I'll give you a brief background first in the hope it doesn't descend into a 'who should and shouldn't have a wheelchair or scooter' conversation
I suffer from dystonia which affects my walking. I don't normally use a wheelchair (nor do I own one) as I'm a very stubborn person so choose to walk slowly, in discomfort and have people stare at me instead. At the airport I'll use a wheelchair when transferring flights purely for speed purposes so we don't miss our connection and sometimes upon arrival at MCO as I'm often exhausted as we've usually been up for about 20+ hours at that stage. Bottom line is I'm not 'wheelchair bound' thankfully.
We're staying offsite this September however we're spending 1 night at the All Star Sports resort purely for the 'extra, extra, early entry hours' into the Studios for Galaxy's Edge. We plan to get there at 4-4:30am for the 6am opening mid September (the arrival time may change when reports start filtering through about crowds etc). The hope is if we arrive around 4am there'll be people already there but not that many that there's a 5 hour ride queue when we reach the land.
Now here's my 'problem'. When they open at 6am and we get in, there's the walk to Galaxy's Edge and I know those that were queuing behind me will at that stage overtake me as my walking is slower than average. Now that's to be expected as the world doesn't revolve around my dystonia and there's no complaining on my behalf here about people overtaking me, that's just the way it is and I can live with that. This does mean however depending on the number who actually overtake me that we may then have a horrendous queue when we get to Smugglers Run. I'm aware wheelchair rentals is just to the left after entering the studios however I'm just wondering whether it will be open at 6am and if so, how long does hiring one take and is there paperwork involved etc? Basically I'm trying to figure whether I'm quicker walking slowly or taking the time to rent a wheelchair (no point if it takes 5 minutes or more)?
Also last year at The Studios car park we used a complimentary wheelchair from the medical parking lot to get me to the entrance. At the entrance as I got out of it and asked the lovely CM where we had to leave it I was told "That's ok sir, you can use this all day in the park for free if you wish". I thought that perhaps my distinguished British accent and stunningly handsome features had made her say that, though my wife has pointed out that as neither of these two things apply to me that cannot have been the case! So is it normal to allow the complimentary wheelchairs (if any there, it's hit and miss) from the medical parking section into the park for day use, or did I just meet a very kind CM that day who decided to 'bend the rules' slightly for an undistinguished, ugly looking English bloke in a wheelchair?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated
I suffer from dystonia which affects my walking. I don't normally use a wheelchair (nor do I own one) as I'm a very stubborn person so choose to walk slowly, in discomfort and have people stare at me instead. At the airport I'll use a wheelchair when transferring flights purely for speed purposes so we don't miss our connection and sometimes upon arrival at MCO as I'm often exhausted as we've usually been up for about 20+ hours at that stage. Bottom line is I'm not 'wheelchair bound' thankfully.
We're staying offsite this September however we're spending 1 night at the All Star Sports resort purely for the 'extra, extra, early entry hours' into the Studios for Galaxy's Edge. We plan to get there at 4-4:30am for the 6am opening mid September (the arrival time may change when reports start filtering through about crowds etc). The hope is if we arrive around 4am there'll be people already there but not that many that there's a 5 hour ride queue when we reach the land.
Now here's my 'problem'. When they open at 6am and we get in, there's the walk to Galaxy's Edge and I know those that were queuing behind me will at that stage overtake me as my walking is slower than average. Now that's to be expected as the world doesn't revolve around my dystonia and there's no complaining on my behalf here about people overtaking me, that's just the way it is and I can live with that. This does mean however depending on the number who actually overtake me that we may then have a horrendous queue when we get to Smugglers Run. I'm aware wheelchair rentals is just to the left after entering the studios however I'm just wondering whether it will be open at 6am and if so, how long does hiring one take and is there paperwork involved etc? Basically I'm trying to figure whether I'm quicker walking slowly or taking the time to rent a wheelchair (no point if it takes 5 minutes or more)?
Also last year at The Studios car park we used a complimentary wheelchair from the medical parking lot to get me to the entrance. At the entrance as I got out of it and asked the lovely CM where we had to leave it I was told "That's ok sir, you can use this all day in the park for free if you wish". I thought that perhaps my distinguished British accent and stunningly handsome features had made her say that, though my wife has pointed out that as neither of these two things apply to me that cannot have been the case! So is it normal to allow the complimentary wheelchairs (if any there, it's hit and miss) from the medical parking section into the park for day use, or did I just meet a very kind CM that day who decided to 'bend the rules' slightly for an undistinguished, ugly looking English bloke in a wheelchair?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated