Live-ish updates: 1st trip with a Fold and Go Wheelchair

[NotTheBatesMotel]

Hi everyone,
I soaked up as much information as I could find about Fold and Go's before I purchased one, so I thought it might be helpful for others if I post about our first WDW trip using one. We're just starting our trip now so I will update as we go.

A bit of a background: I'm an ambulatory wheelchair user. I was finally diagnosed last October with a form of Dysautonomia called Hyperadrenergic Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (Quick version: HyperPOTS) after being sick to various degrees for 7 years. Long story short: my autonomic nervous system is more or less broken, I have too much norepinephrine in my body most of the time and standing makes everything 100x worse. I'm basically allergic to gravity. I will be throwing some POTS tips in here too in case any fellow POTSies are reading.

Once I realized my illness wasn't going away, I started researching electric wheelchairs and ultimately purchased a Fold and Go Magshock. I was completely swayed once I realized it was both: an electric wheelchair and it folded up small enough to fit in the trunk of my Nissan Sentra.



I went with orange because I love Halloween! "Everyday is Halloween."

Onto the fun stuff, our trip: We left a couple days ago and made the 12 hour drive to FL in 2 increments. 9 hours on day 1, 3 on day 2. Frankly, I'm scared to fly and will usually opt for a road trip vs. flying most of the time! I stayed very well hydrated, drank my electrolytes, wore compression gear and got out to walk every hour or 2. I can't stress how much all of the above helped reduce blood pooling compared to my last trip! I didn't feel GREAT when we got to the hotel, but I felt so much better than when we went in August.

Our first stop yesterday was EPCOT! A few Fold & Go notes: The F&G took up more room in the trunk of my Sentra than I anticipated. That isn't a big deal at all for our family of 3 because we just put our big suitcase in the empty back seat, but you will definitely want to test out your luggage situation beforehand if you have a bigger family. It is also heavier than I anticipated. My husband doesn't have issues getting it into/out of the car, but I would struggle a bit if I was traveling solo. The paint is VERY easily chipped. It scraped lightly against the trunk as we removed it yesterday and a big spot of paint chipped off. I was surprised that it chipped so easily.

Getting around EPCOT was so much easier than I anticipated! I practiced driving a lot before we left, and really think this helped. Using the joystick is not as easy as it looks. It was crowded but not unbearably so. People will constantly dart in front of you even more than they do when you're walking, so you have to be super alert. We ran into Tim Tracker (Disney Youtuber) almost right after getting into EPCOT, which completely made my son's day!



I was unsure which rides I could bring my wheelchair onto, so I made the mistake of just parking it nearby for a few rides. (I parked it for Spaceship Earth, Figment and Three Caballeros). I had an adrenaline dump in the middle of The Land pavilion and realized I really needed to just bring my wheelchair in the queue when possible. After I recovered from my adrenaline dump, I drove the F&G right up to Amazing Earth. They have a nice section in the back where my family was able to sit with me during the movie. 0 issues navigating the queue. I then used the elevator to get to the first floor for Soarin'. It's one of those front/rear elevators so I never had to worry about backing into/out of it. I also drove through the Soarin' queue and I was so glad I did because that queue is huge! I didn't have any issues navigating until the very last part of the queue where you line up in rows. That was a TIGHT turn and I needed my husband's help to get me past the turn. I unlocked the wheels and he pushed me. Next up: time for a boat ride with the Three Caballeros!



I stared at the pavillion and tried to figure out how the heck to get my wheelchair inside. I could NOT figure it out so I parked again. We walked out and I realized the wheelchair ramp is near the Donald meet, just past the...pyramid? I don't know what the official name for that is. Next time I will bring my chair up the ramp!

After that we just strolled/wheeled around the world showcase enjoying the Festival of the Arts offerings. I didn't have any major issues navigating around the world showcase and we had so much fun checking out the various stands! The chalk drawings were really fun to check out.



After we were done exploring we headed out for the day. I looked at my battery and couldn't believe it: I was only down 1 bar and still very much in the green. For reference: my husband walked 16,000 steps, probably at least 12,000 of those in EPCOT. We're not going to parks today but we are going to Disney Springs tomorrow, so I will update more then!

 

[SueM in MN]

Just FYI for you, you will be able to bring your wheelchair into all lines and attractions to the point where you board.
For some, since you can walk, you may be asked to park it close to the boarding area - ask how far. Because my daughter can’t walk, we bring he wheelchair within a few feet of the ride vehicle for the ones where a transfer is required.

