Help - Do we need a scooter?

[queenie1]

We are taking my mother in law to Disney in December. She has never been to Disney before and it is her dream to go with her grandchildren. She is in her late 60's and had a stroke 4 years ago. She functions okay at home but she is not able to walk long distances. Two years ago she fell and broke her wrist and last week she fell in the bathroom and punctured a kidney. I am thankful she is okay but she is now on COMPLETE bedrest for a month waiting for the kidney to heal. I think this will reduce her stamina even more and I don't want her to push herself at Disney and have something bad happen. Here is the problem - I really think she would enjoy the trip more if we rented a scooter for her but she just laughs when we suggest this. She has made comments about accidently running into people and I think she is afraid to drive one. I really want her to enjoy herself! She has not been to Disney before, but I have and I know how much walking it is. Do you think I am out of line suggesting this to her? We have no experience with scooters. How hard is it to get around on Disney transportation with one? She could transfer from the scooter to a chair in a restaurant, do we leave the scooter outside? I am hoping I can convince her to try one , but I know she will feel bad if she feels she is "holding us up". Any tips for new users would be greatly appreciated!

 

[honugirl]

I'm 30 years old and just beginning to accept that I'm going to have to use one on my trip there in September.

My advice would be to rent one from one of the outside sources on the disability stickies at the top of this forum (if Cheshire Figment comes along, just click on the link in his siggy at the bottom). You can rent them for the whole length of stay and they cost less than at the parks. Plus you have it at the resort or wherever you are staying and you don't have to worry about not being able to get one later in the afternoon at the parks if they run out.

In the meantime, if she can get out for a little bit at a time, have her drive one at the mall, the grocery store, Wal-Mart, Target, etc. to get used to driving them and be more comfortable maneuvering in a crowd.

I'm sure some others will chime in here because I can't be too much help on the transportation thing or anything like that since I haven't done it yet.

But good luck! I hope it all goes well.

 

[Purple Princess]

It does sound like she is afraid to drive one. Can she drive a car? Well driving a scooter is much easier than a car! They are very simple to operate. I had to use one recently after major surgery.

The Disney parks are huge and there will be a ton of walking involved, but you know this. If it's crowded it will be much slower. You have to walk up hill just to get to the monorail for the Magic Kingdom. It will make her very tired if doing by foot. Yes, definitely get her a scooter. She would quickly see that she needs one and if you wait until you get there to decide it's possible the parks wouldn't have any available to rent. Best to rent off site I believe.

I hope your family will have a wonderful and uneventful trip!

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Hi and to disABILITIES!

You've already gotten some good advice.

When she has recovered, take her to a WalMart, Target or large grocery store. Have her try using one of the store loaner ECVs while shopping. Make sure she is aware that the ECVs in the stores are much larger and harder to use (and maneuver) than the ones available from Disney or the off-site vendors.

I know when my mother visited me a couple of years ago (91 at the time) I made her use an ECV. For the first couple of hours she had minor problems in that she could not find the brake pedal. (There is none, removing your finger from the control lever puts on the brakes.)

You have not mentioned the number and ages of your party. If there are sufficient pushers for strollers, or strollers are not needed, there is the possibility of using a wheelchair for her. The downsides are (1) she will really feel loss of independence, and (2) Disney World is not flat and pushing, unless really used to it, can be very difficult.

One thing that can be done is pick a point about a mile from her house and ask her if she can walk there; that is less than one walk around the Epcot World Showcase Promenade, and most people do in the 6-10 mile per day range.

She will be able to remain in the ECV or chair in almost all lines all the way up to boarding. Some lines, such as Soarin' are actually 1/4 mile long. And some of the hotel corridors can be extremely long.

As far as getting an ECV on/off a bus, with a ramp (most buses) it is not difficult. If the bus is lift-equipped if needed someone else in your party can handle that part if she can do the steps onto the bus.

And for restaurants I will just leave my ECV in stroller parking outside and walk in; she could do the same. And if it is raining usually there is a lobby space where ECVs can be parked.

And one last item, please ask her the following questions. Here are the suggested answers to go with them.

1. Are you disabled (even temporarily)? Yes.

2. Do the people you are traveling with, such as your family, know you are disabled? Yes.

3. Do you expect to meet anyone you know during this trip who may not know you are disabled. Probably No!

4. Do you expect to meet a bunch of people who you will probably never meet again in your life? Probably yes!

5. Is there any reason at all that you should care what these people think about you? Absolutely No!!

6. Will using a wheelchair or ECV make for a better vacation for you and your family? Absolutely YES!

 

[SueM in MN]

She sounds like she will need something, but I would not get her a scooter if she is afraid to use it. She needs to be comfortable and if she is constantly worried about whether or not she can control it, she will not have a good experience. Most people will get comfortable with some practice, but there are people (like my MIL) who would feel comfortable driving, no matter how much practice they get. For those people, a wheelchair is a better option.

