Push Chair vs a Scooter?

[zumbergc]

Hi All,

I've done the push chair for lots of trips due to leg issues.
This trip I've still got the leg issues, however, I have some
back issues too. After riding in the push chairs for 2-3 days, my
back would normally start to ach.
Do the scooters, padded seat offer an advantage for the
person with some back pain?
I've probably pulled some low back muscles and it of course
send the rest of my back into spasms. The spasms have mostly
stopped, and I still ice several times a day to get rid of the pain.

Anyone have any opinions? Were fine with the push chair as my husband doesn't mind pushing me all over the place. I'm a little mobile, so I can get
up to transfer, and am able to wheel myself thru store for shopping?

Any comments on people putting a pillow on the push chair seat?
What do you do it rains? Your soft pillow, becomes the absorbant
spunge?

Thanks,
Connie

 

[Cheshire Figment]

The ECVs are much more comfortable than a regular wc. This is especially true at AK where there are intentional defects in the roadways.

 

[JudithM]

I also prefer an ECV to a wheelchair. In my case I am not supposed to bend my knees at a 90 degree angle, so the wheelchair does not help. On an ECV I can extend my legs. The ECV seat is padded & more comfortable. Plus no one has to puch you - you control the ECV & are less dependent on others.

 

[SueM in MN]

The rental wheelchairs also havbe sling seats (like a directors chair). Even if you put a pillow in it, it's still a seat that has no support.

 

[freemore]

I'm just back from my first trip to Disney in 15 years and first time on an ecv. The ECV is wonderful! Some dear soul on the disboard suggested I take a small pillow for the back of the ecv and it helped me soooooooo much. It was a very small pillow, luckily it didn't rain but we had poncho's with us in case it did. I saw several people struggling with wheel chairs and wondered if they would have been able to drive a an ecv and would have been happier with one. I can't say enough about how wonderful it is to drive an ecv!!! And it is so easy, I felt very comfortable after 15 minutes of driving it, and a pro after the first day!! It absolutely made my Disney trip. And I rented one for my husband too although he insisted he didn't need one, he said that driving the ecv was the most fun he had! He said tell the dis board that the spouse needs to rent one too its lots more fun.

Lene

 

[zumbergc]

Thanks for the tips. Especially the part about bringing a small pillow. We have these small pillows for low back support from my old car. They are from relax the back and are self inflated. Plus, the good part is they have a cover which I think is water proof.
Plus, thanks for all the other tips! I leave today and am so excited, hence why I woke up so early, when I'm suppose to get 2 more hours sleep.
Connie

 

[zumbergc]

Okay, I'm back from my trip and loved the scooter. Much, much better than the push wheel chair for the back, and much more freedom. Lots of fun driving the scooter. I'm fairly young to be uising a scooter, and was annoyed by some CM's whom I believe thought I was just joy riding. Since it was so cold on our trip, I had pants on. Which covers up my tape, and braces I wear on my knee.

In particular on one buzz ride. We rode lots of times on different days, most cms's great but we met a few bad ones.
One day, in the back area where they load wheel chair people, they usually have you walk to the end of the walkway, and then get on the conveyor belt, and get into the car. Well, this one dude, had us jump in on the land part, no conveyor belt. It was like a quick jump into the car. I was really surprised at that loading technique. I really think it was dangerous, and my husband thought it was a crazy entrance too.
At least that only happened once.

Then on the stitch ride. now ,I've done the alien encounter with a push chair, and they let you bring in the chair. I wasn't quite sure why I couldn't bring in the scooter, however I didn't have a copy of the disability guide to know if it was push chair only. However I was really unhappy with the information and guidance with that rides CM's. I wasn't directed to the spot where to park the ecv, motored up to the one entrance, where the turn style like section is, rudely told to park the ecv. Then get up to the entrance, and I was told to wait, they were full. So, I asked how long of a wait it would be? First she didn't want to answer, and I'm like do I need to wait in the scooter. She condecendily said, ow, you might want to wait in the scooter. After I'm like, how long am I going to have to stand here, then stand on that side of the turnstyle.
The absolutely offered me no assistance at all. That lady didn't even look for me when she started loading the next que. After the ride, we were zooming out and around, and went by the entrance, and let that CM know they weren't very accomadating to ecv's. There was another cm there, I'm not sure who, but I let them know their access and accomadation was horrible. Again this was a day with pants on and they could not visably see my knees all taped up, so I believe its a matter of they thought I didn't need help. Which is crazy since I'm using a scooter.
Why would I want to be sitting in a scooter if I didn't have to.

Then there is the peter pan ride. I think they have a conspiracy over on that ride. I've riden the ride many, many times, and attempted a few more times. One thing I didn't like is there are some CM's who won't let you ride this ride unless you have a fast pass. Even when there is only like a 10-15 minute wait time. Seemed weird, I'm not sure if its just one cm, or multiple. Its happened in serveral previous trips, allowed on the ride some days, and not on others. We generally get the fast pass for the pooh ride, so its frustrating when its only a 10-15 minute wait on peter pan to be told, you have to get a fast pass, or you can't ride. Of course they tell me I can wait in the regular line, and I'm like, can I take the ecv in the line, and they are like no. So, its our controversal ride most trips. Will we or won't we get to ride that ride, that day.

