Broken arm at Universal?

Mommyoftwo

Earning My Ears
Joined
Jul 12, 2007
Messages
33
We have been planning a trip to see Harry Potter world at UO/IOA for my son's 11th birthday. This is something he wants more than anything in the world. He broke his wrist tonight and we'll soon have a cast on it. Our trip is in 3 weeks. Does anybody know the kind of restrictions he'll face with a cast on? I have no experience with broken bones and casts. Will he be able to ride anything? I imagine roller coasters are out but what about the Harry Potter rides? Any experiences with a broken arm in the park will help. Thanks!
 
This is total speculation, so take my words with a grain of salt. Escape from Gringotts has a lap bar restraint, so I think there will be no problem with a cast. Forbidden Journey has a chest restraint, but I would think if he can pull the restraint down, he should be fine. Flight of the Hippogryph is a lap bar as well. Dragon Challenge...I haven't rode in a while and don't remember what the restraint is. Anyway, there might be restrictions about casts in general that I'm not aware of, but I wouldn't think there would be a problem based on the restraints. Good luck!
 
I have seen peeps on rides with a cast on the arm before but don't remember which rides

I did rides in October and last month with knee braces were on without a TM making any comment about it

Send an email to guest services and ask if there will be any ride restrictions due to that
 

it would be fine!, if I where you I will ask his dr about giving him a waterproof cast, is hot and humid in Florida and he would be able to experience all the water rides also and the pool at your hotel, is not covered by most insurance but most doctors charge you only the difference
 
With a wrist break and 3 weeks, he should do just fine. hopefully, the cast should only be halfway/3 quarters up his forearm and should not hinder elbow movement and shoulder movement (for some wrist breaks they will immobilize the elbow as well). This should give him freedom to maneuver the arm into position around the restraints.
 
Thank you al for the replies. The ortho doc put on a sugar tong cast (which is a temp cast, I believe) and does include just beyond his elbow joint. But when he found out we are going to Florida, he asked to see my son that morning before we leave in the evening. He said "I will do what I can that day to make his vacation enjoyable." The casting assistant told me he'd probably have this temp cast a few weeks and then a permanent cast. So maybe he'll get a new cast that day that is below the elbow joint and hopefully waterproof (fiberglass?) or maybe he'll give us some type of waterproof boot to put over it.

My son will be upset about missing those two rollercoasters but I think there's enough stuff to keep him happy. He will want to spend most of his day in Harry Potter stuff anyway. Thanks all!
 
I wish a speedy recovery for your son and also that he can do the rides that he wants to!

Let's hope the doctor says very few limitations for him
 
Probably the two coasters cause too much jerking motions and could be an issue for the cast

I can understand no dragon challenge but don't think fj would be an issue
 
I'm reading that he can't ride Hulk or the Dragon Challenge...did you see FJ too? I'm crossing my fingers that he can ride that one.

You know I could have sworn that said FJ??? Brain fade moment........:D

So, he should be fine with FJ........hope all goes well with your trip and they fit him with something that helps him enjoy the rides...........
 
I'm reading that he can't ride Hulk or the Dragon Challenge...did you see FJ too? I'm crossing my fingers that he can ride that one.

FJ is fine as long as he can find a way to hold his arm. It's Dragon Challenge (and Hulk) that he absolutely can't ride.

We hit both USH and UO this summer after my kid broke radius and ulna and was in a 90 degree at the elbow cast up to his armpit, and those two were the only ones he was forbidden to ride.

He did take full advantage of the tester cars on RRR and FJ to see how he would position himself! And we brought our waterproof cast protector for the water rides.

Here is his cast to show you what he was dealing with. (I still cry when I see him in the cast, but even when he had it on he dealt with it soooo well, even though the actual timing of breaking his arm was horrible, since it kept him from performing in a closing show of a week-long tap dance convention) He was dealing with it so well he figured out how to play Transformers videogame at RPR's arcade.

IMG_4112.JPG



Realized that one of the signatures was easily visible...in case you already noticed it...yes it says "this makes me happy". It was sort of a joke. The woman that wrote it is highly sarcastic; like she needs a warning label LOL. But at the same time, she broke BOTH of her arms at the *same time* when she was about 10 and living with her dad and stepmom. After the first bathroom visit with her stepmom awkwardly helping her, she decided she would do it all on her own. She kinda sorta feels that all kids should deal with adversity like that, to learn how to deal with life. So she kinda meant it, that it made her happy, because now he had to deal with adversity. But she's also massively sarcastic.

I was not unhappy when they changed that cast out a few weeks later...got old explaining that one!
 
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FJ is fine as long as he can find a way to hold his arm. It's Dragon Challenge (and Hulk) that he absolutely can't ride.

We hit both USH and UO this summer after my kid broke radius and ulna and was in a 90 degree at the elbow cast up to his armpit, and those two were the only ones he was forbidden to ride.

He did take full advantage of the tester cars on RRR and FJ to see how he would position himself! And we brought our waterproof cast protector for the water rides.

