Heart condition

[rosebud_v]

I am planning a trip to Disney World. I have been diagnosed with a heart condition that makes my heart race and I get severe chest pain with any kind of activity. Because my heart has to work so hard I also wear out quickly and get lightheaded frequently. My doctor is aware of my plans and just told me to take it easy and not push myself and of course make sure I have my medicine with me. I have been to Disney World once before and remember long lines and having to be on your feet a lot. I am going solo and don't really want to rent an electric wheelchair so plan on resting frequently but am thinking I may not be able to tolerate standing in long lines and was wondering if you let them know you have a medical condition if there is a place to sit down to wait for your turn to ride instead of standing and waiting. My plan is to be there for two weeks so I can take my time and rest frequently. Any advice would be appreciated. And if you have any suggestions on best places to sit back and take a break that would be great. Can't wait to go back and experience the magic.

 

[Bete]

I totally feel you should use an ECV. You can park the scooter at times if you feel you want to walk some. You can rent from an outside vendor at a much more reasonable cost then renting a scooter inside the Disney park.

There are first aid centers in each park; so, be aware of their location before you actually need it. You can rest on a cot in those centers.

I would wear identification of your heart condition. You are traveling alone; so, this is crucial. You can do this by wearing a medical alert bracelet. I do my own printed business card that I keep in the wallet where my driver license is located. It lists the medicines I take and the medical condition.

Disney offers a GAC which means a guest assistance card that they might issue for you. You get this at guest relations. You don't need a doctor's note for it. Disney may say in your case you need to do a scooter. All the rides don't have alternate waiting areas and so forth.

Be aware many of the rides state if you have a heart condition you should not ride them. Be aware of these warnings and ask about the signs if you are not finding where they are located.

 

[Strawberry's mom&dad]

My husband has heart failure. Last October he finally caved in and rented ECV.
There was a lot of walking even with his renting the EVC. It made his trip so much more enjoyable.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

1. Most of the lines have no place in them to sit.

2. The official and standard issue from Guest Relations for mobility and/or stamina situations is the suggestion you rent a wheelchair or ECV (electric scooter).

3. Most people walk 8-12 miles per day at WDW. For example, once around the World Showcase Lagoon Promenade at Epcot is over 1¼ miles, and this does not count any leaving of the Promenade to to into a country.

4. I would very strongly recommend renting an ECV from an off-property vendor so it is available to you at all times.

5. Note that almost all attraction queues are "mainstreamed", which means that you can ride the ECV all the way into a theater or right up to the loading location of a ride. And it will be waiting for you when you get off.

 

[SueM in MN]

I am planning a trip to Disney World. I have been diagnosed with a heart condition that makes my heart race and I get severe chest pain with any kind of activity. Because my heart has to work so hard I also wear out quickly and get lightheaded frequently. My doctor is aware of my plans and just told me to take it easy and not push myself and of course make sure I have my medicine with me. I have been to Disney World once before and remember long lines and having to be on your feet a lot. I am going solo and don't really want to rent an electric wheelchair so plan on resting frequently but am thinking I may not be able to tolerate standing in long lines

Keep in mind that needing to rest and finding a place to sit down might be 2 different things.
It seems to my family (and some other people have mentioned too) that there appear to be less benches than there were previously in most parts of WDW. So, you may need a bench and either not find one or find that it is occupied.

And, the walking in line is just a small part of the walking involved in a day at WDW. Just to walk around World Showcase in Epcot is over a mile.

People generally estimate they walk between 5 and 9 miles, and even up to 12 a day at WDW. We are here now and walked almost 9 miles yesterday at Epcot (we were only there from noon until after Illuminations at 9pm).
I measured at Animal Kingdom and it was a mile to get from the Handicapped Parking and bus area to the Discovery Island area, which is the first area of the park.
Some of the lines themselves are quite a distance - for exmple, Soarin' has a line that is 1/4 mile from the time you enter it to the time you get to boarding; and then a similar distance out.

Those are some of the reasons why WDW suggests renting a wheelchair or ECV for guests who are afraid they may not have the stamina to wait in lines.

Guests can't rent power wheelchairs inside the parks, but I would suggest you strongly consider a power mobility scooter, either rented from inside the park or from one of the off-site companies.
In your case especially, renting a wheelchair would not work since you have no one to push it and propelling it yourself is quite a bit of exertion.
If you don't want to rent a power scooter, you might want to consider a rollator - that is a rolling walker with wheels and a fold down seat. People push it along and it provides some support, so helps with exertion. And, in places where you are stopped or need to sit down and rest, the seat folds down easily for sitting.

