Wheelchair..maybe

[eeyore70]

Hello,
My father will be joining us this year and he has been having trouble walking long distances. He said he might need to get a wheelchair but maybe more around late in the day when his legs are more tired. Are there plenty of wheelchairs to rent at the parks later in the day?? Thanks!

 

[gottalovepluto]

Hello,
My father will be joining us this year and he has been having trouble walking long distances. He said he might need to get a wheelchair but maybe more around late in the day when his legs are more tired. Are there plenty of wheelchairs to rent at the parks later in the day?? Thanks!

I can’t answer your question but I’m going to suggest another option.

I would look into renting an ECV. If you aren’t used to pushing him around in a wheelchair you will quickly tire yourself out or if he intends to roll himself but isn’t used to that he will tire himself out/hurt himself quickly. You can pass him around to various family members to share the pushing duty but now you’ve just worn out your whole party. Wheelchairs look easy- sheesh they are not! Sometimes I have to push my Dad on one through a line when he can’t take his ECV and even that isn’t easy. I can’t imagine navigating the crowds of a theme park!

An ECV would allow him personal freedom to go where he wants when he wants, he can park it and walk if he wants, and you won’t spend your whole trip worried about him. That last one sounds small but that is real. I spent many a trip worried about my father until he finally got an ECV (and after 5 mins on that in the park he’s never looked back). It was an ever present cloud of fear and stress over every single member of our traveling party. Until it was gone I didn’t realize how much his health concerns stressed the rest of us out.

If you rent 3rd party he can use it for getting to the parks from the hotel and get a better deal than from disney. Search here or on the disabilities board for recommended companies.

 

[LeiaOfAlderaan]

I had to rent a wheelchair late in the day once because a foot injury flared up and I could barely walk. It was no problem to get one and this was during summer and the parks were pretty busy. While an ECV is also an option (which I’ve had to use before as well), we found the wheelchair to be much easier to use. My husband didn’t have any trouble pushing me around all day, and he’s in good shape but certainly not super strong.

The other thing is that the wheelchair is less stressful for the person sitting in it. You can passively enjoy the sights, as opposed to having to be constantly vigilant about crowds and obstacles driving an ECV.

 

[tsumgirl]

As someone who uses an ECV in the parks now, I highly recommend it. I rent offsite, so I can use it to and from the hotel. I originally planned on renting a wheelchair the first time, but you'd be amazed how many slight inclines there are that you don't feel when you're walking. You'll definitely feel them when you're pushing a wheelchair!

But @LeiaOfAlderaan makes a good point that it can be stressful to drive an ECV in the park, especially when people are constantly looking at their phones. I've had people run right into my parked ECV, and people will have a tendency to "quickly cut through" in front of you, not realizing that it can be harder for you to stop than someone walking. This will be true with a wheelchair too though, so the person pushing will have to be extra vigilant.

Regardless of whether you choose a wheelchair or an ECV, just know that your father can park it at anytime and walk until he gets tired. I mainly use the ECV for the long treks from land to land, parkhopping, and to and from the hotel. It's parked the rest of the time while I walk around and explore.

Wheelchair rentals in the park seem fairly easy to get. Disneyland's ECV's are bulky, harder to use, more expensive, and run out fairly early. So if you choose an ECV, offsite rentals are usually the way to go.