Self propelling your wheelchair in AK?

[BabyFu18]

Hi everyone, I'm in a manual wheelchair and I haven't been to the parks in a couple years so we are going this summer and plan to do all the parks. My question is for anyone who uses a manual wheelchair and usually doesn't need assistance pushing themselves, is the terrain in Animal Kingdom really hard to manage by yourself? I know the walkways in Animal Kingdom are a little more bumpy on purpose but how hard is it on your wheelchair and on your arms/shoulders wheeling yourself around most of the day. I wasn't initially concerned about this because I get around without issue wheeling myself on a daily basis but I read a blog post about someone in a wheelchair having major issues with their chair and the uneven pathways at AK recently and it made me wonder if anyone here has experience with using a wheelchair in AK specifically.

Just a note my personal wheelchair is much lighter and easier to maneuver than Disney wheelchairs and standard wheelchairs you can rent so I'm hoping that works in my favor!

 

[BillSears]

Full time Paraplegic here so I've been pushing around for 40 years. AK isn't really that bad for me. The hardest hill is when you enter the park and go up the hill towards the Tree of Life. But you should only be doing that once during the day. There are a few other hills approaching bridges and if you go towards the Nemo show from Dinoland. But overall it's really not that bad to me. The pathways do have a bit of texture but I have the "normal" inflatable wheels on the back of my chair and nice 6 inch casters on the front. I hardly notice the textures. I feel getting around a city with cracked sidewalks and brick walkways is harder to do.

AK isn't as smooth as EPCOT but it's still Disney and the pathways are well maintained.

 

[BabyFu18]

Thanks for the info! I don't have as big of casters on the front of my chair as you do but hopefully the smaller caster size won't make to much of a difference. I'm hoping to take a power assist with me for use in the parks, to help with some of the hills and roughness but I don't have that in my hands yet (though hopefully it'll be in before my trip!).

 

[BillSears]

I have done it with some cute light up 4 inch hard plastic castors. It's not too bad with them but the hard plastic and smaller diameter does make a difference at AK and in general use overall. Now I save the light up casters for special occasions.

I've thought of getting power assist but for now I'm still doing well. I haven't worn out my shoulders from pushing but transfers have been rough on them. So I can push all day but rough transfers really hurt. ROFL

 

[BabyFu18]

Thanks for the note about caster size I'll talk to my DME and see if I maybe need to have different types of casters for different terrains and maybe it's something that I can change out as needed myself.