Wheelchair for 10yr old

[amberdc1987]

Due to an unfortunate accident, our 10 yr old DD will need a wheelchair for our trip at the end of Jan. She has fractured part of her foot and her toes, and is in a walking boot for 8 weeks. She will be unable to walk long distances because of this. We are more than likely going to get a wheelchair to use around the parks. We are staying offsite so I think we need to rent from a third party because of walking around outside of the parks also.

A few questions...does anyone know of a place to rent a smaller wheelchair? Or would it be best to just rent a normal wheelchair? We have multiple adults that will be pushing her, so I just want to make sure the chair is tall enough for them to comfortably push her.

Also, I've never had to worry about a wheelchair in the parks before. Does anyone have any tips about how to manage this? She will be able to transfer into all rides, so that part is not a problem. I am worried about her standing in line for some of them....I assume you can't take a wheelchair in all of the lines. Please correct me if I'm wrong....as I said, I'm knew to this part.

Any information that you think I would need to know I would appreciate it. I'm the kind of person, the more information I have the better I feel about it.

Thank you so much!


**Edited to add she is almost 5 feet and 75lbs.

 

[Mrsjvb]

Unless she is tall/large for her age, rent a pediatric chair. The only place you can’t bring a chair is tomorrowland transit, Tom sayers island and Swiss family Robinson treehouse.

 

[amberdc1987]

Unless she is tall/large for her age, rent a pediatric chair. The only place you can’t bring a chair is tomorrowland transit, Tom sayers island and Swiss family Robinson treehouse.

Just edited to add she is almost 5 feet and 75 lbs. Would she still need a pedicatric chair? Any recommendations where I can rent one? I have yet to see one for rent when I look online.

 

[mamabunny]

Although you can probably get away with a regular chair - I would call and ask the rental vendor if you can get a properly sized chair for her. Also, see if they have a gel cushion for it, since she will be sitting all day.

You can get handlebar extensions on Amazon that will help adult pushers

 

[kaytieeldr]

You want a chair that she's not going to slide all over the seat. The 16" chair should work https://www.orlandomedicalrentals.com/equipment.asp?action=category&category=10

 

[Bjkandma]

Definitely get a pad for the chair. Or if you prefer grab even a bed pillow. Sitting in a wheelchair starts becoming uncomfortable after a while.

 

[SueM in MN]

Also, see if you can rent or borrow a small size wheelchair from your home area.
Wheelchairs and other mobility devices fly for free.

My youngest daughter is disabled and has her own wheelchair. She is 5 feet tall and about 80 pounds. Her wheelchair has a seat that is 14 inches wide, but 16 inches would work. Anything wider than that would be too wide.

 

[Staren]

Do not get a standard 18” wide chair. It will be way too large for her. A 16” chair that would be fairly easy to source should work, but I would ask vendors about a pediatric chair for her.

I’m going to mention something that hasn’t been brought up yet. Please do not treat the chair like a stroller. It should be her space, not everyone else’s for storage. Given her age, the person pushing her should try to remember to either keep up with the group or ask her where she wants to go. This is going to be frustrating enough for her. She should not loose all ability to see what she wants just because it’s inconvenient for whoever is pushing her.

 

[lanejudy]

does anyone know of a place to rent a smaller wheelchair?

Orlando Medical Rentals has pediatric-sized wheelchairs for rent. I’m not sure if any of the other popular vendors have 12” or 14” size. They should be able to help determine proper sizing as well.

Enjoy your vacation!

 

[kaytieeldr]

Orlando Medical Rentals' pediatric chairs have a weight limit of 75 pounds. That's right where OP says her daughter is, so pediatric chair may not be right.

 

[lanejudy]

Orlando Medical Rentals' pediatric chairs have a weight limit of 75 pounds. That's right where OP says her daughter is, so pediatric chair may not be right.

They also have a 16” chair and can help determine what size is the best for her. Most of the ECV vendors i checked only have 18” or bigger.