Of course we had lots of super super friendly CM's during our trip. Gotta love those CMs who guard the wheel chair spots for parades, shows, and other venues. They have their work cut out for people wanting the seating.

The pillow for the back. Awesome idea, helped a lot. Since I'm so short, reaching the handles was a little bit of an issue with really short arms, they only go back so far. Height wise great, since you could adjust seat height, could touch the scooter floor.
Rented from walker, scooter lasted all day, never had a problem with it running out, we didn't go crazy and go from 8am til midnight or anything. I'm under 140 so being lighter probably helps since the scooter is moving less weight. The adjusting of the speed. Really. really great. Moving it to slow in sections with crowds, stores, making
tight turns, made things easier, since when you stop suddenly your not get whip lash. OF course turning the speed up, when no one is around was also nice.

Felt we got lucky with the disney buses. We stayed at the swan, so we had boat access to mgm and epcot, or walk yourself. So, we bussed over to akl, MK and always were able to get on the first bus. I say lucky since at most there was only 1 wheelchair or scooter on, and people got up from the special section to let me board.

We drove to downtown disney. I had my husband practice taking the ecv apart in the room. Turned out to be a good idea. Taking apart easier than the first time putting back together. Since we were going in the evening, I felt it would be easier if he knew what he was doing, things would go more smoothly and they did.
We had an intermediate from national, and it fit nicely in the trunk, we just put the seat in the back seat of the car, since there were just 2 of us. The seat probably would have fit, but I didn't feel it was worth the effort to adjust things, and have my husband reposition stuff in the trunk. He's not the best at optimizing space, and felt it was easier to just put the chair part in the back seat of the car.


Connie

 

[freemore]

Okay, I'm back from my trip and loved the scooter. Much, much better than the push wheel chair for the back, and much more freedom. Lots of fun driving the scooter. I'm fairly young to be uising a scooter, and was annoyed by some CM's whom I believe thought I was just joy riding. Since it was so cold on our trip, I had pants on. Which covers up my tape, and braces I wear on my knee.

In particular on one buzz ride. We rode lots of times on different days, most cms's great but we met a few bad ones.
One day, in the back area where they load wheel chair people, they usually have you walk to the end of the walkway, and then get on the conveyor belt, and get into the car. Well, this one dude, had us jump in on the land part, no conveyor belt. It was like a quick jump into the car. I was really surprised at that loading technique. I really think it was dangerous, and my husband thought it was a crazy entrance too.
At least that only happened once.

Then on the stitch ride. now ,I've done the alien encounter with a push chair, and they let you bring in the chair. I wasn't quite sure why I couldn't bring in the scooter, however I didn't have a copy of the disability guide to know if it was push chair only. However I was really unhappy with the information and guidance with that rides CM's. I wasn't directed to the spot where to park the ecv, motored up to the one entrance, where the turn style like section is, rudely told to park the ecv. Then get up to the entrance, and I was told to wait, they were full. So, I asked how long of a wait it would be? First she didn't want to answer, and I'm like do I need to wait in the scooter. She condecendily said, ow, you might want to wait in the scooter. After I'm like, how long am I going to have to stand here, then stand on that side of the turnstyle.
The absolutely offered me no assistance at all. That lady didn't even look for me when she started loading the next que. After the ride, we were zooming out and around, and went by the entrance, and let that CM know they weren't very accomadating to ecv's. There was another cm there, I'm not sure who, but I let them know their access and accomadation was horrible. Again this was a day with pants on and they could not visably see my knees all taped up, so I believe its a matter of they thought I didn't need help. Which is crazy since I'm using a scooter.
Why would I want to be sitting in a scooter if I didn't have to.

Then there is the peter pan ride. I think they have a conspiracy over on that ride. I've riden the ride many, many times, and attempted a few more times. One thing I didn't like is there are some CM's who won't let you ride this ride unless you have a fast pass. Even when there is only like a 10-15 minute wait time. Seemed weird, I'm not sure if its just one cm, or multiple. Its happened in serveral previous trips, allowed on the ride some days, and not on others. We generally get the fast pass for the pooh ride, so its frustrating when its only a 10-15 minute wait on peter pan to be told, you have to get a fast pass, or you can't ride. Of course they tell me I can wait in the regular line, and I'm like, can I take the ecv in the line, and they are like no. So, its our controversal ride most trips. Will we or won't we get to ride that ride, that day.

Of course we had lots of super super friendly CM's during our trip. Gotta love those CMs who guard the wheel chair spots for parades, shows, and other venues. They have their work cut out for people wanting the seating.

