Push Wheelchairs

[CyRide]

We are planning on taking my mother and grandmother for a relaxing trip to DW in December. My grandmother is 87 and has difficulty walking long distances. Can you rent just the plain push wheelchairs at DW and if so, can you park hop with them or do you have to rent a chair from each park??

 

[SueM in MN]

Welcome to disABILTIES.
Here is a link to the DIS page about park touring with a mobility disability. It does have information about renting a wheelchair at the parks. We have not rented one (DD has her own wheelchair), but I have seen lots of posts about renting, so I'm repeating what I know.
If you want to park hop, you won't be able to take the wheelchair out of the park with you, but you will be able to get one at the next park without paying a second time. Just show your receipt.
Wheelchairs are first come, first serve, so it is possible there may not be a wheelchair available to rent. This is usually only a problem during busy times.
That link also includes inforamtion about which rides someone can stay in the wheelchair for the whole ride.

You might want to look into renting a wheelchair from one of the off-site places. That way, you would have a wheelchair available for getting around at your resort (which can involve a lot of walking) and if you go anywhere else, like DD or Boardwalk. WDW transportation (buses, monoarils and most boats) can accomidate wheelchairs. If you are staying on site, your resort may have a wheelchair to lend. These are limited availability and can't be arranged for ahead of time. They also might not have an appropriate chair (like they may only have an extra wide chair when you need a narrow adult chair).
Here is a list of the companies that DIS posters have rented from:
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

 

[Bobrow]

We were there a couple weeks ago with my son who had a broken leg. We stayed a couple nights off sight and a couple days on site and the wheelchair company delivered and picke up at the hotels. (push kind) I will look up my records and send you the name of the company. They were very nice and it was alot easier having our own wheelchair rather than having to go get one at the parks.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

One thing to consider with a wheelchair, especially if not used to using/pushing it. There are hills! They are not obvious. Pushing a wheelchair will make you aware of them can get very tiring.

You mentioned your grandmother is 87, which would probably put your mother in her low to mid 60's and you about 40 (+/-). You might want to consider an ECV rental instead. If you grandmother has never used one, she can probably try one out at a large grocery store; many stores have them for customer use. Note the ones in the stores tend to be larger than the normal rentals.

 

[Figaro]

It's interesting how differently people perceive pushing wheelchairs (difficulty level). Whenever I ask my spouse about this, he tells me that he doesn't find any of the pushing very difficult, even the steep ramps at the TTC. He is almost 50 and is certainly not a marathon runner and doesn't work out at all.

He has told me that the only problem he has ever had with the wheelchair is to stop it quickly enough so he doesn't hit someone when they come to a sudden stop in front of us. The last time we were at WDW, I picked up a pedometer for him (I was curious to see how much walking he did).

We were at the Swan, so he would push me to both Epcot and MGM (he doesn't like how slow the boats are), and most of the time he would push me through Epcot so that we could catch the monorail to the Magic Kingdom. The only time we took the bus was to Animal Kingdom.

He averaged about 12 miles a day and never had a single blister, sore muscles or any other problem. I think that how much problem a person has pushing a wheelchair just seems to depend(smile), because I can assure you, he works with computers for a living and really doesn't get very much exercise, except when we go to WDW.

 

[Figaro]

Edited: Posted twice!

 

[Mazzy]

Figaro - I was interested to read your post, and I'm really hoping that my DH will be able to cope with pushing me as well as your's does!

I must admit that I have pushed my Mum in a wheelchair (before my foot problem surfaced!) and found it quite a struggle - but then, I'm not known for my strength! DH pushes her round no problem at all and he is 10 years older than me!

I think, and I'm not being sexist here, that the male species generally has more strength and stamina than us females, now I know that that's not the case for everyone, so please don't torch me for saying that!

 

[Figaro]

Mazzy, I hope your husband has an easy time pushing too! For the first few times we went, my spouse used weight lifting gloves (padded on the palms with no fingers) to protect his hands. Since my new wheelchair has more padding on the handles, he doesn't even use the gloves any more.

What surprises me, is that he has a bad back and pushing doesn't seem to have any effect at all on that. Makes no sense, but I guess it just depends on the person.

 

[colleen costello]

HI folks. Just wanted to add my 2 cents. We visited last March and Mom rented a wheelchair from one of the Orlando suppliers. We stayed in a Ft Wilderness Cabin. She rented a scooter a few times and otherwise we used the wheelchair. Anyhow, at checkout she asked about help arranging pickup for the chair. The CM at Ft Wilderness said that Disney provides wheelchairs for guests on site, ones that they can "keep" all week and return when checking out! She was irritated that no one at the reservation number had offered this. They actually went so far as to reimburse Mom for the $80 the rental chair had cost her.

I encourage you all to ask, when making reservations, if a wheelchair is available. Evidently they will try to provide one to use for length of stay. They list this on your reservation under medical requests. It doesn't hurt to try and it might save you all some money! On the days we needed a scooter (Epcot) we just left the chair in the cabin.

 

[SueM in MN]

That is a good hint, Colleen.
The WDW resorts do provide wheelchairs to guests, but people have reported on the DIS boards that they can't be reserved ahead of time (even though it might be noted on your reservation). I don't have any personal knowledge, since DD has her own wheelchair, but I have read enough posts to know a bit. The wheelchairs are also first come, first serve and the size that is provided might not be appropriate. Some people have reported all that was available to them was an extra large wheelchair when they needed a regular one or vise versa. So, if you plan to get a wheelchair from the resort, you might want to still atke along the contact info from the local medical equipment companies just in case.

 

[colleen costello]

Thanks, Sue. Getting the right size chair has been a problem. My Mom is a good-sized woman and prefers the "wide-body," as she jokingly calls them. Numerous times, skinny-minnie CM's have brought the regular-sized chairs and Mom has been embarassed to have to say "Sorry, but my fanny won't comfortably fit in that." The "regulars" are definitely NOT "one size fits all." If it will save embarassment for your party member, I am all for renting your own and bypassing all this!