family vacation trip with 5 out of 6 people disabled

[SueM in MN]

To help people sort it out, I'm going to list what I have figured out so far and you can let me know if this is correct:

1. A 5 yr old girl with Autism, Epilepsy, Cerebral Palsy, visually impaired and Ectodermal Dysplasia (doesn't sweat). Have a special needs stroller
2. A 10 yr old boy with Autism, Hypotonia, Hole in heart, Ectodermal Dysplasia. ? share a stroller with the other child that holds up to 170 pounds?
3. My brother with Diabetes, rent an ECV in the park
4. my Stepmom with Mobility issues (will use a ECV) rent an ECV in the park
5. my Dad (stroke patient will use a ECV). you wrote rent an ECV in the park
6. myself.

You also wrote:

• We will be renting 2 cars from hertz or avis or somewhere
• We will renting the ECV's from the Parks so no need to transport them.
• mobility: we will be bringing a special needs stroller, and a wheelchair.
• which means we will be renting 3 ecv's.
• Except for my dad they can walk for short distances. My dad can only pivot and weight bear on his right leg.
• The stroller we have fits up to 170 lbs so I will be pushing the kids together in one stroller.

I'm confused if you mean you have one stroller that will hold 170 pounds or if you have 2 strollers (1 that is a special needs single stroller and 1 that is a double). I would not want to push 2 children with autism in on stroller together, especially if it is a single stroller and you will have the 2 squished in together.

If your dad can't walk and can only pivot and bear weight on his right leg, I'm not sure how you plan for him to get from the parking area into the park?
Is that what the wheelchair is for?? Because if not, you will find that there is quite a distance between where you will park and where you can rent an ECV. There are some loaner wheelchairs that can be used to get from the parking lot to the park entrance, but there is no guarantee they will have a wheelchair at the parking area.

At MK, if you drive, you park at the Ticket and Transportation Center. I am assuming you do have a handicapped parking permit - with 2 vehicles, you would need to have 2 handicapped parking permits in order to park in the handicapped parking spots. Then, you will have to walk to the Ticket and Transportation Center and walk up a very steep ramp to get onto the monorail or walk past the monorail to the boat that takes you to MK. The monorail station at MK has a very steep ramp to walk down and then get in line to get into the park. At that point you can rent ECVs.
As was already noted, unless you get to the park very early, you risk not getting an ECV. Getting 3 would be even more risky.

If you are staying at a WDW resort, I would suggest taking the buses to MK, even if you drive to all other parks.

As was already written by others:

• the deluxe, DVC and moderate resorts have refrigerators in all rooms
• you can get a medical refrigerator at the value resorts
• only the driver can be on an ECV, no passengers. WDW CMs can stop guests and tell you to have the child get off. They can also confiscate the park rental ECVs for letting a passenger ride.
• it is important to make sure that all the people you plan to use an ECV will actually be able to safely drive it. They need to have ability to use both hands, to watch out for other guests who may run in front of them suddenly and to stop if someone does come too close. Also keep in mind that driving one in a busy park is tiring because you have to be always watching what is going on. And, if they have any cognitive issues, confusion or anything like seizures or medication that affect their coordination or alertness, they may not be safe to drive an ECV.

If you plan to spend more time at Epcot, you may want to stay at Beach Club, Yacht Club, Boardwalk or the DVC at Beach Club or Boardwalk. You could also look into Swan or Dolphin.
You can get a boat from any of those resorts into Epcot's World Showcase area. THey do rent wheelchairs and ECVs there, but quantity may be more limited than at the main entrance. It would be quite convenient to stay there if you rented ECVs from off-site since there is a good path from any of those resorts to the Epcot WS entrance.

If you plan to spend more time at Magic Kingdom, Contemporary would be a good choice, especially if you rent ECVs from offsite. There is a path from the Contemporary to Magic Kingdom or you could use the monorail.

 

[blondietink]

Just reading this makes me dizzy. I think that the logistics of planning this trip and then putting the plan into action is mind boggling. If your Dad cannot walk, then who is going to push him up the ramp to the monorail at the TTC? I assume you will be pushing the one, or two, children in the stroller. There are sometimes, but not necessarily guaranteed, wheelchairs available at the MK handicapped parking lot for use to get into MK. Most of the time when we get there (at opening) they arer already gone. The CM's bring them back thoughout the day, but the only time I have seen a lot of them in the lot is at closing, when everybody is headed out of the park.

The walk from the handicapped parking lot at AK and Epcot to the rental sport for ECV's is long and often very hot, especially at AK. The walk from the handicapped parking lot at HS is probably the shortest of them all. However, the handicapped parking lot at HS is the msallest of them all and often is filled before noon on any given day. In all cases, though, you have to actually go through the turnstiles to get to the rental desk. At all the parks there are sometimes wheelchairs to use to get from the parking lot into the park, but again, this is hit or miss.

In my opinion, you need one more able-bodied person to go along with you on the trip. Also, what time of year are you planning on going? If you have 2 children that lack the ability to sweat, you need to go in the winter months. A friend of mine has a child with the same issue and they usually go in February. Any other time of year her child can end up in the emergency room due to the heat.

 

[krisnme]

As you seem to have lots of help with your issues of logistics, I will offer my insight on hotels. recently stayed at Coronado Springs, we had a King fully accessible room with connecting 2 queen. Worked really well for us. the King bed is very low, extra large bathroom with roll in shower and nice big room for wheelchairs/ecv. queen was smaller but still room for wheelchair. both rooms had fridge. The grounds are easy to navigate, but long walk from parking for some buildings. The dining area worked well with our scooter and wheelchair and very large group. In past have stayed at Pop century, do not recommend with w/c or ecv. ALL room types are very small. the grounds are great, but the dining area is difficult with a w/c and very loud and crowded for my Autistic DS.

 

[AmberHeartsDisney]

Since your daughter doesn't sweat don't forget to plan your time of year accordly too. I remember a child like that one extreme home makeover and that little girl had to wear ice packs. I'm not sure what you do for your daughter but summers in FL can be hot.

I agree with the last poster trying to get a helper or something so that way you are not the only one taking care of the five, that might get tiring.



Good luck planning your trip!