DH fractured his foot and our trip is in 5 weeks!!

[lisagirl88]

DH fractured his foot this week and will be in a boot type cast for our trip. Right now he is on crutches. Any advice from anyone who has been in a foot cast for disney? We have 4 kids, 2 of which are twin toddlers who will be in a double stroller so I'm not quite sure how I would push a wheelchair and a stroller. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

[jmartinez1895]

He may want to consider renting an ECV to use. He can try one out at a store like wal mart ( I have heard the Disney ones are different, but he can at least get the idea). I have also heard many people recommend renting from an off side company.

 

[motherwild]

I would suggest renting an ECV off site. That way your husband could have it to use outside the parks.

 

[ttintagel]

I actually broke my foot while I was at the resort!

I second the recommendation of an ECV. Unless yournd husband has much greater than usual upper body strength, all the hills and ramps in the park make a manual chair kind of impractical unless there's an able-bodied person to push it 24/7. With you pushing the stroller, he'd be left to struggle up the ramps himself.

I'm assuming the cast is one of those nylon-and-Velcro removable ones, so you won't have to worry about getting it wet.

Is he able to take a certain number of steps without crutches? If not, you may still want to bring a pair along. Some rides have the loading area quite a ways away from where you have to leave your ECV. Usually, they have a couple of manual wheelchairs you can transfer into to get up to the laoding ares, but then you're back to worrying about ramps. (I'm thinking specifically of Pirates of the Caribbean here.)

If you're flying, you may want to use one of the airport's manual wheelchairs and ask for help from a skycap (bring cach for a tip).

 

[bopper]

Like others say, get the ECV.

Here is a great trip report from someone who went who was temporarily disabled.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?threadid=465756&perpage=15&pagenumber=1

 

[OneLittleSpark]

Yup, seconding (or thirding, forthing or fifthing) the idea of getting an ECV. I know it can be a scary prospect, especially when you have kids to look after too, but your trip will be so much better with a set of wheels. I've been a wheelchair user for about 5 years now, but have been using chairs at Disney for a lot longer because of my dodgy joints, and I've never found anywhere better than Disney at wheelchair access .

As others have said, renting from off-site is the best plan, as it usually works out cheaper; he'll have it to use at the hotel, Downtown Disney, etc; and they're usually easier to drive. You can get crutch-holders added to the ECV, so he can have them with him to use for boarding rides, and to get around some of the smaller shops.

The first time you go to each park, make sure you pick up the disability guide map. On the regular maps you will find little logos showing the access for each attraction (e.g. whether he will be able to stay in the ECV, will need to transfer to a wheelchair, etc), but the disability guide maps give you extra information on where to queue with a wheelchair / ECV.

I hope this helps get you started, but do come back and ask any further questions you have.

Have a great trip!

 

[SueM in MN]

To add to the other information posted, check out the disABILITIES FAQs thread, which is near the top of this board or you can use the link in my signature to get there.

Post 2 of that thread has information about renting ECVs. Post one of the thread is an index that tells you which post contains which information.

 

[LockShockBarrel]

Well I know someone else uses this line a lot but I'll give it a shot.

Ask him to pick a spot about a mile from your house and ask him if he thinks he could walk there and back. Then ask him if he thinks he can do it 4 times. I don't know anyone who would say yes while using crutches unless they were very very very accustomed to using them. Even taking it easy and taking frequent breaks, I think he'd be asking for trouble trying to get by with just the crutches. You may have to finagle things a bit as far as figuring out how to stay together with the stroller and ECV without running each other over, but I think this would be a better option that a sore cranky husband

 

[SueM in MN]

Well I know someone else uses this line a lot but I'll give it a shot.

Ask him to pick a spot about a mile from your house and ask him if he thinks he could walk there and back. Then ask him if he thinks he can do it 4 times. I don't know anyone who would say yes while using crutches unless they were very very very accustomed to using them. Even taking it easy and taking frequent breaks, I think he'd be asking for trouble trying to get by with just the crutches. You may have to finagle things a bit as far as figuring out how to stay together with the stroller and ECV without running each other over, but I think this would be a better option that a sore cranky husband

 

[LockShockBarrel]

Hahah I'm such a nerd, I love getting approval from Mods and legendary posters!