Wheel Chair Questions

[PrincessTanyuhKaypoo]

Hi Everyone!

I'm trying to plan a short trip (March 8th-11th) which will be a first time ever trip for my best friend! So naturally I want everything to be magical for her. I was just looking over the Disney guide for Guest with Disabilities and it mentions that wheel chair rentals at the parks are first come first serve. I know this is very silly, but has anyone ever not been able to rent a wheel chair (or ECV) because they were all rented out? We plan on being at the parks at opening, taking breaks in the afternoons and then returning to the parks in the afternoons and staying as late as possible.

My friend has severe Rhumatoid arthritis, and she does not use a wheel chair at home but her mobility is very limited and I know there is no way for her to make it around the parks unless we rent something. Would anyone mind sharing there experiences, words of wisdom, tips, etc. with me? While not new to WDW I am new to planning with a disABILITY and am so glad this group is here! As I said I want to make this so special for her, I'm trying to arrange as much as I can so she doesn't have to do anything but enjoy herself!

Thanks so much,
PrincessTanyuh

 

[Figaro]

Hi, Princess Tanyuh!

If you are staying on Disney property there are a limited number of wheelchairs available at the resort on a first come first serve basis that you can keep for the entire trip. The wheelchairs at the parks do get rented out during the busy times and the ECV's almost always get completely rented out very early in the day during busy times. Especially since you are planning on going back to the room and taking a break in the middle of the day (because you have to return the ECV since it doesn't leave the park and then it would get taken by someone who had been waiting for one to be returned), I would recommend renting either and ECV or a manual wheelchair (depending on which your friend prefers) from an off-site provider. If you look down through the different threads on this forum, you will see different ones with ECV in the title and if you take a look at them there will be a post in them with all of the off-site providers phone numbers and/or websites.

Hope you have a great trip!

 

[Talking Hands]

Please rent form an offsite vendor. I have had occasions before I got my own wheelchair when a rental wheelchair has been unavailable at the parks. When we took my MIL we were unable to get a wheelchair at the resort. None available. If it is crucial that your friend has a wheelchair then your best optionis renting a wheelchair or ECV from an offsite vendor. Sue can you post the info. I lost it when my computer crashed a while back.

 

[Sue & Co.]

We are always at the parks before opening and have never had a problem renting from the park but unless you can guarantee that you will be there early and will not want to take a break and return in the afternoon then I would agree with the previous posters and rent from an off site co. The only disadvantage to this is (particularly with an ECV) having to dismantle and reassemble it to fit in the car and sometimes then the distance to the park from parking (I'm sure that at the monorail everyone else thinks that a wheelchair or ECV means that the person wants to be pushed in fron of!!).

Sue

 

[SueM in MN]

Besides what was already mentioned, the wheelchairs you can rent in the parks are the sort of heavy duty (and heavy weight) wheelchairs that you find in airports, etc. If you rent from off-site, besides having one available for use at your resort, DD and getting to and from the buses, you can rent a lighter weight, easier to push model.
As was posted, you canoften get one form your resort free or charge, but it is not guarnateed. Some people have had good luck and otheres have either found no chair or one that didn't fit their needs (like extr wide when they needed narrow). Getting a more appropraite one took anywhere from several hours to several days. Even if you decide to get a wheelchair from your resort, take these numbers along anyway (better safe than sorry).
Here are the places that DIS posters report renting from:
Care Medical:
http://www.caremedicalequipment.com/
Phone (407) 856-2273 • Toll Free U.S and Canada (800) 741-2282

Walker Mobility:
1-888-726-6837
www.walkermobility.com

RANDY'S Mobility is in Kissimmee 407-892-4777
http://randysmobility.com/

Colonial Medical
http://www.colonialmed.com/about_cms.html
(800)747-0246


Another thing to think about is how you will hold up if you are pushing your friend around all day. An ecv wold give her more independence, you more energy and you could also talk to her more easily since you could walk beside her a lot rather than behind her.

 

[PrincessTanyuhKaypoo]

Thank you all for your quick responses!

I have bookmarked the links you left SueM and will now go and do some more research. When I first started planning this trip it was just for the two of us but then I began thinking about the extra energy I'd need to help her around for 3-4 days so we decided that my FH should come along to give me some big big big support
So if we can get a chair from our resort we can have it our entire stay and not have to worry about returning daily. But we're staying at Pop Century on our first night and then PORS the next two nights. Is it possible to just arrange to take it with us- if we get one from the resort- or would we have to then get one at PORS? She's fully able to get in and out of a wheel chair so could we just fold it up and take it with us on the bus/boat/monorails and then unfold it when we arrive?
Also I discussed this with her last night, she'll be having a Rhumacade ( I know it's spelled really wrong) treatment right before our trip and now she thinks she may want to try it withouth a chair- I'm strongly advising against this- she knows her own physical limits, but I know the area we're covering and think she may be a little overwhelmed when we get there.
Partly I also think she is having second thoughts, she said "How would it look for me to pull up in a wheel chair and then get on a roller coaster? While I doubt we'll do much crazy stuff I think she just has a fear of feeling like she'd be doing something she shouldn't. I've told her that she is so so so wrong and that no one will be inconvenienced, but if you all have any words of wisdom you wouldn't mind sharing I think she could use them. Thanks again!

Tanya

 

[Aimfred]

Your friend should not feel funny about using a wheelchair and riding the rollercoasters if she wants to! A few years ago, I took my mom & her best friend to WDW. Having been many times myself, they had me play "tourguide" for them, since they were both first timers. My mom has rhuemetoid arthritis and fibromyalgia, so I insitsted that she use either a wc or ECV, knowing that she'd never make it through without. The first day we rented an ECV. It was such a pain, the next day we borrowed a wc from our resort. This was much better, as she could use it where ever we went on property. She rode all the rides (even the coasters). No one ever looked at her funny for doing this. In fact, most CM's thought it was great that my 50-something mom was being that adventerous & they were all really nice to us. It was one of the best trips I've ever had to WDW, I think mostly because of the wonderful treatment she received.

 

[SueM in MN]

I don't know how it works to borrow a wheelchair from the resort and then change resorts (although I suspect you just keep the wheelchair when you go to the new resort). Maybe someone who does know for sure will post.
Here's a number you could try to find out though,
WDW Resort Special Reservations:
(407) 939-7807
(407) 939-7670 [TTY]
This is the department that deals with all special needs requests/assistance at the resorts.
Wheelchairs on the bus need to be open and tied down. the bus driver will load the wheelchair from the ramp or lift at the back door of the bus. A set of bus seats just across from the back door fold up to make a space for the wheelchair. For safety reasons, they need to strap down the wheelchair while the bus is moving. Your friend can sit in the wheelchair or can get out and sit in a bus seat. But, whether she is in it or not, the wheelchair will be loaded and tied down the same way. For the boats and monorail, you could fold up the chair and lift it on if you want. Those wheelchairs get heavy though, so it's usually easier to just roll them on.

 

[PrincessTanyuhKaypoo]

Aimfred,

That sounds just like JoDonna! I'm so glad you shared that with me, I told her that she could do whatever she wanted to (she's never been to Disney and was kind of put off by it untill we started planning and I really got her to look at some different info but now she is super excited) but she was still a bit put off.

I think we're going to go with a wc and just take things nice and easy

Thanks!