Anyone have experience with oxygen?

[Donald&Tinkerbell]

My Mom now has to use oxygen 24/7. We were planning to go in Jan 2008. In the past she has use a scooter, but how do you handle the oxygen? She uses a concentrator at home and I guess we can have one delivered to the room. When outside the house she has a bottle to carry but it only lasts 3 hrs. Do you know how the park reacts to Oxygen? Can you go on rides with it? Is this the end of her Disney visits? Please share your experiences. Thanks.

 

[wendygrace]

I can't help you specifically with oxygen and rides but you may look into an portable O2 concentrator. I believe the one they have out is called something like inogen one or something like that. Have your mom ask her healthcare supply compnany. I'm sure she'd need a prescription. You can also get Larger bottles to carry. I think I read in your other post that you drive so a concentrator is your best bet. You also want to make sure that the supply company that you use in your home area has a partner in Orlando in case there is an emergency and you need new supplies.

 

[KPeveler]

you can call disney, and ask to speak to someone about travelling with oxygen. most likely you will get someone in special services. if she is in an oxygen tank, rides like big thunder and space are probly out (imagine trying to hold onto a take while on a roller coaster). i am unsure why she needs oxygen, so she may not want these rides anyway. I can't imagine having a problem on the "tamer" rides like small world and the shows. the biggest obstacle may be transporting the O2.

 

[Donald&Tinkerbell]

Thank you both, she's 76 and Splash Mountain is about the roughest ride she does, and the safari. She has a problem with moving sidewalks, but my husband rides with her and helps her in and out. Looks like we can make this work.

 

[pampam]

I haven't done it yet, so I really don't know what I am talking about. However, I am planning a trip. and this is what I've been told. We are flying from Canada, so our circumstances may be different than yours. We were told to contact our O2 provider. They will meet us at the airport, and take the cylinder from us, since it cannot be taken on the plane. We have to purchase O2 from the airline for use on the plane. $150 for each plane, so $300 return. We arrange prior for a company to deliver O2 to the airport in Orlando, for us to have once on the ground. Our company in Canada has recomended a service provider. It is

Hematie Lincare,
3042 Michigan Ave.
Kissimmee Fla
407 846 4144

We have not arranged this yet, so we have not dealt with this company.
We have to pay for the rental of a concentrator $150, minimum 1 month charge
$35.00 delivery and pick up fee at the airport and
$15.00 per cylinder. We will be getting the large size, since the price is the same no matter what. My daughter's WC is fitted with a holder for the cylinder.

Let us know how you made out.

 

[MarieS]

My son only needs oxygen at night so we didn't have to deal with it at the parks. What we did was contact our local provider--Apria. They made arrangements with the Apria branch in Orlando. The Apria in Orlando delivered the O2 to our resort.( They can also deliver other medical equipment) We had our own portable tank that we brought for the trip down. You might want to contact your Mom's local provider and ask what they suggest for travel. I would think that for safety reasons they would not be able to allow O2 containers on the rides though since they could fall or be dropped.

 

[SueM in MN]

Here are some past threads about oxygen and travel to WDW:
Questions about Oxygen suppliers
Oxygen at WDW

There are some link to past threads on the disABILITIES FAQs thread that may help you about boarding rides.
There is no specific official guidelines about which rides someone can go on with oxygen. In general, any that have a warning (marked with a red triangle on the park maps) are ones that are more turbulent and she may not be able to go on those. There is a link in the disABILITIES FAQs thread to the text of the official WDW Guidebook for Guests with Disabilities for each park that lists a little bit (not very specific) about each attraction, including whether or not there are any warnings.

 

[Donald&Tinkerbell]

for the links. I did a search but nothing came up, guess I didn't do it right. If we pull this off, I'll try to contact a moderater to add an oxygen section to the sticky FAQ's. I know there have to be more people who want to go under these circumstances.

 

[SueM in MN]

for the links. I did a search but nothing came up, guess I didn't do it right. If we pull this off, I'll try to contact a moderater to add an oxygen section to the sticky FAQ's. I know there have to be more people who want to go under these circumstances.

You probably did the search correctly, bit our current search engine is not very good. I have some other ways to search that you don't have.

I'm the one who fixes the sticky FAQs thread. Since the moderators are all volunteers, I have more stuff I want to do to the FAQs thread than I have time to do it. I would like to add some information about travel with oxygen, so if you pull it off, just PM me after you get back with what you found out. I'll add some links to past threads (there are some from more than a year ago, but I know there is nothing specific about rides).

 

[forr2grls]

I have yet to see anything posted at the rides about oxygen use. Our 8yr old dd uses oxygen as needed for seizures. We carried it everywhere we went.My husband had the joy of carrying it around. Here is a list of rides we have done with the oxy. in tow: (Magic kingdom)
Walt disney world railroad
Jungle cruise
Tiki room
Pirates of the carribean
country bears
Cindy's carousel
mickeys philharmagic
Peter pan
small world
dumbo
snowe whites scary adventures
carousel of progress

Paula

 

[SueM in MN]

thanks, Paula. That is very helpful since we didn't have any first hand info about rides.

 

[OneLittleSpark]

I would guess any shows should be fine, especially if you have a wheelchair that the oxygen will fit onto.