There is more information about renting ECVs, wheelchairs and rollators in post 2 of the disABILITIES FAQs thread. You can find that thread near the top of this board or follow the link in my signature to get there.

and was wondering if you let them know you have a medical condition if there is a place to sit down to wait for your turn to ride instead of standing and waiting.

WDW does have Guest Assistance Cards, which are communication cards to let CMs (Cast Members) know what sort of assistance a person needs related to a disability. You can read more about Guest Assistance Cards in post 6 of the disABILITIES FAQs thread.

A Guest Assistance Card can help with things like avoiding stairs, but usually will not shorten the distance walked and are not meant to shorten waits.
There are very few situations where there are any places to sit in lines, and, even if there are, there is no guarantee that you will get a seat. If someone else is already sitting there, the only way to have a place to sit while waiting is to bring one in by using a wheelchair or ECV.

There are also attractions where everyone stands and waits for a period of time - it is mostly shows and in those cases, you will be standing for at least the duration of one show.
It happens also in rides that load in 'batches' like Soarin', where a group of people are all loaded together at the same time.
There is more information on attractions where everyone has to stand unless they have a mobility device in post 22 of the disABILITIES FAQs thread (page 2 of the thread).

My plan is to be there for two weeks so I can take my time and rest frequently. Any advice would be appreciated. And if you have any suggestions on best places to sit back and take a break that would be great. Can't wait to go back and experience the magic.

Because of the heart condition, you will need to know about the attractions with warnings - they are listed in post 23 on page 2 of the disABILITIES FAQs thread.

Many of those attractions are also the ones with the longest lines, so by avoiding them, you will also avoid many of the long waits in line.

My suggestion since you have 2 weeks is to use a touring plan like www.easywdw.com or www.touringplans.com
Those touring plans will help you to be in the least busy park each day and avoid the longest waits. In many cases, that means getting into the park as soon after opening as possible, when it is cooler and the lines are shortest. For some attractions, late afternoon is the best time to go because the earliest guests have left. The busiest times in general are between 10 am and 3pm.

With 2 weeks, you can plan short days in each park and have a certain area you are planning to go to for that day. For MK, if you don't have an ECV make use of the transportation options - like the train and the trolleys and old time cars that operate the first few hours the park is open. THose can help you to get farther into the park without walking.

An examples of the difference in wait times is Spaceship Earth in Epcot. If you arrive at 10am, the wait may be an hour. By 4pm, the attraction may be walk on.

If you need to lie down to rest, First Aid in each park is available for that purpose. If you just want to get out of the park for a while, but don't want to go all the way back to your own resort, all of the parks have a resort within a short distance where you could go and sit in the comfortable chairs in the lobby.
MK has Grand Floridian, Polynesian and Contemporary a monorail ride away and Wilderness Lodge a boat ride away. The Studios and Epcot have Beach Club, Yacht Club, Dolphin and Swan a boat ride away from World Showcase. Animal Kingdom has AK Lodge a bus ride away.
You might also want to book table service restaurant some days to have the chance to dine in a more quiet and less chaotic situation than at counter service restaurants.

There are some other suggestions for cool places to rest up in post 26 of the disABILITIES FAQs thread.

Since you plan on traveling alone, it is vital that you have some ID that tells about your condition. A Medic Alert bracelet or necklace from www.medicalert.com is great because it has a toll free number for getting more information.

 

[rosebud_v]

Thank you everyone for the information. I appreciate it. I am amazed at how quickly I wear out these days and realize I will have to have an electric wheelchair for the trip. I will have to try using the ones at local grocery stores to get a feel for them. I am nervous about navigating with one especially the bus system since I don't have very good depth perception so not sure how parking it will go and will hope to goodness I don't run into anyone in the queue. I have plenty of time to practice since I'm not going till December and maybe by then we will know more about my condition and have better control of it. Again thank you so much for the advice.

 

[disney david]

Thank you everyone for the information. I appreciate it. I am amazed at how quickly I wear out these days and realize I will have to have an electric wheelchair for the trip. I will have to try using the ones at local grocery stores to get a feel for them. I am nervous about navigating with one especially the bus system since I don't have very good depth perception so not sure how parking it will go and will hope to goodness I don't run into anyone in the queue. I have plenty of time to practice since I'm not going till December and maybe by then we will know more about my condition and have better control of it. Again thank you so much for the advice.

The drivers will help you park it some will offer to park it for you and some will give you tips on how to park it Disney policy is they not touch your ECV or wheelchair but most don't like standing their seeing you have trouble so they offer to help. Just go at your pace through the que and boarding the bus don't rush or feel like you have to hurry you have every right to board the bus in a safe manor.