Wheelchair size questions

[lizziepooh]

We are taking my 79 year old plus size Mom who has difficulty walking to WDW in October. She won't consider an ECV as she had a bad experience, so we will need to get a wheelchair. Do the wheelchair rental places off site have different sized chairs? When we rented at the parks before, the regular size chair was too narrow but the large chairs were really too big and seemed difficult to push with the handles being so far apart. (Sister and I will be pushing and are both fairly short). Does anyone have any suggestions or information on different sized chairs? Thanks.

 

[videogal1]

We are taking my 79 year old plus size Mom who has difficulty walking to WDW in October. She won't consider an ECV as she had a bad experience, so we will need to get a wheelchair. Do the wheelchair rental places off site have different sized chairs? When we rented at the parks before, the regular size chair was too narrow but the large chairs were really too big and seemed difficult to push with the handles being so far apart. (Sister and I will be pushing and are both fairly short). Does anyone have any suggestions or information on different sized chairs? Thanks.

A little plain talking here, sorry,I do not mean this to be mean, but your mom is being really unkind to expect someone to push her all over WDW when a motorized vehicle (scooter) exists. One bad experience should not be enough to put the rest of the party into "pusher's he**". Get a scooter from one of the off-site vendors (not Disney!) and they will take as much time as your mom needs to learn how to drive it safely. Have her practice on a scooter at Target or the supermarket before you go. Show her your arm muscles and ask her if they look developed enough to push her in a wheelchair over hill and over dale...My boyfriend, a former football player pushed me once when I developed blisters on my feet from all the walking...I thought he was going to have a heart attack...He said never again! I weighed 130# at the time...

 

[SueM in MN]

The offsite rental places have wheelchairs and ECVs to fit people of different sizes, but you may very well find that they only come in 2 sizes - standard, which has a seat 16-18 inches wide and wide, which is quite a bit wider. I'd suggest you contact the places listed in the disABILITIES FAQs directly and ask them (Care or Walkers).
Personally, I have a small adult DD (85 pounds) in a lightweight adult wheelchair (the wheelchair weighs about 40 pounds - since that is a very light weight one, you can imagine how much a standard adult wheelchair probably weighs). We are tired at the end of the day from pushing her. At home she uses a power wheelchair, so we are a little out of practice with pushing, but still, we are pushing around very little weight. So, if you do choose to use a wheelchair rather than her using an ECV, keep in mind that it is a lot of work.

I know there are some people (especially people who don't drive) who may never feel totally comfortable using an ECV, but as was already mentioned, the one you can rent from the off-site rental places are much easier to drive than the ones from the parks. Getting some practice in other places may help her. The ones in stores are much larger (and have a shopping cart on the front), so if she can drive one in a store, she should be prepared for WDW. One of the offsite rental places (Randy's) requires that someone be there to recieve the ECV and they will explain as much as you (she) might need.
For the buses, the person using the ECV doesn't need to be the one driving it onto the bus. One of the other members of your family can do it or you can even put it in a freewheeling mode and push it on.

 

[Sue & Co.]

I use a manual wheelchair but only because my three (not young) children all fight for the right to push me and get upset if I suggest using an ECV. At home I don't often use a chair as if I am only in and out of the car and then sitting I do not need to. BUT i have three willing volunteers (two of whom are incredibly fit and strong from martial arts training and the third is also very athletic) plus a very fit and strong DH who would take over if needed. If your mother is somewhat larger than average and you are not superfit it is very unfair and could cause you injury to have to push her all day. The off site ECV's are much easier to manage than Disney ones and I strongly endorse the previous advice to get her to practice so that she is comfortable with this option.

Sue

 

[LindsayDunn228]

I use a manual wheelchair but only because my three (not young) children all fight for the right to push me and get upset if I suggest using an ECV.

Why not just push yourself and put an end to the arguing???

 

[Figaro]

My spouse (who is 53 years old and in okay but certainly not great shape), has no real difficulty pushing me around the parks in my manual wheelchair. I take a lot of medications that would make me be a very unsafe driver in an ECV. And while I am not overweight, I am certainly no lightweight Oh, and I have a torn shoulder muscle that has never healed up correctly which makes it extremely difficult for me to manage to wheel myself anything other than fairly short distances.

Not everyone is comfortable with or able to drive ECV's. And while I appreciate the encouragement to people to do so, I don't like the comments that appear to imply that a person who uses a manual wheelchair with a "pusher" is somehow hurting everyone elses enjoyment of the parks. Our trips are slower than they would be if I could walk or use an ECV, but we still manage to do and see everything we want to.

 

[SueM in MN]

My spouse (who is 53 years old and in okay but certainly not great shape), has no real difficulty pushing me around the parks in my manual wheelchair. I take a lot of medications that would make me be a very unsafe driver in an ECV. And while I am not overweight, I am certainly no lightweight Oh, and I have a torn shoulder muscle that has never healed up correctly which makes it extremely difficult for me to manage to wheel myself anything other than fairly short distances.

Not everyone is comfortable with or able to drive ECV's. And while I appreciate the encouragement to people to do so, I don't like the comments that appear to imply that a person who uses a manual wheelchair with a "pusher" is somehow hurting everyone elses enjoyment of the parks. Our trips are slower than they would be if I could walk or use an ECV, but we still manage to do and see everything we want to.

I totally agree.
Encouragement is good, but even with encouragement, some people will not be able to use an ECV or push themselves.

At home for long distances, my youngest DD uses a power wheelchair. She is a very good driver, but at times her muscle tone makes it difficult for her to drive and she would get very tired driving her power wheelchair all day at the parks. In addition to muscle tone issues, she has attention and other issues that make it hard for her to be in a busy environment for a full day in her power wheelchair.
Even though she is very independent at home in her manual wheelchair, she does not have the muscle strength to push push her own manual wheelchair for more than short distances (even shopping in her manual wheelchair, she needs someone to push her most of the time if she is in her manual wheelchair).

Someone who uses a wheelchair all the time (especially if they have good upper body strength) may not realize that not everyone is in the same boat. Most people who are not used to it could not push their own manual wheelchair for a full day. My DH hurt his ankle/foot a few years ago and had to use a wheelchair at work for a few weeks. He found he had pain in muscles that he didn't even know he had.

I would NOT recommend someone use an ECV if they don't feel comfortable or safe using it. And, I would not recommend someone plan to propel themselves all day in a wheelchair at WDW unless they are used to doing that.