Boat Accessibility for ECV

Koh1977

DIS Veteran

Joined

Mar 20, 2012

• Apr 2, 2015

• #1

My mom is more than likely going to be renting an ECV for our Disney trip in June. They will be staying at Fort Wilderness and love to take the boat from FW to MK. Do the larger boats have different operating hours? Can she drive the ECV onto the larger boat then? Are all of the boats to the resorts the smaller ones (and therefore would require a step or two down into the boat)? What about the boats between Epcot and Hollywood Studios?

Thanks so much!! I am thinking I will be frequenting this forum a lot in the next month or two!

 

Disneymom1218

Mouseketeer

Joined

Apr 10, 2010

• Apr 4, 2015

• #2

I can't speak on the boats from FW, but the Boats that run between Epcot and DHS have a ramp that they use to allow you to roll right on and off.

 

jsutherin1

Mouseketeer

Joined

Feb 6, 2014

• Apr 4, 2015

• #3

If the water levels are high enough (which they usually are) you can take the ECV on to any larger boat including the boat from MK to WL and the friendhip boats at HS and Epcot. The only boat that we have not been able to take is the resort boat between MK and Poly.

 

CMNJ

DIS Veteran

Joined

Oct 8, 2014

• Apr 8, 2015

• #4

They alternate the small and large boats that go between fort wilderness, wilderness lodge, and Magic Kingdom. We stayed at Wilderness Lodge last Oct and sometimes the small boat would arrive to pick us up-if there was someone with an ECV they were advised that the larger boat would arrive shortly for them to take. The larger boats are shared between Fort Wilderness and Wilderness Lodge whereas the smaller boats are dedicated. I think the larger boats held like 4-5 ECV (one night it took quite a long time to get them all on the boat at MK)

 

Queenie122

Mouseketeer

Joined

Jan 24, 2008

• Apr 30, 2015

• #5

CMNJ said:

They alternate the small and large boats that go between fort wilderness, wilderness lodge, and Magic Kingdom. We stayed at Wilderness Lodge last Oct and sometimes the small boat would arrive to pick us up-if there was someone with an ECV they were advised that the larger boat would arrive shortly for them to take. The larger boats are shared between Fort Wilderness and Wilderness Lodge whereas the smaller boats are dedicated. I think the larger boats held like 4-5 ECV (one night it took quite a long time to get them all on the boat at MK)

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This is exactly what happened to us. We were trying to get over to Fort Wilderness for Hoop De Doo - we left 90 minutes for traveling. But it was raining and for some reason they were using more smaller boats than larger ones. We had to wait 30 minutes (3 boats) to finally get one to take us over. Just plan extra travel time!

 

Goofy14sure

Mouseketeer

Joined

Mar 15, 2014

• May 1, 2015

• #6

I was at Fort Wilderness last month and used my ECV. You can catch the big boat to the MK with your scooter, but no other boats to the Fort will handle an ECV. Usually they is only 1 big boat so you may have to wait quite a while for it to come and then longer if you are behind more scooters. The most I ever saw loaded was 3, the first two spots are ok to load into, but the third one has a tight turn that was hard for me to make. The big boat usually goes from the Fort to the MK then returns to the Wilderness Lodge then the Fort. You can't travel by boat to any other resort, so you have to transfer to the monorail at the MK, you can scoot over to the CR tho. I like the boats, but if its hot the wait on the dock is just too much, so I drive. Just leave a lot of extra time when you take the boat. The big boat is supposed to leave the Fort 30 minutes before park opening, but don't use it for early reservations or if you really want to be there at rope drop

 

Glittercat

Mermaid on Wheels! ^_~

Joined

Dec 5, 2010

• May 6, 2015

• #7

This is the same for wheelchairs and ECVs I think, patience and a sense of humor are needed in equal measure for the boats -or any transportation around WDW really. Easier said than done I know but it really helps during icky weather or when heading to popular destinations. At POFQ sometimes we also had to wait for two or three boats to leave the dock before there was one that could work. All of the captains were nice though, and overall was a good experience.

 

Last edited: May 16, 2015

Nanajo1

DIS Veteran

Joined

Sep 23, 1999

• May 6, 2015

• #8

The Friendship boats can only have two ECVs on board at a time. I was told this was a safety issue.

 

Koh1977

DIS Veteran

Joined

Mar 20, 2012

• May 6, 2015

• #9

Thanks for all of your responses! very helpful!