Vacationing with injured child, any suggestions??

[The Rivers' Rats]

Well it was bound to happen eventually, but the timing stinks. My son (soon to be 8 yrs. old) decided to jump off of a storage shed and ended up breaking his foot. He is currently in a soft cast / sling, but may be placed in a hard cast when he goes for his doctor's appointment in two weeks. So far, we are being told that he can not place any weight on the injured foot and will likely not be able to play baseball this year (which is killing him right now, as that is his favorite sport) and that he will probably still be in a cast by the time we go to WDW at the end of May.

Have any of you ever had to travel with an injured or mobility impaired guest? If so, can you send me any suggestions or lessons learned?

I know that I will likely have to rent a wheelchair (not sure where to do this) since he is not going to want to use crutches for ten days in the parks. With that, how difficult is it to get around on the transportation system with a wheel chair or injured party?

In all honesty, there are a million questions going through my head right now and I am pretty upset for my son, since this is his first trip to WDW and he has been talking about it and helping us plan it since early last year. I just want this trip to be as special as it can be for him, in spite of the injury.

Thanks for any advice you can give.

- Scott

 

[dzorn]

You may want to check in on the disability board. I would also suggest a waterproof cast if you get a hard one placed on at his appointment.

Good Luck!

Denise in MI

 

[BostonDisneyKid]

I have travelled with injured people (self included) to WDW and people with disabilities as well. WDW is very accomodating to these types of needs and goes out of their way to help when they can.

If he is going to be in a cast and completely imobalized the first thing you should do for home and travel is get a fitted rubber cover for the cast so he can bathe and possibly even swim. The rubber covers (I am sure there is a medical name but it escapes me at the moment) the entire cast and is air tight to the skin around the cast and prevents moisture from getting in and under the cast. The last thing you (he) wants is water to get under the cast for a few reasons (softens the cast, stinks to high heaven and causes it to get very itchy to name a few reasons). Having that will help at home and on the trip for sure as there are many attractions with water which he wont be able to do otherwise.

The next thing I would recommend is to look into renting a wheelchair (for the length of stay from a 3rd party vendor) or maybe even a large sport style stroller may be even more affective (for the pusher of the chair) if he will not be able to put any weight on this at all and shoudl fit into such a stroller. I'd suggest length stay of rental as he will need it at other places beyond the parks such as at the resort, if you go to dtd, etc.

I would rig up a bag of sorts to wheelchair/stroller if possible to hold his crutches as well as he may need to transfer from the wheel chair to certain ride vehicles in order to partake in the attraction and will need those for then. Additionally he may want to walk a bit on the crutches to stretch his legs out as well but I would definately bring them but assume he will not or cannot use them all day, every day throughout an entire vacation as WDW is very large and moving around the park is difficult in general as walking is what you do more than anything (other than waiting in lines).

When using the wheel chair you will be given the option at most attractions to utilize a side or rear entrance to the atttraction to accomodate him not having to stand in long lines. So dont think "he cant do this ride because of his foot" because more than likily he will be able to do just about everything (that isnt restricted by his height if that is an issue).

Hopefully this helps and if you have any other questions (probably too many to ask at the moment), feel free to ask away here or via a PM. And remember to pack and bring the rubber cast cover with you at all times so he doesnt get left out of actvities or attractions.

 

[TDS533]

One bit of advice I would give you is to go to any guest relations spot in any park. At Mk it's in city hall. tell them that your son is in a wheelchair and that you need a "guest assistance pass" Also tell them that you will need a stamp for wheelchair access as well as an "alternate entrance" stamp. The second stamp is important because even if you have the wheelchair stamp there are certain rides they will send you thru the regular line and not let you bypass it(toystory mania for example). Since your son will be restricted to using his foot, I feel you will need that stamp. Hope you have a great trip.

 

[Chuck S]

One bit of advice I would give you is to go to any guest relations spot in any park. At Mk it's in city hall. tell them that your son is in a wheelchair and that you need a "guest assistance pass" Also tell them that you will need a stamp for wheelchair access as well as an "alternate entrance" stamp. The second stamp is important because even if you have the wheelchair stamp there are certain rides they will send you thru the regular line and not let you bypass it(toystory mania for example). Since your son will be restricted to using his foot, I feel you will need that stamp. Hope you have a great trip.

Getting a guest assistance pass for someone in a wheelchair is really not necessary. The passes are designed for people with hidden disabilities, like "use stroller as wheelchair" for a disabled child, or a pass directing those with sensory issues to a quieter waiting area. If someone is in a wheelchair, they use the alternative entrances wherever they are needed. Just ask the greeter at the entrance to the ride queue. Most newer attraction queues are wheelchair compatible, and you use the standard queue. For older attractions, or attractions with steps/stairs in the queue, you use the alternative entrances.

For many attractions, he will be required to transfer to the ride vehicle, for others, there is a w/c accessible vehicle. For most theater shows, you will be in the back of the theater, though for some shows there is limited w/c seating in the front of the theater, too.

The busses usually accommodate 2 wheelchairs each, though some can accommodate 3. If he can transfer to a bus seat, you may be able to fold the chair. The newest busses have ramps, so it isn't a problem to load the chairs, the older busses have lifts, which work OK, but there are problems with some of them. You will load at the rear doors of the bus, and load first (you are the last people off the bus, though.) At the resorts and parks that have a railed or chained bus queue, you will not wait in the regular queue, you will need to wait just to the left side so the driver can see you and load you first, in what would normally be the "exit" area.

There are a lot of rental places that will deliver the wheelchair to your resort, see the sticky thread on the disABILITIES forum for a list of vendor people on the DIS have recommended.

 

[Inkmahm]

One bit of advice I would give you is to go to any guest relations spot in any park. At Mk it's in city hall. tell them that your son is in a wheelchair and that you need a "guest assistance pass" Also tell them that you will need a stamp for wheelchair access as well as an "alternate entrance" stamp. The second stamp is important because even if you have the wheelchair stamp there are certain rides they will send you thru the regular line and not let you bypass it(toystory mania for example). Since your son will be restricted to using his foot, I feel you will need that stamp. Hope you have a great trip.

When we travel with my mom, we have a wheelchair for her. She can walk very short distances with a cane but can't "just stand" for more than a few minutes.

We've never gotten a guest assistance pass or any kind of stamps for wheelchair access. We are fine with going through the regular line and not bypassing to skip ahead of everyone else, as long as mom can be seated in the wheelchair while we are in line. I feel you'd be fine in the regular line with everyone else with your son, too.

What I would suggest is checking the price of wheelchair rental vs buying your own on ebay. We purchased a chair for my mom on ebay. http://cgi.ebay.com/Expedition-Whee...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item53e0610164 It works well for the airports as well as while we are at WDW.