Arthritis Help!

[tigger_03]

I didn't even know I had it until our trip last August. I suffered so much during that trip that there were days I just wanted to sit in the room. However I pushed through because it was our first trip in 5 years (that last trip was just a quick trip that was 3 days long and one of those was spent at Sea World) and it was our kids' first trip.

My feet were killing me so much that I wanted to get in our jogging stroller and have someone push me around. My toes even hurt. And my back was killing me. I've decided that next time we go I'll probably be renting an EVC or talking to DH's aunt to see if we can take one of theirs (they have two). I don't want to go and be in that much pain again.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

We are heading to WDW in 6 weeks and I am also getting really worried about my knees. They seem to be getting worse and I am wondering if I should even be going. I have never used an ECV or a WC. Are ECV's easy to use?

I don't know if this tends to be true in Canada, but in the US many large stores such as WalMarts as well as larger grocery stores have ECVs which can be used by their customers at no charge.

Be aware that these tend to be larger than the standard EC and have a very large basket on the front. You can use one of them to get a feel for it, realizing that the WDW ones are easier to use and the off-site rentals much easier to use.

And also it might be a good idea to do Epcot first for your practice/learning as the walkways are not as confining as the other parks.

 

[SueM in MN]

We are heading to WDW in 6 weeks and I am also getting really worried about my knees. They seem to be getting worse and I am wondering if I should even be going. I have never used an ECV or a WC. Are ECV's easy to use?

I also thought I would take ziploc bags with me and fill them with ice to use as ice packs.

ECVs are pretty easy to use. Just take a few minutes to practice with it when you get it. Practice until you are confortable going straight forward and backward, and turning in both directions going forward and backwards. You need to be able to parallel park to the left to get on the bus (like if you were on a street and would park your car on the left side of the street).
Make sure you know where these things are:

• the speed control is (usually they have a rabbit for fast and a turtle for slow)
• the lever that releases the motor so that you can push the ECV (that is often called "freewheel")
• the lever that releases the seat. That allows you to turn the seat to face sideways - by doing that, you can often avoid having to turn the ECV. For example, for theater shows, you can often drive straight in, stop on then turn the seat to face the show. When the show is over, just turn the seat back to the front of the ECV and you can drive straight out. All of the theater shows have an exit directly across from where you entered. Doing that can save you a lot of backing and manouvering.

You can get ice for a bag from any counter service restaurant or from First Aid. Just ask.
You may want to bring an old fashioned ice bag - the kind with a screw on top. You can find them in most pharmacies.

 

[KPeveler]

If you have arthritis in your hands, ECVs may NOT be that easy to use. Or if you are short.

I am only 5 ft tall and when sitting back in the seat of hte park rentals, i literally cannot reach the tiller. I also do not have the hand strength to hold down the button that is the "gas."

For the vast majority of people, and ECV is great. If you are small or have hand problems, I suggest trying it BEFORE you spend money to rent one. I rented one for a few dollars at a local zoo and discovered i cannot drive ECVs. VERY helpful.

That being said, if you try one at Walmart or something and love it, then DEFINITELY rent one!

 

[chaospearl]

Huh. Before I say anything let me state that I'm not disagreeing or challenging your experience, KPeveler! I just want to add my own, too.

I'm also 5' tall exactly, and I've never had trouble reaching the tiller on the park-rented ECVs. And I have long legs in proportion to my height, too -- many shorter folks don't have as many issues as I do because their legs are more proportionate to the shorter height. When I sit down, I lose most of my height and from a seated position I'm closer in height to somebody who is a standing height of 4'8" to 4'10" rather than 5'. Anyway, maybe it's just a difference in arm length or in how you adjust your position when you sit in the seat of the ECV!

I can tell you that I HAVE had problems with park-rented ECVs due not to height, but to weight. You have to be 18 or over to rent one and therefore they are not made with child-sized proportions in mind. I've been over 21 for a number of years now (ahem!) but I'm a very small person. Five feet tall on a good day and my weight fluctuates between 95 and 105 lbs.

Well, one year when I was vacationing at Disney and had rented an ECV from EPCOT for the day, I found the scooter behaving very oddly. It would sometimes just -- stop -- for no reason at all in the middle of driving it. I hadn't changed my pressure on the "gas" and the battery was fully charged so I couldn't figure out why the ECV would suddenly jerk to a halt every five minutes or so. Every time it stopped I'd have to lean forward and backward and bounce around a bit to make it go again. I exchanged my rented ECV for a different machine twice, but they all had the same issue.

Finally I mentioned it to a CM, who told me that the problem was due to the fact that I don't weigh enough! Apparently the ECVs have a safety precaution built in so that children can't use them. There needs to be 100 lbs of weight on the seat otherwise it won't move forward. I must have been right on the verge of not being heavy enough because it turned out that the ECV was stopping whenever I leaned backwards against the seat back instead of sitting absolutely straight -- my weight and center of balance would shift and the scooter would instantly stop moving. In order to make it drive properly I had to be sitting perfectly straight in the middle of the seat so that my full weight was in the center.

What a pain in the ... ! After realizing this, I just started carrying my backpack on my lap instead of placing it in the ECV basket. It weighed about five pounds and that was enough to stay comfortably over the 100 lb magic number and stop the scooter from constantly coming to an abrupt halt whenever I shifted my weight. Still, it wasn't exactly comfortable to have to hold the backpack on my lap the entire trip, let me tell you.

If you're going the ECV route, I definitely recommend renting offsite. All my issues occured with the park-rented scooters, which are not only unfriendly to smaller people, they're also generally larger machines. They're all four-wheeled and very wide, which makes them awkward to steer and they can't go around tight corners very well at all. The ECV you can rent from an offsite company is much more manueverable, usually being a three-wheeled creature with a significantly smaller turning radius and a narrower profile overall. Not to mention it's quite a bit cheaper than renting from Disney each day, AND you don't have to worry about being at the park within an hour of opening or risking the entire fleet of ECVs being gone when you arrive.

The offsite companies will drop your ECV rental off at your hotel so it will be there waiting for you at the front desk the day you arrive, and you just leave it with Guest Services when you check out. And the scooters can go on the Disney transportation buses without any problems or extra waiting -- you don't have to call ahead for a special bus or anything.

JoMarie, if you want\need to discuss Disney With Arthritis, feel free to PM me anytime. I'm also under 30 and I've had rheumatoid arthritis since I was a young teenager. I've undergone three total joint replacement surgeries (both hips and a shoulder) and I'm currently on chemotherapy and narcotic painkillers to manage my every day life. I have been to Disney as a solo traveler every year for the past 5 years, so I'd be happy to tell you about my experiences or answer any specific questions you might be worried about!

Jenni

 

[mechurchlady]

DLR has a tiller which can be pushed or pulled. I also had a problem with the ECV not moving and was wondering why it would not move without me on it at DLR. I am glad they made it so that kids cannot ride but also so that someone will not walk up to an ECV and make it take off.