We couldn't miss a whole year without Disney!

[MikeTaylor]

Last time we made it to Disney was for the DIS's 20th Anniversary week thanks to the great prices Dreams Unlimited offered for the group rate. I was in a cast and a wheelchair at that time (we rented a scooter the day after the Animal Kingdom terrain tore up the wheels and my hands). Things for me physically never got better until I had surgery in February to correct the problem and now...

I'm anxious to stroll around in the parks for many reasons. My brain still wants to go at a quicker pace than what I can physically do, so taking it easy is still essential. We spaced out our Fast Passes (or back-to-back in the same area, i.e. Living with the Land ends when Soarin' begins) so there's no rush to make it to the next one in time. It was a difficult vacation to plan, but visualizing the journey forward has helped... I'm sure my DW has had enough of seeing me mope around the house.

We're ready to take our last ride on Journey Into Imagination and explore Pandora.

I want to thank you all for the support as well. I've been perusing the boards, but not really having much to say since we haven't had a trip planned. It's a different feeling altogether, being held back by many factors you can't control. The jubilation of booking the trip and returning to the place where dreams do come true has been eye-opening.

 

[NeuroCindy]

I'm so glad you're getting another trip together! It's great that you've progressed enough that you're up to it. I definitely understand Disney after surgery too. As @disneysteve can attest, I carried around a bag of ice and would periodically just sit and ice my knee.

 

[disneysteve]

As @disneysteve can attest, I carried around a bag of ice and would periodically just sit and ice my knee.

We had a nice time sitting with you outside of Rose and Crown while you iced your knee that night.

We have not experienced Disney with a medical/physical issue but we did once go to Hersheypark shortly after DW had her ACL surgery. Unlike Disney, Hershey is very hilly so that was particularly challenging, especially for the person pushing the wheelchair (me).

Glad to hear you're on the mend, Mike. Have an awesome trip!

 

[SorcererHeidi]

. It's a different feeling altogether, being held back by many factors you can't control.

Oh - SO happy for you, Mike - both in the feeling of recovery (I can unfortunately SO empathize and relate to the above statement - both at Disney, and in my everyday life, and it's SO hard not to get depressed! Which is a BIG part of why I come here/watch the show, to make sure I keep smiling!) and in seeing you plan a trip! Do you know when your'e going yet, and where you'll be staying?

Here's KNOWING (not hoping) it will be magical for you and your wife!!

 

[pjweaver]

I think Joe Rohde made AK with the goal of killing people in manual wheel chairs. After pushing my wife for one day she had to get me biker gloves because of the blisters. Not planning a Disney vacation is much harder than planning one. It's hard to read other peoples plans when the only ones you are making are imaginary.

I hope park attendance stays low for you.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Glad to hear you are doing better and so glad you have a trip planned - I am sure you will truly appreciate this one!

 

[MikeTaylor]

@pjweaver I had gloves on and off, still got blisters. A wheel came loose on the chair and we didn't have any tools to tighten it (borrowed some from maintenance before we left). I will always recommend that you rent a scooter, or at the very least just for Animal Kingdom days (Epcot is probably the flattest of the parks, so, that shouldn't be a problem if you have someone to push you around).

@disneysteve Thanks Steve, I know a few folks got some laughs from my twitter feed due to the onslaught of bad luck we experienced that last trip. Although, the only thing I will take with me from that trip is meeting all of my fellow DISers! and a certain heartfelt video segment at the panel not rebroadcast.

@SorcererHeidi We're going to be tent camping at the Fort, August 20-25 (no Happily Ever After fireworks)! It may be more work setting up the tent than just towing the trailer, but I think it will be physically less work (and better gas mileage). I've got 20+ hours of Disney Parks area loops, soundtracks, and attractions' music on my thumb drive ready to tackle the road!

@TheMaxRebo Definitely! I don't want to say I was jealous (because that's too strong of a word) of reading of others' trips and living vicariously... I'll just say it was anticipation/motivation/anxiousness that I was feeling before we actually had a feasible trip to plan. We're still hoping to get a Flight of Passage FP+ come up, but with less than 30 days out, that's not likely.