need your advice regarding park wheelchairs

[bsbcgirl]

My 16 year old dd just tore the alc in her right knee. Still planning on coming to wdw in 4 days, with her surgery scheduled right after our return. She has limited mobility on crutches, and very, very little mobility with just knee brace. Should we take our chances on being able to rent a wheelchair at the parks, or should we take the one that I have rented for home? We will be traveling via Southwest Airlines, which is not a problem, but and I am concerned about lugging our wheelchair on the busses and monorail. Do the parks run out of wheelchairs? Are they in poor condition? Appreciate any and all advice.

 

[HappyDznyCamper]

Disney transportation is very easy to use with a wheelchair. All buses have lifts and the monorails have cars with the center divider moved over so that chairs/ecvs can roll right on. Disney is alot of walking, even at the resorts, bringing your chair from home would be a good idea.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

The park wheelchairs only come in two sizes, and they do not have adjustable footrests. Also they are heavy and do not have crutch holders.

All the Disney Transportation is wheelchair accessible. Normally they never run out of wheelchairs at the parks, but you have to consider having one all the time against the mnior inconvenience of having to use a ramp or lift to get on or off buses. However, with the very limited mobility, bringing the one from home is probably the best thing to do.

 

[KPeveler]

having one from home would also allow her to do things like downtown disney and getting around the resort. some of the resorts can be very big...

 

[madenon]

Most has allready been said (as normal with all these great people).

Purely talking from a users perspective; rent off-site! The adjustable footrest is such a great thing if you've got a leg problem. Not only to give here the proper support (and not to much or to little), but also to be able to adjust the angle the leg is resting in. Even if it is just 2 or 3 degrees, that can be a real sigh of relieve sometimes. You might want to think about trying out chairs at home, so you know what she (and the one doing the pushing!) likes. That's different for each user, and why make it harder if there is a choice? You could cal or mail to see which chairs are available to rent off-site in Orlando and try those ones out at home. No hassle with dragging it on the plane and no wondering about "if we get there, will the chair work for us or be a big pain in the rear".

Did you read the FAQ at the disABILITIES yet? They're full of tips and information, including a lot you might want to know about doing wdw wheeling-style.

 

[Piper]

I would have her take her chair from home. Airports can be pretty big sometimes--and having that chair at the gate to give her a place to sit if all the available chairs are taken would be a plus! I speak from experience here!

Back in the days when I didn't want to admit that I needed a chair, I rented from WDW (only 1 trip.) The chairs are NOT comfortable and just not as nice as bringing one you are comfortable in!

 

[SueM in MN]

I agree with the others that you don't want to rely on one from the parks. Besides not being the most comfortable and not having a way to elevate her leg, if you rent from the parks, you won't have one for use in the resort. I don't know what resort you are staying at, but the resorts are very large and having a wheelchair there would make your trip much more pleasant.

Also, if you don't have a wheelchair with you, the walk from where the bus or monorail lets you off might be enough to tire her out for the whole day. The monorail stations are at 2nd floor level, which is not a problem when you get on at a resort, but is a long walk up a steep ramp at MK and the TTC.

The disABILITIES FAQs thread has information about where to rent (with links), and about riding buses, boats and monorails.

You are correct that transporting the wheelchair by plane is not a problem. The airlines are required to carry the wheelchair at no extra charge. You can gate check the wheelchair - ask before they start the boarding process because they will need to give you a special gate check tag for it. That way, you can bring the wheelchair right to the gate and it will be delivered to the gate in Orlando. Before you leave the wheelchair, make sure it is folded. Remove anything that is removable and if you have anything that is unfolded folded or moved out (like legrests being elevated) bring them back in as close as possible. Doing that will help prevent damage.
If you would rather not bring the wheelchair with you, you can get skycap wheelchair service from the airline and rent a wheelchair from one of the off-site places to be delivered to your resort.

Good luck on your trip.