Wheelchair newbies try to beat the crowds

[uncleleo]

We spent the week before Easter at the world, six weeks after DW had knee surgery which we had not known about when we planned our trip. I thought I’d share some experiences for the benefit of anyone else who chooses to vacation at a heavily crowded time and is new to wheeling about.

I’ll start by saying that DW’s need to move about mainly by wheelchair had a significant beneficial effect on our touring. First of all, her needs made me change my mind about renting a car for entire stay. Thus, we controlled our own transportation destiny and benefited from close-in parking at parks and resorts.

I should also mention something that is obvious to anyone who looks for the information, but was a surprise to me because I never bothered to look: the Disney resorts do not charge you to borrow their wheelchairs. There are probably plenty of reasons why renting at the parks may be more convenient, but it was certainly very nice for us to use a single chair for our entire stay.

My lower back is still reminding me that a PT Cruiser is not the best rental choice if you are going to be repeatedly lifting a folded wheelchair in and out of the car. Get a car with a trunk!

While Disney has done an admirable job of mainstreaming many or most attractions, there are still some where being in a wheelchair provided our party de facto front-of-the-line access. Generally, we found that if you see a wheelchair entrance that is separate from the entrance to the regular queue, wheelchair parties have an advantage that approximates the advantage of FASTPASS holders. Toy Story Mania was the only attraction we experienced where we think having a wheelchair put us at a disadvantage in terms of wait time.

Set-aside seating for parties with wheelchairs afforded us the luxury of not having to arrive long before shows. Obviously, if you arrive late, you run the risk that all the wheelchair slots will be taken, but that did not happen to us once during the busy time we visited.

There were a couple of times when we were had to wait for the next boat or monorail because the first one that arrived could not load another wheelchair.

On balance, DW's being in a wheelchair proved to be a plus for touring during heavily crowded conditions. Thanks again to those who answered the newbie questions I posted while we were planning our trip.

Lee

 

[TallyTutter]

Thanks for posting! We are going this Friday and will be using a wheelchair for DD, our first experience with one. She is one month post op for a spinal fusion, she is doing great but still has stamina issues. She is very mobile but gets tired easily especially from standing.

Which hotel did you stay at? Did you call ahead to arrange the use of the chair? We are trying to decide what is the best way to obtain a wheelchair. She will have a chair, we're just trying to decide which option is best.

Option 1 - rent off site. Most reliable & we'd have full use of the chair 24/7. It will cost us roughly $60 for our trip to rent the chair. Probably the way we will go just to make sure we have the chair.

Option 2 - rent from the park each morning. Not as reliable but we can use the length of stay price which would bring the price down somewhat, about half price. We would have no guarantee of a chair at the parks & we wouldn't have use of the chair in the parking lots or at the resort.

Option 3 - borrow from POP for the length of our stay. We are really hoping that we can do this, it would help with our $ situation immensely!

 

[clkelley]

Just a note on chairs borrowed from resorts:

The two times we used chairs from the resorts (All-Stars)

The chair could NOT be folded. They had riveted some type of bar in beneath the chair that kept it in a fixed position.

(This was back in 2000 and 2001, so things may have changed).

So if you want to borrow a chair from a resort and transport it in your vehicle, you might have a problem if it won't fold.

 

[momto3inmn]

We rented a chair for my DD from an outside company. We stayed at a home in Windsor Palms resort and the chair was delivered right to the rental office and they picked it up when we were done. The company also had 3 different sizes of chairs. We will be renting from them again when we go back this June. Only thing I will need to remember is to put some sort of a towel or something on the seat, keep it from getting too hot and sticky. We also make sure to put plenty of sunscreen on the tops of her legs so she doesn't get sunburned!

 

[uncleleo]

Thanks for posting! We are going this Friday and will be using a wheelchair for DD, our first experience with one. She is one month post op for a spinal fusion, she is doing great but still has stamina issues. She is very mobile but gets tired easily especially from standing.

Which hotel did you stay at? Did you call ahead to arrange the use of the chair? We are trying to decide what is the best way to obtain a wheelchair. She will have a chair, we're just trying to decide which option is best.

Option 1 - rent off site. Most reliable & we'd have full use of the chair 24/7. It will cost us roughly $60 for our trip to rent the chair. Probably the way we will go just to make sure we have the chair.

Option 2 - rent from the park each morning. Not as reliable but we can use the length of stay price which would bring the price down somewhat, about half price. We would have no guarantee of a chair at the parks & we wouldn't have use of the chair in the parking lots or at the resort.

Option 3 - borrow from POP for the length of our stay. We are really hoping that we can do this, it would help with our $ situation immensely!

We stayed at the Contemporary. Though that choice was made before we knew about DW's surgery, it turned out to be about as good as you can hope with the convenience of the monorail. Handicap parking was sparse, though, 10 spaces or fewer. They try to make up for the paucity of reserved spaces by offering free valet parking to anyone with a handicap tag, but nothing can beat walking right out the door to your car.

