Thank you for all the great advice. I have canceled 2 trips since December I broke my ankle and tore my meniscus and have had two surgeries. I now have a trip scheduled for June. I have gone back and forth with canceling my June trip. After reading a lot of the advice on this thread I feel more comfortable
renting a scooter and trying my luck I am still walking with a cane and have a limp. My husband and I have been a 2-4 park a day couple before my fall. I am feeling more comfortable with a 1 or 2 park a day this trip.
I broke my ankle very badly a couple years ago and was in a boot at the time of our pre-scheduled trip. It was about 2 weeks after I was even allowed to put weight on it again (and the period in between two surgeries) so the scooter was the only way I would've made it through. for those about to chime in that i was crazy/irresponsible, I did talk to my doctor before I went and got the ok and got clearance on what I could/could not do/ride. Here's my thoughts/recommendations:
1. If you're driving/using a rental car, make sure you have your temporary handicap parking pass so that you can use it at the parks and free valet at the resorts (we had a character meal and the valet was fantastic to have)
2. you can drive the scooter through a lot of the lines, but I recommend practicing tight turns and elevator boarding (some rides have them) before going. keep it on the slowest setting in lines (some cast members remind you, but best to do it). I didn't have any issues, but I definitely saw some people massively struggling. some rides require that you transfer to a wheelchair for the line. i found the disability map/app info to be pretty accurate on on this. Cast members at the entrance to every ride were able to tell us if I could drive or needed to transfer to a wheelchair and could answer our questions about access. they will also ask if you can transfer to a ride vehicle and how far you can walk (know about how many steps 10? 20? 100? with or without assistance?) and if you can handle a moving walkway if it has it (some rides they can slow it rather than stop it completely). they'll work with you if you can clearly communicate your needs and abilities. and aren't a jerk. i saw so many people yelling, literally yelling at CMs because they didn't want a wheelchair/didn't want to take the scooter through the line/etc. ridiculous.
3. if you're still experiencing a lot of swelling, take breaks to elevate! I was able find a corner to park and prop my leg up on the handle bars (i'm tall so that may not work for everyone) when i needed a break and i brought my wraparound ice pack for the room so I could ice it at night. the first aid stations in the parks also have them and can be a place to sit to take a break if you're hurting. Also, even with the scooter, the leg is going to get jostled more than you'd think - bumps in the roads (omg the cobblestones), people bumping into it, plus just the vibration of the scooter and on the rides is more than you'd get just sitting at home - so you may want to focus on what you really really want to do first, in case you need to quit early or stop riding because it gets to be too much. after i learned this on day 1, we readjusted to do rides in the morning, take a long break and do things we wouldn't otherwise, like shows or long meals or just people watching, and then did more rides towards the evening.
4. bring whatever medications/wraps/braces/etc that you're using to manage your pain, even if you are not using it anymore. and i don't mean prescription - it can be as simple as a two tylenol arthritis in the morning and then more later if you need it when you can take it again. even though I tried to limit walking as much as possible, it's probably more than you've been doing on a daily basis and definitely not multiple days in a row. i'm also nearly 3 years out from my injury and, while i am fine at home, I still bring my ankle brace to the parks and take some OTC pain meds with me.
5. bathrooms - many aren't really maneuverable with a scooter. i advise parking as close to the door as you can and making the walk in if you're able. if you're traveling with someone, have them see if there's a line so you don't have to stand to wait. for hotels, consider if you need a handicap accessible bathroom/shower. most rooms otherwise have a bathtub for step in/out. Also make sure to request a first floor room - prior to the disney trip, we stayed in a small beachfront hotel with an elevator, thinking it would be fine. we were on the 5th floor. on day 2 the elevator broke or had a power outage or something (story kept changing) and I was stuck downstairs sitting at the pool for 5 hours as they waited to see if they could fix it or find me a first floor room.
6. bring a towel or something to cover your seat for when you are not in it - if you leave it sitting in the sun, it will get HOT. if it rains, you don't want everything getting wet. also, if you're going in June, it's Florida - leave it covered every time even if it is super sunny when you head into a ride. it could still be pouring when you come out! we had a towel and also some cheap plastic ponchos to put over it. we rented from gold mobility and they give you a little plastic shower cap for the controls, but that's it (and they can tear easily so have extras).
7. as others have said, find a way to mark your scooter because, like the strollers, they can and do get moved. we decked mine out with a ton of Christmas decorations and cheap battery powered lights from Wal-Mart. It was impossible to miss and got much praise. also made it harder for any angry people to throw shade because different gave them pause (and sometimes a laugh).
8. avoid sidewalks if at all possible and keep to the streets - if you get on, you will only be able to get off at the curbs. i got re-routed onto one by a CM because of parade prep (bad timing) and was stuck trying to get people standing to move out of my way, as everyone stacked up behind me. it was not fun.
9. if you're not the vocal type, prepare yourself to speak up and practice it in a loud but polite tone. People often aren't paying attention and you may be sitting a while if you wait for them to notice. You will also need it to say look out at the oblivious or rude people who will just cut right in front of you or a loose small child. We went to Mickey's Christmas party and I had a couple of stockings hanging from the handlebars (our decorations were no joke) and so we filled them with the free individually wrapped cookies and, whenever I needed someone to move or when they were being rude, I could get their attention just by yelling excuse me, would you like one of the free cookies? and offering it to them. they usually realized they needed to move and it was an easy way to avoid a direct confrontation. though, that is probably something that only works at the parties.
10. take breaks between park days if you can. we did two days in a row and day 2 was ROUGH (well, a park one day, the the christmas party the other. we thought the late start would help but i was really hurting by the end). the other days we did 1 park, then a break day, then the other park and it worked much, much better.
it's different if you're used to going full-force all day, every day, but it's totally doable and we ended up having a lot of fun. all that said, when I went back this year, I really missed my scooter! i missed the phone charger and not having to carry my bags, and definitely when my feet were killing me at the end of a day.
I'm just happy if I can help even one other person have the best possible trip at WDW; like so many others here, it's my happy place!
