Plantar Fascitis in Disney

I have the same problem and just went back to the doctor for another round of cortisone shots before our trip next week. I plan to ice each night upon return to the room, take Advil on schedule and have done my best to buy shoes that will help with my symptoms. I also have a compression sock to wear while in the room or sleeping. I switched all my shoes over to Clarks and it has helped. They have sandals as well. You can order them online from Amazon and they arrive quickly. I have also found it helps to change shoes half way through the day. Good luck!
 
Wearing Vionic flip flops now. It is SO SO SO weird to wear such flat shoes--seriously, I have been in wedges/heels for years due to PF. Fit Flops is the flattest I get.
BUT NO issues w/ PF when wearing these so it's a WIN.
4 weeks later knee is much better--can walk stairs normally now but will encounter some light pain with lateral movement. Knee did not like Vionic wedge last week. Will try again early next week. Fingers crossed.
For now Asics tennies & Vionic flip flops--Mom bought Vionic sandals that I can wear too. That might be my choices.
 


I wore my new Vionic flip flops last week at WDW. I did break them in a bit at home before I wore them all day. My feelings are mixed on them. I did not experience ANY PF pain at all. My heels and arches were a-okay. I did experience quite a bit of ankle and knee stiffness and pain. While I do have ankle and knee problems, the pain and stiffness has never been so pronounced. I think the pain was probably due to the way the shoes straighten the angle between my foot and my lower leg and my joints are not used to that orientation. I switched back to my Birks on day 3 (Saturday) but I was still achey after I came home and didn't feel better until yesterday (Tuesday). I will continue to wear them around home and try they again in August.
 
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I wore my new Vionic flip flops last week at WDW. I did break them in a bit at home before I wore them all day. My feelings are mixed on them. I did not experience ANY PF pain at all. My heels and arches were a-okay. I did experience quite a bit of ankle and knee stiffness and pain. While I do have ankle and knee problems, the pain and stillness has never been so pronounced. I think the pain was probably due to the way the shoes straighten the angle between my foot and my lower leg and my joints are not used to that orientation. I switched back to my Birks on day 3 (Saturday) but I was still achey after I came home and didn't feel better until yesterday (Tuesday). I will continue to wear them around home and try they again in August.

I have that issue with Fit Flops (wore them yesterday at work), but haven't noticed it with Vionics. Guess I'll find out.
Glad you said something...May toss those Sofft wedges in too. Only 40 lbs. to work with in luggage...gotta be prudent with my choices!!
 
Based on multiple recommendations from the Disboards, I purchased Keens and am breaking them in for my August trip to WDW. So far so good and no issues with PF.
 


Update: I returned the Vionics within the manufacturer's 30-day trial period. They hurt my knees and ankles way too much. I replaced them with a pair of regular two-strap Chacos (at nearly double the price). They are VERY comfortable and while they have a lot of support, they don't have the same aggressive support as the Vionics. I do have to strap them onto my feet so I am still on the lookout for a pair of slides or flip flops that I can just slip on while standing for around the house and around town. I'm thinking about another pair of Birks or maybe some Chaco flip flops. I need another $75-150 pair of shoes because I'm too lazy to sit down and put on my $135 pair of shoes all the time. First world problems.
 
I suffer from PF in my left foot. I have had custom orthodics made in the past, but what I use now are inserts made by ProFoot that I can buy off Amazon or Wal Mart. To me, they work better.

I also wear a comfortable pair of tennis shoes that are broken in.
 
I'm pretty sure I have PF also...... and over the years I've tried a million shoes (it feels like) at the moment, I am back 100% with Birkenstock,they're my only option for less pain after walking. For some reason the way my foot is cradled and held works in these. I have Teva Mush, I have Jambus, I have a good pair of New Balance Run DIsney sneakers.... right now I can only wear the NB sneakers or the Birkenstocks. If I don't have serious arch support it;s not a good day for me. I like wearing my old crocs for house slippers,as they've molded to my foot shape..... I can't wear shoes with a heel or wedge with any sort of comfort at all. They have to be flat.
 
After reading multiple support shoe threads on this Tips board, I ordered several shoes to try.

I need a supportive shoe to keep PF at bay but also so my feet won't hurt so much in general after a lot of walking. I have a wide foot, although it weirdly doesn't measure wide. But it's wide enough that it hangs off of many sandals, ride in the middle. Like my chaos. I loved those for the great arch support but my foot hung out wide on the outside. This was not a problem until I spent a whole day at the park walking in them and then the way they curve up on the side made my foot feel like something had been digging in it all day! My Tevas hit me at a weird spot on my ankle that I just can't get over. My Keen Newports do well, but they have so much strap on them I still feel really hot in them. I love my Birks and wear them all the time, but as soon as I take a walk in them, like I wore them for a day walking around Florence, Italy and I got horrible blisters on the bottom of my toes!

The shoes I just ordered were:
Crocs Isabella T strap- super cute and comfy except no arch support so I think my feet will hurt if I wore them for a park day. Plus I had this weird sensation that the soles of these were tapered, like I could twist my ankle in these.

Addidas outdoor terrex climacool- I was so excited about these as I love the classic addidas look and the holes to drain the water, but these were so narrow that it seriously felt like the sole only covered half the bottom of my foot and I was standing on the sides of the shoe. Really weird feeling.

