Carrying 9 year old with CP on rides?

[Phoebus]

My wife and I have a 9 year old who has Cerebral Palsy and is non-ambulatory. Our daughter is obviously in a wheelchair but still small enough to where we can pick her up and carry her around. She has good head control but does have issues with upper body strength. Instead of having her ride in her wheelchair on the rides, will we be allowed to pick her up and either sit her on our lap or next to one of us who would then hold her tightly? Thanks.

P.S. I tried to search the forum but couldn't find this specific answer.

 

[lanejudy]

If she's able to sit independently, or with some support from you, then I think it would be allowed to transfer her out of the wheelchair. That will definitely save on your wait if you don't need the accessible ride vehicle. It may depend on the ride, however. As I recall, most ride vehicles have a seatback, so she could always lean back on that; primarily the boat rides are more of a bench-style seat and she would need to be able to hold herself upright or maybe ride in her chair for those.

Enjoy your vacation!

 

[Phoebus]

primarily the boat rides are more of a bench-style seat and she would need to be able to hold herself upright or maybe ride in her chair for those.

That's right. I forgot about the bench-style seating on some rides. She definitely can't hold herself up and I think it would be too hard for one of us to hold her in our lap so sounds like we would need to go the wheelchair route on those rides. Thanks for the reply and good to know that we will be allowed to carry her on most of the rides!

 

[dumbox2]

yes you may definitely carry her on. some rides are easier than others. for example peter pan doesnt stop so you need to be fast with your transfer/carry technique. other rides like dumbo you can take all the time you need. have fun!

 

[SueM in MN]

I only have a few minutes to answer.
I have a young adult daughter with CP who we have to lift onto rides. She is still relatively easy to lift at 5 feet tall and about 82 pounds.
We keep her in the wheelchair as much as possible:

1) One lift is not bad, but many of the Magic Kingdom rides are very short - which means one lift to get on and another lift to get off. That really wears on you and the child after a while.

2) As was already posted, most of the rides have semi slippery hard surface seats. Most of the seats are fairly shallow and have fairly low seat backs.

3) we also alternate ones where she can stay in the Wheelchair with ones we will need to lift her out for. This helps us and her to avoid putting out all our energy at once.

Our daughter has been on everything at one time or another except the Mountains and Rock N Roller Coaster. My DH and I have been on the others, so can give some information about those even though she hasn't.
I would highly recommend NOT EVEN CONSIDERING Primeval Whirl. It looks fairly take on the ground, but the combination of motion is very intense.

So, feel free to ask questions about specific attractions.
Also, page 2 of the disABILITIES FAQs has several posts that might be helpful - posts 18-22. You can find that thread near the top of this board or follow the link in my signature.

 

[Disbug]

Hello! Our DD12 also has CP and is almost 90 lbs. When she was 9 (and still in the 60 lb. range) we took her on quite a few rides. We would lift her for Peter Pan, the Barnstormer child roller coaster, and BTMRR (for example).

Children are not allowed to ride while seated on your lap, so she had to sit on the seat in between my DH and me (or one of our other children). Our child loves rides with spinning or big motion, so that is why we do Primeval Whirl. She has minimal upper body control, but we wedge her in the middle to keep her secure. We love that ride and would recommend it to you if you think your child is able to do it.

Another suggestion is to bring a thick piece of foam (or a piece you can double over) and use it to cushion the seat and seatback.

An example of those we choose to avoid are the ones where she would have to ride solo (aka Space Mountain)... or Splash Mountain due to the incline of the last drop.

The rides like Toy Story Mania, Winnie the Pooh, Aladdin''s Magic Carpets, and Buzz Lightyear... all have awesome wheelchair accessible cars and we choose to have her ride those in her wheelchair.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[Phoebus]

1) One lift is not bad, but many of the Magic Kingdom rides are very short - which means one lift to get on and another lift to get off. That really wears on you and the child after a while.

Point well taken. Lifting our daughter out of her wheelchair is just as taxing on her as it is on us.

I would highly recommend NOT EVEN CONSIDERING Primeval Whirl. It looks fairly take on the ground, but the combination of motion is very intense.

After reading about your daughter's experience on Primeval Whirl in the disABILITIES FAQs section, we will not (I don't even think I would get on that ride ).

 

[Phoebus]

Children are not allowed to ride while seated on your lap

I didn't know that. Thanks.

Another suggestion is to bring a thick piece of foam (or a piece you can double over) and use it to cushion the seat and seatback.

Excellent idea and we can use it on her wheelchair as well when the seat gets too hot from sitting in the sun! Thanks.

 

[fontes]

Thanks for posting that question! We are in the same position and was wondering the same thing myself.

 

[seidelhd]

The rides like Toy Story Mania, Winnie the Pooh, Aladdin''s Magic Carpets, and Buzz Lightyear... all have awesome wheelchair accessible cars and we choose to have her ride those in her wheelchair.

Enjoy your trip!

We discovered 2 weeks ago that on one of the Dumbo cars the whole loading side swivels up to allow easier access. It is not wheelchair convertible like Aladdin, but makes it much easier to get her on and off the ride.

 

[SueM in MN]

We discovered 2 weeks ago that on one of the Dumbo cars the whole loading side swivels up to allow easier access. It is not wheelchair convertible like Aladdin, but makes it much easier to get her on and off the ride.

Yes, that does make it easier. Here's a picture with the side swung back.

It is kind of low, here's a picture with my daughter's wheelchair.

 

[Phoebus]

We discovered 2 weeks ago that on one of the Dumbo cars the whole loading side swivels up to allow easier access. It is not wheelchair convertible like Aladdin, but makes it much easier to get her on and off the ride.

Thanks for the tip. We will look for that one.

 

[SueM in MN]

Thanks for the tip. We will look for that one.

Just ask for the ADA Dumbo.