Travelling this wednesday to WDW....now with a broken leg....advice please About This Page:

[liambriellemom]

Hi,

Wednesday will be 12 days post surgery for me as I recently broke my right femur in a ski accident. We already had AKL booked for 3/14 - 3/17 as we have a family wedding to attend in Fort Lauderdale on 3/17 we thought hey let's tack on a few nights at Disney.

Medically I'm cleared to go and have arranged for help at the airports, TSA, etc. My travel agent already reserved a wheelchair which will be waiting at AKL when we arrive. Our room however is not handicapp accessible as there were none available there or any other Disney resorts. My main question is how handicapp friendly will MK and Epcot be and AKL? I cannot put weight on my right foot at all. I'm sure there are many things I won't be going on or doing (swimming .....would love to hear from anyone that has done these two parks and/or stayed at AKL while using a wheelchair. Feeling overwhelmed!

[tmeritt]

I find all of Disney handicap friendly. If the wheel chair is non-motorized it will tiring for you or who ever pushed you as that is a lot of miles . if it is a motorized not issue. all the buses are handicap accessible and you can use a wheel chair to almost any ride . I am sure you have crutches to assist in the transfer. Have fun. and be sure to keep you leg elevated and make sure you don't over do it.

[chezp]

My sympathies - I had ankle surgery a week ago today and am now on two crutches and in a cast, which I wasn't expecting - so I feel for you.

My ankle (old injury) has given me issues previously on trips to Disney and I'd agree with the previous poster - an ECV will be much easier. We got a wheelchair and my husband really struggled with pushing me around, as it's so much walking.

I had problems in the Studios and Epcot, so I can only help with one of the parks you were asking about. Epcot is a lot of walking, but World Showcase is perfect for exploring if you're off your feet, as a lot of the attraction of it is just walking through and enjoying the scenery.

[GingerJ]

I strongly recommend calling Walker Mobility (I think that's the name) or one of the other wheelchair rental places and having a motorized scooter (they call them ECVs) delivered to your hotel.

My mom is 78 and has very low energy levels from an illness, so I rented a scooter when we stayed on property, and she loved it. She'd have never made it without this.

Here are the reasons for renting a motorized one and having it at your hotel:

--You may have to walk a LONG way from your room to the bus stop. My mom would've been worn out before ever leaving the hotel grounds.

--Pushing a wheelchair is very tiring for the other person. I pushed her husband in a regular wheelchair and it was okay, but the ramps were hard. Eventually I just had him walk anywhere that was uphill (he has some hip issues and can only walk slowly; now he uses a walker there). OTOH, my brother pushes his wife in a wheelchair at WDW when they go, but he's a tall guy and she's fairly small.

--It's actually cheaper to rent one from off property than to just get one at the park, and they sometimes run out at the parks when it's really busy.


Good luck! You'll still have a great time, I'm sure. Just go to a grocery store today and practice driving a motorized wheelchair. It won't operate exactly the same way, but everyone says that it's better to get the feel for it in an uncrowded place, if you can.

[CinderAbby]

My husband fell and broke his right femur back in September (and he's finally cleared to go back to work on the 24th ) so I know some of what you are going through. Congrats on being able to travel - my husband spent 7 weeks in the hospital and rehab facility before being allowed to come home.

As for Disney, I agreed with Ginger and highly suggest getting a scooter for yourself. It's getting to be Spring Break at Disney and the parks are going to be busy and even though I'm use to it (my husband has other medical issues and has used wheelchairs and scooters for 10+ years), pushing someone in a wheelchair isn't easy at all. Add big crowds and it just adds another layer of difficulty.

Moving around Epcot and MK and going through most of the queues won't be a problem at all. Only a few will require you to transfer to a provided wheelchair (Small World , Pooh, Buzz are the ones off the top of my head). As for riding the rides, you're the best judge of how you can move your leg, etc without pain. For Small World, if you ride, I suggest staying in the chair instead of trying to step down into the boat. I don't know if you ride Peter Pan or not but that one may be tough. I've been told before they will not stop the ride for any reason but I've been on it when just that has happened so that may be up to the CM or not if they want to stop the belt so you can safely get on it. Depending upon your size, you may want to skip the Mine Train because of the small seats and the individual lap bars. We're on the bigger size and my husband has had issues in the past with the lap bar squeezing his legs together. This year after his surgery, he may skip it altogether but he hasn't decided yet if he wants to try. The Peoplemover has the steep moving walkway so I'm not sure if you want to try that one or not - you have to be able to walk to get on this. You know how your would do with balance and if you'd be able to be comfortable standing on the moving belt with crutches.

The shows you shouldn't have a problem with as you can stay on the scooter. CoP might make you transfer to a seat, I can't really remember as my hubby does do that anyway.

For Epcot, I think the only rides that could be an issue would be Frozen Ever after
and Test Track as you have to be able to step down into the vehicle and then up and out again but you know if you can do that or not. Nemo they stop - or you can use the wheelchair vehicle if they have a chair available. Turtle Talk is ECV accessible. Living with the Land has a wheelchair boat. Soarin you can ride your ECV right to the seat but it will be parked off to the side when you "land." Imagination you can use your ECV but it will be parked down the hall when you get back. That's something you can take your crutches on with you to use to get back to the scooter - or you can ask to have it parked right at the end of the ride. They might do that for you. Mission Space we don't do so I can't help with that one. Spaceship Earth has a separate entrance for people using wheels and they might have a wheelchair you can use to get to the vehicle but you'd certainly be able to use crutches and they will stop the belt so you can get on it.

I've never stayed at AKL so I can't speak for the size of the rooms/accessibility but I can't imagine you'll have any problems. We stay at the All Stars and have no issues

That's all I can think of but I hope it helps

[SuzieBC]

I went there 4 years ago with broken hip and then two years ago with a broken ankle. I was able to do most everything that I wanted with no problems. My biggest issue was just getting tired easily. There were some thing I just didn't want to do and I needed more down time than usual. But it was fun anyway, maybe even more fun in some ways as I took time to "smell the roses". I should have had a motorized wheelchair though. Even three big sons (22-36) were worn out with pushing!

[JoanneS]

I stayed at AKL several years ago in a bunk bed room. It was too small for the four of us: not much space to move around and not enough storage space. But I haven't seen the non-bunkbed rooms, so they may be more roomy.

I, too, would recommend an ECV over a wheelchair. AK has many bumpy walkways and hills, making it difficult with a wheelchair.

I'm sure you'll have a great trip. Just don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it.