dd broke her leg

[keypooh90]

DD 12 JUST BROKE HER LEG yesterday ,and we are going to wdw in aweek. She is in a full leg cast from ankle to right past knee and is on crutches now with no weight bearing permitted and cannot be jostled around , and for disney should we rent a wheelchair?

 

[Talking Hands]

Most definately rent a wheelchair. Depending on her size I would rent offsite for a better fit. Crutches all day is not easy or fun.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

You are probably better off renting a wheelchair from off-site. When you talk to the rental companies tell them her weight and size, and what sort of position her leg is in. Also they can put a crutch holder on the wheelchair, so if she can use crutches for boarding or short periods they can be stored.

Here is information about companies which will rent wheelchairs:

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

Care Medical:
http://www.caremedicalequipment.com/
407-856-2273, Toll Free U.S and Canada (800) 741-2282

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

Colonial Medical
http://www.colonialmed.com/about_cms.html
800-747-0246

ScootAround
http://www.scootaround.com
Toll-free, US and Canada 888-441-7575

If you will be using Disney Transport, having a wheelchair should not be a problem.

If you will be using a car there are potential problems. Since you probably will not be able to get a handicap hang tag you will not be able to park in "medical parking". You can explain to the parking people that there is a wheelchair and they can give you a space right next to the tram boarding areas. She could then use the crutches to get on/off the tram and the folded up wheelchair can be taken on the tram.

As a last item, get the person who will be removing the cast to draw a line along the casrt where the cuts will be to take it off. Then get several "sharpies" at an office supply store. The characters will be more than willing to autograph the cast; just warn them not to sign across the drawn line. After the cast comes off she will have a very unusual souvenier of the trip.

 

[SueM in MN]

To add to the good information you already have, here's a link to a thread about boarding rides.
There are some rides that will probably not be possible for her since her leg is basically sticking straight out in front of her if she sits down. The boarding thread, plus this link to info on the official Disney site will help you figure out what she can do.
I'd suggest you carry some of whatever her doctor recommends for pain with you into the parks (even if she hasn't been using it); you don't want to be there and not have any if she does need it. Also, if she needs to lie down and rest for a while, each park has a great First Aid station with individual cubicles with cots.
I agree with the others that she will need a wheelchair. Just to go around WS in Epcot is more than a mile, so the distance involved in walking at WDW is going to be much more than she can handle on crutches. Renting from off-site will allow you to get a wheelchair that is the right size and also have one with an elevating footrest to support her leg. Of the ones that were listed, Care, Colonial and Walker are probably your best bets since they are full service medical supply businesses and some of the others are more geared to renting scooters.

If you are staying on site, you can use the busses, monorails and most of the boats with a wheelchair. It's highly recommended to use the bus to get to MK since, if you drive, you end up at the TTC and then have to take a monorail or boat to the park turnstiles. The buses let you off at the turnstiles.

 

[ugadog99]

I rented a child size wheelchair with elevated footrests and cruthholders from Walker's mobility. I already have a parking pass because my dad uses my car so much. Now what rides do you think would be to hard for her to ride, when she sits doen it sticks out. Also what about water rides I guess those are out and what about bording rides. She is in alot of pain now so would we park our wheel chair by the entrance of the riders and let her crutch in or would it be easier for her to just ride in her chair right down to the bording area ? Would rough rides cause more pain to her leg ?

 

[SueM in MN]

For MK, if you are staying on site, you are much better off using the bus. The handicapped parking there is quite a hike from the TTC. Once you get to the TTC, you still need to ride a boat or monorail to get to the park turnstiles. The bus actually drops you off right near the turnstiles.
If you are on-site, you may find it's easier to just use Disney transportation. Depending on your vehicle, it may be kind of difficult for her to get in and out of the car/van. Almost 100% of the Disney buses are wheelchair accessible and she could stay right in the wheelchair.
Water Rides
Splash Mountain would be very tight to get her in and sitting, plus the side of the car is high (to keep the riders in). Getting in involves a long step over the side to stand on the seat, then a step down to get the feet where they belong. Getting out is even harder. Most people don't get that wet, but there is always the "lucky" person who gets soaked.
Kali River Rapids would be fairly easy to get in and out, but you either get wet or soaked - and there is no way to tell who will get soaked, it depends on which way the boat floats