I'd suggest taking the advice to try some scooters in stores once she is off bedrest. Those scooters have a control on the speed that doesn't allow them to go fast. They also are very large and have a basket on the front, so if she can use them, even the largest one from somewhere else will seem small. I would start out in Target or a grocery store because they tend to have wider aisles without a lot of aisle displays.
I would save Walmart for a last practice place (if you have on near you). Their aisles are smaller and the main aisles tend to have displays in the middle. My youngest DD is an excellent power wheelchair driver, but she doesn't like Walmart because the aisles are narrow and the displays in the main aisles tend to be tall enough that they block the sight of someone using a wheelchair or scooter.

If she drives a car, she is used to the looking around and awareness she needs to drive a scooter. If she has ever ridden a bike, she will be familiar with how scooters steer.
A last thing to think about is whether she has the physical capability to drive one. If her wrist fracture left any limitations on motion, it may be more difficult to use the scooter. I don't know if her stroke left any residual limitations, but she may be aware of some that she is afraid will cause her problems. People do tend to walk out in front of you, causing you to stop suddenly. She may feel she isn't capable of reacting that fast.

If you do rent one for her, I've got some suggestions to help:

• as was already mentioned, rent from one of the off-site places. Their scooters are smaller and easier to manouver than the park rental ones.
• scooters all have a speed control button or switch that allows you to limit the speed they will go. Usually it is labeled 'turtle' for slow and 'rabbit' for fast. It is very helpful to use the speed control, especially if it crowded. She may be afraid she will go too fast and get out of control; using the speed control will prevent that.
• practice at the resort before going to the parks. She should be comfortable driving straight going forward and backward, turning in either direction while going forward or backward, stopping quickly, parking into a spot and sort of parallel parking to both sides for using the bus.
• There is bus, boat and monorail information in the disABILITIES FAQs thread (there's a link to that thread in my signature.) If she is not comfortable driving into the bus, train, etc, another member of your party can do it for her. CMs are not allowed to drive it for her.
• all scooters have a mechanism to allow the wheels to be disengaged from the motor so they will roll freely if you need to push it when it's off. That can be very helpful if the scooter user gets into a situation where they feel like they can't move it; just put it in freewheel and push it. Some people do that for the buses - another member of the party releases the wheels and pushes it onto the bus and into position.
• all scooters have a seat release lever somewhere by the seat that can be used to release the seat from forward facing while driving to face sideways when it is stopped. Being able to do that helps because it can often limit the amount or turning or you don't even need to turn the scooter at all. Pull straight in, turn the seat to face the show once you are stopped, watch the show and then turn the seat back again to go forward and exit the show. If you go to the Epcot FAQs thread, on page 2, you will see pictures of some theaters where you can do that. Living with the Land movie in the first post on that page and the American Adventure theater on post #24 of that thread are the pictures I have in mind. Turning the seat rather than the scooter means a lot less turning and makes it much easier to get in and out. All the theaters are set up like that, which allows scooter users to pull straight in and straight out.
• Epcot is a good park to start with; it is large (which will show her she need the scooter), but it also has wide walking spaces that are easy to drive around on. The Studio is next easiest (at least in my experience). MK and AK are not good parks to have as a first park to go to. They both have smaller walkways and tend to be more crowded and congested. There are also more small children at those parks, which means more potential for small children to dart out in front of a scooter.
• Knowing which parks/area of the park are busy at which times will be helpful. Using planning resources like touring guides or Tour Guide Mike will be helpful (Mike is a Theme Parks Sponsor - you will find a link to his page on that board). Even during busy times, like Spring break, there are places that will be almost deserted at certain times. If you go then, you will have a much easier experience.
• Drive on the 'streets' of the park as much as possible. There are sidewalks at certain areas, but they tend to be crowded and since most have curbs, it is possible to drive off the sidewalk and tumble over. By driing on the streets, you don't have that to worry about and also don't have to find the curb cuts (which may be hidden by the people walking in front of you). In MK, be aware of the street car tracks on Main Street. You want to cross them at a 90 degree angle to go over them the easiest without the chance of getting stuck.
• When leaving the parks, don't try to be the first ones out. Hang back and let the crowd go out before you. Even 10 minutes wait can make a big difference. The park won't close with you inside and the bus or monorail won't leave without taking everyone back to their resort. It will be easier to drive out with less people and when you get to the bus/monorail/boat, the first group(s) out will already be gone. That means less people waiting for the transportation, which will mean less stress to you /her trying to get the scooter on.