Wheelchairs at WDW

[RedRuby]

We are going down to DWD next week. Due to foot surgery, my wife will need to use a wheelchair. Does anyone know how it works for the lines when there is a wheelchair in the party?

Thanks for your assistance. This is going to be a new experience with a wheelchair and we are not sure what to expect.

Randy

ARe you staying on-site? If so, I'd suggest checking with concierge first. If wheelchairs available, they should be able to went to you at no cost for the duration of your stay. They will take your credit card number or cash deposit ($250 US) but the card isn't charged/cash refunded when you return it.

If you're staying offsite, I think the idea of prepaying for the week sounds good. My sister just did a 6 nt visit (first visit in 24 years!) in a wheelchair (a new experience for her), and we found the standard manual wheelchair from the resort perfectly adequate. The ECV (EVC?) would have been much mroe cumbersome on/off buses, I think, and certainly wouldn't have fit in the trunk of our rental car!

HTH
Barbara

 

[minnie61650]

I know a few people probably abuse EVC's but there are people who will abuse all kinds of things.
The thing is I cannot really tell who is abusing and who isn't.
When I go a public rest room I leave my EVC outside so I don't block others (it will not fit in a HA stall). Sometimes there are 3 or 4 stalls that are empty but the HA stall is being used by a mom with 1 or 2 children and it takes 6 or 7 minutes for everyone to finish up. By then I am almost in tears from the pain of standing. I could claim she is abusing
the use of the HA stall or I could think perhaps she has an invisible disability or a special needs child.
I choose to think the later. I hate to think all of the moms out there using the HA stall just because there is more room in there.
Linda

 

[Talking Hands]

I have really enjoyed reading this thread - We just returned from trip to WDW with DS-14 (wheelchair maniac kid) and two DD's. We tried to be very open minded about people whose disabilities may not be as apparent as our son's as we enjoyed our vacation. My only contribution to this thread is the thought that if there are people of different ages using wheelchairs or ECV's in an area, the children are still children, and the adults are still adults. Meaning, if you are an adult using a scooter you should probably allow a child in a wheelchair to get ahead of you to view a parade!! Can you tell we had this happen? Up and down Main St, adults allow children to get in front during parades, but in the Accessible viewing area, two grown men took up most of the area, to the exclusion of several disabled children (more than just mine)....just had to vent...

I suggest you arrive early at the viewing area to get a spot. The way these areas are set up there should be no one in front of any wheelchair user. Families stand behind. If I were let a child in a wheelchair in front of me I would be unable to see the parade and would be looking at the back of the child's chair. A 14yo would be taller than me. If I arrive early and wait in that spot for the parade I will not be moving a for child whose parents didn't plan enough to get there early. BTW I am in a power chair not an ECV.

 

[michelle9343]

Talkinghands
I agree that it would not be fair for you to give up your spot to look at the back of a childs head but sometimes depending on the childs disability it might not be a poor planning problem on the parents part more like the child can not be in a confinded to an area for long. We miss many parades because my DD can not just sit and wait. Just a thought.
minnie61656
I do feel abuse of the HA stall goes on alot. I was at AK and after trazan rocks and need to change my DD. I waited till long after the show to go into the bathroom . The HA stall had a mom and her son in it singing and talking. A group of CMs had been in the bathroom after to show ,anyway about 20 min later I was still waaiting and the CM came back in because I had let my 10 yr old son wait outside and he was getting worried. I told them that I was waiting and they said this is crazy. They asked the Mom if everything was OK she said" My son had to make poppy and it is just so much more comfy in here. The Cm 's explained that they had a special needs little girl waiting and if they could please move to another stall. Long story short this has happened way to many times. This story sticks out because the entire bathroom was empty all other stalls were available.

 

[minnie61650]

Talkinghands
I agree that it would not be fair for you to give up your spot to look at the back of a childs head but sometimes depending on the childs disability it might not be a poor planning problem on the parents part more like the child can not be in a confinded to an area for long. We miss many parades because my DD can not just sit and wait. Just a thought.
minnie61656
I do feel abuse of the HA stall goes on alot. I was at AK and after trazan rocks and need to change my DD. I waited till long after the show to go into the bathroom . The HA stall had a mom and her son in it singing and talking. A group of CMs had been in the bathroom after to show ,anyway about 20 min later I was still waaiting and the CM came back in because I had let my 10 yr old son wait outside and he was getting worried. I told them that I was waiting and they said this is crazy. They asked the Mom if everything was OK she said" My son had to make poppy and it is just so much more comfy in here. The Cm 's explained that they had a special needs little girl waiting and if they could please move to another stall. Long story short this has happened way to many times. This story sticks out because the entire bathroom was empty all other stalls were available.

