Managing Insulin for Diabetic

[PoohRules]

My generous husband is taking his mother (and family) to WDW for their first ever Disney trip to celebrate her retirement. While my husband and I have taken many trips to WDW, we never have to manage any type of medical concerns. Yet his mother is type 2 diabetic, on insulin. She currently uses it four times a day (I asked her last weekend). She thinks she can run back to the room, but we all know that can take quite some time and can be tiring in itself. We are staying on property, POFQ.

Does anyone have suggestions on how to manage insulin inside the parks during the day? Also, I ignored it quite some time ago as we never used them, but do the rooms no longer have refrigerators? Are exceptions made if not? Our trip is planned for this November, I am hoping heat won't be a major factor (but you never know). Lastly, she is not very active and plans to begin walking on a regular basis to increase her activity level. I realize this could shift her insulin needs, and we have already begun to encourage her to start now.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Strmchsr]

Managing diabetes in the parks is no problem at all. My type-1 diabetic son, who is 13, has been going for the last 7 years with his insulin. We use an insulin cooler from Medicool to carry his insulin around. You freeze the carrier overnight and then it'll keep your insulin cool pretty much all day. At least 12 hours. You can check their website. They have all kinds of helpful products. Also, there are sharps disposal containers in most restrooms, but remember to request a sharps container for her room from Mousekeeping.

Yes, all Disney resort rooms currently have refrigerators.

[MargaretMessler]

I have traveled with my mother, who is type 2, several times. She uses a similar cooler pack to the one mentioned above. She is lucky in that her med schedule generally would allow her to not carry it EVERY day, but it works great.

Even if every room did not currently have a refridgerator, for a medical need they would be able to accommodate

[IloveJack]

I second Stormchaser, leaving next week for my 10th trip as a diabetic.
It helps to know what type of set up she uses (pump, pen, vial and syringe). I would assume that its a vial and syringe, due to the "run back to the room" comment. Pens don't have to be refridgerated while in use. If she uses vials, I would say a little cooler bag is the best option.

[PETE FROM NYC]

When we were at POP in 2009, the free medical fridge had no freezer. We had to give my ice pack nightly to baggage services to freeze up, and retrieve it I the AM.
Now we stay at 1 BR DVC so we have a full sized refrigerator.
I also have the previously mentioned Medi-cool pack. It works great. Just remember to order at least one extra freezer pack.