Long Lines for People with Knee Problems

[Princesca]

Hi everyone!

We're going to be going to the parks for a week, and my mom has pretty bad knee problems. She can walk okay, but the problem for her is really standing still in long lines. Does anyone know of a light, portable product that she might be able to unfold and sit on, or something of that nature? I don't think she wants to have the hassle/expense of a scooter.

 

[deegack]

you can try a rollanator - -a walker with a seat. I believe you can rent them from Walker.

 

[matt and beth]

Hunting stores have a small tripod chair that the use for portability and shooting. It is small light and fairly stable. Try gander mountain, bass pro shop, or cabellas to name a few. Just ask at the front desk.

 

[SueM in MN]

Hunting stores have a small tripod chair that the use for portability and shooting. It is small light and fairly stable. Try gander mountain, bass pro shop, or cabellas to name a few. Just ask at the front desk.

WDW lists portable chairs on their items that guests are not allowed to bring into the parks, so she would probably be stopped from carrying one in.
Even if she gets it in, she would be stopped from carrying it in lines because there is no place to ‘hold’ it while she riding the attraction.
Most lines are slowly moving all the time or move for a few feet, then stop for a short time. The ‘putting up and down’ would not work for that.

Some people have used a can with a small seat attached. THose are allowed, but may not be the easiest to sit on anf get on and off for someone with bad knees.

you can try a rollanator - -a walker with a seat. I believe you can rent them from Walker.

I don’t know if Walker does rent them, because they are not listed on their website.

CARE Medical does rent rollators though.
You can follow the link to the disABILITIES FAQs thread in my signature. Post 2 of that thread has links to the different equipment rental companies recommended by DIS posters.

 

[Alesia]

Hunting stores have a small tripod chair that the use for portability and shooting. It is small light and fairly stable. Try gander mountain, bass pro shop, or cabellas to name a few. Just ask at the front desk.

I'm fairly certain that those aren't allowed in the parks.

 

[A Mickeyfan]

It might just be easier to rent a wheelchair I know my DH has really bad knees and has had several surgeries.. He cannot last more than 3-4 hours in the park. Never mind the standing, he cannot walk that long.

 

[KimDisFan]

I have arthirits in both of my knees, to minimize the impact I took several steps to reduce the knee impact:
- Got my cortizone shots in both knees 2 weeks prior to the trip (that time frame my knees feels the best from the shot)
- Got new shoes a month before the trip (so they we perfectly broken in)
- Maximized Fast Passes (this was key, we went last June, and our longest wait was 30 minutes for the Lion King Show)
- And several times I waited on a bench and people watched or seen a show while DH and DD rode something

We really had a good trip and with the planning, my bad knees had little impact on what I did and didn't do.

 

[nkereina]

AAA sells these things that look like canes and has a flat seat. When you push it out, the seat folds out and you can sit on it. Then when you're done it folds back up flat and you can use it as a cane. No different than someone using a real cane actually, so I don't see why these wouldn't be allowed. The seat is very small however, depending on the size of the person using it. Here's a link to different ones that are similar to the ones I've seen at AAA:

http://www.foldingsticks.com/Seat-Canes.html?gclid=CPSX2ZDXpKwCFUfsKgodlR5O1g

 

[THEJOEL]

I have arthirits in both of my knees, to minimize the impact I took several steps to reduce the knee impact:
- Got my cortizone shots in both knees 2 weeks prior to the trip (that time frame my knees feels the best from the shot)
- Got new shoes a month before the trip (so they we perfectly broken in)
- Maximized Fast Passes (this was key, we went last June, and our longest wait was 30 minutes for the Lion King Show)
- And several times I waited on a bench and people watched or seen a show while DH and DD rode something

We really had a good trip and with the planning, my bad knees had little impact on what I did and didn't do.

Subbing, thanks for the advice. I just had ACL surgery Oct 13 and we will be at the park Nov 29.
I hope my knee doesn't ruin the trip.

 

[Alesia]

AAA sells these things that look like canes and has a flat seat. When you push it out, the seat folds out and you can sit on it. Then when you're done it folds back up flat and you can use it as a cane. No different than someone using a real cane actually, so I don't see why these wouldn't be allowed. The seat is very small however, depending on the size of the person using it. Here's a link to different ones that are similar to the ones I've seen at AAA:

http://www.foldingsticks.com/Seat-Canes.html?gclid=CPSX2ZDXpKwCFUfsKgodlR5O1g

Folding chairs are specifically not permitted and there have been reports of people being told that they aren't allowed to use canes with a folding seat attached.

I think they would be pretty impractical for standing in line anyway. I have never waited in a line without moving at all for more than a minute or two.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Don't stand in long lines.

That might sound like a dumb comment, but it's perfectly possible to not wait more than 20 minutes for a ride.

 

[goofyernmost]

Folding chairs are specifically not permitted and there have been reports of people being told that they aren't allowed to use canes with a folding seat attached.

