ECV and arthritis in hands??

We are going to WDW in September with a group of 13 including my in-laws. MIL needs help mobility-wise. We are thinking ECV, but she has bad arthritis in her hands. I am not sure how you make the ECV go? LOL. Do you push a lever on the handle or twist it or?? Anyway, would this be doable all day with the arthritis that always gets worse as the day goes on?

you push a thing with your thumb I would take her or have her go to Target or something similar where she can test out the ECV there and she how she dose if he has problems with making them go like it hurts her to much then she may not want to rent one at disney. they all so have wheel chair that she could rent and with 13 people ( I am guessing most or some will be adults) there will be people to push her and I am not sure about her mobility problems but this could let her walk some and have some thing to hold on too. But I would have her try one out first.

Thanks! There are 7 people available for pushing a wheelchair so we could definitely do that. I brought it up, but she didn't seem to keen on the idea. She can walk, but not for long distances. She basically has issues with all her joints. One ankle was replaced and had to be fused, knee pain, arthritis in her feet.
Just seeing how she holds her hands at the end of a day you can tell they are really sore, and that's just during a normal day.

Someone here once mentioned they like the way the hand controls worked on the scooters from Buena Vista as it was easier on their hands. I sometimes get problems with my hands (especially the thumb) - mine is more carpal tunnel related perhaps. I've rented from BW scooters a few times now and I really like the controls - very easy to use. I think (if I remember right) that it's basically like squeezing a lever to make it go - like brakes on a bike. Letting go of the lever makes it stop - and you can use either hand. It doesn't take a lot of pressure to work the controls.

It's a really good question though as it does put pressure on the fingers somewhat.

Selket said:

Someone here once mentioned they like the way the hand controls worked on the scooters from Buena Vista as it was easier on their hands. I sometimes get problems with my hands (especially the thumb) - mine is more carpal tunnel related perhaps. I've rented from BW scooters a few times now and I really like the controls - very easy to use. I think (if I remember right) that it's basically like squeezing a lever to make it go - like brakes on a bike. Letting go of the lever makes it stop - and you can use either hand. It doesn't take a lot of pressure to work the controls.

It's a really good question though as it does put pressure on the fingers somewhat.

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That was me !

The differences between scooters was reinforced to me this weekend when I rented an ECV at the Toronto Zoo. The forward/backward mechanism was similar to the Walker ECV I rented for a previous WDW trip and which I did NOT like: you hold the handle with your hands, but use your thumb to push the activation bar toward the handle. My thumbs were REALLY unhappy with me after about an hour and it just got worse. This is with taking frequent pauses to walk around an exhibit, too.

The ECVs I have rented from Buena Vista Scooters have a different mechanism of action: your fingers are what pull the activation bar towards the hand-holding bar. I found this MUCH easier to do. And if some fingers get upset you can just use a couple to pull it. Much easier to be using a whole-hand gripping motion vs a thumbs only griping motion. And I could adjust how I held my hand and how I moved the lever as needed according to pain and unhappy joints.

In this picture you can see the little thumb tab at the bottom of the large "box". That tab is what you push in/forward toward the hand grip. There is one on each side -- one is forward, one is reverse. That is the Walker style device (and also toronto zoo and who knows where else). http://www.wdwfanzone.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/100_9333-300x225.jpg

This pictures shows a diagram of I guess it is the WDW scooters. Apparently that fwd/rev tab-thing is the "throttle control" http://land.allears.net/blogs/guestblog/ECV-controls.jpg

This is a link to the PDF owners manual for Buena Vista's standard model scooter. On page 19 is a diagram of the controls: http://scootermobilitywarehouse.pridedealer.com/pdf/Owners_Manuals/US_Scooter/US_Celebrity_X_om.pdf You can see how the throttle control lever is "inside" the handles ring and how it is a "bar" lever you pull towards you with the fingers.

For me, an ECV is the only way I can handle doing the parks (or, even, four hours at the Zoo). We discovered on one trip that my limit for doing it without a scooter is about 3 hours and by then I am in a LOT of pain. With a scooter, used strategically, I can go all day. I will often "park" in an area and do the two or three nearby rides by walking instead of taking the ECV through the lines; but sometimes I am too sore to do that so the ECV comes with. But having the ECV gives me the flexibility to ride most of the time and walk when I am up to it. It is especialy good for the long distances between areas.