 

[amberdc1987]

Do not get a standard 18” wide chair. It will be way too large for her. A 16” chair that would be fairly easy to source should work, but I would ask vendors about a pediatric chair for her.

I’m going to mention something that hasn’t been brought up yet. Please do not treat the chair like a stroller. It should be her space, not everyone else’s for storage. Given her age, the person pushing her should try to remember to either keep up with the group or ask her where she wants to go. This is going to be frustrating enough for her. She should not loose all ability to see what she wants just because it’s inconvenient for whoever is pushing her.

Oh yes most definitely! The chair is all hers. Just her and her backpack. There are 6 of us and we will be staying together anyway. But we will definitely do what she wants to do also.

 

[kaytieeldr]

They also have a 16” chair and can help determine what size is the best for her. Most of the ECV vendors i checked only have 18” or bigger.

I know. I posted about it around 1 AM with the link to their wheelchair page.

 

[mamabunny]

Oh yes most definitely! The chair is all hers. Just her and her backpack. There are 6 of us and we will be staying together anyway. But we will definitely do what she wants to do also.

You can take along battery operated lights to decorate the chair, as well as ribbons, brightly colored bandanas, or really anything that you can attach without damaging the chair (think loops of velcro OneWrap for ease). My friend @kaytieeldr puts a Disney t-shirt over the seatback of her ECV - if you have an adult sized t-shirt you don't mind sacrificing, you could maybe even cover the backrest of the wheelchair!

Let her decorate it if she wants to - tie balloons and/or stuffed animals, windmills, heckfire, mount a bubble gun on that thing if she wants to! You can even encourage her to name the chair - I call my personal mobility device "Angus", after Princess Merida's horse from "Brave", because like her trusty steed, my Angus always brings me home safe and sound from our adventures! Encourage her to think about how she can "dress up" her "princess carriage" or whatever she wants it to be!

And have fun!

(And if she starts hurting, or needs to prop up/ice down her foot for a while, remember that all 4 of the Parks have a First Aid station where you can do just that.)

 

[happysavermp]

Hi,
My daughter has used a wheelchair since the age of 9 during our annual WDW trips due to heat intolerance/fatigue issues. She does not use one on a regular basis. We wanted a smaller and lighter wheelchair and decided on a transport wheelchair. Transport wheelchairs have small wheels in the front and back. I have read that some people think they are not sturdy but we have not had any issues with it. We also got the model that had slightly larger wheels in the back. We did get her a seat cushion. I also recommend getting/renting a seat cushion with any type of wheelchair because sitting becomes very uncomfortable without one. Have a great trip!

 

[Staren]

As someone who used wheelchairs at Disney as a child and is now a regular wheelchair user, I very much discourage the use of transport chairs for two reasons. This is another of those convenience of the wheelchair user vs convenience of the helper situations.

They are not designed for all day use. As the name implies, they were designed for transport from point A to point B. Most of them have nothing built in for comfort whatsoever.

More importantly, they take away all autonomy. Rental wheelchairs are not the easiest things to self propel, but it can be done in a pinch, and you can at least turn yourself around. You really cannot move a transport chair on your own if you’re in it. If you are a small child, have dementia, are extremely ill, or should not be responsible for your own movement for some reason I can see the use of a transport chair, but for an otherwise independent person who has a mobility issue I do not like them.

 

[JenLovesMM]

If you are flying in, you could also consider renting a wheelchair around where you live so you will have it to use at the airports.. can be long walks and it would help her get less tired at the start/end of the vaca. I broke an ankle in just about the worse way possible 20 years ago. I've had 4 major surgeries on it and I still have hardware in there. I've had to use wheelchairs for months since I had to have my foot elevated for about 3 months after surgeries, I agree with others that a seat cushion would help especially on long days. I've done Disney with a scooter and I could do many of the queues with the scooter so I would say that in most cases it won't be an issue to use the wheelchair in the queues. When I was there, the cast members were great about telling me where to park or they would even move it to the exit all ready for me. The bus drivers were also awesome. I had stressed about it all before going but once I got there, I realized that it was all much easier that I had anticipated. One tip would be to bring something to put on the chair to easily identify it... a bright bandana attached to a handle, etc.

