I just want to say that sometimes you can't see someones illness just by looking at them. If someone has a chronic pain disorder, CF, fibromyalgia, or other things i'm not aware of. Just by looking at them you can't tell they are in need of a wheelchair or
scooter.
So, just because you don't see a cast, a missing limb, a knee wrapped, tapped or a big sign that said messed up hip & back, you can't just assume that they are faking it.
I'm really young, and sometimes i tape, or don't tape my knees when we are at disney. I get better treatment when i tape my knees, than if i don't. I get so many looks when my knees aren't taped, or wearing a brace.
I 've got problems all over the place, knees, hip, back, muscle problems. I had been experimenting since my knees were getting stronger not needing the tape, but treatment from strangers varies widely when they can't see what is wrong. For myself walking witha limp is worse because it causes some other mechanical issues when you walk funny that irritate other items. So. if i'm working hard to walk correctly with no limp, its a no win situation.
However for myself, trying to walk all day would leave me in pain for weeks after the trip, if not months. Early trips to disney we didn't rent and i was in massive pain at the end of the first day and it would continue the whole trip, and then leave me with problems to overcome when we came back from disney.
I eventually decided, and figure, most people aren't limping from a vacation they took 3-4 weeks ago, or have muscle problems months later. So for myself wheel chair or scooter is the way to go. Plus my problems have escalated in the years, but when people see a young person in a chair when they don't see a clearly defined injury, they think faker, or cheater. I'd give anything to not have horrible pains every day, and walk, stand and wait in the regular lines. It would be priceless for me to be able to do that, i would love to be able to run and not everything in my legs be out of whack.
I don't need a chair at home. However, i don't go out walking all day either. I would love to be able to walk around my block pain free. I have to limit my activities to not aggrivate things. At disney i'm not going to spend all but an hour here or there in the room, to appease people who think i'm cheating the system. I ride in the scooter and make my life more pain free, and get to enjoy more of disney.
Sometimes i see another person in the special sections who has a bad knee or a bad ankle and boy do i remember the days of roughing it, and having pain all day, from walking around all day. I don't miss that at all.