12/27-1/3 - Am I Crazy??

[chefhah]

I am beginning to question my own sanity. I booked 2 rooms at POR for my DH,DS(20)DD(18)DD(17) FIL and MIL. FIL will have to use a scooter due to severe arthritis. These are the only days that will work. POR seems to be the only resort available..is this going to be a nightmare??We've been at Christmas before but never with a scooter in tow. How will POR transportation be with a scooter?? I thought that Swan/Dolphin might be a better choice location wise but since we are footing the entire bill, I just couldn't justify the expense.HELP!!!!!

 

[chefhah]

Help Please!!!

 

[Gretchen]

Well....
that is the busiest time of the year for WDW. I haven't been but have friends that have. It's also one of the best times to see WDW, shows, fireworks etc. I guess it would depend on how comfortable you are moving around in a crowded situation with the scooter. Will you be bringing your own? Will you have a car? POR only has elevators in the Mansion section. How is your FIL with stairs? I would also post on the dis-abilities board.
Gretchen

 

[zumbergc]

If you don't have your own scooter, you may want to rent from an outside ecv rental location. This way you can guarentee you have an ecv the entire time, even use at the resorts, to and from the bus stops to the park entrances. Its best to rent a scooter offsite because at the busiest time of the year, you run the chance of not getting a scooter when you arrive to the park. If you park hop, you will not be guarenteed a scooter at the second park you are going to even though you rented one at the first park.

On the disAbility section of the forum, are several FAQs w/ scooter rental places people have had good luck with. We have use walker mobility several times w/out problems.

Have your scooter person practice at the resort before heading to the parks. Have them get comfortable w/ parralel parking, going backwards. Get comfortable w/ adjusting the speed knob. Especially when parking, in park lines, and crowds. The whip lash affect of starting and stopping can be rough on the scooter driver if they have the speed knob turned all the way to the rabbit side. Turn your speed down to turtle side, in those crowded areas and you'll be less likely to bump someone. Also when putting it in reverse, people tend not to pay attention if there is a scooter in front of them, if they decide to back-up, people tend to get bumped.

During crowded times at the park, you and your walking companions can help the person in the scooter. If your walking in a crowd (like after a parade, fireworks etc, put a person up in front of the scooter. People are always walking in close to a scooter in crowds, darting in front. Having a person up front can help w/ this, and help clear a path. If you have multiple people, place them on the side of the scooter too. Also if you need to pull out of section w/ large amounts of people, and make a turn. Place a person to the opposite side you want to go, to block traffic, to get the scooter out safely w/out worry about running toes over.

If POR has multiple pick-up location for the buses like CSRor SSR, your best bet is to request to be in the first pick-up location. This way you are the first to get on the bus, and more likely to not having other ecv or wheel chairs already loaded into the bus. Only 2 ecvs, or 2 wheelchairs or combo of both can be on a bus at time.

When you load the bus returning to your resort. Make sure to wait at the mid section of the bus, where the ecv/wheel chairs load. You are suppose to wait at that location. The ecv's/wheelchairs have to be loaded first for the safety of other bus riders. If you wait in the regular line, when you get to the front of the line, the driver will tell you to wait for the next bus, and tell you the appropriate place to wait. They will not attempt to load the ecv once people have boarded the bus in the evening pick-ups after the shows and parades.

 

[Amy&Dan]

We travelled around that same time with my fil who was scooter bound. We used Randy's Mobility, that way we always had a scooter, it was cheaper and we also had it for things like DTD where the park rented scooters cannot go.

As far as the buses at POR, here is my advice, keep trying for either CBR, CSR or POFQ. CBR and CSR do not share buses with any other resort and and while they are large resorts, its just nice they don't share. POFQ is the first picked up when the Port Orleans resorts share. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE POR, however given your scenario with the scooter, think one of the other mods might have a slight edge with transportation. I stayed at POFQ during xmas week and was surprised that the two resorts shared most every day to every park. Coming home from the parks, we did often have our own bus. The time we went with my fil (from 12/31 to 1/7) we were at SSR and that was fine.

Also, you may want to consider renting a car. That way maybe your dh and your fil can use the car, the scooters do fit into a car trunk. The rest of you can take the bus. The cost of renting a van that would fit all of you would be high, a midsize would fit some of you and the scooter.


If you do end up at POR, just make sure you ask to stay near the first bus stop. If that request is not met, then simply walk to that stop anyway. That way when it gets to you, you will have a much better chance of all of you getting on.

It can be frustrating with the scooter in that the buses can only take two scooters at one time. So you may have to wait for the next bus if there are two or more scooters ahead of you. Which is why if you rely on WDW transportation, you need to always allow plenty of time, and be prepared to have your party split up on the buses. FIL got preboarding, however the rest of us always waited in the regular line. My dh usually went with him so that he was not alone. So sometimes the two of them got there ahead of the rest of us if the bus que was too crowded for all of us to get one. In reverse order, sometimes my dh and fil had to wait for the next bus since there was not enough room for another scooter but the rest of us could get on.

It just takes a little extra time but it can be done. I happen to think that time at WDW is just magical and very worth it. I say you will have a great time, regardless of which resort you stay at. It will make some great memories for your family. And do check out the DIS Abilities board, it has some great tips.

And make sure you request a handicapp room for your fil, POR Alligator Bayou rooms do not have elevators. For that matter CBR does not have elevators either.

Oh and frankly I don't think Swan Dolphin is that much better for transportation in that they share busses with BW and YC/BC so for MK and AK that can be a pain.

In all, I think CSR would be your best bet. The buildings have elevators, it doesn't share busses and its a fantastic resort. Keep trying, many people cancel. I would also try sites like Expedia and Hotels.com to see if they have rooms at another resort. Just keep calling CRO, sometimes they find things that are not on the WDW website. Good luck!

 

[Deb & Bill]

You know you'll only have double beds at POR, right?

 

[ggeorgiagirl]

YES, you are crazy for going at that time of the year...BUT AREN'T WE ALL CRAZY FOR WDW??!! You'll have fun! Great weather, good decorations...HAVE FUN!

One tip...get to the parks EARLY! When we went on Jan.1st...the park was at capacity at 10am