Guest Assistance Card for MS?

[Littlehero'smommy]

We just found out that my 36 year old DH has MS last week (post on community board) A month ago I found out that I won a trip to Disney through work. We were concerned about his stamina of making the trip when I won because he had been feeling so bad and then we found out last week about the MS. He has started his meds (was in the hospital for 3 days) and his Dr said even though there were some bad contrasting areas, they do not look as if they had permanent scarring so far. Even though the trip is several weeks away I am trying to plan on what will make the trip easier on him and not wear him down so much so he ca enjoy it. We are taking our 7 year old son and our 9 year old niece. Our travel rep made the reqest for a 1st floor room, we are staying at the CBR. I read about requesting a refrigerator for the meds also if needed. Would he qualify for the GAC? With the fatigue and heat, that would certainly help make things easier on him. Any suggestions, thoughts, concerns?

 

[Figaro]

Hi, Littlehero'smommy!

I would make sure your travel agent talked to special services at WDW, because they can guarantee you a ground floor room for medical reasons and those rooms are assigned first, while a request is just that...a request and there is no guarantee you will get a ground floor room. At the same time the travel agent is talking to the people in special services, they can request a fridge for medical reasons, and there is usually no charge for that. The fridges come in three sizes...from the size of a dorm fridge with a small freezer, to shoebox size just big enough for medications.

I would also suggest that your husband rent an ECV (one of those electric carts with either three or four wheels) from an outside vendor. The distances at WDW are very long and the ECV will save him quite a bit of energy, plus provide a really good place to carry everything you might need at the parks(smile).

The First Aid stations in the park can keep medications refrigerated (if he needs to have them and doesn't want to go back to the room) and it is also a good place if he needs to lie down for a bit of a rest. Some of the other people here who know a LOT more about M.S. will hopefully help out here(smile). If you scan down through the threads and look for ones with "ECV" in the title, there should be a list of off-site providers along with their websites and phone numbers.

Oh, and I forgot to say that a Guest Assistance Card is to help inform CM's of invisible disabilities. WDW says in its Disability Guides (which you can pick up at Guest Relations in the parks) that they suggest renting a wheelchair or ECV to deal with fatigue or difficulties walking. If he also needs to wait in an area out of the heat, it would be worth it to get a GAC, although it won't shorten the time he will wait, he will be able to wait in air conditioning.

Hope you have a wonderful trip!

 

[Nanajo1]

I have never stayed at CBR so I'm just relaying experiences I've had at other resorts. A first floor room doesn't necessarily mean less walking to your room. You can be on a first floor but have a long walk from the entrance. Unless you have a w/c or ECV it could be tiring getting to/from your room. You might ask for a room close to the elevator and/ or the bus stop if you aren't using a car.
The most important advice I can give a fellow MS person is to keep cool, hydrated and rested. Pushing himself to the limit one day could end up costing him the next two. I use an ECV. I can keep up with my family and don't feel as if I'm holding them back.
Have a great trip.

 

[greenhornet]

What is A GAC my mom has Parkinson and can't do the heat very well an AC wait would be perfiect

 

[dj2]

Wow - I wish I could win a trip to disney!!!

keep in mind that you can also request WDW to provide a sharps container in your room for disposing the needles. and i know you've thought of this, but bring extra meds just in case.

the number for special requests is (407) 939-7807, ext. #1. it's my impression that they can actually book you into a specific room to make sure that there are no problems on arrival. be sure to think about and specify whatever your DH might need in the bathroom (handrails, shower seat, etc.).

also, the ECV is a terriific idea. well worth the money. i used walkermobility.com once and had a good experience (although there were no clear directions on how to use the extra battery charger that i rented so that i wouldn't have to take the ecv out of the trunk each night). they dropped the ecv off at the resort before i arrived, and all i had to do was leave it at bell services when i left.

does your DH have disbility parking tags? i'm not sure if he qualifies for them yet (ask his doc), but if you have them, be sure to bring them if you're renting a car or driving. that way you'll be able to park close enough to drive the evc from the parking lot into the park. if he doesn't have tags, you might want to use disney's transportation.

