We are visiting the world over New Year's, Dec 27-Jan2. I am debating if I should use my wheelchair. I don't normally use it at home, but occasionally will use a cane for balance. I am worried because my balance gets worse as I get tired. However, I'm concerned that a using a wheelchair in extreme crowds may be harder than navigating with a cane. I also have my husband and teenage kids to help me.
If in a chair, will I spend my entire vacation looking a people's backsides (or frontsides)? Also, does a larger crowd make wheeling it impossible (impassable)?
Not gonna lie... sitting in/on any mobility device, you are going to see a LOT of butts (fewer fronts) when it's that busy at Disney. However, you have to weight your options here: Try to find the humor in looking at that many butts - or - the toll that doing what our family calls "The Disney Shuffle" - that slow, halting walk in a crowd - will take on you.
There are fewer and fewer quick, easy places to sit in the Parks now; although Disney is making more planters and low walls that you can perch on, anything that remotely resembles a place to sit will quickly be covered by... butts. So it's your butt (standing) up or yours sitting down, looking at everyone else's - your choice. If you choose to walk, and there is absolutely no place to sit when you get tired, what will you do?
I'm torn on whether to bring it or not. We are driving and it takes up a lot of cargo space.
Rent one when you get to Orlando. (Well, make rental arrangements ahead of time) but don't feel the need to bring your personal chair unless it is an ultralight custom, or has some other special compelling feature you can't get on a rental. Bring along your gel cushion (if you use one).
Another concern is the busses. I cannot stand on the bus, there's no possible way, I would fall undoubtedly. But, if using just a cane, will it be possible to get a seat? Do I have to have a more obvious visible sign of disability in order to get a seat? With the extreme crowds, I'm sure the busses will be packed with people standing.
I will be honest - at that time of year, I would not expect a busy bus driver to be able to pick you out of the crowd and offer you disability based boarding because of your cane. Additionally, depending on which Resort you stay at, you may have to wait for 2, or even 3 buses just to get on. Can you stand - at the end of a long, Disney day - for that long? Having the chair will give you a place to sit while you wait for the bus, and you won't have to worry about being too tired to stand.
I have a lot of worries. Please tell me how you have managed either with a cane or a wheelchair. What are the plusses and minuses of each?
I have my own personal
ECV that I travel with. I no longer have the option to just use my cane. My observations are based on the perspective of someone who has been doing WDW from a seated position for several years now, my most recent trip in September of this year (2018). Sitting down at Disney is *not* fun, and it's not what anyone wants, but what you will have to remember is that the average Guest at WDW will walk between
3 and 10 miles per day. That's in addition to all of the standing and waiting. Be honest - can you handle even a "light" Disney day?
I say take the chair (or rent one) and then you don't have to worry. You won't arrive back at the hotel, sore and hurting and trying to get comfortable and sleep on an unfamiliar bed. Because you won't be hurting, your family may actually have a better time - and they won't have to stop all of the time so that you can find a place to sit. They won't have to worry about slowing down so that you can keep up. They won't have to worry about overdoing it if they want to stay for the Kiss Goodnight.
You don't have to sit the whole time in the wheelchair. You can get out, and push the chair (using it like a walker) and you can even park it (just ask a Cast Member where the best spot is to leave it) and walk around an area for a while. But have the chair so that if you need it, you have it - and you and your family can just go on and have fun.
Whatever you decide, I hope that your holidays are as magical as you wish them to be!
