Please
everyone keep in mind that what you read may not be meant in the voice you are reading it.
The majority of people are trying to be helpful and if you don't like their advice, you don't have to take it.
Please don't 'shoot the messenger' though if you disagree with what other posters are writing.
A lot of people, including many posters on this thread, have experience with being a person with a physical disability not using a wheelchair. Some of them decided based on their experience of NOT using a wheelchair that USING a wheelchair/ECV was the best choice for them going forward.
People do have different ways of handling things, but in many cases a mobility device would be a good choice. It's a
tool to help with walking or stamina, no different than using glasses to help with seeing. I realize there is maybe more of a 'stigma' to using a mobility device for many people, but I live with a person who can't move at all without her wheelchair. For her, it's freedom.
I have a close family member who has MS. Most of the time, he doesn't need any special accommodation, but after a number of days walking at WDW, he does get to the limit of his abilities. He could have gotten an ECV, but so far, he hasn't. He's chosen to take more days off than the rest of the group during the trip instead. He realizes he could do more with a mobility device, but chooses not to use one.
We traveled several trips with my mom, who had cancer. The first few times, she was feeling good and was able to walk. She chose to separate her WDW park days. The last 2 trips would not have been possible without a wheelchair. We chose to take turns pushing her since she didn't feel comfortable with an ECV.
We went on several trips with a good friend who has very painful arthritis in his knees. Because he's relatively young, his doctors don't want to do knee replacements yet. It's painful to watch him in the parks because we can see the pain he's in. We love him and don't want him to be in pain, but in several visits with him, he's chosen not to use an ECV. He lives with pain all the time, and for the most part, has chosen not use an ECV, even though he has said he knew it would help him to avoid pain and enjoy his day more. On one trip, he did use an ECV, but only at the resort, not the parks.
We've also traveled with a younger family where the husband fell off a roof and broke almost every bone in his feet and ankles. He's got screws that have worked their way out of the bone and are threatening to poke thru his skin. He also knew an ECV could help him, but chose not to use one.
Then there was my father in law, with severe arthritis in his knees and hips. We traveled to WDW with my in laws for over 20 years and watched as his 'world' shrunk. He did better alternating sitting and walking and liked to push my daughter's wheelchair because pushing it took some pressure off his knees and hips.
He started out by walking bench to bench, then pretty much only where he could get by using the WDW transportation. And, ending the day early with painkillers and ice on his knees for the evening. He loved Illuminations and the evening parade, but stopped seeing them because he was in too much pain by that point.
We knew how many of the attractions at WDW he loved and was missing and it hurt to know he could no longer enjoy the things he loved with his grandchildren because he couldn't walk that far.
We were very willing to wait for him (and told him so many times), but he told us to go on without them because he didn't want to hold us back.
He 'flirted' with the idea of renting an ECV at the parks for several years before he actually did it at Epcot for the first time. That day, for the first time in years, he was able to last the whole day and watch Illuminations.
When we got back to our resort that day, he said it was the first trip to WDW in about 10 years when he wasn't in pain at the end of the day. He said that he couldn't believe how "silly and vain" (his words, not mine) he had been to wait so long to use one. He said he felt like everyone would look at him on the ECV and judge him as "not disabled enough" to use one. But, he also said that until then, he didn't realize how much not using a 'tool' that could help him had cost him. For the last 5 years of his life, he did rent an ECV at the parks and had 5 years of wonderful visits.
My youngest daughter is disabled and can't walk or even stand.
She also has other needs related to her disabilities that are not met by the wheelchair, so she does use
DAS and used GAC before it.
Despite traveling with us and DD who was using GAC/DAS, that was not enough for any of the people I talked about above. The distance walked is not really different with DAS or GAC and distance was the issue for all of them.
We don't consider our daughter or any of the people we have traveled with to be a burden. We do what we need to do to make the trip as wonderful as possible. Sometimes that means one or more of us staying back with our daughter because she's not up to going to the park that day.
But, sometimes it means watching people who are in pain and/or missing things they want to do. That's painful for all of us simply because we do care a great deal about these people and don't want to see them in pain.
so if she relishes her independence, like most people do, she may really enjoy the setup. The nice thing is if she's not feeling well room service is free so she doesn't 'need' to leave, at the buffet area there seems to be around the clock dining near the pool so if her days going to little bit wonky she can eat what she wants and that's all there is to it . Castaway Cay had beach friendly wheelchairs for the sand so that was pretty amazing too. I'm sure there are other accommodations that were not visible to me as well.
