Hi guys! We are heading down to Orlando for Thanksgiving week. My mom just had a double knee replacement and is doing awesome. She is actually walking better then before she had them done. However, I did reserve an
ECV for the 3 days we will be at Universal. I have never used an ECV before so not sure how to navigate the lines and what-not. My mom should be ok with standing in line and is encouraged to walk as much as possible and she will be 8 weeks post-op when we go. Do we just park the ECV were you put a stroller?
Would appreciate any advice.
Thanks
One tip I have is make sure your mom has a cane handy. Yes the doctors will encourage her to walk but they're not thinking of standing in line 30-45 minutes or walking 300-500 feet at a time. That can get very hard on the knees, especially just 8 weeks out from replacement surgery. A cane for balance will help her maintain an even gait on her knees. That will reduce the muscle strain.
If she finds she really cannot manage a queue line, ask for some assistance at the ride entrance. When I go with my dad I have a powerchair (which is allowed in queues) but he has to park his
scooter outside. Some of those queues (like for Transformers) are really long. It's hard on his knees and back. So they'll have us wait closer to the entrance or take us in through an exit and wait to board there. Reduces his walking a lot.
The hardest ride for us is E.T. because I have to transfer to a manual chair and he has to push me through the queue line. Unfortunately the ride vehicle can only take a manual chair and there's no room to leave a powerchair inside. We only do that ride once per trip.
Last tip, for MIB, make sure you ask if the ADA elevator is working. It can break down at any time and if it does, the only way to board is to go down a flight of stairs in a somewhat long queue.
Contrary to what I thought before last year, I find Universal is actually very friendly toward mobility disabled. You may not be able to go on every ride, but the staff really do try to help when they can.
Oh one more bonus tip, buy a set of battery-powered LED light strings from
Amazon. Use them to light up the scooter at night. It helps make it visible to pedestrians who may otherwise ignore it and trip over it. My dad uses a set in his basket up front and one along the back of his seat. They take 3 AA batteries and last for days. My last batch of lights was this one:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016IB3OIO/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&th=1 (I like the remote control and multi function lights.)
