smallworldnh
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2008
- Messages
- 1,479
First of all, thank all of you on the disABILITIES for all of the helpful and valuable information we received. This is the first time traveling with someone with a disability, my 87 year old mom and coincidentally my son who has just been diagnosed with osteoarthritis in his knee and wears a knee brace and needs a cane.
I used my moms transport chair to and from the airports. It was so convenient to just wheel her up to the door of the plane and have them gate check it. It was waiting for us at both locations getting off the plane! So much easier than trying to find one at the airport and it was more comfortable having the smaller, lighter chair to move around the resort.
We ended up renting her wheelchair from Gold Mobility and they delivered and picked up at our resort at ASMo right on schedule. Very nice people, I highly recommend them.
At the DME, they actually got us a Mears van instead of having us board the bus. I'm not sure why since we took the bus back to the airport at then end of the stay but it sure was nice!
We applied for the DAS pass at the first park we went to, which was MK. At first, the person checking us in said that we didn't need one since my mom had a chair and after I explained that she is also on diuretics because she tends to accumulate fluid around her heart due to CHF and has to pee a lot and can't sit in the sun due to heat sickness, he waved us right through. My son did not need one as he was linked to us. There were 6 total in our group and we were all set. I thought we would have to apply at each park but found that it was good through all 4 parks! I would not have thought to do this had I not learned about the DAS here!
It was very hot and humid last week, the real-feel on Thursday was 103 degrees!! I have to admit it was exhausting for me to push the wheelchair through the parks and a lot of places, such as the monorail ramp; a lot of places in Epcot like getting into the LAND pavillion; any spot with a sharper incline really, were very tough on us to the point where I had to often stop to catch my breath. I do wish they had more options for this for people who can't or won't use a scooter. I will tell you, cooling towels are a lifesaver - even more so than the neck fans!! This was the first time we used those and I'll never go without again!
Rides: I honestly wish more of them had easier disability access. We love the ones where you could stay in your chair during the ride or that transferring was easy because you didn't have to take a high step up or down. Frozen was the worst, we were told they had a transfer device she could use. She didn't need it going onto the ride vehicle since we all helped her but getting out was another story. We found out stepping down is easier for her than stepping up. They had a device you could sit on and "swing your legs over" but she couldn't swing her legs over and it took at least 15 minutes for her to finally get out with a lot of help from two awesome cast members who I will be sending a compliment to Disney about. Navi was a bit hard, but not that hard. We didn't even try Pirates because we knew there would be no way she could do that one although she really wanted to. Disney absolutely needs to add more accessible vehicles to most of their rides. The easy ones were Little Mermaid, Haunted Mansion - stopped the moving walkway, Small World, Spaceship Earth - they slowed the walkway way down, Buzz Lightyear, Mickeys Railroad, The Millennium Falcon - she stayed in her chair until the ride vehicle, Safari, and Jungle Cruise.
I want to thank you all again for all the info I wouldn't normally be privvy to! It did help to make this wonderful trip easier for us all and I hope I was able to give some useful information as well! Thank you from all of us!
I used my moms transport chair to and from the airports. It was so convenient to just wheel her up to the door of the plane and have them gate check it. It was waiting for us at both locations getting off the plane! So much easier than trying to find one at the airport and it was more comfortable having the smaller, lighter chair to move around the resort.
We ended up renting her wheelchair from Gold Mobility and they delivered and picked up at our resort at ASMo right on schedule. Very nice people, I highly recommend them.
At the DME, they actually got us a Mears van instead of having us board the bus. I'm not sure why since we took the bus back to the airport at then end of the stay but it sure was nice!
We applied for the DAS pass at the first park we went to, which was MK. At first, the person checking us in said that we didn't need one since my mom had a chair and after I explained that she is also on diuretics because she tends to accumulate fluid around her heart due to CHF and has to pee a lot and can't sit in the sun due to heat sickness, he waved us right through. My son did not need one as he was linked to us. There were 6 total in our group and we were all set. I thought we would have to apply at each park but found that it was good through all 4 parks! I would not have thought to do this had I not learned about the DAS here!
It was very hot and humid last week, the real-feel on Thursday was 103 degrees!! I have to admit it was exhausting for me to push the wheelchair through the parks and a lot of places, such as the monorail ramp; a lot of places in Epcot like getting into the LAND pavillion; any spot with a sharper incline really, were very tough on us to the point where I had to often stop to catch my breath. I do wish they had more options for this for people who can't or won't use a scooter. I will tell you, cooling towels are a lifesaver - even more so than the neck fans!! This was the first time we used those and I'll never go without again!
Rides: I honestly wish more of them had easier disability access. We love the ones where you could stay in your chair during the ride or that transferring was easy because you didn't have to take a high step up or down. Frozen was the worst, we were told they had a transfer device she could use. She didn't need it going onto the ride vehicle since we all helped her but getting out was another story. We found out stepping down is easier for her than stepping up. They had a device you could sit on and "swing your legs over" but she couldn't swing her legs over and it took at least 15 minutes for her to finally get out with a lot of help from two awesome cast members who I will be sending a compliment to Disney about. Navi was a bit hard, but not that hard. We didn't even try Pirates because we knew there would be no way she could do that one although she really wanted to. Disney absolutely needs to add more accessible vehicles to most of their rides. The easy ones were Little Mermaid, Haunted Mansion - stopped the moving walkway, Small World, Spaceship Earth - they slowed the walkway way down, Buzz Lightyear, Mickeys Railroad, The Millennium Falcon - she stayed in her chair until the ride vehicle, Safari, and Jungle Cruise.
I want to thank you all again for all the info I wouldn't normally be privvy to! It did help to make this wonderful trip easier for us all and I hope I was able to give some useful information as well! Thank you from all of us!
