Ok, now we'll have two wheelchairs, need advice

[pwoodham]

My sister was ready to back out of our WDW trip completely because of the way her feet and legs swell during the day. It's extremely painful to her and is made worse by humidity (lets talk Florida in September!!). She's okay at the start of the day, but in true misery at the end.
My elderly MIL is also with us, and will not be able to make it thru a day, either. Since both of these ladies have back trouble, I'm sure many of the attractions the kids and I want to go on will not appeal to them.
My initial thought was to get them both into the general area we'll be in (say, Tomorrowland), find them a place to sit (my MIL smokes, so she'll want to find the smoking areas also), and meet them there when the rest of us are done with the more intense stuff. We have a huge party anyway, and splitting up will be a good idea. I'm confident there will be at least one other adult (and perhaps some kids) with them each time. One other thing - this is the first time at WDW for both of them.
I'm thinking they would be able to get to most everything they would want to ride in the area at their own pace. It would also give them a place to go and sit if they got tuckered out.
For those of you who have more experience at WDW with folks who are mobility impaired (is that the right term??), how did you structure your day so everyone would have the best possible time?
My sister may not need the wheelchair until the afternoon. My thought was to avoid renting one for her until we really needed it. Is that the best strategy?
We will be taking afternoon breaks each day.
Thanks for your help.

 

[SueM in MN]

Welcome.
For MK, your idea to get them to a sort of central place in each "land" is probably a good one. IMHO, Mk is the park you could most easily do without a wheelchair. It's crowded and has smaller passageways, which makes it harder to manouver a wheelchair around. There are also quite a few places to sit and there are some things, like the train that can be an attraction or a way to get from place to place.
I'm sure you'll get some good advice about how it is to rent a wheelchair later in the day. We don't rent one because DD has her own. Here's a link to the DIS page that includes wheelchair rental info. If you will be renting wheelchairs every day, it is less expensive to rent off site:
Care Medical:
http://www.caremedicalequipment.com/

Walker Mobility:
1-888-726-6837
www.walkermobility.com

RANDY'S Mobility is in Kissimmee 407-892-4777
http://randysmobility.com/

Colonial Medical
http://www.colonialmed.com/about_cms.html

 

[Nanajo1]

I would look into a GAC for one or both. It is one of those tools that you don't have to use every attraction but is nice to have when you need it. It sounds like your sister would have trouble standing in line so an alternative waiting spot would be helpful. Also I've heard that w/c might be difficult to get in the parks in the afternoon so renting offsite would help. Would either be interested in an ECV? The ECV is great. Again, they are rented at the parks and are not always availble in the afternoons. I rent from an offsite vendor and it is great for DD as well as around the resort.

 

[LindaDVC]

My husbands feet SWELL and everyone ignored it for years.

He would be hospitalized for pheumonia and all the staff would mention how big his feet were BUT that was all.

Finally when they started getting infected we wondered if we should amputate and asked the drs about it. Suddenly after dealing with huge feet for years -- they sent us to specialists and got treatment for lymphodema. We wrap the feet and decrease the swelling. If less severe they have pressure socks that can help as well.

Besides renting w/cs you might want to see if any treatment would help the situation, I wish we had been more aggressive years before and they wouldn't have gotten this bad.

There probably are lots of different reasons for swelling BUT we found people ignore it rahter than treat it.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

About a year and a half ago we had a situation with two families (4 adults, a 14 and a 12 yo) and needed 2 ECVs.

We found there was no car which could handle 2 ECVS, and a SUV or 2-seat van could only handle 5 people.

If we were going to a loction where both would need ECVs we would split up for travel. If we wnt where only one person needed an ECV (such as into a hotel for dinner), we could then load everyone into the car.

With two WCs or 1 WC and 1 ECV, it can probably be done with a large, full size, four door sedan.

I would say at least get the ECV off-site so it is available at all times. I have no heard of the parks running out of WCs, but they do run out of ECVs.

If people are not used to WCs, the pushing can get very tiring. Your concept of the mid-day breaks is also very good.

 

[pwoodham]

Cheshire Figment -

I'm glad you posted, because I was just getting ready to suggest to my sister and MIL that they both rent ECV's. We'll have a 15 passenger van - do you think that would be big enough to hold both of them? We would actually only need to transport them 3 times - twice to the MK and once to AK. We're at a Epcot resort, so we can ride boats or walk to Epcot and MGM. Uhhh.......do they let ECV's on the boats?

 

[Nanajo1]

Busses can accommodate 2 w/cs, ECVs. I have found it easier with my ECV to take the bus to MK rather than to drive. The bus drops you off right in front. Actually, last trip I took the bus everywhere with little problem.

 

[SueM in MN]

We're at a Epcot resort, so we can ride boats or walk to Epcot and MGM. Uhhh.......do they let ECV's on the boats?

The Epcot Resort Boats and the Friendship boats in Epcot should not be a problem for ecvs. THere is sometimes a problem with the boat level compared to the level of the dock when the water is either very high (a wet year) or very low (drought). The docks at Epcot, MGM and the Epcot resorts don't really have that problem. The docks at the MK resorts and MK are often a problem though.

You will probably find it's faster to just drive the ecvs to Epcot though. We have walked with DD's wheelchair between Epcot and BW while my in-laws took the boat. We always beat them.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

You would probably have to remove the rear seat from the van to fit both ECVs (even broken down) into the back.

The real convenience would be going between hotels or Downtown. Normally the Disney Transportation is pretty good; of course the buses are limited to two which could cause a problem if there is already a WC or ECV on board (or ahead in line).

 

[SueM in MN]

The real convenience would be going between hotels or Downtown.

Good point. To get from one hotel to another by WDW transportation is kind of round about. You have to take a bus to a central point (one of the parks, TTC or DD) and then get another bus to get to the hotel. DD has direct buses, but in our experience, they don't run quite as often and we have had more occurances of the bus not having a lift when we try to leave DD. About 95% or more of the buses are lift (or ramp) equipped, but it seems like the DD runs have less than their fair share of lift buses.

 

[tink2dw]

Something that people forget is EVERY land has SHOWS that non-ride people can enjoy while the rest of the crowd is off doing thrill rides!!

Get a WDW guide book to read[libraries have them] so you can read up on where the shows are.
Adventureland has the Tiki Room and the Diamond Horseshoe Saloon has shows from 10:30am to 5pm[pick-up a guide map for times] there is a 40 min. show and you can order food and drinks.

Fontierland has the Country Bear Jamboree

Liberty Square has the hall of Presidents.

Mickey's ToonTown Fair- has the Toontown Hall of Fame and a Disney type store.

Tomorrowland has 2 seasonal shows Timekeeper and carousel of Progress and the Smoking area.

Epcot has many many shows, as well as World Showcase .

Mgm full of shows.

Ak also has shows!!

 

[SueM in MN]

It might help to go to the official Disney site. Hit the WDW symbol, which will take you to a page listing all the parks. Click one of the park icons and when you get to the individual park page, you will find a link for "list of attractions".

The list of attractions will tell a little bit about the intensity of each ride - like is it a quiet boat ride, a show or an intense thrill ride. There is also an icon to tell whether someone can stay in a wheelchair/ecv or need to get out. It also lists how long each ride lasts, which may help you somewhat with planning. You can use this along with the regular guidebook that tink2wdw suggested to help you figure out which attractions your sister and MIL would like.