Mobility Issues - any advice welcome

[Twilight Terror]

Until now, all our trips to WDW have been me, Mum and my sister only; we have always left Dad at home. This has been for a number of reasons: Disney is not quite up his street, so to speak, but more importantly he has mobility issues. He suffers from back problems, which have resulted in him being signed off work permanently, and his most recent health/disability check-up resulted in him getting a disability badge for the car, since he can no longer walk long distances.

Anyway, due to Dad feeling left out of all the fun, along with him suffering a bit of a health scare a few months ago (which all turned out good in the end), we have decided to ALL go on holiday together next year. This will be our first ever whole family holiday and it's very exciting! (Dad is really step-dad and only joined the 'family' a few years ago)

His attendance now brings up a whole host of mobility issues for us to think about and plan ahead for, and this is where I'm sure the DIS can help our tremendously.

He can walk short distances before the pain becomes too much, so while he could probably stand and queue in the normal lines, he could definitely not make it around the parks all day. Because of his back (and not liking too many rides!) he plans to get up early, make the most of EMHs and less crowds until around 11/12, before heading back to the hotel to rest for the afternoon, before returning to the parks at night. The rest of us will be staying in the parks and meeting up with him when he feels able to return for a few more hours, so a manual wheelchair is out of the question - I guess a EVC is needed?

We also have the issue of the 8-hour long haul flight to contend with. Already we have upgraded our Virgin Atlantic seats from Economy to Premium Economy, so the extra room will help. But does anyone have any tips on doing long haul flights when suffering from a bad back that is aggravated by both walking around too much and sitting in one position for too long???

Anyway, this whole trip is going to be completely new to everyone - the only holidays my dad has been on with mum in the past few years have been beach holidays, where he has laid by the pool/on the beach all day for the week! This is going to be a big shock to the system for all concerned.

I have already ploughed my way through most of the pinned/stickied topics and they have been a world of help already. But if there is anyone out there that suffers from the same type of probelms, and has been to the world before, then your advice and tips will be invaluable! In fact, any tips on using the Disney transport, the best EVC hire places and best ones to get, flight tips, anything will be very gratefully received!

 

[Harvestmooner]

My Dad doesn't have back problems, but has walking/heart problems. We booked and EVC from Walker Equipment in Orlando and it was at the hotel when we arrived and they picked it up after we left-it was great!!! We plan on doing the same thing in January. They were very nice to deal with and would recommend them to anyone. My Dad had never used and EVC before and was alittle self conscience about it-until he realized how big the parks are!! And everyone at Disney were so great about helping with the buses etc. Go and have a good time, and EVC will make it easier for everyone and give your Dad some independence!!! ENJOY YOUR TRIP!!!

 

[SueM in MN]

Because of his back (and not liking too many rides!) he plans to get up early, make the most of EMHs and less crowds until around 11/12, before heading back to the hotel to rest for the afternoon, before returning to the parks at night. The rest of us will be staying in the parks and meeting up with him when he feels able to return for a few more hours, so a manual wheelchair is out of the question - I guess a EVC is needed?

If he's going to be leaving the parks for a while, the only way to guarantee he will have one will be to rent from one of the outside places.

We also have the issue of the 8-hour long haul flight to contend with. Already we have upgraded our Virgin Atlantic seats from Economy to Premium Economy, so the extra room will help. But does anyone have any tips on doing long haul flights when suffering from a bad back that is aggravated by both walking around too much and sitting in one position for too long???

I just had a long flight from Amsterdam to Minneapolis, so some things are clear in my mind.
If he has the aisle seat, it will be easier for him to get up and stand for a change of position. He might also want to see if using a pillow behind the small of his back helps to give more support for while he is sitting. He might also be able to do some arm stretches to help to stretch/decompress his back.
And, not too many people do it, but putting the tray table down and laying forward on it can also be a good way to stretch and take pressure off the back.

In fact, any tips on using the Disney transport, the best EVC hire places and best ones to get, flight tips, anything will be very gratefully received!

