Wheelchair ? for u all

[Frannie4217]

This is gonna be a bit long sorry in advance lol

Ok here goes.... We will be going on our first WDW trip June 30th of this yr, birthday present to our twins turning 16 (6/20), and my other son turing 15 (6/28) also going is my husband and my youngest daughter who is 13 About 2yrs ago my son fell off a pogo stick and broke his hip emergency surgery, 6 months later the other hip broke and another surgery. The first hip has since died and has necrosis severly and they did a bone graft on it this January. So far it doesn't seem to have taken too well as he still is in a lot of pain if he walks too much. We will bring his wheelchair with us but I really don't want him bound to it and I am not sure what rides there are that he can go on and not get his lower body all slammed around. We live by a Six Flags and there is now way I would get on some of those rides with him in this shape lol I just don't want to limit him and his siblings. He is also bi-polar and ADHD so he has a low tolerance level and gets really frustrated easily, I am dreading the waiting in line time. Any suggestions on what to do, or who should I talk to at the park? We r not staying on site, bit too much for us to afford, but r near by and r driving there so will have a card and his handicap placard.

shooo sorry for the novel!!! Thanks so much for any advice/tips u may have

Frannie

 

[SueM in MN]

Welcome to disABILITIES.
Glad to see you made it. Sorry to hear about your DS's problem with his hip.

We r not staying on site, bit too much for us to afford, but r near by and r driving there so will have a card and his handicap placard.

You will be able to park in the handicapped parking area with your handicapped placard. Just show it to the parking attendents each time you see one. The regular parking areas have trams to take you from the parking area to the park entrance (or, in the case of MK, the place where you catch a monorail or boat to the park entrance). Handicapped parking at MK is a bit of a hike from the parking area, but the others are not bad (just so you are prepared).
If your DS is able to step up to get on the tram and his wheelchair is foldable and not to heavy to hoist up on the tram, you could park in the regular lot and ride the tram at MK.

We will bring his wheelchair with us but I really don't want him bound to it and I am not sure what rides there are that he can go on and not get his lower body all slammed around.

The rougher rides are marked on the park maps with a red triangle icon. They are also marked on a sign as you enter the line and before boarding. We also noticed something new on our recent trip. The signs at the line entrance give a little ride description (Like "turbulent thrill ride"). The link that I put in your post on the Theme Parks Board had information about Guidebooks for Guests with Disabilities. Here's a list for each park (with a few extra notes):
MK:
Space Mountain
Tomorrowland Indy Speedway. These are mini race cars that are guided by a track rail (you steer them yourself within the limits set by the rail). This isn't rough or bumpy except if the person behind you bumps into you (which happens fairly often). The jolt that you get from being hit into might be painful for your son.
Big Thunder Mountain
Splash Mountain does have a caution, but it's not bumpy. There are 2 or 3 small drops and one giant drop (you can watch cars come down that one from Frontierland). The ride cars are tight to get in and involve a big step down and over the side of the car fro getting in and out.
Goofy's Barstormer doesn't have a caution sign, but it is a roller coaster (fairly tame one, but still a roller coaster). Becasue it's made for small children, the ride cars are kind of tight. You might want to just look at the cars going by a bit before deciding if your DS will be able to ride.

Epcot
Body Wars is a very rough simulator ride. You are sitting in theater seats, but your whole theater is a simulator, making sudden changes of direction and moves up and down.
Mission Space. I haven't been on this, but DH was and said it was smooth. The reason for the caution is probably the G forces that your body is under.
Test Track doesn't really throw you around a lot more than a ride on the highway with several fast stops. You might want to send some of your party on to expereince it and then decide whether your DS can go on or not.

AK
Kilimanjaro Safari might be OK. It's a safari ride on rough roads in a simulated African savannah. The roads have simulated ruts and bumpy wooden bridges. Most of the ride is fairly low speed, so it's like going over speed bumps in a parking lot. At one point in the ride, you go on a faster speed "chase" and it can get bumpy. That's the point where my DD (who has cerebral palsy and rides this in her wheelchair) sometimes has flying legs and arms.
Kali River Rapids isn't very bumpy. You do go down river rapids, but since you are floating on water, it's not that jarring. I do remember one spot where the boat gets dropped into the water after a "hill", but it's not that bad.
Dinosaur is very rough. You are in a small Jeep-like ride vehicle that is a simulator. It makes sudden stops, sudden changes of direction, sudden drops , and sudden starts again from a stop. Very rough.
Primeval Whirl is kind of a combination of a roller caoster and the teacups. I do NOT go on it (can't take spinning), but my DH and 2 DD's did. My youngest DD (with CP) almost fell out because she was not able to brace herself with her feet and was being slammed from one side of the car to the other. My older DD didn't get slammed around, but said her legs were tired at the end from bracing herself.
Studio
Star Tours is very similar to Body Wars, but with a Star Wars theme.
Rock N Roller Coaster. I have not been on this personally, but from what I have read and DH has told me, it's a very smooth roller coaster.
Tower of Terror brings you up and down a number of times. While you are going down, you are momentarily weightless. As you go down farther, gravity kicks in and you might be dropped back onto the seat with a bit of a jolt. When I went on, they had lap bars that went across a whole row, so smaller people had more room between them and the bar. I've heard that they switched to individual lap belts. I don't know how that impacts the drop.

 

[McCall]

It sounds to me as though in addition to the wheelchair you may need a Guest Assistance Card, known as a GAC because of the other need area you mentioned, there are several threads here on GACs, read over them and see if it sounds like your needs would be met by asking about one, you have to be able to clearly define what your needs are to the Guest services person so they know what assitance you need, just saying "oh my son can't wait in lines" is not going to get you anywhere. but an explanation of what happens in lines etc and what sort of accomodation you need, [a quiet area to wait] etc. can be helpful.

 

[SueM in MN]

The other post got so long, so here's more answers (and you thought you wrote novels!)

He is also bi-polar and ADHD so he has a low tolerance level and gets really frustrated easily, I am dreading the waiting in line time. Any suggestions on what to do, or who should I talk to at the park?

• Use fastpass as much as possible. Fastpasses area way to cut your time waiting in line. They are free of charge and available to anyone who used a ticket to get into the park (you don't need to stay on site to get this perk). You insert your park entry ticket into the fastpass machine (not all rides are included in fastpass - the ones that are, are marked on the park maps and by signs outside the ride). One person in your party could take all your tickets and get fastpasses. That way, you don't all have to be running all over the park. For each park entry ticket, you receive a fastpass ticket with a return time. When the return time comes, you can come back to the ride, get into the fastpass line and get onto the ride/attraction with a very short (usually less than 10 minutes) wait.
• Here's a link a link to a website with lots of helpful information/hints about touring WDW with people who have ADHD, autism or sensitivites.
• 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, "My child has ADHD" 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.
• There are a few "GAC etiquette points":
  -if the standby line is short, use the standby line and don't use the GAC, if possible
  -since the GAC is meant to deal with the needs of the person with a disability, if they are not going on a ride/attraction, the other members should get and use fastpasses for that ride as much as possible

Note: Between when I started typing and finished posting, McCall also posted about GACs.

 

[Frannie4217]

Thanks so much!!! That was great information and just what I needed. I think we may need the GAC card then for lines that r long, he tends to become a HUGE jerk when waiting. It is kinda like having a 2 yr old in a 15 yr old body lol He just dosen't get he has to wait his turn. Thanks so much for your responses now off to scour the guidebook and that website.


Frannie