There are some wheelchair accessible ride cars where a wheelchair can be pulled on if you feel comfortable doing it - Living with the Land, for example.
There are some that require a tiedown (Toy Story Midway Mania or the Safari, for example). I would not suggest staying in your wheelchair for those because that type of wheelchair is not designed for it.
if you want more info about specific attraction, just ask.

 

[NotTheBatesMotel]

Just FYI for you, you will be able to bring your wheelchair into all lines and attractions to the point where you board.
For some, since you can walk, you may be asked to park it close to the boarding area - ask how far. Because my daughter can’t walk, we bring he wheelchair within a few feet of the ride vehicle for the ones where a transfer is required.

There are some wheelchair accessible ride cars where a wheelchair can be pulled on if you feel comfortable doing it - Living with the Land, for example.
There are some that require a tiedown (Toy Story Midway Mania or the Safari, for example). I would not suggest staying in your wheelchair for those because that type of wheelchair is not designed for it.
if you want more info about specific attraction, just ask.

Thank you for the info! I felt uncomfortable asking for some reason at first yesterday, but quickly got over that once I realized how I’d feel if I tried to walk the queues and once I saw how friendly the CM’s were about everything. I’m also not great at turning sharp corners yet with the joystick so that part makes me nervous.

 

[Groot]

Hi everyone,
I soaked up as much information as I could find about Fold and Go's before I purchased one, so I thought it might be helpful for others if I post about our first WDW trip using one. We're just starting our trip now so I will update as we go.

A bit of a background: I'm an ambulatory wheelchair user. I was finally diagnosed last October with a form of Dysautonomia called Hyperadrenergic Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (Quick version: HyperPOTS) after being sick to various degrees for 7 years. Long story short: my autonomic nervous system is more or less broken, I have too much norepinephrine in my body most of the time and standing makes everything 100x worse. I'm basically allergic to gravity. I will be throwing some POTS tips in here too in case any fellow POTSies are reading.

Once I realized my illness wasn't going away, I started researching electric wheelchairs and ultimately purchased a Fold and Go Magshock. I was completely swayed once I realized it was both: an electric wheelchair and it folded up small enough to fit in the trunk of my Nissan Sentra.

View attachment 475657

I went with orange because I love Halloween! "Everyday is Halloween."

Yay, you’re now officially one of us!

Our first stop yesterday was EPCOT! A few Fold & Go notes: The F&G took up more room in the trunk of my Sentra than I anticipated. That isn't a big deal at all for our family of 3 because we just put our big suitcase in the empty back seat, but you will definitely want to test out your luggage situation beforehand if you have a bigger family. It is also heavier than I anticipated. My husband doesn't have issues getting it into/out of the car, but I would struggle a bit if I was traveling solo. The paint is VERY easily chipped. It scraped lightly against the trunk as we removed it yesterday and a big spot of paint chipped off. I was surprised that it chipped so easily.

Fyi, Fold & Go does sell touch-up paint in the shop.

 

[ZJ5/9D47]

Glad to hear the first part of your trip is going well with your new wheels! You can always ask a CM or even better, anyone else in a wheelchair or scooter. We were all newbies once and know how overwhelming it can be trying to learn how to navigate the parks.

 

[NELDEE]

Thank you for this. I will be going to WDW in April using a very similar chair. I am so looking forward to having the independence as last time I went I had to go where my husband pushed me which can be very frustrating. I can stand to transfer to rides but cant step over a high side or walk more than a step or 2 and to walk I would need a person both sides for support. I found in November there was many rides I could still do and cast members were very good at stopping moving walkways. Test track wasnt easy I dont think I'd try that again. Enjoy the rest of your trip

 

[Groot]

Thank you for this. I will be going to WDW in April using a very similar chair. I am so looking forward to having the independence as last time I went I had to go where my husband pushed me which can be very frustrating. I can stand to transfer to rides but cant step over a high side or walk more than a step or 2 and to walk I would need a person both sides for support. I found in November there was many rides I could still do and cast members were very good at stopping moving walkways. Test track wasnt easy I dont think I'd try that again. Enjoy the rest of your trip

Yea,Test Track is the worst for getting in/out of. Sure, they have a tester seat out front and instructions for GETTING IN, but NO instructions for GETTING OUT.

I think Test Track should have a transfer car like Rocking RollerCoaster does that has the ENTIRE SIDE being able to LIFT UP to make getting in/out EASIER.

