HELP! DF sprained his ankle and they leave tomorrow!!

[momof2disprincesses]

We're going with another family. They leave for WDW tomorrow, we leave on Saturday.

My DF's wife called me last night and said they had just gotten back from the ER and DF sprained his ankle from chasing their child around outside.

He is on crutches now. Has this ever happened to anyone else? Can you just rent a wheelchair at the parks? How do you deal with all the walking with a sprained ankle??

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[Eljay]

http://www.allearsnet.com/pl/mobility.htm

Here is a link with info about wheelchairs and ECV's (electric scooters).
Good Luck!

 

[PiperPizzaz]

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wd...l?id=GuestServicesWheelchairRentalsDetailPage

Here's a link for ya. You can do a length of stay but, I would probably play it by ear. After a few days he may not need the wheelchair. It depends on how bad the sprain is, trust me I have had MANY. Everything will be just fine so just relax, get them the info and enjoy your vacation! Have a good trip.

 

[disnut8]

Happened to us a few years ago. Two days before our trip, the husband was diagnosed with severe gout. In a wheelchair for at least a week. We did the whole routine with Care Medical (I think the link to allears has been posted). They were great and had the manual chair at our offsite hotel when we checked in. They picked it up there when we left. I'd highly recommend that option. You can use it when you need it.

You can also rent daily from Disney. My dad did that after attempting to walk around with two knee replacements (he's stupid). I told him that I wouldn't tour with him unless he had a wheelchair. He admitted that it helped. That's big admission from my father.

Have fun with the issue. Challenge the ECV users to duels. My father did that and I swear Animal Kingdom would have riveled NASCAR for a few minutes. For my husband, I made up a sign for the back of his wheelchair that said "Richie's Wheelie Chair".

It's not an issue of what you can't do, it's what you CAN do. Have fun.

 

[inloveindisney]

my husband went once in a cast up past his knee. he still had a blast! i wouldn't worry too much about it. think of the ECV as an extra ride! Hey, it could be fun!

 

[GoofyTraci]

oh go have fun and enjoy the magic of disney. you cant rent a wheel chair. try not to make him feel bad about it. Things happen. Enjoy your time and tell him to becareful of others while he is there so he doesnt get hurt again. Ice and keep it up as much as u can till he needs to be up and around.

 

[mrludwig]

The last time we went my stepson who was 13 at the time, broke his ankle two weeks before we went. He had to have a pin and screw in and he was not allowed to bare any weight on this foot. I came to the DISBOARDS and got a lot of wonderful suggestions. I learned through the boards that in our case it would probably be better to rent a ECV vs wheelchair. As you walk through the parks there are a lot of inclines that you don't really notice when walking. The boards suggested that we went an ECV as we would wear ourselves out pushing him, especially up the hill to the monorail at MK (even with the ECV we had to do this couple of times due to people cutting in front of him and expecting him to be able to start right back up). I believe we would have. I can't speak highly enough about the Disney Staff! On many rides we were able to go through a handicap lane so there were times that we did not have to wait as long as we might have. ONe bus driver noticed that he had not had his cast signed at all. He got a big black marker and signed it, and then he got SS all pumped up to get as many signatures from the characters, etc... as possible. That was quite an accomplishment for the bus driver as SS was not in good humor during first part of trip. I think all visitors with wheelchairs and ECV's were seated first on all of the various types of transporation. I called the Poly where we were staying and they changed our room to the first floor to a "handicap" room. This room came with bars in the bathub and shower (which was a big help for him).

The staff really helped to raise his spirits. I thought we were going to have to cancel the trip but in the end it was probably the best two weeks he had the whole timet he cast was on.

 

[cleo]

I had a sprain and fracture of the ankle (klutz!) and found a wheelchair to be a much more reasonable solution (crutches hurt like the dickens after a while) when touring. Go for comfort and get the wheelchair. I've also pushed my mother around in a wheelchair all over Disney and found it to be quite easy.

 

[PeachesDoesHair]

When I went with my parents, my dad had a broken foot. We got a wheel chair from the beach club (it was free) and we had a blast.