 

[happysavermp]

As someone who used wheelchairs at Disney as a child and is now a regular wheelchair user, I very much discourage the use of transport chairs for two reasons. This is another of those convenience of the wheelchair user vs convenience of the helper situations.

They are not designed for all day use. As the name implies, they were designed for transport from point A to point B. Most of them have nothing built in for comfort whatsoever.

More importantly, they take away all autonomy. Rental wheelchairs are not the easiest things to self propel, but it can be done in a pinch, and you can at least turn yourself around. You really cannot move a transport chair on your own if you’re in it. If you are a small child, have dementia, are extremely ill, or should not be responsible for your own movement for some reason I can see the use of a transport chair, but for an otherwise independent person who has a mobility issue I do not like them.

While I appreciate your comment I was referring to a child who needed a wheelchair temporarily being pushed in a wheelchair not pushing him/herself. I did mention the importance of a seat cushion. When you need a wheelchair temporarily it is often difficult to find one suitable for a child. I was speaking from my personal experience that I have had with my daughter and the transport chair has worked really well for her.

 

[amberdc1987]

You can take along battery operated lights to decorate the chair, as well as ribbons, brightly colored bandanas, or really anything that you can attach without damaging the chair (think loops of velcro OneWrap for ease). My friend @kaytieeldr puts a Disney t-shirt over the seatback of her ECV - if you have an adult sized t-shirt you don't mind sacrificing, you could maybe even cover the backrest of the wheelchair!

Let her decorate it if she wants to - tie balloons and/or stuffed animals, windmills, heckfire, mount a bubble gun on that thing if she wants to! You can even encourage her to name the chair - I call my personal mobility device "Angus", after Princess Merida's horse from "Brave", because like her trusty steed, my Angus always brings me home safe and sound from our adventures! Encourage her to think about how she can "dress up" her "princess carriage" or whatever she wants it to be!

And have fun!

(And if she starts hurting, or needs to prop up/ice down her foot for a while, remember that all 4 of the Parks have a First Aid station where you can do just that.)

This is awesome ideas! I wanted to see if I could get a little sign made for the back so I could tie it to it. I love the ideas of the windmill and lights! And thank you for pointing out the First Aid. I completely did not even think of that. I will definitely remember that.

 

[amberdc1987]

Hi,
My daughter has used a wheelchair since the age of 9 during our annual WDW trips due to heat intolerance/fatigue issues. She does not use one on a regular basis. We wanted a smaller and lighter wheelchair and decided on a transport wheelchair. Transport wheelchairs have small wheels in the front and back. I have read that some people think they are not sturdy but we have not had any issues with it. We also got the model that had slightly larger wheels in the back. We did get her a seat cushion. I also recommend getting/renting a seat cushion with any type of wheelchair because sitting becomes very uncomfortable without one. Have a great trip!

If you are flying in, you could also consider renting a wheelchair around where you live so you will have it to use at the airports.. can be long walks and it would help her get less tired at the start/end of the vaca. I broke an ankle in just about the worse way possible 20 years ago. I've had 4 major surgeries on it and I still have hardware in there. I've had to use wheelchairs for months since I had to have my foot elevated for about 3 months after surgeries, I agree with others that a seat cushion would help especially on long days. I've done Disney with a scooter and I could do many of the queues with the scooter so I would say that in most cases it won't be an issue to use the wheelchair in the queues. When I was there, the cast members were great about telling me where to park or they would even move it to the exit all ready for me. The bus drivers were also awesome. I had stressed about it all before going but once I got there, I realized that it was all much easier that I had anticipated. One tip would be to bring something to put on the chair to easily identify it... a bright bandana attached to a handle, etc.

I will definitely look into seat cushions. I have found and narrowed it down to like 4 different places to rent from. I don't recall seeing seat cushions on any of their websites. I might have to call them. But yes I will find a way to get her one.