Any of the places listed in the disABILITIES FAQs are good for renting ECVs and I think you would be happy with any of them. If he would feel better actually having the ECV delivered to him at his room by a person who will demonstrate it and answer questions, I'd suggest Randy's.
All the companies will deliver to your resort, but the others deliver it to Bell Services (usually before you get there). For some people, that's great and exactly what they want. But some people prefer to have a demonstration and ask questions.
The FAQs thread has a part about buses and explains a little about the other types of transportation. I don't know what type of budget you have for a hotel, but the advantage of the deluxe resorts is that they have easy access to at least one park. For the ones on the monorail, you can easily take that back and forth to the MK (their is a steep ramp to go up at TTC and at MK, but that should not be a problem with an ECV). If you would plan to spend much of your time at MK, those resorts make it very easy to come and go.

The Ecpot area resorts have easy access to Epcot and the Studio by boat or by pathways. Neither would be a problem with an ECV.

Going back and forth between the resort and the parks is more time consuming when you have to rely on the buses. You have to plan for at least one hour per trip in the middle of the day because the buses run less frequently then.

 

[madenon]

About the flight; take these months prior to the trip to find out what benefits him. The days or even weeks before a flight are important also. Making sure he's in his top condition, which would probably mean downscaling his activities. Make sure he is as comfortable as can be at the airport. That's energy down the drain for nothing. If he has a wheelchair he can sit in more comfortably than those airport seats; bring it along and gate check it.

I'm doing the flight (and have done) from Amsterdam, including a transfer (only airline that flies non stop has a 'service' for disabled people that just sucks). So that would mean anything from 12 to 13 hours 'on the road'. A 'short' flight for me, after being used to flying 22/24 hours.

What I do is overindulge. I'm easier about taking meds etc. First thing that I arrange when booking is getting a certain seat secured. In my case that would be a bulkhead aisle seat. Any other seat wont only mean more pain but a real risk of having an emergency up in the air and neither me nor the airline wants that to happen.

I take along a bag that I can use to put my legs up, so I can change positions more. This also helps when wanting to 'lay down'. I know for me a lot of pain is caused with the position I'm forced into, body being less relaxed due to the pain etc. It's a negative cirkel you can get in. So when flying, I'll be popping pills more than normall. More painkillers but also sleepingmedication (nothing over the counter, always after talking to my GP and making sure we choose the right path for that specific trip). Sleeping makes the body more relaxed. While I'm 'stiff' when waking up, my muscles are a bit more relaxe during sleep, which means less pain than I would have been in being awake and the muscles clenching because of the pain I'm in. This is were muscle relaxants also come into it. For me it's a bit of a catch 24 as my muscles are also the only thing protecting me from more bigger problems, but untill now we've always found a could balance with lower dosage, short working meds etc. Also I like to sqeeze myself into the weirdest positions and places, but that's very specific to my healthproblems and probably most others wont like it one bit.

He'll have to talk to his GP to find out what might help him. If he knows where his problems lay but also what can help him, he'll be able to easier find the best possible balance for a long flight.

It depends on the size of a person, but I found out that with some creativity, you can more or less 'lay on your side' in the seat. This gives you at least 2 more positions to change into.

Have him walk around regularely. It doesn't have to be lond, but any change is good and effective in fighting pain caused by being in the same position to long. I can't walk, but I can tell you that even getting out of my seat, onto the aisle-chair (special wheelchair for in the airplane), going to the bathroom, back onto aisle-chair, back into chair is SUCH a nice change of pace. While it causes me pain to do it, the changing actually helps to reduce worse pain caused by staying in one position all of the time.

Let him exercise! Even f it's just simply bending each joint a couple of times. Most of the time there is a bit more room at the end of the plane, where he could have some space to move around a bit better.

If any muscle problem is involved, it might be something to look into phsyio before and after the trip to get them in the best possible state. Before I fly, I always get more physio the weeks prior. All of those sessions will purely be getting my muscles at their best, reducing knots etc.

Have a nice trip!