? Price of Wheel Chairs

[antree]

I am not sure but I might have to get my DS a wheel chair at some point during our trip.
It all start last Nov. in Disney after a few days we noticed my DS limping, he never said anything until we asked him. He was having a lot of heel pain and even sleeping it off he would still get up with the pain. So it made for very short days in the parks.

Once we got home he said the pain stopped no I never looked in to it. We just figured all the walking got to him this time.

Fast forward to June during soccer games again, the limping. I buy inserts after reading about heel pain and he says the pain goes away.

Fast forward until now. Fall soccer starts and so does the pain. I said this is it, we are going to the Dr. so I am now looking for a foot Dr while waiting for our pediatrician appt.

from what I have been reading it can be Sever's Disease, which has to do with the heel bone. Until the heel bone grows the child has pain that can last until he is 15 or older, He is 11.

Anyway, if the pain is still around in Nov when we go back to Disney, I cannot put him through that pain again and told him we will get a wheel chair once the pain sets in. He doesn't like the idea, but last year he couldn't walk at all by the end of the week. This time we will be there 10 full days.

How much will a chair cost me a day if I have to get it a few times or for the whole time. He loves Disney and wants to be in the parks and this might be his only way to stay in the parks if the pain can't be fixed.

TIA

 

[WheeledTraveler]

For an 11 year old, I'd really suggest renting from offsite so that you can get a pediatric wheelchair. Then you'll have it when he needs it (and honestly, he may be better off using it before he needs it to prevent the pain to begin with). Unless he's huge for his age, the park rentals are going to be too big. I'm 5'4", the one time I was in a WDW rental chair I was about 150lbs, and the chair was too large for me. It really wouldn't be comfortable for a kid.

The FAQ sticky at the top of the board has information on the first page about where you can rent wheelchairs from an offsite vendor. It also has the current info about cost for the WDW rental wheelchairs. Offsite vendors will drop the wheelchair off and pick it up from your resort so you don't need to go anywhere to get it. I think Care Medical (contact info is in the FAQ sticky) may rent pediatric wheelchairs, but I'm not positive and their website isn't clear about it. At least one poster here has rented a pediatric wheelchair at WDW so I think you should be able to figure something out.

 

[KPeveler]

For an 11 year old, I'd really suggest renting from offsite so that you can get a pediatric wheelchair. Then you'll have it when he needs it (and honestly, he may be better off using it before he needs it to prevent the pain to begin with). Unless he's huge for his age, the park rentals are going to be too big. I'm 5'4", the one time I was in a WDW rental chair I was about 150lbs, and the chair was too large for me. It really wouldn't be comfortable for a kid.

The FAQ sticky at the top of the board has information on the first page about where you can rent wheelchairs from an offsite vendor. It also has the current info about cost for the WDW rental wheelchairs. Offsite vendors will drop the wheelchair off and pick it up from your resort so you don't need to go anywhere to get it. I think Care Medical (contact info is in the FAQ sticky) may rent pediatric wheelchairs, but I'm not positive and their website isn't clear about it. At least one poster here has rented a pediatric wheelchair at WDW so I think you should be able to figure something out.

Just agreeing - I would definitely look off-site. The park wheelchairs are not comfortable for adults, much less children. Plus they cannot be used at the resort (from my last hotel room in Disney, it was literally a mile to and from the pool, and half a mile to the food court), or DTD, or so many other places. They are also less expensive if you rent off-site.

 

[antree]

For an 11 year old, I'd really suggest renting from offsite so that you can get a pediatric wheelchair. Then you'll have it when he needs it (and honestly, he may be better off using it before he needs it to prevent the pain to begin with). Unless he's huge for his age, the park rentals are going to be too big. I'm 5'4", the one time I was in a WDW rental chair I was about 150lbs, and the chair was too large for me. It really wouldn't be comfortable for a kid.

The FAQ sticky at the top of the board has information on the first page about where you can rent wheelchairs from an offsite vendor. It also has the current info about cost for the WDW rental wheelchairs. Offsite vendors will drop the wheelchair off and pick it up from your resort so you don't need to go anywhere to get it. I think Care Medical (contact info is in the FAQ sticky) may rent pediatric wheelchairs, but I'm not positive and their website isn't clear about it. At least one poster here has rented a pediatric wheelchair at WDW so I think you should be able to figure something out.

Thank you, I will check out the sticky, he isn't that big and I do want him comfortable. I will check out all info, hopefully the Dr's can figure this out before vacation.

 

[SueM in MN]

Thank you, I will check out the sticky, he isn't that big and I do want him comfortable. I will check out all info, hopefully the Dr's can figure this out before vacation.

I just revised post 2 of the FAQs thread last weekend to re-organize it and add some additional information.
Several of the companies rent 16 wide chairs, which are generally thought of as small adult/large child. I added the information on which vendors rent those.

To get an idea of size, my youngest DD is 5 feet tall and about 81 pounds. Her custom wheelchair has a 14 inch wide seat and it fits her very snugly.
If your child is close to tht size, a 16 inch wheelchair should be OK.

If he needs a smaller size, try CARE and Walker first because both started out as more full service medical supply companies.
Keep in mind that some of the companies do have more products than they show on thir website.

Also, you might be able to get a wheelchair rented or even lent to you from somewhere closer to home. You would be able to fly with it free of charge.

 

[antree]

Thank You for the info, my DS is about that size so a 16 in should be fine.

 

[clanmcculloch]

My 13yo has used a rented wheelchair twice. When she was 4'8" 85lb the 16" chair was a good size though it would have been a better fit just a tiny bit smaller or at least shorter in the arm rests. This summer at 4'10.5" 105lb we used a standard 18" chair and the only discomfort she had was her butt but that had nothing to do with size, it was because somebody who's not used to sitting for several hours in a row will get sore without sufficient padding and we didn't use a cushion of any kind. The size was fine. I don't know if the park chairs are bigger than the standard 18" that the offsite vendors rent out or not because we've never used a park chair. She probably would have fit a bit better in a 16" chair but looked correctly seated in the 18" chair.