Yesterday afternoon after some debate, we made the 90 min. trek to Disney. We rented a wheel chair for $10 and Ken pushed me around all afternoon. The trip over was bearable but I DID get a bit motion sick about 20 min. in. So I popped a few pieces of candied Ginger. It really is wonderful stuff and it got rid of the nausea and dizziness in about 5-10 minutes. It’s important to start eating it when you begin feeling motion sick though. I have yet to find anything that will fix motion sickness when you’re in the midst of it.
I also ended up taking half a hydrocodone before we even got there because I was spiking about a 5 or 6 on the pain scale. It’s not the bumps, it’s the vibrations from the road that really are the worst part of traveling. I’ve talked to others about this too and they all agree with me that it’s the road vibration that really makes riding painful.
When we got to Magic Kingdom, Ken maneuvered our way into the Minnie parking lot and found a space closest to the entrance in the row behind the handicapped parking row. I stayed put, still waiting for the pain pill to kick in, while Ken walked across to the main handicapped lot to grab a wheelchair.
The way it works at MK is that you use the parking lot wheelchairs aka the really crappy ones, to get to the gift shop by ticketing. Then you pay the $10 rental fee and transfer over to the better wheel chair with the wider seat. From there it’s up the ramp to the monorail.
The monorail then, after going through the Contemporary Resort, stops at Magic Kingdom. Then it’s down the ramp to the turn styles. We went to one of the gates that either wheelchairs or parents with strollers can use and a cast member ran our passes through the machine. We were in.
Usually the first stop is the Haunted Mansion but as we were both half starved we decided to stop by The Plaza restaurant on Main Street and see if they had any openings. Unfortunately, the next availability was in 30 min. Too long for us. So we headed for Tomorrowland and Cosmic Ray’s.
It’s really surprising how oblivious people can be to anything that is below normal line of sight. So I indugled in some cheerful “BeepBeep!” sounds when folks would stop directly in front of us. The park wasn’t very crowded so that didn’t happen too often.
Once food had been consumed, we headed for Haunted Mansion in Liberty Square by way of Fantasyland. Now HERE is where the flagstone minefield comes into play. Remember earlier I mentioned vibrations? Well wheelchairs have less shock absorbing capabilities so running over very rough flagstones such as are ALL OVER on the ground in Fantasyland, is rather like being IN a jackhammer. There are concrete paths around these islands of flagstone but it’s quite a bit like being in a mine field. The worst area for it was up by Ariel’s Grotto and Pinocchio’s. Unfortunately, that’s where we got caught.
Once we were out of that particular area of Fantasyland, it got much easier to deal with as the paths are all concrete.
As far as the attractions themselves, I had to walk the farthest for Haunted Mansion. They’ve worked out the best way to get people past the cue but after that, you’re still standing. Pirates of the Caribbean will let you roll all the way down to where you get on the boats. There they give you a tag so that you can retrieve the correct wheelchair after you come out. But you still have to walk from the boat, through the gift shop, back to the entrance to retrieve your chair.
The BEST attraction we went on for a wheelchair was Jungle Cruise. They have a boat that you just roll right onto. Then the lift swivels around and settles you in facing forward and you’re locked in nice and safe. No muss, no fuss.
There was also Philharmagic, which is a 3-D movie and for that you just roll into a space and watch the show. Also easy-peasy. By the time we’d eaten, done a little pin hunting and rode a few things, I was done for the day. So I popped another half a hydrocodone and we headed home.
This time I folded up the spare sweatpants I keep in the car for emergencies and used that as a cushion for my back. That really cut down on the vibrations and made the 90 min. ride home MUCH more tollerable. That, and we caught up with the last few episodes of the Geologic Podcast. A good dose of Geo always helps.
To review: Candied Ginger is your friend; Fantasyland is a Flagstone Minefield; Jungle Cruise is the best wheelchair-friendly ride and Sweatpants make a great cushion.
