Wheelchair rental outside of parks?

[JLO]

Unfortunately, with only 9 days to go until our trip, my son had a fall yesterday during track. It looks like he has a fracture (we'll find out more with the official radiology report) and has crutches and an orthopedic boot, poor guy.

I think he's going to be very uncomfortable with crutches during our vacation and was wondering about a wheelchair rental that we could have for the duration of our trip. Does anyone have any info on this? We will have a car and need something we can fit in there.

Thanks a lot.

 

[nicoleakr]

I just rented one for my mil. Go to the disability board and it's about the third post I think down. IT's a sticky one. Anyway I went with the one that is sponsored by disboards. I call the rest of them too but found this one more helpful.Good Luck. Sorry about your son's leg. ouch.

 

[dawnbu40]

Check with your resort before you spend the money. We stayed at CSR in Dec. and they "loaned" my DM a wheelchair for the duration of our stay. We took it to all the parks and used it around the resort. It saved us money and was very convenient.

 

[SueM in MN]

The resorts do have wheelchairs to loan. Wheelchairs at the resort can't be reserved ahead of time; they are first come, first serve and there may not be one available when you get there. Some people had no problem, but others have reported either that there were none or the one that was offered to them was in bad condition or not a good size (extra wide when they needed narrow or vice versa).
Depending on your son's age and size, he may not be comfortable in the resort/park rental wheelchairs because they are adult size and the footrests are not adjustable. If he needs to have his foot elevated, you will need to rent from one of the outside companies. Some people in the past have also reported that the resort loaned wheelchair did not fold, so you would want to check into that before trying to get it into your car.

As was already mentioned, there is rental information in the disABILITIES FAQs thread, in post #2 of that thread. You can follow the link in my signature or just look for it stuck near the top of the disABILITIES Board. It is marked with a green arrow.

If you decide to try geting one from the resort, I would suggest that you take along several of the contact phone numbers so that you have some resources if the resort doesn't work out.

You could also rent a wheelchair from your home area and bring it with you. Wheelchairs fly for free because they are necessary mobility equipment. A wheelchair can be gate checked (you keep it until boarding and then the baggage people collect it from the gate). Crutches can usually be brought onto the plane and out in the overhead bins (they may be helpful for hobbling to the bathroom).

 

[phisigprincess]

How old is your son? My sister did almost the same thing (she's 24) right before our last trip and we rented an ECV for her. It was a life saver. She still had her independence and it took some of the pressure off of the rest of us to push her around. Just something to think about. Disney is amazing with situations like that, so you guys should be fine. Definitely check out the DISabilities board. They were life savers for us.

 

[TallyTutter]

I had the same dilemma. We thought about renting one in the park each morning but realized that could easily eat up to about 30 minutes a day trying to pick up the chair & drop it off, then what do we do in the parking lot & back at the hotel? With the way the crowds have been, what if there wasn't one available? We didn't want DD to feel guilty seeing us paying & waiting & what if we couldn't get one, etc so I finally went with Walkers (recommended by DIS). I called to ask some questions & rented at the same time. Our worry was what if DD didn't need it the entire time we were there (she's recovering from surgery so we're working on building up her stamina). They have a 2 day minimum & as long as we meet that minimum they will refund the remainder. The chair will be at luggage pick up at our hotel the day we arrive & we just return it to the same place on the last day & they will pick it up - no charge for delivery. Now it's done & we don't have to worry about it!

If you need one, you need one. Don't spend half of your vacation trying to find one, it's worth the $$ to plan ahead (imho ).

 

[Debbie-TN]

Taking one with you would be a good idea because sometimes the walk in the airport can be long, but they also have wheelchairs in the airports. If you rent one when you get there, I would recommend Walker Mobility. Check out Walkermobility.com. Wheelchairs are $30 for the first day and $6 for every day after that. My cousin rents a scooter from them. They deliver it and and pick it up at the hotel. Be sure and ask them if they have one with leg prop(or whatever it's called) on it.

 

[Brian_WDW74]

I've moved this thread to the disABILITIES! board.

 

[kathyfranklin]

Unfortunately, with only 9 days to go until our trip, my son had a fall yesterday during track. It looks like he has a fracture (we'll find out more with the official radiology report) and has crutches and an orthopedic boot, poor guy.

I think he's going to be very uncomfortable with crutches during our vacation and was wondering about a wheelchair rental that we could have for the duration of our trip. Does anyone have any info on this? We will have a car and need something we can fit in there.

Thanks a lot.

Ouch - the same thing happened to my DD. Couldn't put any weight on her foot. Check out disAbilities - I posted a review of Orlando stoller and how things worked out - or pm me.

 

[JLO]

Thank you all for your help. My son saw the orthopedic doctor yesterday. He does have a fracture and will be on crutches for about 10 days. He has a boot, too, and he will be able to put weight on that later. (The doctor said he could remove the boot for swimming, but no putting weight on it, even in the water). I'm still going to get a wheelchair because I can't imagine walking on that for extended periods of time. Here's what I decided to do: I'm going to ask at the resort when we arrive to see if they have one available. If not, I will rent one from one of the companies recommended here and have it delivered to POFQ.

Thank you again, everybody. I'm hoping we will still be able to have a great trip.

 

[Windjammermay]

You will have a fabulous time, totally awesome There are many that use chairs or scooter to get around. It is much easier than you think. Take your time with it and before you know it you will be running around with it.

It will only take you 15 min to figure out what your doing with it. It is not just a challenge it is an adventure

 

[Cheshire Figment]

One thing to consider is your son's size. The loaner chairs are either standard or large and usually do not have any adjustment possible. The off-site rentals would be better fitted to his size and normally will have elevating legs, etc., which may be useful.