 

[mmmcq]

My best friend went 18 months ago to Tampa to visit her mother and then on to Disney to meet up with her husband with their 5 yr old son. On my friend's first day at her mom's, she broke her ankle plalying tennis. She went to WDW in a cast and a wheelchair. It was tougher than expected....but she was not going to let that deter her from her child's first visit to WDW.

 

[Kanikazi]

Ten years ago my DD10 and I were in a minor traffic accident two days before a trip to Disneyland. Thankfully we both walked away (car didn't), but I hit the steering wheel hard enough to really bruise some ribs...but I was going to DL, dang it!...so I didn't go to the doctor (I should have). It is a big mistake to ride BTMR with bruised or cracked ribs...oh the pain, the pain! But Disney has so much pixie dust I had a great time anyway. Hope your DF finds it the same.

 

[momof2disprincesses]

Thank you all so much!

These boards are truly wonderful for information. I've never paid any attention before to how to do WDW with a disability because I've never had to, so to try to figure it all out in a day with my df's wife while I had to work all day and run kids around has been a challenge, but with the help of all of you, it is really going to work out. Thanks so much for the advice!!!!!! I can't believe how common this kind of thing is.

Thanks to the links from the first few posts, df's wife contacted Care Medical and they will rent a wheelchair for all 6 days they're there. I know it will be okay. It may slow us down a little, but reading these posts makes me realize it can be a blessing in disguise too.

The only real issue is with their family and ours, there are 9 of us total and one of the things we actually looked forward to was waiting in line all together so us adults could catch up and chat as we don't see each other enough. I guess that won't happen now though as they will use the handicap entrance for most attractions and we won't as they only allow a party of 5 to go with the handicapped person.

Oh well, there will be lots of sit down meals thanks to the free dining plan ... lots of time to talk then.

Thank you all again!!!!!

I'll be sure to write a TR when we get back.

 

[SueM in MN]

The only real issue is with their family and ours, there are 9 of us total and one of the things we actually looked forward to was waiting in line all together so us adults could catch up and chat as we don't see each other enough. I guess that won't happen now though as they will use the handicap entrance for most attractions and we won't as they only allow a party of 5 to go with the handicapped person.

Actually, most of the regular lines are wheelchair accessible, so you will be waiting for the most part in the regular lines (these are called Mainstream lines). AK and the Studio were mostly built with Mainstream lines. MK and Epcot were not, because they are older, but many lines were changed to Mainstream Access.
Some attractions board wheelchair users at the exit because of moving walkways and to have the wheelchair at the exit when the person gets off. For most of these attractions, wheelchair and ECV users wait in the regular line until very close to the 'regular' boarding point and then are pulled off to board at the exit.
There is more information on the disABILITIES FAQs thread near the top of the disABILITIES Board, including a list of companies for renting wheelchairs/ ECVs that DIS posters have recommended (I realize the OP has already taken care of this, but I'm posting it for other readers).

The last time we went my stepson who was 13 at the time, broke his ankle two weeks before we went. He had to have a pin and screw in and he was not allowed to bare any weight on this foot. I came to the DISBOARDS and got a lot of wonderful suggestions. I learned through the boards that in our case it would probably be better to rent a ECV vs wheelchair.

I just wanted to mention that you must be 18 or older to rent or be the driver of an ECV rented from the WDW parks. Most of the offsite medical equipment companies also require the the driver of the ECV must be at least 18 yrs old (for liability reasons).

 

[flortlebap]

Slightly O/T question... but...

Will Disney still let you ride everything with your arm/leg in a cast? A local theme park here wouldn't let me do anything with an arm cast

 

[SueM in MN]

Slightly O/T question... but...

Will Disney still let you ride everything with your arm/leg in a cast? A local theme park here wouldn't let me do anything with an arm cast

They won't stop you unless the CM feels it would be dangerous. There are icons on the park maps (a red triangle) and warning signs when you enter lines and before boarding to indicate which rides might be not recommended for various conditions. They put out the warnings, it's up to you to decide if the ride would be appropriate or not.
Another thing to consider is how hard it would be to get into a particular ride car with a cast on (like Splash Mountain would be hard) or whether you need to hold on and an arm cast would interfere.
There are some attractions that the doctor may recommend the person not go on because of the ride's motion - I'd suggest talking to the doctor.