Husband hurt foot, what to do?

[zach33199]

We leave for our trip on Saturday & my husband had his foot ran over by a forklift today at work. The doctor said he could still go on the trip. There is no way he is not going on this trip because his entire family is going. I know we can get a wheel chair for him but I will also have a stroller because we have two small kids, ages 6 & 4. Is there some kind of motorized vehicle we can rent that I could maybe put my husband & kids in?

How is Disney with these kind of things? We have to go in a different line with him because of the wheelchair. He does have crutches but I don't know how long he could stand in a line. HELP!! Don't know what to do now?

 

[zach33199]

bump!

 

[Lynn4Mel]

Don't they have those motorized carts you can rent? When we were there in 2001 they had them.
Search this site and allearsnet. You'll be able to find out for sure and prices.

 

[seashoreCM]

Remember, if you get a wheelchair, he can ride all the time, or walk some of the time and ride some of the time. If you do not get a wheelchair, he has to walk all of the time.

I'm not sure of the requirements or doctor's note for renting Disney's motorized wheelchairs (more like scooters). You could call Disney and ask in advance. It is probably good to see if you can find an open area to practice driving it for awhile before starting to go commando to the park attractions.

As much as possible, wheelchair users go through the same lines as everybody else. Older rides, mostly at Magic Kingdom, may have different wheelchair entrances.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[exwdwcm]

all good advice....also, we went after my sister had surgery on her ACL, so we used a wheelchair for her during our stay. If you are driving to the parks each day, which we liked to do- just tell the parking cast member that you have someone that will need a wheelchair (we told them she just had surgery) and they let us park up front in handicap parking with no tag. It helped a lot, since she had to be carried/use crutches to get to the gate and check out a wheelchair.

 

[disnut8]

Call Care Medical Center and get an ECV delivered right to your resort. That way, you'll have it all the time, not just when you are in the parks. Same thing happened to us a few years ago - two days before a trip. Care Medical Center was wonderful and helped out a lot. We ended up with a manual wheelchair and I pushed my husband around all weekend. They will deliver and pick up. Very easy.

You will all be together in the lines. Most of the queues are wheelchair friendly now. When you do need some special help, your entire party will be together. It really is quite painless to have an ECV or wheelchair at Disney World. Well, for you - not so sure about your husband and his foot!

 

[Forever a Princess]

About two years back I fell down our house stairs and bummed up my hip.

I rented a scooter (ECV) from walker mobility. Web site is walkermobility. You fill in www and com around the walkermobility.

Walker mobility's phone number is 1-888-Scooter.

The advantages of renting from Walker vs Disney are these
-ecvs at the disney parks are on a first come first serve basis. Depending on the crowds or if you go late morning they may be out.
-the batteries on the disney ecvs do not last. Half way through the day you may experience that the battery is losing its juice.

Walker will deliver the scooter to your resort and also pick it up.
You do not need a doctor's note to rent the scooter.

Advantage of the ecv is that he propels the ecv himself. You do not have to push him all day in the wheelchair. Gives you free arms to push the stroller and he gets the mobility and flexability of the ecv.

Are you driving or will you have a car?

If you are using disney's bus system give yourself extra time. Not all of the buses are equipped with the ramp to load the ecv.

Some of the boats are ecv compatible. The monorail is ecv compatible. Your hubbie will just need to practice a bit with the ecv.

Tips if you are driving a car (please read #2 closely)
1. The ecv comes apart in a few pieces and fits in the cars trunk.
2. When you pull up to the parking pay booth tell the cast member that you have an ecv in the trunk.
DO NOT FOLLOW THE GENERAL PARKING AS THE ECV CAN NOT BE LOADED on the parking lot TRAMS.
The cast member will direct you to follow the blue line to the handicap parking area. A few slots in this area are reserved for those folks with ecvs (or wheelchairs) that do not have a handicap parking sticker.

The ecv takes a bit more time going from point A to Z. But so worth it. Believe me he'll poop out with the cruches.

Enjoy your trip!
Renee

 

[KeepSwimming]

Shoot him? Take him out of his misery, then ditch that dead weight and power run to Soarin'.

Just my opinion, though

 

[bigmac5]

Shoot him? Take him out of his misery, then ditch that dead weight and power run to Soarin'.

Just my opinion, though

lol

 

[minkydog]

Definitely get the ECV. He's not gonna make on crutches--his underarms will be raw and sore, not to mention his back. If the foot is not broken, he may even recover with a few days of foot rest. Hope you have a great trip

 

[kaytieeldr]

See the http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=595713 FAQ on the disABILITIES message board

Rent an ECV from an off-site company so, as others have posted, your husband has use of it at all times, NOT just in the parks (and remember, the parks only have a limited number, once they're gone for the day, that's it until somebody returns one and it's recharged).

If you are driving and choose to rent an ECV from an off-site company, I recommend Randy's Mobility. It's one of the company's in that FAQ, and they deliver to your hotel room AFTER you arrive, AND make sure you know how to operate, disassemble and reassemble it.

Also if you'll be driving to the parks, be VERY careful about where you park. I wasn't aware there were special spots in the Medical Parking area for Guests who need close-in parking but don't have HP plates or placards; while I do NOT doubt the poster who said there are, please be VERY careful NOT to park in a handicapped space - you subject yourself to a $250 ticket!

 

[SueM in MN]

See the http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=595713 FAQ on the disABILITIES message board

That disABILITIES FAQs thread should be able to answer all your questions.

Also, someone said to call Disney to ask about requirements for renting their motorized wheelchairs.
Just wanted to clarify that Disney doesn't rent motorized (power) wheelchairs. All the rent are manual (push) wheelchairs and ECVs (also called scooters). ECV/Scooters can be rented without a doctor's note. They are fairly easy to drive with a little practice. If you can steer a bike, you can steer one of those.
The park ECVs are bigger, slower and a bit harder to drive than the smaller ones you can get from one of the off-site rental companies. (Besides, the off-site ones are available where ever you are, as was already mentioned).

Also if you'll be driving to the parks, be VERY careful about where you park. I wasn't aware there were special spots in the Medical Parking area for Guests who need close-in parking but don't have HP plates or placards; while I do NOT doubt the poster who said there are, please be VERY careful NOT to park in a handicapped space - you subject yourself to a $250 ticket!

Someone mentioned following the blue line to the handicapped (they call it medical parking. Sometimes doing that will lead you to a closed-because-it's full medical parking area. Sometimes they temporarily move the medical parking because of maintenance or (at Ecpot especially) they have put something else there temporarily and moved the medical parking.
In the medical parking, there are some spots designated with either handicapped parking signs (blue wheelchair symbol) or just blue paint. As kaytieeldr mentioned, parking in one of those spots without having a valid handicapped parking permit (issued by your home state) could risk you getting a ticket and large fine. The local police do patrol the lots.

 

[Ziva]

Definitely rent a scooter from off site, it's much cheaper.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Oh, one other thing - please do NOT let your children ride on the ECV (assuming we've convinced you to rent one ) with your husband. ONLY the driver is supposed to be on one, NO passengers.