Boarding
I think she'd be better off staying in the wheelchair for waiting in line. That way, she would not have to worry about having room to manouver, people bumping her and possibly getting her off balance. Besides that, some of the lines don't look that long, but have a lot of queue that doesn't show on the outside of the building.
I posted a link to a thread about boarding further up that should be helpful. Here's
a link to some pictures of ride cars from Deb Wills site that might help you decide which ride cars will be a tight fit. You can get a hard copy of the Guidebooks with Guests for Disabilities at Guest Services in any of the parks. It's not very helpful about exact information, but does give a general idea of whether something is a quiet boat ride or a turbulent thrill ride. The CMs at Guest Services might also have some helpful hints about rides where someone with a full leg cast will fit better.

Rough Rides
Some rides will bounce your child's leg around quite a bit. Star Tours, Body Wars and Dinosauer would have enough room for a leg cast, but might be too rough. Kilamonjari Safari is like riding on rough roads. Tower of Terror might be a problem - during the ride up, her leg might be "floating" and then drop down (jarring it) when the car descends.

 

[ugadog99]

I have some more questions.

My friend took her son to wdw in an ankle cast and he had a waterproof cover so he could ride the waterrides. Does anyone have a link to a website where I could bye one of those?

Also is there an elevator at all of the exits to the Monorails?

Can you take prescribtion meds into the parks ? her painkiller is Rx strength Tyenol with Codine in it.

Thanks

 

[Figaro]

Hi, uggadog99!

Don't know about cover for the casts.

There are not elevators at the monorails at the Magic Kingdom. I know that people have said that they find the ramps there steep, but my spouse has told me that he doesn't find them all that bad.

There is an elevator at the monorail entrance/exit at Epcot. It is in the pillar (for lack of a better word)(smile) to the right up the ramp going up to the monorail.

You shouldn't have any problem taking prescription medications into the park with you. I would suggest that if you are flying you make sure all of the prescription medications are in a bottle with a pharmacy label. I have so many odd ones that I carry a letter from my physician with a list of the medications and the clinic phone number when I fly, but have never been asked for it.

 

[Talking Hands]

Go to any medical supply store or drugstore and you should be able to get a shower cover which could be used as well during water rides. Put it on just prior to the ride.

 

[mommytotwo]

I hope your daughter still has fun at WDW. Enjoy

 

[SueM in MN]

The monorail ramps take you from ground level up to the level of the monorail atation, so it's probably 20 feet up from the ground.
My educated guess is that if those stations were being built now, the slope (how steep they are) would not meet the ADA. A ramp is supposed to be 12-20 inches long for every inch that it goes up (so a ramp to go up a 6 inch step should be 6 feet long at a minimum). 12 inches is a fairly steep ramp. Our ramp to get into the house from the garage is a tiny bit steeper than that because we ran out of space. The ramps at the monorail are steeper than our home ramp, so I'm sure they are steeper than would be allowed to be built now. At the time they were built, there were no national standards though.

No one is likely to question your DD's pain meds. We bring in 2 bottles of pills for DD. No one has ever looked at the bottles to see what was in them. Especially if you have them in the original bottles.

For the water rides. Splash Mountain is going to be hard to get into the ride car. There is little room and I don' think a full leg cast will fit. We do lift DD (5 feet tall and 85 pounds) into Splash. She is relatively rigid in her hips and knees, but we do need to bend her legs to get her in.
For Kali River Rapids, the floor of the boat (sort of like a giant inner tube with seats around the inside edge) has some standing water in it and is slippery. When we rode, my mom got totally soaked - all her clothes, down to the underwear. She said it was like she got several large pails of water dumped right on her. DD was not able to hold her feet off the floor (there is a rail to put your feet on). Her shoes were soaked and her socks were wet enough to ring water out of them (even the part that was under her shoes).
As a nurse, I'd suggest asking your doctor about the "cast protectors" and water rides. If the outside of a plaster cast gets wet, it can weaken or crumble. If the inside padding gets wet, it can wad up and not protect the skin. That can cause pressure on the skin, leading to skin breakdown (sores). Also, if the padding gets wet, the moisture trapped in the padding can damage the skin and might lead to infection.