SW

You might want to consider some arthritis gloves to wear so that by the end of the day the effects of operating the ECV aren't as bad. If you want 7 potential wheelchair pushers you may just want to rent and push an empty wheelchair and tell her it's just in case anyone needs it.

Starwind said:

That was me !
SW

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I owe you a thanks because I would have had the same problem with my hands and the other scooters! I rented from BW initially because that info you gave swayed me. You did a great job describing for the OP the difference in hand controls too. I agree that the BV ones are very easy to operate multiple ways with your hands (using different joints or parts of the hand).

Glad my experience was able to help you !

SMD recommended gloves. Even if you don't do outright arthritis gloves, consider having a hand covering of some kind.

When I was at the Zoo, I found the material the handles were made out of was irritating my hands -- they were itchy and red wherever they touched, even though I had wiped them down.

My solution was to put on the sun protective "gloves" that I have, which both gave me sun protection for most of my hands, but more importantly created a barrier between the handles and my hands. Problem solved.

The gloves I used are these from Eclipse: http://eclipseglove.com/eclipse-sun-gloves/ (in pink polka dots, because Amazon.com only had polka dots or leopard spots in that style). I also have a pair of their sun sleeves: http://eclipseglove.com/eclipse-sun-sleeves/ (in cream since it goes with just about everything). Other companies make similar products, some with additional features (e.g. grips on the underside). At Disney I usually wear the sleeves in lieu of sunscreen and have yet to get burnt or even tanned under them. Although you would think the sleeves would make you hot, I actually find I am cooler in the sun wearing them as the direct sun is hitting them and not my skin, and they will absorb any sweat which then with a breeze over them creates a cooling effect. The gloves work well when I wear a long sleeve sun protective top, though I have to check the "watch space" at the wrist because one or the other may ride up or down.

As someone who is immune compromised, the gloves also do a couple more things for me: they are a barrier when I touch things (e.g. door handles) and they serve as a visual reminder not to touch hands to face (even if you start to, let me tell you, pink polka dots or even cream gloves coming at you are a good way to make you stop and rethink what you were about to do without thinking).

SW

(I just wanted to add -- the Walker ECV was great EXCEPT for the design of the throttle control, and that is a scooter manufacturer design issue not a Walker issue; the ECV itself worked fine, lasted all day, and as at the time it was my first ECV rental anywhere I appreciated having a Walker employee dropping it off to me and explaining how to use it. Now that I have used a Buena Vista scooter with the better-for-me-design and have experience using a scooter (so having a scooter left at Bell Services works fine), they will be who we rent from in the future. Other people may find they prefer the thumb-style throttle control and thus Walker would be a better choice than BV for them. There are also, of course, other external providers of ECV rentals; I do NOT know the design of the scooters th other companies use so cannot comment on that.).

SW

Different scooters have different controls, as people have mentioned. You can go to a place that rents or sells them and try out various models, and when you find a control scheme that feels good and doesn't hurt, the salesperson should be able to tell you which brands or models of scooter will be best for you. You can pass that information to the rental place in Orlando and if they don't have any of the scooters you need, just call a different place. It's my understanding that a lot of the rental companies offer different types of scooter.

One thing to keep in mind is that while you can visit a Target or wherever and try out the scooters provided for shoppers, those are going to be very large, wide, heavy and difficult to drive. I have owned a personal scooter for years and take it to WDW every year. I have no trouble staying out for 10 or 12 hour days on my scooter -- but I can barely manage 15 minutes wrestling one of the giant, lumbering Costco models. Too difficult to wrench the steering around, very resistant controls, so hard to make a turn because of how much space is needed. It's nothing at all like the scooters you can rent for personal use. Even if you're Pooh-sized and need a larger model, it will still be light years easier to handle than the ones you find at stores.

Just as an FYI for anyone who may own (or rent) a twist-throttle ECV: My personal ECV has a twist-throttle, and even though I don't have any arthritis in my hands at this time, it still became uncomfortable after a fairly short time. I also found that I was less "accurate" on the throttle.

I found this: the Crampbuster, on Amazon. The size I linked to is the one I use for my personal ECV; the benefit to using this with a twist-throttle is that you can position the Crampbuster so that you use the heel of your hand, or even the side of your fist to depress the Crampbuster lever.

I can use this for 8+ hours at WDW with nary an ill effect. I have one on both of my personal ECVs.