I think they would be pretty impractical for standing in line anyway. I have never waited in a line without moving at all for more than a minute or two.

I was going to comment on that last part myself. Having a minor knee problem myself I find that sitting and getting up repeatedly is more of a strain on my knee then just standing. The only real help would be a wheelchair or mobility device that can keep moving with the crowd...which is pretty constant even if it's only a few feet. It's hell to pay for the person that allows an opening in the line ahead of them. Those behind get all kinds of upset about that. They shouldn't, but they do!

 

[ccudmore]

Isn't this exactly what a Guest Assistance Card is for? I've never actually used one but this seems like a perfect case to get one. They have lots of ways of accommodating people with various issues, both visibile and not visible - enjoy the park.

 

[PIRATEGIRL007]

Isn't this exactly what a Guest Assistance Card is for? I've never actually used one but this seems like a perfect case to get one. They have lots of ways of accommodating people with various issues, both visibile and not visible - enjoy the park.

Not really. In this case the guest has an option to enjoy the park using a device to assist with mobility such as a wheelchair or ECV.

The DISabilities FAQ addresses this specific issue here

I have problems with standing in line or with walking. Why did WDW suggest a wheelchair of ECV (motorized scooter)?
Disney calls these "Stamina or Endurance Concerns" and the official response is to suggest a wheelchair or ECV.
If the person has problems with standing in line or with walking, a wheelchair/ECV would be a better solution than a GAC. A trip to WDW includes a lot more walking than just what you do in line. Even with a GAC, there may be no place to sit while in line and the distance walked is not usually less with a GAC than without one.
Most of the lines where you will actually standing still for long periods are the lines for shows and movies. Because those 'load' large numbers of people at a time, people have to stand waiting for the next show to 'load'. Having a Fastpass or a GAC won't change that - if each show is 14 minutes, you are going to be somewhere for 14 minutes. In many shows, much of the time in that place will be a preshow area. (Link to a thread that explains this a bit more).
With an ecv or wheelchair, you will always have a place to sit and can conserve energy for fun, instead of just getting around. There is information about ecvs/wheelchairs farther up in this disABILITIES FAQs. Most lines are wheelchair/ecv accessible.
NOTE: The person renting or using a WDW park rental ECV must be over 18 yrs old and no passengers are allowed. WDW policy says that even with non-park owned ECVs, only one person is allowed on the wheelchair/ECV (no passengers).

 

[mickeyluv'r]

We also are abole to avoid any lines over 20minutes and ride everything using Fastpass. There have a been only a few exceptions to that. We also use single rider on the few rides which offer that alternative.

Having said all that - there's another alternative: You don't have to use a scooter or wheelchair all day every day. You could possibly use one just one a single day, or part of each day, or part of one day, etc.


Guests tend to do the most walking at Epcot - so if you have to pick a day
- consider picking that one.

You also may want to consider taking an afternoon break, and doing a sit down lunch.

We also make a habit of interspersing shows with rides. Shows give you a chance to sit for a bit. Many shows have short waits.

Also, the one attaraction you maybe should skip is Soarin', unless you have a mobility device. Even with a FP the wait is always fairly long.

 

[LaurenT]

Don't have answer for you, but just wanted to say that it looks like you're traveling during a fairly low crowd period. I think if you FP anything that would have a long line....your mom shouldn't have to wait very long on any one line.
My DH does use a scooter because of his knee, but he gets off of it to stand in line - we FP as much as possible and rarely wait more than 10 minutes to get on a ride...and you're usually moving along...not standing in one spot for long periods.
HTH

 

[bookgirl]

Depends on the park on what works. My step dad had a torn MCL and arthitis on both the trips he took. He could only walk so long, could not do stairs, and had trouble with long waits where he had to do the stand, shuffle, stand wait wait wait. He absolutly refused a walker or wheel chair (except at the airport) and so we had to adjust where we could and skip what we could not adjust.

The first time we went we were only doing MK. A GAC can work in that park as in our case we simply used wheel chair entrances to avoid stairs and since there really isn't a place to sit and rest and not every ride had a seperate wheel chair entrance, sometimes they sent us through the FP lane. (the caveat here is that every CM has a different way of handling GACs and a GAC is NOT an automatic FP and there are some attractions only have one entrance and that is it and some CM's will just send you to the FP machine)

In Epcot and AK a GAC does you absolutly no good at all as there are very few stairs to avoid (in two cases we didn't even know there was stairs and so didn't mention that we needed a wheel chair entrance. Circle of life and something else I don't remember). In both of these parks a FastPass stratagy is your best defense, as well as going during a less busy time of year. Or in my parents case having at least one able body person to run ahead and scope out stuff.

We just went slow, stopped often and avoided LONG lines either by FP or seeing something else. Just remember to ask about wheel chair entrances as they seemed to be alot easier for him to navigate.