 

[Talking Hands]

Sue I was able to take a full bath with my cast protector on. It is a heavy weight plastic with a elastic top and then there is a velcro bad to put below that to further seal it. Only dampness my cast would get was from sweat.

 

[SueM in MN]

I'm glad your cast protector worked well for you. There are some that don't do so well. Since there are dangers to getting the cast wet, I felt I needed to mention them and suggest the OP refer it back to her doctor (hey, I'm a nurse, we are supposed to be paranoid about all the possible things that could happen. Part of the job.)

 

[keypooh90]

Thanks for yall's help! I have an appt. scheduled with her Orthopedist Monday for follow-up x-rays. I will ask him about the cast covers and water rides. I will also ask him which rough rides to avoid since she just broke her leg at dance rehersal 3 days ago and we leave for disney Thurs.


Also she is upset with me . She says people will stare at her in the WC and think she is faking. I told her it is for the best to keep her off her foot but she won't listen. She also is afraid her Dr. will say no rough rides and I told her there is more to disney then thrill rides and since we have Ap's we'll be back in December. But she said it will be boring riding "kiddie" rides and going to the shows rather then riding the coasters. How do i deal with this?

Also we are staying at Fort Wilderness and the transportation is a boat to get to the MK, would we be better off driving there?

Thanks again!

 

[SueM in MN]

Well, she might still be able to ride on some of the coasters (I don't think I'd try Rock N Roller Caoster though since it goes upside down). Disney used to have a FAQ on their official site about what rides had enough room for a leg cast. I'm pretty sure there were some coasters on the list (but you might have to be in a specific row). uest Services should be able tot help you.
There are quite a few people using wheelchairs at WDW, so she is not likely to get as many stares as she might think. There are some people who think anyone in a wheelchair is faking - my youngest DD is permanently disabled and can't walk, but we've heard people comment that they think she is faking if they see her sit on a bench next to her wheelchair. Anyone who thinks a person with a plaster cast on their leg is faking is pretty silly!
But, if your DD tries to walk all the time, she is going to be miserable and get tired much faster (so she'll enjoy even less). Maybe it would help her to think of how much she needs the wheelchair for you to compare the distance walking with something she might be familiar with. Like, do you have a mall or something familiar that's about 7 miles away? Ask if she thinks she'd be able to walk there every day for the next week. That's about how much she might be walking at WDW if she doesn't use a wheelchair. She will get a lot of attention from CMs and the characters and some pretty cool signatures on her cast.
Since your DD is interested in dance (at least I think she must be since she got hurt at dance), maybe this is a good trip to really take a look at how Disney is strcutured to entertain and all the people that it takes to do that - there are dancers in lots of the live shows. Or look for hidden Mickeys (they are all over). If she's at all into visual arts, this would be a good time to look at how the little touches all over lead to the overall feel of each park (for example, the signs at Tomorrowland are much different than the ones in Fantasyland; even the garbage cans are themed to where they are). If she has not been a picture taker before, this might be a good time for that. Maybe for capturing some of the small details she finds. If you haven't done Epcot passports before, this would be a good trip to do that. The CMs in each country will put a stamp in the passport and write something in their native language.

For getting to the parks, I have not stayed at FW, but have stayed at WL (they share the boat). I think you'd probably still be better off taking WDW transportation to MK Since the dock at MK is right near the turnstiles, but maybe you'll get some opinions from people who have stayed there.

 

[keypooh90]

Thanks for your ideas! I will talk to DD about them.

 

[SueM in MN]

here's some Pixie dust for you all to have a great trip, even if it's not the trip you planned!
Let us know how things went when you get back.