GAC Question for my mother

[ccgirl]

I would try to rent from an outside company so she can practice before she gets to the park. I have seen some guests with difficulty in steering. It will also help with getting to your car. Maybe she would prefer being pushed in a wheelchair rather than driving???

As for the grandkids, I agree with a PP that they will think it's cool. Heck, they will probably be begging for a ride.

 

[Hannathy]

Will she agree to using a wheelchair? Maybe she is afraid of driving an ECV and doesn't want to admit it. With a wheelchair she can have you push it, stay in it in almost all the lines and wait with you, she can walk so she can get out and ride with you in a regular car, and if she wants to try walking a bit you can leave it in a spot like in fantasy land and walk around that area and come back and get it to go the longer distances.

I would consider the fear of driving one factor seriously. Will she use one at Walmart or the grocery store? can you have her try one there? If she doesn't like to drive or doesn't feel confident of her abilities I can see where it would be very frightening to drive one at Disney.


The other thing is would she be perfectly happy sitting on a bench and people watching and interacting with her grandchildren? When my Mom got older she completely enjoyed sitting on a bench being the "holder" of things and just watching her grands enjoy them selves. Sounds bad to us but she was very happy.

I would try for the wheelchair though for the distances.

 

[pix13]

Will she agree to using a wheelchair? Maybe she is afraid of driving an ECV and doesn't want to admit it. With a wheelchair she can have you push it, stay in it in almost all the lines and wait with you, she can walk so she can get out and ride with you in a regular car, and if she wants to try walking a bit you can leave it in a spot like in fantasy land and walk around that area and come back and get it to go the longer distances.

I would consider the fear of driving one factor seriously. Will she use one at Walmart or the grocery store? can you have her try one there? If she doesn't like to drive or doesn't feel confident of her abilities I can see where it would be very frightening to drive one at Disney.


The other thing is would she be perfectly happy sitting on a bench and people watching and interacting with her grandchildren? When my Mom got older she completely enjoyed sitting on a bench being the "holder" of things and just watching her grands enjoy them selves. Sounds bad to us but she was very happy.

I would try for the wheelchair though for the distances.

You know, she might be afraid to drive one and I had not thought about that. She's not the most coordinated these days. I like the idea of telling her she doesn't have to use it all over the park. But maybe it would be helpful to get to the far places and then park it for some walking around. That might be appealing to her! Thanks so much for helping put that in perspective!

I think she would be happy being on the bench and doing some of the tamer, shorter lined rides. I do worry about her standing for too long in lines because of her nueropathy, but hopefully most of the stuff she wants to do won't have long lines. I don't want to bypass lines, just try to figure out a way to allow her to do some of the rides without being in pain. But it might be that a GAC is not the way to go and we just need strategic planning.

Everyone's input has been helpful and I thank you all for it.

 

[SueM in MN]

My mom has said she would not feel comfortable driving one, so if she needs something, we we get a wheelchair for her.
If you have enough people to push, that may work out well. And, when she wants to walk, standing behind and pushing it would provide some support.

My father in law had very bed hips and knees - it pretty much hurt to watch him walk. He got to a point where he would get into the park, sit and stay in one place while the rest of us went around the park. At MK, he went on Haunted Mansion, Small World, Hall of Presidents and the Riverboat. He usually didnt do any more because the walk was too far.
He ended up each evening in pain, with ice on both knees..
We tried to talk him into an ECV for many years, but he felt uncomfortable and like people would look at him.
He finally tried an ECV one day at Epcot and said - "why didn't I do it sooner?"
It was the first night in years that he spent a whole day at a park and had no pain at the end of the day.

He never did get comfortable enough to drive one at MK - he felt it was too congested and too many children for him to comfortably drive. But, he did use one at the other parks after that.