Can this work?

[alizesmom]

We are planning a WDW vacation in Nov 2011. We are also hoping to rent or borrow a motor home and stay at the campgrounds. What I need to know is how accessible are the campgrounds. We will be traveling with our 2 children who will be 6 and 5 at the time. The 6yr old is in a wheelchair, trached, feeding tube and ventilator when sleeping. The 5yr old is in a wheelchair, trached, feeding tube and seizures. Will it be easy to push their chairs around the campgrounds? How easy will it be to get them to and from the parks? Should we be concerned about power outages and the ventilator? Where should we request to be parked (we may possibly bring our medium sized dog). Using a motor home would make our lives so much easier since we have to pack so many medications, cans of formula, diapers and medical equipment that I am praying this will work. Help. Karen

 

[DaveInTN]

I can tell you that the campground roads are all paved, and the sidewalks are all concrete. I see lots of folks getting around nicely in scooters...and have also seen some wheelchairs. I don't think you would have an issue getting around. When you make a reservation, make sure you note your mobility concerns and ask for a site that is in close proximity to a bus stop. The buses are of course all accessible, so you would be able to get from your campsite to anywhere in the Fort, and also transfer to any park or DTD bus from there.

There is a frequent poster on the camping boards that travels quite a bit to the Fort with their adopted and foster special needs children. They have mobility issues and utilize wheelchairs, so hopefully they see this and comment. Their username is Retired and Happy, in case you want to PM them with specific questions.

As far as your question on electricity...the electrical service at the Fort is all modern, with both 30 and 50 amp hookups. But of course, as with any electrical service, there is the risk of an outage. Does the motorhome you will be traveling in have an onboard generator? If so, make sure your fuel tanks are topped off before checking into the Fort. In the event of a power outage, you could always fire up the generator to ensure you can power the ventilators. Keep in mind, I have never dealt with a ventilator so I am speaking just from my experience with powering non-critical devices. I don't want to steer you wrong on something so critical, so hopefully someone with more relevant experience will chime in.

 

[DebbieT11]

Wow - what wonderful memories this trip will make for your children!! I don't think that getting around the Fort will be a challenge.... it'll be magical!

My only percieved glitch would be getting in and out of the motorhome you rent..... and given their ages, that won't be a huge problem, I'm betting.... you go, and make those memories for your family!!

 

[SandrA9810]

You'll have an easy peasy time. The fort is the only place where you don't need any special accommodations for being handicap.

Disney has it's own power supply, and very rarely does the power ever go out on property. The power is still shared with the local utility companies, but there's plenty to go around. But I'd take in Dave's advice about the on board generator. Although I'd assume some of the medical equipment has some sort of back up battery for short term use, enough time to get the generator started.

Retired and Happy have made many wonderful trips to the fort with their kids. If I'm not mistaken, they have 3 in wheelchairs.

All Disney buses are handicap accessible. Although the newer ones (the ones that are more box like) sit lower on the ground and easier for wheelchairs. There's a ramp that just folds out the back door. The older buses (think more classic city bus style), are higher up, the back steps flatten out and turn into a wheelchair lift. So you'd only be able to load one at a time. And the newer buses can accommodate up to 3 wheelchairs per bus, older buses only two.
The large ferry that takes you to the Magic Kingdom allows for wheelchairs on board, I think I've seen up to 4 on at once. Because the water levels vary from time to time, you'll have to wait till so many people board for it to sink low enough to dock level, and you'll have to wait till so many people exit for it to rise high enough to dock level. But the boat crew will help with the load and unloading to make sure you can get off.
Or if you are staying on the Orange route, after the bus stops at the Settlement, it will continue on to the Wilderness Lodge, from there you can get another bus to the Magic Kingdom. Sometimes this is faster than the boat, sometimes not. But I do it when it's cold out and I don't want to be on the water freezing.

If you're planning on making character dining reservations at other resorts, like at the Poly or Contemp, you will need to take the bus/boat to the Magic Kingdom, and hop on the monorail from there. The little launch boats won't hold a wheelchair.

