2 ECVs and MS?

[dawnball]

I'm evaluating a trip to WDW with my MIL and her mother. They will probably each have an ECV, although there's a chance that they'll primarily share an ECV and occasionally rent a second one from Disney. I'm eyeing early-mid December to take advantage of cool temperatures and low crowds.

The largest vehicle we have is a subaru outback. Could we fit 2 rental ECVs in it? Can we fit 2 ECVs in a single onsite hotel room and still have room to move around?

Neither MIL nor Grammy has ever used an ECV enough to be comfortable driving one. Since we'll mostly be visiting the Magic Kingdom (with my 3-year old DD), I'm thinking that it might make the most sense to stay at the Contemporary, even though it's more expensive - it would mean a lot less hassle getting around. We'd still have to take the bus to AK, but could just drive the ECVs/take the monorail to MK and Epcot. I suppose that's true of any of the monorail resorts. How much more difficult would it be (in terms of difficulty manuvering the ECVs) if we stayed at Fort Wilderness? I don't have any practical experience with the boats there and ECVs.

MIL has MS which is progressing faster than the doctors had hoped. This is her first real vacation since her symptoms started - does anyone have suggestions for other ways we could make this trip easier for her? I thought that Dec would be cooler, and the crowds should be very low. She gets very stiff overnight, so it takes a long time for her to be ready to go.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

If you are in the deluxe hotels, especially the ones on the monorail, there should be no problem in putting two ECVs in one room. If you are in one of the smaller room hotels and you have two rooms there should be no problemn in puttin one in each room.

I am not familiar with the Outback. The two big questions are how much space is available behind the back seat and also can someone in your group lift up a 40 pound weight (which is the approximate weight of the heaviest part) to put the peices in the back.

Some big box stores, such as Target and WalMart, as well as some large grocery stores have ECVs for customers to use. They can practice with these; just be aware that the store ones are about twice the size as the off-site rentals and usually have four wheels instead of three and are much harder to maneuver.

You might want to look at the "disABILTIES FAQ" for more information.

 

[dawnball]

I can lift the ECVs without much of a problem, although manhandling 2 of them several times a day would be tiring, and I expect the trip in general to be more tiring for me than our average trips. Especially since I'll be the only one capable of disassembling or assembling either ECV.

The trunk is 42" wide between the wheel wells (47" wide at the widest point) and 44" deep. I have 30" of height too, but my impression is that height isn't too relevant. I just haven't been able to find information on the size of the pieces that an ECV breaks down into.