The pillow for the back. Awesome idea, helped a lot. Since I'm so short, reaching the handles was a little bit of an issue with really short arms, they only go back so far. Height wise great, since you could adjust seat height, could touch the scooter floor.
Rented from walker, scooter lasted all day, never had a problem with it running out, we didn't go crazy and go from 8am til midnight or anything. I'm under 140 so being lighter probably helps since the scooter is moving less weight. The adjusting of the speed. Really. really great. Moving it to slow in sections with crowds, stores, making
tight turns, made things easier, since when you stop suddenly your not get whip lash. OF course turning the speed up, when no one is around was also nice.

Felt we got lucky with the disney buses. We stayed at the swan, so we had boat access to mgm and epcot, or walk yourself. So, we bussed over to akl, MK and always were able to get on the first bus. I say lucky since at most there was only 1 wheelchair or scooter on, and people got up from the special section to let me board.

We drove to downtown disney. I had my husband practice taking the ecv apart in the room. Turned out to be a good idea. Taking apart easier than the first time putting back together. Since we were going in the evening, I felt it would be easier if he knew what he was doing, things would go more smoothly and they did.
We had an intermediate from national, and it fit nicely in the trunk, we just put the seat in the back seat of the car, since there were just 2 of us. The seat probably would have fit, but I didn't feel it was worth the effort to adjust things, and have my husband reposition stuff in the trunk. He's not the best at optimizing space, and felt it was easier to just put the chair part in the back seat of the car.


Connie

You can adjust the steering by pushing a lever I think it was on the left side, and then pull the steering part back, it helped me because my arms get tired holding them up and out. So glad you enjoyed the scooters, they were wonderful for us. My dh called them "our friends." We wouldn't have made it the first day without "our friends."
Lene

 

[minkydog]

.
Then there is the peter pan ride. I think they have a conspiracy over on that ride. One thing I didn't like is there are some CM's who won't let you ride this ride unless you have a fast pass. its frustrating when its only a 10-15 minute wait on peter pan to be told, you have to get a fast pass, or you can't ride. its our controversal ride most trips. Connie

I have the same complaint about Peter Pan. When we took our autistic and mentally handicapped son on his one & only trip to WDW, we used his Convaid Wheelchair, which looks like a giant umbrella stroller. He clearly has a "look" about him that would clue you in that he's "special" (and the hand-flapping give him away,too.) Anyway, there was a 45min wait, so we went to the w/c entrance hoping that he could ride. (His autism pretty much dictates our day, since he has no capacity for waiting and cannot be reasoned with.) The CMs turned us away, told us to use FastPass and come back later in the day. Well, we ended up having to skip it altogether because "later in the day" came earlier than expected--an autistic meltdown is a wondrous sight to behold.

The sad thing is, Peter Pan is one of the few rides my son can enjoy. His muscle tone is too poor to tolerate the fast rides. His eyesight is too dim to enjoy the dark rides. What's left is pretty much Jungle Cruise, Small World, Pooh, and Peter Pan. Too bad for him he had to miss 25% of "his" park.

Cathy--mom to Christian, the Amazing Wonder Boy

 

[ADHesse]

Hello Cathy, I'm sorry to read about your little boy's disappointment. I too have an autistic son and so I understand every word of what you wrote. We are planning a trip next summer (we live in London) and I have been wondering what to expect with WDW theme parks and whether they are as savvy as they make out to be - about special needs and children who have them. We have decided to stay off-site in a villa. I wondered how you managed the parks. regards to you and your family Audrey

 

[minkydog]

I too have an autistic son and so I understand every word of what you wrote. We are planning a trip next summer (we live in London) and I have been wondering what to expect with WDW theme parks and whether they are as savvy as they make out to be - about special needs and children who have them. We have decided to stay off-site in a villa. I wondered how you managed the parks.

Yes, absolutely, WDW is THE best place to vacation if you have family members with special needs. We spent 6 days there last year and by far, most of our experiences were positive. We stayed in our camper, but if we didn't have a camper we would have stayed in a villa so as to be able to cook our "usual" food and have space to move around in and a quiet place to come home to. Much of our day is controlled by what Christian can tolerate and how he is responding. If he is agitated and melting down , we have to take a break, sometimes even leave the park, so he can just get away from the crowds and the noise. It makes it hard on my two non-handicapped kids--they give up so much to accomodate him but they never complain.

Does your son have other disabilities besides autism? My son has Pallister-Killian syndrome, which is characterized by profound MR, seizures, deafness, blindness, and low muscle tone. He can walk well on flat ground, but becomes disoriented easily and falls down: So we use he w/c in the parks to keep him from wearing out. We have to keep him comfortable, so we don't go in the summer(he is very sensitive to heat). His w/c helps him to be "recognizable" to the CMs, usually. On our last trip we did 3 parks in 4 days and he held up pretty well. We had to split up a few times and let Dad or Mommy take him "home" while the others closed down the parks. On the last day, my middle childwas melting down so we just hung out around the pool, big brother drove them all around in the golf cart, and we cooked out--very laid back before our long trip home.

We do whatever we can to keep Christian "centered", including changing our plans at the last minute if that's what it takes. I'm sure you know the drill...

Cathy--mom to John, 18; Eleni, 11; and Christian the Amazing Wonder Boy, 9