The 900 or 1000 loop would be excellent for you, and the 900 is pet friendly. It's right across from the meadows trading post and campfire program. Plus it's a fairly short walk to the Settlement from there. And it's on the Orange bus route. The problem with the preferred loops, 100-300 is there's no bus stops because they are so close to the settlement, which might make getting around a little harder. Like if you want to get to the Outpost, you'll have to go over to the Settlement Bus stop then hop a bus to the outpost.
Although, for traveling to Epcot, you might want to take the bus to the Wilderness Lodge, the bus stops there first before going on to pick up the guest at Ft Wilderness. Since you'll be taking up 2 wheelchair spots, you'll more likely have a chance at getting on the first bus that shows. I don't think Studios or DAK share a bus with WL.

Any time you're waiting for a bus, and there's not enough space available for the wheelchairs, they'll notify base to say "I'm here, but I can't load this family with wheelchairs, please send a second bus". Not always, but most the time another bus will show up rather quickly than the standard time between buses.

All the comfort stations are handicap accessible, with one shower stall for a roll in wheelchair, a fold down bench, and a handheld shower head. I don't know how well equipped your MH is, so there are other options. The only problem with this stall, is the lack of space to put your belongings like clean clothes and towels, off the floor.

When you're in the parks, you may also utilize the First Aid Stations. There's one located inside each park. I've used the one at the Magic Kingdom with my brother, he has a feeding tube, so it was much easier to deal with it there. Plus they have everything you need for cleaning up too. I've never met a grumpy or not so nice nurse. They're all RNs, and most of them have been with the company for 10-15-some of them 20+ years. Those spots don't open up too often. Plus they have beds, kind of like doctor's office table, which makes changing diapers a whole lot easier. The ones located in the Restrooms can be way too small for an older child. Plus it can be a nice quiet break time for the kids. We headed in right as the rain was starting (I took them May of 2009, the dreaded dreary wet non-stop raining month), and waited it out for a while. The nurse stayed and chit chatted with us for a bit, and told us we could stay as long as needed. We did a feeding/diaper change. They also have fridges there, if you need to keep any medicine cold, and you don't always plan on going back to the site for that.

There's also the disABILITY board, don't know if you've checked that board out yet, but lots and lots of helpful information for touring the parks. And don't worry, the campgrounds will be just as enjoyable as any other resort. Don't let any one talk you out of it.

 

[SandrA9810]

BTW, don't be afraid to book character dining meals. It's a good time for interactions with the characters. But you don't have to pay for the kids if they're on the feeding tube. When I took my brother, I stayed at POP with the dining plan.

When I made the reservation, I told them that he was on the feeding tube so I didn't need him on the dining plan. The lady was very very helpful, she booked the reservations with just the other people in the room. Even though all the special accommodations were made from my brother. She stated that I would add him to the reservation/room upon check in, because we'd be 4 adults in the room, there was the additional charge to think about.
Once you are checking in, they can't make any changes to the reservation, I could add him to the room, but it wouldn't add him to the dining plan. The lady was very very nice and said "well he doesn't need a key card right? so don't even worry about it". What was even better, the only handicap room available had a king size bed, so they gave us the joining room for free since there was 4 of us total. My mom and brother got the king bed, me and kari got the second room with the double beds, and we prefer a much colder room too. So it worked out amazing that weekend... besides the non stop rain.

We did two character meals, Crystal Palace and Chef Mickey's. Both times, I just stated, he's on a feeding tube. No other questions were asked, and we were never billed for him just being there.

 

[SandrA9810]

I noticed in your other topic about using the MH for getting around. I think you'll find it much easier to use the Disney Buses. Because you'll need to unhook everything before pulling out and rehook the lines when you return. The water/sewer lines, the electrical hook ups, the cable, the stabilizer jacks, and whatever else you have set up.

MK is always easiest by the boat/bus method I mentioned about. The parking at other parks really isn't all the much closer to the main entrance than the bus drop off area.

