Question about wheelchair rental for mother

[grizelda]

sorry if this is a lame question, but my 79 yr old mother is coming to Disney with us in a couple months and just can not walk as well as she used to. She has to stop and rest very often and unfortunately wont even think about a wheelchair. Any suggestions how I can get her to use one. I am thinking about renting one anyways and then she might be more inclined to use it? Is this even allowed? She is missing out on about 80% of the fun stuff at the parks b/c she cant make it that long.

 

[bidnow5]

Have her read the threads on this board I used to struggle walking around the parks stopping often then I rented a scooter that was the single best thing I could have done for my family Disney has been so much better. Tell her the wheel chair isn't for her so much as it's for everyone else so that they can enjoy Disney with her

 

[scdak]

sorry if this is a lame question, but my 79 yr old mother is coming to Disney with us in a couple months and just can not walk as well as she used to. She has to stop and rest very often and unfortunately wont even think about a wheelchair. Any suggestions how I can get her to use one. I am thinking about renting one anyways and then she might be more inclined to use it? Is this even allowed? She is missing out on about 80% of the fun stuff at the parks b/c she cant make it that long.

I faced the same situation a few years back with my mother, and she was 10 years younger than your mother. She tried walking for 3 days, had to keep stopping often to rest and felt bad that she was "slowing us down", to say nothing of being so exhausted that she wasn't enjoying herself. On the 4th day, I didn't ask her, I just rented a w/c and told her that it was the only way we were continuing our visit, the last 3 days visiting the parks were so much more enjoyable for her and she admitted it. The next visit we rented one every day in the park and she never said a word. Our most recent trip I bought a transport chair (its a w/c but has 4 small wheels), so we had it to use at all times - airport, resorts, buses, monorail and all the Disney parks. Ours weighs less than 20 lbs so it was easy to manage , she was able to step up the few steps to a bus and I folded it up and carried it on board, heck, I have carried bags that weighed more than that!

Good luck convincing your mother, it really will make the Disney experience so much nicer for her and Disney is very helpful with all kinds of mobility issues.

 

[grizelda]

Thanks so much for the feedback!! I know my mother would be happier with some help but she is too "proud" to accept it. She is missing so much. I am going to rent the wheelchair and say its for whoever needs it and maybe if its whereever we go , she will give up and sit in it.

Do I rent a wheelchair at the parks or can I get one at the hotel (grand floridian).

 

[scdak]

I sent you a PM (or I hope I did), feel free to PM and I will be happy to share info that I found as I researched our last trip regarding wheelchairs. I know that fellow Dis'ers call tell you alot more about rentals than I can although I have rented from the parks. Your decision will probably be made by the number of days that you are there, renting at the parks gets expensive although there is a little discount for mulitple day rentals. Outside companies provide rental services - this is where fellow Dis'ers come in handy, they know the companies and how it works - so I am sure someone else will give you more info if you are interested in looking into that, the nice thing about an outside company is that the chair is yours for the entire time there, so using it at the resort is an option, and a very good one I might add as we learned in Decemeber, even the smaller POFQ would have required alot of walking for my mother.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

First of all, pick a place about a mile from where your mother lives and ask her how difficult it would be to walk there. After a short pause, add "and back". The after she answers, say "four times in a row".

Then she will give you a look as only a mother can do to a child which implies "Are you out of your mind". Explain to her than most people tend to walk 8-12 miles per day at WDW. Once around the Epcot World Showcase Lagoon Promenade, is about 1½ miles. And that is without actually entering any of the pavilion areas.

Then ask her the following questions. Here are the suggested answers to go with them.

1. Are you disabled (even temporarily)? Yes.

2. Do the people you are traveling with, such as your family, know you are disabled? Yes.

3. Do you expect to meet anyone you know during this trip who may not know you are disabled. Probably No!

4. Do you expect to meet a bunch of people who you will probably never meet again in your life? Probably yes!

5. Is there any reason at all that you should care what these people think about you? Absolutely No!!

6. Will using a wheelchair or ECV make for a better vacation for you and your family? Absolutely YES!