December 7, 2024
When it comes to family, if there’s any way possible, I will walk through brick walls to get to where my family wants me.
There’s simply no question about it.
Such was the case when my daughter and granddaughter invited my wife and I to attend the beautiful and very Christmas seasonal “Candlelight Processional” at EPCOT at Walt Disney World. If you’ve never had the opportunity to attend one of these performances during the Christmas season, you really must!
Between live music, 2 choirs, and a famous guest narrator… it truly does get you into the Christmas spirit.
EPCOT is a large facility…. Between “Future World” and “World Showcase”, for anyone who is ‘mobility compromised’ like me, such a visit is a very daunting task to say the least.
Disney parks do offer the option of renting either a basic push wheelchair or a powered version. As I didn’t want to any more of a ‘burden’ to my family during this visit as my “already right-ankle booted self” was, I opted to rent the powered version.
I had to sign a myriad of paperwork… mostly in the vein of ‘Thou Shall Not…” (I didn’t realize we had to be told not to crash into barricades, but you know someone had to do it for them to write a rule against it.)
Being a rather frequent visitor to Disney parks over the years and having seen these carts in the past, I must say I never saw myself needing one… Until now. (Don’t let the smile deceive you, I was not a happy powered chair ‘camper’.)
This chair was simply a ‘means to an end’, i.e. I had to efficiently get around the park and a booted ankle makes for some very slow and, at times, awkward walking.
At first navigating around the park was straight forward and relatively easy. But as the crowds increased, moving from point “A” to “B” became harder, slower, and, at times, more dangerous to both me and other guests.
In an attempt to be respectful of all, I directed my chair to the right-hand side of the walkway. I noticed that most guests walked in the middle of the walkway, so I felt being off to the right side was a good plan.
This plan worked until late afternoon when the crowds made trying to avoid people almost impossible.
Most of the other guests were respectful of both my chair and my mobility ‘plight’ and gave me a fairly ‘wide berth’. However, there were some guests that had a goal of getting from one attraction to the next as quickly as possible and they certainly weren’t going to let a powered wheelchair get in the way of that goal.
The kids… I gave a pass to. They were excited… they were at Disney… no problem! Even in my ‘advanced age’, I can remember the excitement I felt being there as a child. All I wanted to know what ‘What’s next!’. Pass given.
But the adults… the chair itself is relatively large… moves at a halfway decent ‘slow’ pace… how can you miss it?
I had adults walking in front… and then STOPPING.
I had adults slowly drifting in front of the chair, only to SLOW THEIR WALKING DOWN TO TALK.
Jeepers.
Some would offer an apology for such movement. While others would casually glance at me as I applied the brakes as aggressively as I could… without saying a word.
While it was clear I needed this powered chair, I wish I didn’t. This chair made me special… different… and I had several adults quickly looking at me, missing my boot and wondering why I needed such a device.
Believe me… I truly wish I didn’t.
Let’s talk! Email me at: RupturedRunner@gmail.com
Ruptured Runner 
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