do you go on rides? which are your favs?

[brat]

I was talking with both disabiled and ablied friends about going to Disney and we talked about how many of us do not ride anything but the monorail. As a C6-7 spinal cord injury, my transfer skills are slow. I do not ride the rides.

 

[peemagg]

I ride everything I can. This past trip was the first time I ever needed to have rides slowed or stopped for me. The CM's were great.

I really think that if you can do the transfer, you should try Soarin. It is a very gentle ride that I bet you will love if you tried it.

 

[brat]

It has been many years since DH or I have been to WDW and we have been offered a medial helper for this trip. We just talked them and are thinking we may get to do more than we ever have at a theme park.It is cool that they are willing to help our kids have a great time, we were shocked when they said they would help DH or I with transfers if we wanted to ride with the kids.

The home health staff were very friendly over the phone. DH and I have the same PC doc and he wrote a care order for both of us for while we are on vacation.We normally pay out of pocket for home health when we travel because we normally to not get to use the same company as we use at home. Found out from home health nurse that company has office close to Disney and we could get service from them while there. When friends could not come with us we were debating not going to WDW.

 

[KPeveler]

There are many rides that you can take a powerchair right on. In general, only one wheelchair can be on the ride at a time, but you can ride many things without having to transfer. Jungle Cruise, Tiki Room (show), Philharmagic (show), Small World, Winnie the Pooh, Carousel of Progress (show), Monsters Inc Laugh Floor (show), Buzz Lightyear, Hall of Presidents (show), Liberty Bell steamboat... and that is just Magic Kingdom. I do all these things without ever leaving my wheelchair!

There are a ton of things you can do without transferring in Epcot (and i suggest trying Soarin too - very gentle and a fairly easy transfer) too. Lots of shows which require no transfer (American Pavilion, Mexico, China, Canada, France all have shows).

I have very delicate joints and neck problems ranging from C5-C6 to S1... so I am a mess and I still manage to do all kinds of things.

 

[SueM in MN]

If you check out post #3 of the disABILITIES FAQs thread, scroll around almost all the way to the bottom and look for eternaldisneyfan’s trip report. Both she and her sister have muscular dystrophy and use power wheelchairs. They went on quite a few rides that you might not think of. There are some other links in that general area that have hints for wheelchair users.

You can find the disABILITIES FAQs thread near the top of this board or follow the link in my signature to get there.

On page 2 of that thread, posts 18, 19, 20 and 21 indicate which attractions have wheelchair accessible ride cars.
Although Soarin’ doesn’t have a wheelchair car, it is a very easy transfer and a gentle ride, as was mentioned by the others. If you look in the EPCOT FAQs thread near the top of this board, there is further information about access - including some picture montages that show things like the seats for Soarin.

My daughter has cerebral palsy and can’t walk or stand. She has been on everything except the roller coasters - Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Expedition Everest, Rock N Roller Coaster. Some are easier to get on than others and, even though she is small and light (5 feet tall and about 85 pounds), we do use the wheelchair cars whenever possible.
There is one ride I would absolutely recommend against for anyone without functioning legs - that ride is Primeval Whirl. It is deceptive because it looks pretty mild, but it really bounces you around. Not having ability to use her legs to brace herself, my daughter was slid way down in the seat by the time the ride ended - she had the waist bar almost tight under her arms. SO, that’s a never again ride.