Traveling from airport to resort with a wheelchair

[Disnini]

Hello! We are excitedly looking forward to our first family vacation in a very long time in June. My one daughter has recently been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and we will be traveling with a wheelchair. In the past, we have we had always taken the Magical Express. Now, being new to traveling with a wheelchair, I'm not quite certain what to do. To rent a vehicle, I am thinking we would need a larger one to accommodate 4 people, luggage and the wheelchair. Then to pay to pay daily for resort parking, I am not sure if this is worth it. I would truly appreciate advice and recommendations!

 

[lanejudy]

Mears Connect and Sunshine Flyer are both bus shuttle service, similar to the old Magical Express, and both offer accessible transportation. I think there are some threads on the Transportation Forum with experiences from each. I don't know how that pricing compares to pricing for a rental+resort parking. Hopefully someone here can share what they've used in the past 3 months for accessible transportation.

 

[Disnini]

Mears Connect and Sunshine Flyer are both bus shuttle service, similar to the old Magical Express, and both offer accessible transportation. I think there are some threads on the Transportation Forum with experiences from each. I don't know how that pricing compares to pricing for a rental+resort parking. Hopefully someone here can share what they've used in the past 3 months for accessible transportation.

Thank you!

 

[SueM in MN]

I second lanejudy’s recommendation about Mears Connect or Sunshine Flyer. From what I’ve seen and read, they use the same type accessible busses with lifts that were used by Magical Express (that service was actually a contract with Mears).
We used Magical Express with a person in a wheelchair from the time it began until it ended.

If you are staying at a WDW resort, the WDW transportation is wheelchair accessible, except for the smallest boats serving some of the MK area resorts.

We traveled to WDW in February with a total of 6 people, our bags and a wheelchair. It was a tight fit in the van we rented, but we did get everything in. On our trip from the airport to resort, we popped the tires off our daughter’s wheelchair. On the way back, we figured out how to get everything in without taking it apart at all.
I‘d suggest a van (which is expensive) for that amount of people. When it’s just been my DH, myself and our DD, we have rented a full size car, but getting a wheelchair in a trunk or even the back of an SUV can be a challenge and doesn’t leave much room for anything else. How much space the wheelchair needs depends on how it folds and whether the wheels can be popped off.

 

[Groot]

Hello! We are excitedly looking forward to our first family vacation in a very long time in June. My one daughter has recently been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and we will be traveling with a wheelchair. In the past, we have we had always taken the Magical Express. Now, being new to traveling with a wheelchair, I'm not quite certain what to do. To rent a vehicle, I am thinking we would need a larger one to accommodate 4 people, luggage and the wheelchair. Then to pay to pay daily for resort parking, I am not sure if this is worth it. I would truly appreciate advice and recommendations!

It’ll depend on whether your daughter has a Folding or Rigid (non-folding) wheelchair and whether or not the rear wheels can come off.

The easiest way to tell a folding manual wheelchair from a rigid manual wheelchair is to look underneath the seat at the cross braces. If they’re straight, that’s a RIGID CHAIR, if they form an “X”, then that’s a FOLDING CHAIR. (Examples below).


The rear wheels can be removed easily from either frame style if they’re what’s called a QUICK RELEASE AXLE. This type frequently has a button on the top and is most frequently found on the high end custom made manuals from Quickie, TiLite, Ki Mobility, Motion Composites, among others.

The other type of axle is what’s called a THREADED or PERMANENT AXLE. This type, although the rear wheels can still be removed or replaced, isn’t done as easily when compared to the quick realease. It has to be physically unscrewed from the rear wheel housing before you remove the wheel. This type is most frequently seen on chairs that are used in nursing homes to prevent accidental removal and potential injuries.

(Top: Permanent Axle, Bottom: Quick Release Axle.)

 

[Disnini]

It’ll depend on whether your daughter has a Folding or Rigid (non-folding) wheelchair and whether or not the rear wheels can come off.

The easiest way to tell a folding manual wheelchair from a rigid manual wheelchair is to look underneath the seat at the cross braces. If they’re straight, that’s a RIGID CHAIR, if they form an “X”, then that’s a FOLDING CHAIR. (Examples below).View attachment 657508
View attachment 657509

The rear wheels can be removed easily from either frame style if they’re what’s called a QUICK RELEASE AXLE. This type frequently has a button on the top and is most frequently found on the high end custom made manuals from Quickie, TiLite, Ki Mobility, Motion Composites, among others.

The other type of axle is what’s called a THREADED or PERMANENT AXLE. This type, although the rear wheels can still be removed or replaced, isn’t done as easily when compared to the quick realease. It has to be physically unscrewed from the rear wheel housing before you remove the wheel. This type is most frequently seen on chairs that are used in nursing homes to prevent accidental removal and potential injuries.
View attachment 657512
(Top: Permanent Axle, Bottom: Quick Release Axle.)

Thank you very much for this information!

 

[RoseGold]

This is going to have a very different answer if it’s a foldable manual chair that fits in an Uber XL. For a power chair, Mears connect is using the old ME buses that have the lifts.

 

[SueM in MN]

Wheelchairs with cross braces fold by pushing the sides toward the center (side to side fold). A few with cross braces have a rigid seat base that is bolted on, which prevents it from folding.

Lightweight rigid chairs usually fold, but not in the same way. The seatback usually is removable and the back part that is left is the ‘canes’ (sticks the back attaches to) which can fold down.
This is my daughter’s TiLite ultralightweight rigid wheelchair as it looks in use.

This is her wheelchair broken down how we prepare it to go on an airplane. The seatback, cushion, headrest, armrests, side guards and antitip bars are taken off and the back folds forward and down to make the wheelchair smaller. I take the removed pieces on the plane with me.
When we’ve rented a car, we take it apart and fold it down the same way, but also remove the tires (the black ‘Ti’ button in the middle of the wheel releases the quick release). With the wheels off, it’s pretty small, but still takes some juggling to get into a trunk. Luckily, with everything off, it’s only about 13 pounds

 

[ttintagel]

It may be possible to get a temporary handicapped parking placard. My own experience with this is secondhand, so I can’t guarantee how feasible it is. But a relative of mine was given one during her recovery period from multiple surgeries on her leg.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

It may be possible to get a temporary handicapped parking placard. My own experience with this is secondhand, so I can’t guarantee how feasible it is. But a relative of mine was given one during her recovery period from multiple surgeries on her leg.

in our area have gotten temporary tags if I remember correctly they were good for 60 days