Here is his cast to show you what he was dealing with. (I still cry when I see him in the cast, but even when he had it on he dealt with it soooo well, even though the actual timing of breaking his arm was horrible, since it kept him from performing in a closing show of a week-long tap dance convention) He was dealing with it so well he figured out how to play Transformers videogame at RPR's arcade.

View attachment 225100



Realized that one of the signatures was easily visible...in case you already noticed it...yes it says "this makes me happy". It was sort of a joke. The woman that wrote it is highly sarcastic; like she needs a warning label LOL. But at the same time, she broke BOTH of her arms at the *same time* when she was about 10 and living with her dad and stepmom. After the first bathroom visit with her stepmom awkwardly helping her, she decided she would do it all on her own. She kinda sorta feels that all kids should deal with adversity like that, to learn how to deal with life. So she kinda meant it, that it made her happy, because now he had to deal with adversity. But she's also massively sarcastic.

I was not unhappy when they changed that cast out a few weeks later...got old explaining that one!
Thanks for sharing your son's experience! This helps me out a lot. Sorry your son had such a bad break!
 
My daughter did the same when she was six and we were heading to Disney. She was so sad at the thought of not getting to swim an not getting to ride the water rides. Her ortho wasn't a big fan, but he did let us buy this waterproof cast liner online and bring it to his office, where he fixed her up. She was able to swim and play and ride everything she wanted. If your doc has that option, it was worth it for us.

Good luck to your son. I hope he is able to ride all the rides he wants.
 
Thanks for sharing your son's experience! This helps me out a lot. Sorry your son had such a bad break!

Glad to help.

Just last night I met someone who had a FAR worse arm break as a teen, so we're feeling a little less sorry for ourselves now LOL.

My daughter did the same when she was six and we were heading to Disney. She was so sad at the thought of not getting to swim an not getting to ride the water rides. Her ortho wasn't a big fan, but he did let us buy this waterproof cast liner online and bring it to his office, where he fixed her up. She was able to swim and play and ride everything she wanted. If your doc has that option, it was worth it for us.

Good luck to your son. I hope he is able to ride all the rides he wants.

We got a waterproof cover that worked very well fwiw. I was bummed at first that our ortho didn't do waterproof liners, but ultimately it was fine.

The first cover we got was just really really tight; it was cutting off circulation just in the time of a shower so that wasn't fun. Then I got a thick blue one from amazon that had a little squeezy pump to pull out the air. About every hour we had him get out and dry his arm off, release the vacuum seal and then redo it, just to make sure.

We only did Jurassic (in terms of water rides). At UO we used the cover but at USH I hadn't thought about it, and I just wrapped my light waterproof rain jacket thing over it then put a sweatshirt over it and wished for the best. :). The ortho had explained that the new (non plaster) casts CAN get wet; they just take a long time to dry if they aren't the waterproof liners. But it didn't get wet.
 
FJ is fine as long as he can find a way to hold his arm. It's Dragon Challenge (and Hulk) that he absolutely can't ride.

We hit both USH and UO this summer after my kid broke radius and ulna and was in a 90 degree at the elbow cast up to his armpit, and those two were the only ones he was forbidden to ride.

He did take full advantage of the tester cars on RRR and FJ to see how he would position himself! And we brought our waterproof cast protector for the water rides.

Here is his cast to show you what he was dealing with. (I still cry when I see him in the cast, but even when he had it on he dealt with it soooo well, even though the actual timing of breaking his arm was horrible, since it kept him from performing in a closing show of a week-long tap dance convention) He was dealing with it so well he figured out how to play Transformers videogame at RPR's arcade.

View attachment 225100



Realized that one of the signatures was easily visible...in case you already noticed it...yes it says "this makes me happy". It was sort of a joke. The woman that wrote it is highly sarcastic; like she needs a warning label LOL. But at the same time, she broke BOTH of her arms at the *same time* when she was about 10 and living with her dad and stepmom. After the first bathroom visit with her stepmom awkwardly helping her, she decided she would do it all on her own. She kinda sorta feels that all kids should deal with adversity like that, to learn how to deal with life. So she kinda meant it, that it made her happy, because now he had to deal with adversity. But she's also massively sarcastic.

I was not unhappy when they changed that cast out a few weeks later...got old explaining that one!

I'm just shocked how grown up your son is now!!!

Still think of him as much younger with the picture of him in his Potter robes......he looks a fine young man.....

Sorry OT!
 
I'm just shocked how grown up your son is now!!!

Still think of him as much younger with the picture of him in his Potter robes......he looks a fine young man.....

Sorry OT!

He's a good kid. :). And he's around 5'8" now! And he's still only 12. Those robes go up to his knees now. :) My husband is facing the fact that DS will be taller than he is much sooner than expected...

I kinda stopped doing trip reports a few years back (not sure why), so it makes sense that his grownup-ness would be surprising!
 
Just echoing have him try the tester seat at FJ just to get an idea of how he should fold his arm in around the restraint. The loading for FJ is a moving walkway and kinda fast. We had my mom test the seat with her brace and she was glad she did because it took her a minute to figure out the best way to move her arm in and she would have been flustered if trying to figure that out while actually loading.

They will stop the ride if you need a little extra help with loading, but we wanted to avoid that altogether.
 














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