Transferring from Wheelchair to rides

[allie_to_you]

My DH is in a wheelchair & has no use of his legs whatsoever. We have learned how to transfer him to ride vehicles such as Haunted Mansion & Soarin, however, there are a few rides he would love to be able to experience, but I have not figured out a good, fairly quick way of transferring him yet and need some suggestions.

Tower of Terror....he is dying to ride this attraction. One year, we started to attempt a transfer, but the way the seats are situated, it seemed difficult to get him quite close enough in order for me to lift his weight up & around into the seat, so we didn't try it.

He would also love to try Expedition Everest and I have heard they have a car that has more of a level side where he could possibly transfer over, but I'm afraid with the track right beside the vehicle, he wouldn't be able to get up close enough and they are loading & unloading so quickly, I'd hate to hold people up.

Also, is there any way of getting him into the narrow opening of the spaceship earth vehicles?

 

[WheelieBigDisFan]

Allie,
Knowing your husbands injury level and transfer ability would give us a better understanding of what he may be capable of doing when at WDW. For example, I am a T10 incomplete SCI and can transfer myself to just about anything with none or minimal assistance. I went to DLR (Disneyland) yesterday and went on the canoes with another wheelie friend and was able to make the transfer down to the dock and into the boat no problem, but getting up was a bit harder.
Some transfers are harder than others and require a bit more planning and/or creative transferring than others. Sometimes it is easier to do the transfer in steps (chair to floor, floor to boat) than it is to try and go right from the wheelchair into the boat or ride car. For ToT I pull up to the closest aisle seat and angle my chair as much as I can (which isn't much b/c of the small opening) then I make sure that my feet are on the floor (not tangled in my footrest) and place a hand on the seat I am going to transfer to and my other hand on the frame of my chair. While I am lifting I am pivoting at the same time and aiming my butt for the chair I want to sit on. If your husband needs help for all transfers you might consider taking a slide board to WDW so he can help with the transfers a bit when possible.
More info will be helpful so others can share their tips/tricks, but with a bit of creative planning almost anything can be accomplished. I know sometimes tone/spasm can be more of a challenge for transfers than the actual transfer itself, since if you can't get your legs to bend (or stop bouncing) it is hard to transfer or enter a ride vehicle.
I also recommend watching youtube videos of the entry onto rides for some pre-planning. You could even try to set up that scenario and see what might work and what definitely will NOT work.
Mandy

 

[SueM in MN]

I will write more when I get home, but Expedition Everest has a trial car that you can have him practice on. One car does have a bigger opening.
Spaceship Earth also has a ride car with a wider opening - ask for the ADA transfer car. He would be able to park the wheelchair on the walkway beside the ride car.

There is dome more information in page 2 of the disABILITIES FAQs thread. I also have pictures of most things - some are in my wdwinfo photo album and some are not downloaded to there yet.