Broken leg

[cdrn1]

We (a party of four adult women) leave for WDW on Friday. This trip has been planned for months. Two weeks ago my sister broke her leg. She saw an orthopod a few days ago who decided not to cast it because of where the break is, and she needs to keep it elevated. We decided to go anyway. Now here are some questions: We are staying at CBR. Are there any wheelchairs for rent at the resorts? How many do the parks have? Do we stand a decent chance of getting one there? If she is in a WC, will she be separated from the rest of us when we go on a ride? Or will our whole party be kept together? Which rides are accessible? (We are planning MK and Epcot visits.) She can't put any weight on it at all, and it can't be "jostled" around. The last question: Are we crazy to still try and go?
Thanks for your help.

 

[cbrfan]

Ouch! It's my understanding that wheelchairs are complimentary at the resorts. But it's first come, first serve. Same story for the the chairs at the parks. I think in your sister's case it would be wise to contract for one from an offsite company. I know Walker Mobility is one. Others on this board can give you other names and recommendations. As far as rides go, I had a badly broken leg (broken in 4 places between the knee and ankle) a couple of years ago. The rides are going to be a problem. And if the parks are busy there's going to be jostling. There are some rides with full wheelchair access, but keeping the leg elevated....I'm not so sure about room. She'll be sitting alot of things out, but with some planning you may make it work.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

You may be better off renting an ECV, as pushing a wheelchair can get very tiresome, especially if you are not used to it. Also it depends on the weight of the passenger and the condition of the pusher(s). Some information for off-site rentals are:

Here are the urls:

Care Medical:
http://www.caremedicalequipment.com/

Walker Mobility:
1-888-726-6837
www.walkermobility.com

RANDY'S Mobility is in Kissimmee 407-892-4777
http://randysmobility.com/

Colonial Medical
http://www.colonialmed.com/about_cms.html

I have used Walker a few times. They will ask for a credit card and charge it the day before arrival. They will deliver the ECV to your hotel bell services before your arrival and pick it up there after your departure. Their rates, especially for longer than a week, are much better than Disney's. Also, their scooters are much better.

You don't say if you are renting a car or what. If you are using a car for getting around, the ECVs break down into five pieces, the heaviest about 39 pounds. They take about a minute or so to take apart and about two minutes (once you are used to it) to put it together.

Another suggestion is find out your state's requirements for a termporary disabled hang tag and get the paper work and have your doctor sign off on it. The tag will allow you to use any of the handicap parking areas (which will be a necessity). Also, with the policy of charging for valet parking, with a handicap hang tag the fees will be waived. Also the valets will usually volunteer to assist in loading/unloading an ECV. In Virginia I printed the required form from the DMV website. When I took the completed form to the DMV Office it took less than 15 minutes from the time I walked in until I had my tag.

If you get a cast, you might want to have the person who puts it on you draw a line with a marker where it will be sawn off. Then bring a "Sharpie" type marker pen with you and have the Characters sign the cast. Warn them when signing to not cross the line. After the cast is removed you will have an interesting souvenier.

You can use a bungee cord to help keep crutches on the EVC or wheelchair. Usually it would be a short walk with the crutches from the wheelchair or EVC.

Good luck and let us know what finally happens.

 

[SueM in MN]

You will need a wheelchair full time, so renting one at the parks or getting one first come first served at the resort will not do the trick. In order to elevate her foot, you will need a wheelchair with elevating footrests. I know most of the park rental one I have seen have swing away footrests, not elevating ones. You will be able to get an elevating footrest one from any of the offsite rental places.
An ecv would be nice for getting around, but there is no arrangement that I know of for elevating either foot. They have sort of a flat "floor" for you to place your foot on.
My DD's manual wheelchair has been on all the rides where you can stay in the wheelchair. Some of them don't have a lot of room in front and I'm not sure they would accomidate a wheelchair with the footrest elevated. Here is some information I copied from the official Disney Website about rides that have extra room and could accomodate someone in a full leg cast. I know she doesn't have one, but the extra room info is the important part:

