Boats and knees

[J&J]

going with a lady who has had knee surgerys now looking for another one.question are there are boat rides in Disney park that you can get on a boat without stepping down. I know that at the land you can use your scooter or wheelchair . Would like to able to take her on one of the boat rides. Thank you

 

[JimmyV]

Not really. When you stop to think about it, the water level has to be well below your feet, otherwise the water would spill out onto the lading area. This necessitates the boat being below surface level. The Mexico ride, and Small World will both accommodate scooters or wheelchairs just like the land. Splash Mountain and Kali Rapids will not.

 

[figment_jii]

You can also get a sense of the attractions that she can remain in ECV or wheelchair by filtering the WaltDisneyWorld.com attraction list.

 

[asta]

A word of warning from someone who did WDW too soon after knee replacement surgery: watch out for Test Track. The step down into those cars was worse than any other ride for me. I was not expecting the big step down and ended up with a forced bend of my knee much more than the degree of bend I had been able to achieve post surgery. I did this on my first day and hurt for the rest of my trip.

 

[ghtx]

I think you can get on the Liberty Square Riverboat without stepping down - in fact you can get in it staying in a wheelchair.

Also maybe the Friendship boats at Epcot WS.

 

[Sandy Fisher]

You can definitely get on the riverboat without stepping down. I'm not sure about the friendship boats, but I know people got on them with small strollers (they went to the back of the boat) and I suspect there was no step. We always went on at the front. That step into the cars in Test Track has nearly had me falling across the seat of the car!!! Not a fun thing as you get older and I haven't had knee (or hip) surgery. ;-)

 

[JimmyV]

One can definitely walk straight on (or wheel on) to the Friendship boats without walking down.

 

[purple figment]

There is a wealth of info on this thread and it includes descriptions of accessibility for the attractions:
http://www.disboards.com/threads/di...disabled-1st-trip-next-trip-wish-trip.595713/

 

[J&J]

Thank you so much for your help

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

going with a lady who has had knee surgerys now looking for another one.question are there are boat rides in Disney park that you can get on a boat without stepping down. I know that at the land you can use your scooter or wheelchair . Would like to able to take her on one of the boat rides. Thank you

Pretty sure IASW has a special boat so that you don't have to transfer.

Most transportation boats except those pirate looking ones from GF and Poly can handle them as well contingent upon water conditions. (Meaning, there could be exceptions where rolling on board is not possible.)

 

[TeresaNJ]

A word of warning from someone who did WDW too soon after knee replacement surgery: watch out for Test Track. The step down into those cars was worse than any other ride for me. I was not expecting the big step down and ended up with a forced bend of my knee much more than the degree of bend I had been able to achieve post surgery. I did this on my first day and hurt for the rest of my trip.

asta, I am having a TKR on July 27th, going to WDW on November 9th. Do you think I'm going to have any issues with rides, and what should I avoid, if you don't mind my asking?

 

[asta]

asta, I am having a TKR on July 27th, going to WDW on November 9th. Do you think I'm going to have any issues with rides, and what should I avoid, if you don't mind my asking?

Glad to help. I went about 7 months post op. I felt like it was a little soon but wasn't too much for me to handle. I did have to go slow and rest a lot. My husband was in a conference all day so I was alone for a lot of the day. I worried before going about being too slow getting on and off the rides but that was not an issue. I had built up a lot of upper body strength prior to surgery so I was able to use my arms to bear my body weight getting on and off the rides. I rode everything. Even rides like space mountain and rock n roller coaster had something to hold to while lowering down into the seats. The biggest problem was Test Track. That step down was huge and when I stepped in it made me bend my other leg much more than the degree of bend that I had in the replacement knee. It hurt and I paid for it the rest of the trip. The other ride that gave me trouble was Star Tours. I sat in the back row of the simulator and my feet were quite a bit off the ground (I don't know if other rows were any better). This ride slung me around a lot and hurt the new knee. I kept looking for a place to brace my leg but I couldn't reach anything. Just being slung around hurt.

That's all I can remember off the top of my head but will be glad to answer any questions.