Crutches/Broken Ankle

[Tigger22]

Hi,

I was hoping someone has gone through this situation and can give me a little advice.

DH & I were down in WDW in 2004, when he was recovering from (planned) ankle surgery. We rented an ECV and it worked out well - but he was also able to walk for short distances in his walking boot (so he could get off it and onto a ride without too much trouble).

Last July, DH fell of a ladder and broke both bones in his lower leg/ankle area. It was pretty bad. We had hoped by now that he would have been able to put some weight on it, but he still isn't able to. We go on our annual trip to WDW the second week in March...and we're hoping he'll be able to at least put a little weight on it by then, but he will definitely be more dependent on crutches when he gets off the ECV. He doesn't want to cancel the trip, realizing that we'll have to skip some of our fav rides, but I'm even wondering how he'd get on something like IASW with crutches - or if we'd even have to forgo even something like that. He does have the walking boot and not a cast, so I'm not worried about getting anything wet. I just wonder how you'd could get down into a boat seat using crutches.

Anyone have any experience with this type of a situation? Any feedback/ideas would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Hi and ti disABILITIES!

First, I would suggest renting the ECV from an off-site vendor. Tell them you will need a crutch holder and the type of crutches. Most will have a one-time add-on charge of about $10.00 for the crutch holder.

Some of the boat rides, such as IASW, have special accessible boats. These have a ramp that starts at dock level in the rear and then slope down to the front. He may be able to walk down the ramp. However, there is the possibility that either he could take the ECV onto the boat, parking it on the ramp, or they will have a "loaner" wheelchair at the dock so he can transfer from the ECV to the wheelchair and then stay in the wheelchair in the boat.

 

[Tigger22]

Thank you! It's nice to know they have those accessable boats on IASW. I don't think I noticed the last time, because he was able to get off the ECV at the bottom of the ramp and climb aboard a regular boat. And thanks for telling me about the crutches holder. I just kept picturing myself hauling around the crutches like I have to do for him now every time we go to the store and he rides in one of their "vehicles". I get a lot of strange looks when I'm walking in another part of the store than he is, carrying crutches with me. I tell you, I have a new found respect for people who have to deal with these issues daily after what we've been through the past 5 months.

We did rent the ECV off-site in 2004 and it was the BEST - so I planned to do it again. The only sore spot with it was that it had this little squeaky horn on it that DH enjoyed annoying the heck out of me with !!!!!!!!!!

Thanks again - you've made me feel so much better.

 

[SueM in MN]

There is also an Epcot FAQs thread that has information and pictures about most of the Epcot attractions. I haven't finished the other parks yet, but hope to start on the next park before the end of the month.

 

[MaxsDad]

We will be in the same situation when we go in a week that you were in the first time. DW has a tear in her knee (in addition to my recently diagnosed herniated disk) so a lot of walking really causes pain in her knee. I was thinking about just renting a regular wheelchair and using it to get around the park, but I think she can get around in small distances, and getting on most rides shouldn't be a problem, although knowing that about the boats is really helpful because she was worried about those and the ones with the moving platforms.

I know this may sound silly but should I be worried about leaving a wheelchair outside a ride or is it pretty much like a stroller?

My other big concern was getting around in the stores since DW is a big shopper. I think I was going to plan on using the chair to go from one area in the park to another (from tomorrowland to fantasyland), park it at a ride with the strollers and then explore the area a little.

My other concern is that someone will see her walking around then getting in a wheelchair and say something, but that I could care less about.

 

[mechurchlady]

Make sure the chair is marked in some way to make it unique. People in a hurry will grab the first chair they see sometimes. You may park the wheelchair is stroller parking or as a CM tells you and do feel free to ask them.

It is a long long way on many attractions from where you park stuff and actually plopping into the ride vehicle. The Haunted Mansion at DLR was openend in 1969 and even then Disney had learned how to hide long lines. Disney is very adept at hiding lines so that eveything seems a short wait but then OMG all them people. Toy Story Mania standby line is a long twisting line that packs people in and the fastpass line is clear across the building. Lines may seen short until you get in them. There can be delays that will make tht short line end up with a 30 minute wait.

Use the chair around the parks to save her strength. Then you can take her in the shops and she can walk around until she needs to plop. I rarely if ever have heard of people dealing with people asking why a person uses an ECV or wheelchair only part time. Most people are too busy running around to care about what other guests do. Do not worry about what other people will think but instead have fun. If they give you a weird look or say something then you can ignore them, give them a polite explanation or a smart reply. I suggest those in taht order, lol.

 

[MaxsDad]

Make sure the chair is marked in some way to make it unique. People in a hurry will grab the first chair they see sometimes. You may park the wheelchair is stroller parking or as a CM tells you and do feel free to ask them.

It is a long long way on many attractions from where you park stuff and actually plopping into the ride vehicle. The Haunted Mansion at DLR was openend in 1969 and even then Disney had learned how to hide long lines. Disney is very adept at hiding lines so that eveything seems a short wait but then OMG all them people. Toy Story Mania standby line is a long twisting line that packs people in and the fastpass line is clear across the building. Lines may seen short until you get in them. There can be delays that will make tht short line end up with a 30 minute wait.

Use the chair around the parks to save her strength. Then you can take her in the shops and she can walk around until she needs to plop. I rarely if ever have heard of people dealing with people asking why a person uses an ECV or wheelchair only part time. Most people are too busy running around to care about what other guests do. Do not worry about what other people will think but instead have fun. If they give you a weird look or say something then you can ignore them, give them a polite explanation or a smart reply. I suggest those in taht order, lol.

Thanks,
I had planned on putting something on the chair,like a ribbon or something. Its funny, we go to Disney just about every year and never really thought about how long the actual distances inside are. Two reasons I suppose, like you said, Disney does a good job with themeing the lines and we never had to consider it before.

And I wasn't too concerned with what people might say, just something in the back of my mind.

 

[mechurchlady]

Until I saw the following video I did not have any idea just how long the line for Toy Story Mania is for FastPass let alone standby. Along the left wall is fastpas and at the place where the line goes left is a place where disabled go right. Watch teh video and you can see how far it is with a fastpass ot the place where they hand out glasses which is where disabled go right. A long ways but not from the outside.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUjbI_P0k6E

At DLR they put a second story onto the wait line for the Jungle Cruise and built a an extended wait area in front of Pirates. Indiana Jones at DLR requires getting to the main show building which is clear under the railroad and out to the parking lot nearly. Yep a long way. They took their DLR tricks over ot WDW and other parks, lol.

Youtube is a good place for line info.
Small World at WDW on a slow day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XT9nbEoksVs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5GULVWwL9A
Philharmagic on a very slow day.