 

[NELDEE]

Yea,Test Track is the worst for getting in/out of. Sure, they have a tester seat out front and instructions for GETTING IN, but NO instructions for GETTING OUT.

I think Test Track should have a transfer car like Rocking RollerCoaster does that has the ENTIRE SIDE being able to LIFT UP to make getting in/out EASIER.

I didnt know that, I avoided this ride after my test track experience but I will give it a go in April now. Getting out was definately harder than getting in. They did let us ride twice though which was very kind

 

[SueM in MN]

I didnt know that, I avoided this ride after my test track experience but I will give it a go in April now. Getting out was definately harder than getting in. They did let us ride twice though which was very kind

If you boarded at the regular boding area, where you need to step down into the car, you may want to ask if you can use the alternate boarding area. It is at the seat belt check area and the ride cars are above the track there. It’s still not real easy to board, but is easier. It’s basically like getting in and out of a bathtub with a fairly high side.
You can try it out at the practice car. Most people transfer to sit on the side of the ride car, lift their legs over the side into the car and then slide their butt down into the seat. They also have a grab bar that can be put onto the car on request.

Rolling with the Magic has a blog post with pictures that might be helpful.
http://www.rollingwiththemagicblog.com/test-track/

 

[NotTheBatesMotel]

Day 2: Disney Springs
Day 2 was all about Disney Springs! We typically don't visit Disney Springs because we're all about the parks, but we had a really good day and had fun exploring. The Fold & Go was still in the trunk of the car from Epcot. I'm trying hard not to charge it too much because I want the batteries to last as long as possible.

We made the short drive to the orange parking garage and had no trouble finding a parking space around 10:30AM. We parked close to the elevators, unloaded the F&G and we were off! There are 2 elevators we had to go down: from the 4th floor to the 2nd, then you cross the little pedestrian bridge and take another elevator from 2-1. I am feeling much more confident about backing it out of elevators so there were no issues here. The elevators weren't huge but there was plenty of room for me, my husband, my son, 2 other adults and a stroller.

We didn't really see anything that caught our interest until we hit World of Disney. It was busy but the spaces are wide in here so it wasn't hard to navigate in the wheelchair. I dropped way too much money on a Haunted Mansion Loungefly then we strolled over to the nearby Poutine food stand. This was my first time trying this stand. I ordered the Latin version and it was tasty! The counter to pay and grab your order was a little high but doable.



After everyone finished sampling the Poutine we visited the Photopass Studio. I parked outside instead of wheeling in, but looked around and felt it would have been easy to navigate in the chair. Even though the backgrounds are kind of cheesy, our pictures turned out great and I'd highly recommend this to anyone that has Memory Maker! We exited through the dress shop and although it was crowded, it was manageable to navigate.



We went to the Christmas shop after that and this was another store with wide spaces that was easy to navigate. I was pleasantly surprised at this point with the stores and the wide-enough spaces between merch. After that I peeked inside Goofy's Candy Company. It was shoulder-to-shoulder people in there and I didn't feel comfortable trying it out, so I opted out of that one.

My son saw the strawberry bubble waffle review from AristoCrepes on Disney Food Blog and couldn't stop thinking about them, so we stopped by and decided to share an order. Clearly, they didn't disappoint! These were our favorite thing we sampled yesterday.



The kids & my husband hit the Lego store next. I've been it once before and that was enough for me so I just found a spot in the shade and waited! We then headed back towards Westside. We planned to do the air balloon but the wait was really long so we decided not to. I tried to go into Candy Cauldron. I'm not sure if it's because I'm so new at navigating, but it was WAY too tight in there so I backed out of the doorway, thankfully with the help of strangers that were kind enough to hold the door as I backed out.

The last stop was Disney Style! It was wide enough to navigate in here, but crowds were really picking up by then so we decided to call it a day and head out. We had a really great time snacking and shopping our way through Disney Springs. I have to say how pleasantly surprised I am by people so far this trip. I was expecting a lot of rude glances or comments, especially since I'm very much a "plus size", fluffy, Pooh-sized, whatever you want to call it, person and my chair is unapologetically orange so it's noticeable. So far (knock on wood) people have been very friendly. A lot of people that cut me off will turn around and apologize once they realized they cut me off. People have been holding doors, etc. and I haven't experienced a lot of blatant judgement. This might change once we head to MK tonight, especially since I've heard reports of how crowded it is today, but so far so good! I will update more tomorrow about our After Hours experience tonight!