I am so sorry that happened to you and your dd.
So many AB people especially young moms would not dream of parking in HA parking space but think nothing of tying up an HA stall just because there is a little more in room there. It "seems" like they are also the first to "know" that WC/ EVC users are abusers just trying to get "perks."
( I know that really isn't the case but I just want others to become more aware of special needs in the rest rooms.)

 

[SueM in MN]

Talkinghands
I agree that it would not be fair for you to give up your spot to look at the back of a childs head but sometimes depending on the childs disability it might not be a poor planning problem on the parents part more like the child can not be in a confinded to an area for long. We miss many parades because my DD can not just sit and wait. Just a thought.

That's one of the reasons we don't usually use the handicapped viewing areas - my DD is not one to stay patiently in one place for a long time. Most of the handicapped viewing areas are set up for one row of wheelchairs/ecvs. Besides the "viewing problems" that Talking Hands mentioned, putting a second wheelchair in front would probably block the access lane.
For the parades, if you want to use the wheelchair viewing spots, you might need to get there early and look at creative options to keep her happy while you wait. For example, until the parade starts, the wheelchair could be facing away from (rather than towards) the street. Or, it might be possible to keep the wheelchair as a place marker while she is out of it (sometimes there are benches in the rear of the wheelchair viewing area).
We usually travel with a fairly large party and some of our party will stake out and hold spots in the regular viewing areas. Then not long before the parade begins, whoever has been with DD in her wheelchair comes in to claim their spots. Bribing her with food helps too.

For Illuminations, they are right when they say there are good viewing spots all around WS Lagoon. Each area gives a little different "show" because of what exactly is viewable from that area. We have gotten good spots even 10 minutes before the show began. Just look for a fairly clear view to the middle of the lagoon and watch which direction the wind is blowing - we have already found perfect view spots a few minutes before the show and were wondering why no one was in them - the reason was that the wind would have blown all the smoke right at them.

 

[GroovyWheeler]

Sue, I can understand how you feel when people think that your daughter is "faking" being in a wheelchair, when they see her out of it. I'm able to transfer out of my wheelchairs on my own, by crawling out of them, or with my mom's help when making a standing transfer.

I wonder if people judge wheelchair users, just by how their seating system is set-up, and the more "seating accessories" the seating system has, the more "disabled" that person may appear. The seating system in my power chair, looks like it could be used for someone with Cerebral Palsy, rather than someone with orthopedic challenges, and Dystonia, with the headrest, chest posture belt, and padded hip belt (who can't sit up very well in her chair, and without the headrest, who would have poor head control).

My manual wheelchair just has a special sling-type back that's fully padded, along with the same kind of cushion and seat belt as in my power chair. It also has one of those stroller handle extensions that "snap" in and out of the push handles when the chair needs to be folded (as it's mostly used for airline travel, since it's an ultra-lightweight wheelchair, or for places where taking my power chair would be difficult), for my 6' 2" fiance' to easily push me, without having to bend over. He loves it, since it's so easy for him to push me around, and when we were at Disney World this last time, a lot of people got a kick out of how he was pushing me around the parks most of the time, with my manual wheelchair tipped back on it's back wheels, and him swinging me from side to side, trying to get me to laugh. I was embarrassed by all of this, and trying to hide myself. My goony godfather and brother both loved "egging Dan on" with how Dan was pushing me around, and embarrassing the heck out of me.

This last time at Disney, when Dan and I were alone, we did have a few problems with people running right in front of us, and them getting hurt with my angle-adjustable footplates on my manual wheelchair (and power wheelchair too), to which it would make both of us feel bad. But, there were some people who saw us as "a cute couple" just because of the way we were, and offered their assistance in every way possible. The exciting part for us, was seeing their reactions when we told them that we were going to get married next summer.

Samantha

 

[SueM in MN]

I wonder if people judge wheelchair users, just by how their seating system is set-up, and the more "seating accessories" the seating system has, the more "disabled" that person may appear. The seating system in my power chair, looks like it could be used for someone with Cerebral Palsy, rather than someone with orthopedic challenges, and Dystonia, with the headrest, chest posture belt, and padded hip belt (who can't sit up very well in her chair, and without the headrest, who would have poor head control).

I don't really know, but I think when people see one of the rental wheelchairs or ECVs, they do have a different idea than when they see someone using one that is obviously theirs.
My DD's manual and power wheelchair both have the same seating system, a Jay seat and back. She has a headrest, a padded hip belt and ankle/foot straps. So, all in all, I don't think her wheelchair would be mistaken for a rental one very easily.