wheelchair/transport chair/walker?

[tseitel]

Hello. My mother is currently recovering from a spinal injury. She is able to get up and walk with her walker (but not enough stamina for Disney!) We have a wheelchair, and a smaller, lightweight transport chair that we use to go to physical therapy and Doctors office. We were thinking of taking the transport chair to Disney instead of the reg. wheelchair, because it is so light and easy to maneuver. If we did this, we would also have to take her walker because she cannot propel herself (for instance back at the hotel, in her room). I also thought it would be good at the end on the day to let her walk around the hotel a bit with her walker after a long day in the chair.
My question, has anyone flown with a chair and a walker? The transport chair I could fold up and I believe it would fit in the upper storage compartments, but what about the walker? It is the standard silver kind with wheels in the front and the sides fold in to make it flat. I have already informed the airline (AirTran) that we would have a wheelchair, but this was before we thought we'd bring the transport. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks!!

 

[sjc011]

Bumping because I'm curious what others say for the parks. I have a MIL who can walk, but she is becoming arthritic and cannot walk very fast or very far.

As far as wheelchairs go on the airplane, and I assume walkers too, the airport will put a special tag on it, and she will be able to board the plane with it. They will fold it up in the front where they have the strollers. It will be right outside the door when you leave. You might be asked to wait until others leave the plane before you grab the wheelchair. (Saying this from personal experience- flew in high school from Chicago to LAX to San Diego and back again in a personal wheelchair after also injuring my spine.)

Best wishes for a speedy recovery and good vibes to all!

 

[WheeledTraveler]

You will probably need to gate check both the transport chair and the walker. This is easy, free, and I've done it with both a wheelchair and walker so you can use it for two mobility aids. Essentially what you'll need to do is when you get to the gate, prior to boarding call, check in with the gate agents and ask them to tag the wheelchair and walker to make sure they're returned to you and your mother at the gate when you get to MCO (and then to your home airport when you return). When you board, you'll pre-board and leave the transport chair and walker by the door to the plane. They'll then be brought down and stored in the hold during the flight. The tag you get from the gate agents is how the folks unloading baggage know that they need to be returned to you at the door to the plane, rather than with the regular luggage. Usually the gate agents will also fill something out with a description of the mobility equipment and it's condition, etc. I also suggest taking photos if you have a digital camera or a phone with a camera right before you board. That way in the rare case that something does happen, you have photo proof of what it looked like. Also, remove anything that might come off (anything velcroed, hooked, or otherwise not very securely attached) before you let them take the wheelchair and walker to the hold. I know Sue brings a medium sized laundry bag and I've also just used trash bags to carry such peripherals. As long as the only things in the bag are related to the mobility equipment or another distinct medical lead, it does not count towards any carry-on allowance. Just to give you a heads up, you will likely be the last people off the plane when you arrive since you'll need to wait for them to get the mobility equipment up.

It's unlikely that the transport wheelchair or walker will fit in the overhead bins. There may be upright closets that they fit in. If they do, legally, you can request to have the wheelchair put in the closet and it has priority over non-mobility aids (it's first come first serve for mobility aids), but the "closets" aren't always big enough to fit either a walker or wheelchair. I've also been hassled for requesting for my walker to go into the closet because the flight attendants claimed that they only had to give priorities to wheelchairs for the closet (I was the only person on the flight with personally owned mobility aids). My wheelchair doesn't fold in a way that fits into the closets so it's a moot point there for me.

 

[GadgetTheInventor]

I've never used a transport chair, but always thought they gave a bit more rough of a ride due to having smaller wheels. WDW is a very bumpy place and there also lots of curbs to maneuver. Keep in mind that much of the pavement is textured in the AK and MK with wagon wheel ruts and animal prints.

Getting out and walking every now and then is a good idea, as well as at the end of the day. It helps keep both the heart and muscles in shape.

 

[I Love Pluto]

We flew (US Air) to CA from PA in early July. We brought an ECV and a rollator walker. There were no issues at all. The airline personnel were very kind about it. We gate checked both - and they were delivered promptly after landing. We waited only about 5 minutes.

You shouldn't experience any issues. It's really not a problem that they haven't dealt with previously.

 

[tseitel]

Thanks for the comments. We might think twice about the transport chair. For the airplane, we have to have something with us as she cannot walk unaided. I think we'll just show up with both, and they can direct us. The transport chair does have " foot pedal" on the back for curb bump ups, but she may be more comfortable in her wheelchair. Thanks

 

[scdak]

My mother has used both a transport chair and regular w/c at the parks and she has said neither one is a smooth ride (esp at DAK) but a pillow in the chair helped immensely, we use a memory foam pillow made for sleeping, not a special w/c cushion and we bring a few extra pillow cases with us to allow her a fresh case if there is a spill, rain, sweating etc.

But we now just use the transport chair since neither one is better than the other one for her, the reason being our transport chair weighs 14 lb without the leg, <20 lbs with the legs and that is something that I can manage to lift to get it in and out of the car, the buses, the boats etc without causing myself pain (I have had back surgery). If you have the ability to lift it yourself or have someone with you to lift it then the regular w/c might be the right one for you to use.

If you choose to take the transport chair Medline(I ordered mine thru amazon) makes a very nice bag to put the chair in if yours has the right dimensions, its great on the plane to protect the chair when they put it under the plane when gate checked, easy and fast to put the chair in and out of and the one I have is large enough that I could put a folded walker in there too if need be. One thing that I did find when using either type of w/c while flying was that it helped to figure out something to hold the w/c folded up - in our case we used a lanyard with a few extra rings (from old keychains) on it, wrapped it around the arms of the chair when it was folded and kept it tight so that the chair would not open up. I would imagine a short bungee cord would work, or extra long zip ties (bring nail clippers with you to use) etc.

 

[tseitel]

Really good idea! I hadn't even thought about the walker opening up! Thanks so much for that! This is all new to us, so we are learning as we go. Thanks everyone!

 

[Mommee]

I've been here at Disney for a week now using my transport chair. Hubby hasn't had any issues getting me up small curbs, etc. , though I'm not a very large person. Last year I was in a standard wheelchair and haven't noticed much of a difference between them due to rough terrain. Haunted mansion is the worst!

Also, I think the airline has a special wheelchair to get you down the aisle to your seat.

 

[Ladygoldenhair]

I would recommend checking the walker at the counter. For this reason. Friends traveling gate checked a very expensive stroller. It was severly damaged. Because it was gate checked, not counter checked the airline would do nothing, stated no liability on gate check. If she had sent it through then they could help. Luckily there was travel insurance that picked it up, but she could have been without the stroller he trip if it was on the way down.

Besides you really don't want to carry it about. The airline can manage getting Mom on board. The only thought is needing it for a restroom.