Keen Rose sandal- had high hopes for these as the Keen Newports that I own have a nice wide foot bed that fits my foot nicely. And these have less straps, so more open to the air, so perhaps would be perfect. Plus they were purple! I do like these. However, the foot bed is noticeably more narrow and I worry that they will rub too much on the side. There also doesn't seem to be much arch support (but perhaps that's in comparison to the next two which have a lot of arch support)

Olukai Ohana flipflops- These are so comfortable! Great arch support! Suedey feeling footbed which is nice on my feet as well. Really like these. Although I practically live in either Birks or flip flops at home in the summer, I've never worn any flip flops when I knew I'd have a lot of walking, so I have some hesitation about wearing all day at WDW. But I think I may try these!

Vionic Amber sandals- I've read tons of positive reviews on Vionics- many right here on this thread! I wasn't sure what kind to get but I wanted a sandal, not a flip flop (already found a great flip flop above). These also have fantastic arch support! I am not sure about the style. Many of the reviews said the style was a little matronly, which I thought sounded silly. But now that I'm wearing them, I'm feeling like they may be! Maybe I'm just making it up because of those reviews though.

So my big question to all of you Vionics wearers- which styles do you have? I am thinking of ordering another pair but clearly this ordering/returning thing is getting out of control so I'd like to have some help eliminating styles! I was looking at Teagan, Cathy, Julie II (very cute but thinking if I take flip flops my second shoe should maybe not be between my toes), and Adriane. I would love to hear from anyone who has tried these!
 
My mom has PF and goes to a store called "The Walking Company". They're a little pricey but she has had the shoes for three years and wore them to Disney last year. She had no problems the entire trip! Worth looking into because the shoes last forever and the shoes are pretty much created for PF.
 
So my big question to all of you Vionics wearers- which styles do you have? I am thinking of ordering another pair but clearly this ordering/returning thing is getting out of control so I'd like to have some help eliminating styles! I was looking at Teagan, Cathy, Julie II (very cute but thinking if I take flip flops my second shoe should maybe not be between my toes), and Adriane. I would love to hear from anyone who has tried these!
So I have a ton of Vionics and my overall favorites are Coro and Paros. They don't make Coro anymore according to several Vionic reps, but the Paros is still available. I looked at the Amber sandals and they felt good I just personally wasn't in love with the shine of the material. I have the Paros in the gold cork and get compliments every time I wear them. They are nicely cushioned on the straps and the straps don't hit me in weird spots (Tevas hit my ankle weird too) I also have multiple pairs of Vionic flip flops (Bella II and Tide II), all good. I will say the ones with the sueded footbed, my feet slide around a lot if it's raining hard and they get soaked. The ones that look like wood but are rubber do better when wet. I have some of the flats and casual slip one and those can be narrow in the the toe box so try them on and really walk around. I got the dorrin to have a water friendly option, the feel of the straps took some getting used to but they feel good now. I also have a pair of AeTrex for water friendly option and they felt great right out of the box.
 
I developed PF a couple of months ago and have been struggling with on and off pain. A friend who works at a running store recommended Oofos flip flops two weeks ago. I've been wearing them all day, even right when I get out of bed and the pain is pretty much gone!
 
In my most recent PF battle, I drank lots of water and crammed a pillow down under my blankets in bed to sort of support and push my toes upwards, to slightly stretch out my ligaments as I slept.

My achilles tendon seems to play a big role in my PF, so if I can keep it nice and stretched at night it seems to not mess up my arch.

Good luck! PF can be downright debilitating....
 
Birkenstocks are literally the only shoes that I can wear where I have hardly any pain. its kinda amazing. I can be in pain and barley able to place my heal over uneven cement... then I wears birks and I can rock back on my heels with NO PAIN. I even have custom hard orthotics that don't take away pain like these shoes. I make sure I have them in Disney. this Jan will be my first time in Disney with PF.... but I have had it in my left foot for about 10months now, and 4 months in my right foot
 
I started wearing Vionic shoes, flip flops, and sandals a few years ago and saw a dramatic improvement in my PF. It started flaring up a few weeks ago so I bought Oofos based on the recommendation of a disney blog. I love them, they are sooooooo comfortable. I'm wearing them exclusively to see if they will be a good choice for my WDW trip in September. So far, so good.
 
I've had PF for a while now, and I've tried it all. Believe me, THE VERY BEST thing you can do for yourself isn't a stretch or a pair of shoes; rather, THE VERY BEST thing you can do for yourself is to go to an Orthopedic doctor. Here's what mine did for me:

- X-rayed me and verified that I have heel spurs as well as PF. He now has a baseline so he can tell whether these change.
- Gave me a cortisone shot in each foot. OUCH, but it really helped. He said that my feet were "inflamed", and I really wouldn't see change until that inflamation was improved, and the cortisone really helped.
- Gave me a set of boots that "stretch" the PF muscle. I despise them and wear them only when I've "overdone".
- Made me a set of custom orthopedic inserts, which fit into most of my shoes. Right now I'm wearing canvas Sketchers boat shoes -- no problem with the inserts. Tennis shoes, loafers, Tom's, pumps -- no problem with the inserts. They do not fit into most heels. They move from shoe to shoe, and he tells me they should last five years. NOTHING else I have done compares to these inserts; I can stand up on tile all day at work and have ZERO pain at the end of the day.

The cost of this treatment: Just a co-pay.

I do wear Chacos, Vionic and a few Sketchers sandals because I can't wear the inserts, and they are 90% as good as the inserts; however, if I wear them too many days in a row, I feel it.

Perhaps people are different, but the keys for me are (if I can't wear the inserts): A slight heel (never, never flat shoes), a cupped heel that "cradles" my heel, and a strong instep support.
 

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