I had the misfortune of breaking my foot two weeks before I was supposed to spend my birthday weekend at Disney, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me! In fact, I spent the Wednesday before my birthday weekend at Disney too. Thanks to Grandma’s wheelchair and some very generous people pushing me, I was able to enjoy Disney as if I were walking around instead of rolling.

Since this was a first for me, I wanted to share my experience of doing Disney with a broken foot for anyone else as unlucky as me. The silver lining in this all is that I was in a walking boot. While I wouldn’t be able to walk around the parks all day without my foot hurting, I was able to get around easier than if I were completely wheelchair bound.

I was able to get around well enough walking to leave the wheelchair at the hotel anytime we went to Disney Springs. They also have wheelchairs available to borrow at Disney Springs if it had gotten to be too much.

Before my trip, all I heard from other people was some form of, “Well at least you’ll get to the front of all the lines since you’re in a a wheelchair!” Let me just dispel that myth right now and tell you that being in a wheelchair basically gets you NO special treatment at Disney whatsoever.

On Wednesday, my mom pushed me around Magic Kingdom as we visited with my little cousins who were experiencing Disney for the first time. The biggest struggles with Magic Kingdom were trying to get through the crowds without hitting anyone and not getting the wheel of the wheelchair stuck in the grooves in the pavement for the parade. We managed to get through without any issues though. We didn’t ride any rides at Magic Kingdom, but most, if not all, of the lines there are wheelchair accessible.

My cousins had fun trying to push me around and almost running me into multiple people and poles! It wasn’t ever an issue for me to get up and walk to take pictures and I was even able to hold one of my cousins on my hip and dance around as we watched the Move it! Shake it! Parade. I’m grateful I used the wheelchair the rest of the day so I was able to have these fun moments without any pain.

For my birthday weekend, Jared and I spent all day Saturday in Epcot drinking and eating around the world. He made pushing a wheelchair around the parks fun to make up for the fact that he had to push me around the park. He would pick up speed on the declines and weave in and out of the crowds (as well as one can with a wheelchair). Anytime we passed someone else in a wheelchair, he would ask them, “You guys wanna race later?” which got very mixed reactions. Some people laughed and joked along with him, other people were definitely not amused. Ya win some, ya lose some!

Sunday we went to Hollywood Studios and actually rode some rides. We first rode Toy Story Mania with Fastpasses and as soon as we got to the entrance the cast members made sure I would be ok walking about 50 feet and standing for a few minutes. They also handed me a little pass with a wheelchair on it to give the next cast member. They escorted me on the handicap path so I wouldn’t have to tackle any stairs. I only had to walk up to the ride a few feet and then stand there until it was my turn. The cast member took my wheelchair and passed it off so it would be waiting for me when I got off the ride.

Then we went to ride Star Tours. We got to the stand-by line and the cast member told me the line wasn’t wheelchair accessible so I had to go to the Star Tours disability access cast member (just a few feet away). There, we were given a time to come back (15 minutes later) and were able to go through the Fastpass line because it was wheelchair accessible. This did not interfere with the Fastpasses we had booked at all. Again, I only had to walk onto the ride and my wheelchair was waiting for me right when I got off the ride.

We had seen a disability access sign for the new Slinky Dog ride in Toy Story Land too so we figured we would check that out to see if we could skip the 140 minute line that formed as soon as the park opened. When we got there, the cast member said I would have to register with Guest Services for disability access because their line was wheelchair accessible. The Slinky Dog disability access option is just if someone wants to stay in their wheelchair or scooter on the ride, which was not our case. Not a big deal, we just ended up not riding that particular ride.

One of my biggest tips if you’re going to be rocking the wheelchair around Disney is to make sure you put sunscreen on your thighs (if you’re wearing shorts) and feet (if you’re wearing sandals). I did and I was so grateful because the sun is shining directly down onto your legs. If you’re in a wheelchair, you already have enough to deal with. Don’t add sunburns on top of that.

Before we left for our trip, I called the All Star Sports hotel we were going to stay at and requested a first floor room because I had broken my foot. I told them it didn’t need to be handicap accessible since I could get out of the wheelchair and walk, but that it would be really nice if my room was on the first floor so I didn’t have to seek out an elevator or tackle the stairs in a boot. The hotel had no problem giving me a first floor room that was close to the pool, buses, and food court so I never had to go too far.

All the cast members I came into contact with were super accommodating and didn’t make me feel like a nuisance for needing some extra help. I never had to go out of my way to find a ramp instead of stairs to get through the parks. Everything was so accessible for strollers and wheelchairs alike. I was intimidated going into a full Disney weekend with a broken foot, but I was pleasantly surprised with how normally I was able to go about the weekend.