mother in law first trip, has mobility issues

[kgreen]

Hello, we will be taking my mother in law for her first trip to Disney World. When we told her, she started crying & is very excited. She is 60+ years old, & has mobility issues. She can only walk very short distance, & can not do stairs. So we are planning on renting a scooter for her to be able to get around. I'm not sure if she will be able to go on any of the rides, or if she will want to attempt. She's afraid once she gets sat down, that she won't be able to get back up. She struggles with getting out of a normal size chair/recliner, but she can do it. I am worried that might eliminate the possibility of riding rides all together, because I know the seats are lower than normal chair heights. Are there any rides that will allow her to stay in her scooter? And will we be split up? If she can not handle the rides, I know she will have just as much fun driving her scooter around the parks. Also, can you share with me some information about the parades/shows. She won't be able to sit on the side walk or stand during the parades. Will she be able to stay in her scooter during the parades. Thanks

 

[JennyDrake]

I'm sure there is a "sticky" that can help you and some other kind soul will point this out....in short, your MIL can go to ANY show and stay in the ECV. As far as actual rides, _I_ am not aware of any. BTW, I have gone 3x w/ a senior w/marked mobility issues. She LOVED all of the shows! She could transfer to some rides, but we had to balance the amount of transferring vs. how tired the transfer made her.

 

[kgreen]

I'm sure there is a "sticky" that can help you and some other kind soul will point this out....in short, your MIL can go to ANY show and stay in the ECV. As far as actual rides, _I_ am not aware of any. BTW, I have gone 3x w/ a senior w/marked mobility issues. She LOVED all of the shows! She could transfer to some rides, but we had to balance the amount of transferring vs. how tired the transfer made her.

Thanks for your reply! You make a very good point, about balancing the amount of transfers vs. how tired they will make her. We will take it one step at a time, and I know she will love the shows & parades. That's good to know that she will be able to stay in her scooter for the shows/parades. Thanks for your help!

 

[Mrsjvb]

she will have to transfer to a WC if she wants to ride most rides( and that can add extra time to the wait since each ride has a limited number of WC accessible vehicles)

and there will be some that she cannot even do that. the map clearly spells out which rides offer which options as well as at each entrance.

 

[scdak]

I have sent you a PM about WDW with mobility based on many trips with my mother.

 

[lanejudy]

As others have indicated, she will be able to stay on the ECV for all shows in the designated wheelchair spots -- depending on your party's size, you may need to split up (possibly only 1 or 2 can sit directly with her).

She may also remain on the ECV for all parades and fireworks. She should be allowed into the "reserved" wheelchair seating areas, but again your family may not all be allowed with her. Or you can just grab your spot along the curb, she remains on the ECV and the rest of you sit on the curb and/or stand. We usually find our own spot well in advance and use that as a break time.

As for rides... while most queues at WDW are "mainstreamed" (meaning accessible for a wheelchair or ECV), she will need to transfer directly to the ride car. There are a couple of rides (the sticky at the top of this forum indicates which ones) for which she would need to transfer from the ECV to a wheelchair provided at the attraction for use in the queue. If transfers might be too challenging or tiring, and she'd really like to do the rides, another option is to use a wheelchair rather than ECV and she can remain in the wheelchair the whole time riding in the accessible vehicle. The ECV will give her more independence to move about on her own (so to speak) but if you have plenty of strong pushers the wheelchair could allow her to do the rides without getting exhausted with multiple transfers.

Enjoy your vacation!

 

[SueM in MN]

Follow the link in my signature to the disABILITIES FAQs thread (it's also located near the top of this board).
Post one of that thread is an index to which post has which information.

There are a couple I will point you to - posts 18-22 on page 2 of the thread has specific information about attractions. Things like which are difficult to get into, type of step up or down to get in or out and which have a wheelchair accessible ride car.

She will be able to remain in/on the ECV for all shows.

 

[kgreen]

I have sent you a PM about WDW with mobility based on many trips with my mother.

Thanks!

 

[kgreen]

Thanks for all the helpful information! I've been reading thru all the info at the top of this forum. Very informative!