We did not call ahead because the wheelchiar FAQ on allearsnet says you can't reserve wheelchairs at the resorts. I guess we lucked out, but given how crowded things were last week, I can't imagine that demand could be much higher unless there's some kind of wheelie convention in town.

If the cost of renting from a vendor gives you pause, I suggest you not make advanced reservations. Show up at the resort and ask for a freebie chair. The risk: they'll be all out and you'll have to wait for a vendor to bring you one.

 

[SueM in MN]

Glad to hear you had a good time and things went well.

While Disney has done an admirable job of mainstreaming many or most attractions, there are still some where being in a wheelchair provided our party de facto front-of-the-line access. Generally, we found that if you see a wheelchair entrance that is separate from the entrance to the regular queue, wheelchair parties have an advantage that approximates the advantage of FASTPASS holders. Toy Story Mania was the only attraction we experienced where we think having a wheelchair put us at a disadvantage in terms of wait time.
Lee

All of the attractions at the Studio and AK were built with Mainstream Lines (which means the lines are wheelchair accessible and for most of the wait, people with wheelchairs and ECVs will be waiting in line with everyone else). That sometime still means a separate boarding area (like at Dinosaur and the Safari at AK and TSM at the Studio). In those 2 parks, the pull off for the accessible boarding area is very close to the regular boarding area. Whether you wait the same time or longer than the guests without wheelchairs who were in line ahead of you will depend totally on how many people with special needs are ahead of you.
We have waited as long as 40 minutes extra (at the Safari at AK).

Epcot and MK are older parks and were not built with accessibility in mind.
They did renovate attractions to Mainstream lines as much as possible as attractions were added or revamped. There are some where that is not possible and those do have a separate handicapped boarding area/entrance.
At times, the CMs will give guests a sort of hand written Fastpass to come back when it is busy for those attractions (many of them do not have space for very many wheelchair parties to wait).

Thanks for posting! We are going this Friday and will be using a wheelchair for DD, our first experience with one. She is one month post op for a spinal fusion, she is doing great but still has stamina issues. She is very mobile but gets tired easily especially from standing.

Which hotel did you stay at? Did you call ahead to arrange the use of the chair? We are trying to decide what is the best way to obtain a wheelchair. She will have a chair, we're just trying to decide which option is best.

Option 1 - rent off site. Most reliable & we'd have full use of the chair 24/7. It will cost us roughly $60 for our trip to rent the chair. Probably the way we will go just to make sure we have the chair.

Option 2 - rent from the park each morning. Not as reliable but we can use the length of stay price which would bring the price down somewhat, about half price. We would have no guarantee of a chair at the parks & we wouldn't have use of the chair in the parking lots or at the resort.

Option 3 - borrow from POP for the length of our stay. We are really hoping that we can do this, it would help with our $ situation immensely!

Wheelchairs can't be reserved ahead of time at the resorts and some people's experience was not as good as the OP of this thread - people have posted that there were no wheelchairs when they arrived. Others have posted that the wheelchair that was available either was not in very good shape or was not the size they needed. So, you do take your chances.

If you have not looked at it, the disABILITIES FAQs thread near the top of this board has information about all the different ways to get a wheelchair - with phone numbers and website information for a number of off-site rental companies that DIS posters recommend.

We did not call ahead because the wheelchiar FAQ on allearsnet says you can't reserve wheelchairs at the resorts. I guess we lucked out, but given how crowded things were last week, I can't imagine that demand could be much higher unless there's some kind of wheelie convention in town.

If the cost of renting from a vendor gives you pause, I suggest you not make advanced reservations. Show up at the resort and ask for a freebie chair. The risk: they'll be all out and you'll have to wait for a vendor to bring you one.

THis is what the WDW website has to say about wheelchairs at the resorts:
Wheelchairs are available in limited numbers for Walt Disney World® Resort Guests at each Resort. Contact Guest Services or the Front Desk for assistance. A $315 deposit will be held on the Guest room account charged only if the wheelchair is not returned. Guests wishing to guarantee the use of a wheelchair throughout their stay should contact local area rental companies to make arrangements.

So, for anyone planning to get one from the resort, I'd strongly recommend taking along the contact information for at least one of the off-site rental companies.

 

[TallyTutter]

Thanks everyone for your response. I just rented DD a WC through Walker Mobility (recommended here). I found out that if we determine we don't need it, they have a 2 day minimum but after that they will credit the other days we don't use. I'm sure we'll use it but it's nice to know that we don't have to.

 

[mechurchlady]

I know that at DLR we can bring leave our canes, crutches, strollers for free at the place that rents out ECVs and wheelchairs. I have left my wheelchair there and maybe you could take it to the park and leave it for later when you need it.

I do not know WDW policy so just a possibility.

 

[TallyTutter]

Any suggestions for something for the seat of the chair to avoid "sticky seat"? What could we use (other than a balloon) to be able to tell which chair is ours?