you will have a awesome trip!!

dj

 

[Littlehero'smommy]

Thank you so much for the replies. I was excited about winning the trip. The wierd thing is when I found out I had won, I called a friend and told her I felt I won for a reason, knowing something was wrong with DH. It will be a good get away. We will find out more about his MS this week, hopefully tomorrow. He was in the hosiptal Wed to Friday getting his solu-medrol, now he is taking the medrol dose pack and then we should find out which Clinical Trial his Dr is putting him in, she mentioned two. She said his MRI showed no permanent scarring so far. I will make sure the travel agent is making the request as a "medical" request and also requesting the frig when I find out more and maybe a closer building to a bus stop/food court. I mentioned the ECV to him, but I didn't get a "sounds great" response. He did think the GAC was a good idea where he could wait for us in the cool if available. We will be going to the Six Flags in Lexington, KY the weekend before our Disney trip because our DS is in a karate competion in that area and we have season passes to their parks. I am hoping that trip will make not break the ECV idea. We will see how he does then, of course that park is no comparison to a Disney park in size, but it is larger than a Super Wal-mart. Ha!

 

[SueM in MN]

Here's information about renting wheelchairs and scooters (ECVs). All of these companies are ones that DIS posters have reported having good experiences with.
Care Medical:
http://www.caremedicalequipment.com/
Phone (407) 856-2273 • Toll Free U.S and Canada (800) 741-2282

Walker Mobility:
1-888-726-6837
www.walkermobility.com

RANDY'S Mobility is in Kissimmee 407-892-4777
http://randysmobility.com/

Colonial Medical
http://www.colonialmed.com/about_cms.html
(800)747-0246

http://www.scootaround.com/ Not much feedback. Several people who reported they had no problems.

Randy's requires that someone be there for delivery and pick up. They will expalin and demonstrate it to you at that time. The rest will deliver to Bell Services and leave it for you.
If he's not so hot right now about renting, you might want to take the contact info with you in case he changes his mind. WDW is huge - just the trip around World Showcase is over a mile! You can rent ecvs by the day from the parks (same place as stroller rental), but they are limited quantity and there is no guarantee they will still have any when you get there.

Information about GACs:
You can go to Guest Services in any of the parks and request a Guest Assistance Card (we call them GACs to avoid typing so much). In general, people who use wheelchairs or ecvs don't need and won't be given a GAC because just having the wheelchair/ecv alerts the CM that they need an accessible entrance. If that meets your needs, you don't need a GAC. But some people need a quieter place to wait, a place out of the sun, a place away from other people or to be able to bring a stroller into line and have it treated the same as a wheelchair. The GAC is a tool to alert CMs of that sort of invisible need. It is not meant to (and usually won't) shorten or eliminate your wait in line.
To request a GAC, go to Guest Services in any of the parks with the person with a disability and explain your needs. Just saying, "I have _ _ _ _" does not help much, because some people with that diagnosis will have minimal problems waiting in line and others will have lots of problems. You need to be able to explain what sorts of behaviors/problems you expect to encounter. The GACs have different messages stamped on them, depending on what the needs are. GAcs issued in one park are good in all parks and are usually valid for your entire length of stay (You don't need to get a new one each day).GACs are usually issued for the person with a disability plus up to 5 members of their party - there may be times when you are asked to split into smaller groups because of attraction capacity in the special needs area for that ride.
Another way to shorten your wait in line is to use Fast Pass. For attractions that offer fastpass, you put your park tickets into the fastpass machine and a fastpass pops out for each ticket. One person from your party can run ahead with all your group's park passes to put them in the fastpass machine (each person doesn't need to do their own). There is a return time printed on the fastpass and when you return, your wait time is going to be 15 minutes or less. That allows you to wait inside, somewhere cool until the return time.
Also, getting to the parks early helps a lot. That way you are going when it's cooler and less busy and by the time it becomes busy and hot, you can be back at your pool swimming. Then return later in the day when it's cooler and people have left the park.