You will also notice, there's a separate line for wheelchairs. It'll be at the back end of the line, and the bus drivers will always load you first prior to the other guests. Trust me, you'll get the roll of the eyes, the snide comments, and generally rude guests that think they should be higher priority. Been there, done that... Don't let it get to you. You've probably had a much longer and harder day taking care of your children, than they have with their bratty/snowflake 5yr old. I hope you never meet a rude guest, but it can happen. Of course I've spent a lot more time at Disney, so I've had more opportunities to hear it.

Sorry, I don't know how many trips to Disney you've made with your kids or what routes you've been down before. These are just some of the things I've encountered with my brother, or seen other guest deal with.

 

[retired and happy]

Karen,

Yes, we do currently have three wheelchairs and stay at FW for three weeks every year around Christmas/New Years. Lately we've also made a shorter summer trip since we have AP's and we might as well use them.

We have had as many as four wheelchairs and a stroller. That many does cause some problems for Disney transportation (not to mention pushing that many), but they still have one bus capable of up to five chairs that can be called on special order. You have gotten some very good info here already so I won't repeat everything that's already been said.

We never drive to any of the parks, but make an occasional trip "outside" for groceries, medicines, or a very occasional hospital visit. Arnold Palmer Childrens' Hospital is in Orlando for anything major and there are care centers and first aid stations around for lesser problems.

Because of caring for the kids, most of our transportation to and from parks is not during the heavy travel periods, so crowding on busses is not usually a problem. You will need to take one bus to the Outpost and transfer to a park bus, especially for AK, DHS, DTD, and water parks. We have occasionally had to take two busses to the AK and DHS parks, but the newer 3-chair busses make this less likely in the future. We use the boat to MK and if we're going to EPCOT, we use the boat to MK and the monorail to EPCOT. Coming back from EPCOT we usually take the monorail to the TTC then take the ferryboat to MK and either go into MK or take the boat back to FW. This gives the kids more variety and our oldest loves the ferryboat.

When we ride the busses back from parks we go to the appropriate bus stop and line up street-side of the normal queue where the driver can see us as the bus approaches. When I catch the driver's eye, I hold up fingers for the number of chairs in our party. On VERY rare occasions we have had to split our party or wait on the next bus. We have on a couple of occasions gotten the snide remarks from somewhere in the crowd about preferential treatment, but we ignore the ignorance of the offender. If they had to live a day in the conditions of our kids I'm SURE they would never repeat those remarks. MOST of the time we get great support from the CM's and the other visitors.

We have children on feeding pumps, oxygen, pulse-ox monitors, suction equipment, nebulizer breathing treatments, one trached, etc. We have been to FW for about 12 years and have never experienced a power outage there. If we did, we would just fire up the genny for what would most likely be a short term use. And as someone said, at least some of the equipment had battery backup. We have never used a ventilator, so I can't speak for that, but we have seen a few portable units on wheelchairs in the parks.

We tow a small cargo trailer for the wheelchairs, extra oxygen tanks, formula, golf cart, etc. While at the fort, we keep the wheelchairs outside under the awning, and sometimes under a tarp if rainy weather threatens.

For the size of our children we have installed a chair lift on the side of our MH, but you should have little trouble moving yours as needed. FW has great sidewalks and streets, both around the campground and in the loops and campsites. There is a lot to see and do there even for the special needs children to enjoy at whatever level they are capable. And in case you need a pet loop, contrary to a previous posting, the 300 loop (preferred - pet loop) does have a bus stop that is shared with the 500 loop (premium-also pet loop). As posted the 100-200 loops do not have a dedicated bus stop, but use the settlement stop. Other bus stops are shared among a couple of loops which are right across the street from each other.

OK, I have rambled enough, but want to add that we could not travel with our children without our motorhome. And we would never consider staying anywhere at WDW except FW for that reason. To move the necessary equipment in and out of other hotel type resorts (we've had to do this at a couple of motels in the past) would make the trip a whole lot less enjoyable and we would not have the outdoor space, facilities, and amenities to enjoy like we do at the Fort. If you have access to a motorhome, I'm sure your prayers are already being answered. Have a great trip and keep posting here about your preparations and travel!

 

[retired and happy]

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[retired and happy]

Karen (alizesmom)...PM sent.