Are wheelchairs available at WL?

[Julylady]

My Mom is (finally) going to have knee replacement surgery in February, just after our Jan. 26 - 31 trip. In the past she has been able to walk to the bus/boat and then rent a wheelchair or scooter when she gets to the parks. However, for our Thanksgiving trip her knee was so bad that she needed assistance just getting to the park. We were staying at Beach Club villas and they were able to provide a wheelchair at the concierge desk. They told her, however, that she had their "last one."

In January we will be staying at Wilderness Lodge. Has anyone had any experience in borrowing a wheelchair from there? Do they run out?

She is also considering renting a scooter but is worried that she won't be able to use it on the boats because of the water levels. Anyone have experience?

Donna

 

[Cheshire Figment]

The resorts loan out wheelchairs on a first-come, first-served, basis and do not make reservations. They may run out, and also you may not have any choice of size.

You might look into renting a wheelchair from one of the off-side companies (listed in the "disABILITIES! FAQ"). However, if you are considering an ECV the only time a boat is used is to MK, but there is now (I thik) a bus directly from WL to MK and not jst WL to TTC.

 

[SueM in MN]

There isn't really a way to make sure that they will have for her. The only way to know for sure is to rent a wheelchair (or ECV, if she gets brave) from one of the offsite companies.
Some people have had good luck and been able to have a wheelchair lent to them. Some have found nothing available or that what was, didn't fit their needs.
If you do decide to try to get one lent, I'd suggest taking along at least one phone number of a company in case you do decide you need to rent one.

 

[Julylady]

Thanks for the good advice. I think we will rent one to be sure.

 

[billsfan]

We just returned from WDW and my MIL was in a wheel chair and she did not have to get out of it to board the boat from the MK to the Wilderness Lodge.

We stayed at the Grand Floridian and if she wanted to take the MK / GF / Poly boat she would have needed to get out of the wheel chair and step into the boat.