ETA: Battery life after the day at EPCOT and Disney Springs (we hit over 10,000 steps at DS): 3 yellow bars and 1 red left!

 

[NotTheBatesMotel]

Day 3: Magic Kingdom After Hours
Wow, I kind of dropped the ball there! There is tired and then there is Disney tired, am I right? We are back from our trip now but I thought I'd still update this in case it helps anyone.

After Hours events are my favorite way to experience Magic Kingdom! When I realized I'd be planning a trip for 10 people instead of our usual 3, I knew I didn't want to stress over a regular day's worth of FP+ and trying to refresh the app for 10 people. I quickly convinced everyone that AH was the way to go. I am so glad I did because it was the best night of the trip!

We rolled into the Transportation and Ticket Center around 5:50. My mom and sister had ECV's so the CM at the TTC told us it would probably be easier to use the ferry with 3 wheelchairs/scooters vs. the monorail. Boarding the ferry was seamless since it wasn't a crowded time to arrive. Pretty soon we saw the castle in the distance!



We arrived at the MK gates at 6:45 and were let in. The official AH Event started at 9 but they typically let you in around 6:45. Our first FP+ was to meet Mickey Mouse. I drove my wheelchair up the ramps and through the queue. The doorways were somewhat tight but doable. It was a great meet and my nephew’s first time meeting Mickey!



After the main mouse meet, we had to navigate down Main Street, 30 minutes before Happily Ever After...

That was as fun as it sounds. I’m happy to report that the Fold and Go could navigate over the ankle-twisting tracks that line Main St., you just have to be mindful of them. We somehow managed to work our way back to Fantasyland, where the crowds significantly thinned out. I was very tempted to kiss the ground at this point.

Quick Fold & Go notes on crowd navigation: this might not work for everyone and I don’t recommend it until you’re confident with the joystick. After a few days of practice in the parks, I mostly left my speed all the way up and just didn’t push the joystick as far forward when I wanted to slow down. I found that I needed the little speed boost/momentum sometimes to navigate the crowds and give me the boost to keep up with the average walking pace. The F&G was not as fast as the Go-Go Sports my family rented, but still has a decent speed and is more than sufficient for my needs.

Our next FP was for Dumbo. I brought the wheelchair through the queue with zero issues. It’s wide enough and easy to navigate. I drove it all the way to the ride, where I just parked it nearby and out of the way. We enjoyed our flight!



Happily Ever After was about to start, so we sat on the benches near Dumbo, chugged some water and had an amazing, crowd-free view of the fireworks.





Our last FP of the evening was for IASW. I know-weird. I just wanted to knock this one out because it's a family must-do and I didn't want it to eat up a bunch of AH time! After small world, my family hopped on Peter Pan's Flight because the posted wait was only 35 minutes. I knew I wouldn't be able to stand for 35 minutes and was feeling a little wonky, so I waited for them at the exit. They were off of the ride within 20 minutes and by that time AH was officially in progress!
First order of business: enjoying Mickey bars and water!



It would take me ten thousand years to go into details ride-by-ride, so here’s a quick summary of everything we knocked out after Peter Pan:
Winnie the Pooh
Mad Tea Party x2
Space Ranger Spin x2
Space Mountain x2
Pirates
BTMR
Magic Carpets x2
Jungle Cruise
Magic Carpets x2 (yes, again)

I opted out of Space Mountain, BTMR and Mad Tea Party this trip because they make me incredibly dizzy. I have enough of that on a daily basis and don’t need anything to aggravate it, haha.

The only thing we waited for (well, my party waiyed for) was a 15 minute BTMR wait. Everything else was a walk-on. I can't stress how amazing these events are. It was obviously much, much easier to navigate a wheelchair through streets like this compared to usual crowds!



We wrapped up our evening with pictures on Main St., boarded the ferry in a sleepy haze and made our way back to the rental. By far my favorite day of the trip! Battery notes: I started the day on a full charge and was only down 1 bar in the green by the time the night ended.

Up next: Back to Epcot for Mardi Gras, a trip on the Skyliner and a not-so-pleasant encounter with a grumpy human.

 

[babycatsy]

This is awesome!! Mom uses a rollator and we brought it to Disney. It was quite different than our trips from the 90s and 200s (before the illness) but we were able to last much longer.

 

[CJN]

Looking forward to the rest of this!