it right now. If I remember it; I'll edit my post and add the name. Hope that helps.

P.S. If you go the scooter route; give her time to become accustomed to it before setting her loose on the general public. We made that mistake with MIL and she almost turned into one of those people that the 'scooter haters' hate. The first time she took off I thought they had equipped her with the same launch technology as RNR. And she took her first corners tighter than TT.

 

[pepe of ohio]

We have done this for my mother a ways back. She could walk but not very far, was in her 80's. I got her a regular wheel chair from the parks and let me tell you, you would think the parks in Disney are fairly flat but after a day of pushing her, I had blisters where I never had them before. Other than that, and not something I'ld recommend in the dead of summer, wheel chairs aren't that bad if you go at a slow pace, take your time and they do get tired fast even in a wheel chair. Be prepared to return to the resort when they start to complain, they need the A/C and rest.

On the other note, we tried an ECV and that was a total nightmare. She really had a hard time with the controls and speed. I would highly recommend taking her before the trip to a place where you can practice with one. I wished they had a remote control for me to shut it down for any emergency. We tried ours in AK and after an hour I took her and the EVC back and got a push type and wheeled her slower than before, my legs and feet were about done being it was the 5th day of wheel chairing her. I figured it was my mother and my duty to do the pushing even though others wanted to I stuck it out. Just remember to go slow and easy and be prepared to leave a park at any time because they do tire fast. All in all we had a good memorable trip and was my mothers last.

 

[disnut8]

As a veteran Disney World visitor with no disabilities but now faced with one, I can give some hints. My husband found out two days before one of our trips that he needed to be in a wheelchair. Needless to say, we scrambled.

I immediately had the husband call an offsite rental company. He could hobble a little ways but it was painful for him. Just out the disabilitiy board here for what is available. Call and find out what works for you. Our manual wheelchair was waiting at our offsite hotel when we checked in at noon. I pushed the huband around all trip. I'm 5' nothing and weigh 100 pounds soaking wet. The chair was easy to push. After the trip, we left the chair at the hotel for pickup. I called the hotel and requested a first floor room for medical reasons and let them know we were having a wheelchair delivered. Not a problem at all. Husband had access to the chair 24/7 and we knew that when we arrived. I highly recommend that method.

Don't feel bad if your mother-in-law gets out of the chair and walks short distances. My husband did that for our seating at LeCellier (because the aisles were too close comfort with the wheelchair) and at Twilight Zone (because of the hill to get up to the entrance).

More than likely, you won't get to the head of the line because of the chair. Just about all the queue lines are chair-friendly. And we found that the handicapped seats in the attractions might not be the best anyway. We were taking out of the Star Tours line and to the front (I don't know why, we were willing to wait the ten minutes). We were seated in an empty vehicle in the front row all the way to the right. Didn't like the seats at all. Same thing with Muppets at MGM. We were all the way in the back and I couldn't see the fun stuff in the back.

Watch out for people not watching out for you. Since your mother-in-law will be sitting down and moving, people won't see her. You might consider getting something to mount on the handle on a stick with a flag at eye level as a warning. Also, watch out for people walking around with lit cigarettes. They hold them down and that's right at eye level for the wheelchair person.

Earlier this year, we went through the same thing with my father. My husband, with all his experience, pushed my father around. Oh - make sure your mother-in-law can see things. Treat the wheelchair like you would a baby stroller.

It's an adjustment but gives you a huge appreciation for people who do this every day.