question about disabled father and getting on rides

[Connorsmom0]

In August my family (me, dh, ds-6 and dd-2) will be heading down. My parents will be meeting us at the world for 2 of the days. My dad is physically in bad shape. He had one knee replacement and will be getting another after the trip. The one that is already replaced is "coming apart" so that will also need replacing. Walking or standing for long periods of time is extremly painful for him. My mom already rented a scooter for his use in the parks and to get to the car. At home he has a handicapped tag for the car. My question is... what do we need to do to get him a handicapped pass? Not even sure that this is what he needs? So that he doesn't have to stand in line. I think if he is forced to stand in line it will be too much and he won't ride anything making his two days with his grandkids pretty crappy. Thanks for any info.

 

[mechurchlady]

If he uses the scooter in the parks he can take the scooter most of the way in lines. If not then they will give him a wheelchair to transfer so he can go the rest of the way through the line. In most cases he could park on the loading dock or if need be roll up to the ride vehicle.

The GAC is for invisible limitations like no sun, hearing limitations, and vision limitations. Since he would be in a scooter he would not need the GAC. If he needs a special bathroom in his hotel then call the special needs disabled number that can be found in this board's FAQs. They can offer a roll in shower if he cannot climb into a tub. The can offer hand held showers and grab rails as well as transfer benches and many have a shelf in the back to set on or a fold down bench to park on.

 

[kimsuenew]

In August my family (me, dh, ds-6 and dd-2) will be heading down. My parents will be meeting us at the world for 2 of the days. My dad is physically in bad shape. He had one knee replacement and will be getting another after the trip. The one that is already replaced is "coming apart" so that will also need replacing. Walking or standing for long periods of time is extremly painful for him. My mom already rented a scooter for his use in the parks and to get to the car. At home he has a handicapped tag for the car. My question is... what do we need to do to get him a handicapped pass? Not even sure that this is what he needs? So that he doesn't have to stand in line. I think if he is forced to stand in line it will be too much and he won't ride anything making his two days with his grandkids pretty crappy. Thanks for any info.

"mechurchlady" told you a lot of what you need to know... I just wanted to add that while I do use either an ECV (at the parks) or wheelchair... I do still get a GAC for myself at WDW because of not being able to do stairs.

You father will be able to stay in his ECV while waiting for most rides.

For entering those with a moving platform (Kali and Haunted Mansion come to mind), they stopped or slowed the moving platforms for me, and on Kali they also let me use my cane to walk to the ride "vehicle", took it from me for safety purposes I presume, but always were there waiting when it was over to hand it back!

WDW is very accomodating, I actually was part of our last two vacations... not a bystander! Enjoy!

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Hi and to disABILITIES!

You have already gotten some good information.

As long as he has a disabled hang tag (placard) and he is in the vehicle with you, you can park in the disabled parking areras which are very close to the park entrances.

Almost all lines at the park are "mainstreamed" and are designed so that an ECV can get all the way to the boarding area of a ride. If load and unload are in different locations, the ECV will magically appear at unload after it has been left at load. For those attractions where the lines are not mainstreamed, there will be indications of whre to go for boarding. So unless there is a concern that is not mobility/stamina related there is no need to get a Guest Assistance Card. There are a few attractions where he will have to park the ECV and use a wheelchair, but in those instances a wheelchair will be provided and you will normally get the ECV back at the location you left it.

And if he does need to rest for a while he can go to First Aid.

And all shows have special seating areas for people in wheelchairs/ECVs so they do not have to get out and the remaining members of the party can sit with them.

Also I notice that you will have a total of six people in your group which does make it easier as normally that is the largest party size that will be allowed to stay together.