Magic Kingdom
Walt Disney World Railroad **
The Jungle Cruise (may be hard to get on)
Liberty Belle Riverboat **
"it's a small world" **
Cinderella's Golden Carrousel
The ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter **
The Timekeeper ** (not sure it's open)
Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress **
"The Enchanted Tiki Room Under New Management" **
Country Bear Jamboree **
The Diamond Horseshoe Revue **
The Hall of Presidents **
Legend of the Lion King **

Epcot
Ellen's Energy Adventure (Universe of Energy) **
Cranium Command (Wonders of Life) **
The Making of Me (Wonders of Life) **
El Rio del Tiempo (Mexico) **
Wonders of China **
The American Adventure **
America Gardens Theater **
Impressions de France **
O Canada! **
Honey I Shrunk the Audience **
The Living Seas **
Living with the Land (The Land) **
Food Rocks (The Land) **

Disney-MGM Studios
The Hunchback of Notre Dame **
Muppet*Vision 4D **
Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular **
Sounds Dangerous **
Disney's Doug Live **
Backlot Tour **
Backstage Pass Walking Tour **
Voyage of the Little Mermaid **
Bear in the Big Blue House, Live on Stage **
The Magic of Disney Animation **
The Great Movie Ride **
Beauty and the Beast, Live on Stage **
Fantasmic! **

Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park
Pangani Forest Exploration Trail **
Wildlife Express to Conservation Station **
Conservation Station **
It's Tough to be a Bug **
Safari Village Trails **
Festival of the Lion King **
Pocahontas and Her Forest Friends **
Maharajah Jungle Trek **
Flights of Wonder **
Tarzan Rocks! **
I deleted the rides that I know would jostle her (like Star Tours) and I included the other parks in case you decide to visit them. I marked a double star ** for the attractions where she could stay in a wheelchair. I think all those rides would accomidate an elevated footrest. Your party will be able to board together; usually they say a party of up to five plus the guest in the wheelchair can stay together. in most cases, you will be waiting in the regualr line anyway.

 

[cdrn1]

Thank you for your tips and concern. We are back from a glorious five day trip. The CBR gave us a wheelchair at checkin that worked out great for the most part--we put a crutch under the leg to elevate it. She was fairly comfortable. She rode quite a few things. The last day there she rented a scooter and what a difference!!! She felt less dependent on us, and less of a burden (which I tried to assure her she was NOT!) A high-point for me was in Germany at Epcot, I was in a shop browsing, and I just happened to glance up and see her go zooming by outside. It struck me so funny that I just busted out laughing and a CM came over and asked me if I needed help!

 

[SueM in MN]

Glad to hear you had such a good time. Thanks for posting.

 

[seashoreCM]

Just because the ride is accessible and has space for an outstretched cast does not mean you can ride it. If the leg should not be jostled, you need to find out what rides have violent changes in motion, for example Dinosaur: Countdown to Extinction. Consult your doctor since each person's disablity is unique.

You can also ask about sections or vehicles that don't move as violently, I am told that Hanna Barbera at USF has one car that stays still.

Try to get a temporary handicapped car placard, but even without one, the CM in a parking lot looking in the car window and seeing the cast might be nice and direct you to a preferred parking space.

More Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

Those blown glass souvenirs in the gift shops are extremely difficult to transport home without breakage. In reality each needs a unique carefully engineered packing process. Most people don't know that, they just wrap it in soft paper and jostling in transit causes even the folds of tissue paper to press against and snap off something from the souvenir.

 

[SueM in MN]

To paraphrase one of my favorite lines from "Jurassic park", "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should."
The offical Disney site DID include some rides with violent motion in the list of rides with extra room that would accomidate a cast. I deleted those out in the list I posted. The ones that I left in are basically pretty tame rides that would not jerk anyone around.They are shows or rides that move you along on a level plane, fairly slowly.

The Hanna Barbera show at universal is basically a theater with floor sections that move. Wheelchair users are parked in an area that doesn't move at all. We thought it was pretty boring, especially since my DD is able to handle and likes wild rides. The whole theater is visible, so she could see other people moving around when her area just sat still.