A few Scooter / ECV questions

[Brandis]

Next month, I'm going to visit WDW with my aunt and uncle. As she had knee surgery a few years ago, she cannot walk or stand for a long time. So I thought she might be most comfortable if we rent an ECV at the parks.

However renting one from an external provider would be less expensive, so we probably are doing that.

But this raises new questions for me. If we park in the regular parking lot, we probably couldn't use the tram, because of the scooter, could we ask to use the handicapped parking lot or would we then need some kind of ID? She has some kind of card from her doctor which says she has knee implants, but it's nothing official...

 

[Bete]

handicap license plates and handicap placards that hang from the window of the car. Maybe, her doctor could give her the okay for the equivalent in a placard style. Here, this doesn't take long to get or do.

If this isn't possible, then get a good doctor's note (on their letterhead) that will describe the temporary need for handicap parking and that could help you. Show it to the parking attendants and explain you are from Switzerland and it may help you.

Worse to worse, you may have to walk with your aunt to the entrance area of the parks and then she will have to possibly wait there on the scooter for a while. If your uncle can't handle this walking he will either have to get on the tram alone (which I wouldn't advise) or you will have to leave your aunt and go back to your car to get him. This is two trips for you.

If you are staying on Disney property you can use Disney transportation to get around to the parks and back to the resorts. The buses and such except scooters and wheelchairs. This may be your best option. You wouldn't have to drive.

Also, there may be a way you can drop your uncle and aunt off by handicap parking and let them wait there while you park in regular parking and walk to meet them again.

Others will have other suggestions that may be better.

 

[Brandis]

Thanks!

We are a party of 5 with 2 people using scooters. I don't mind the walking, so I will just walk with my aunt and the other person in the scooter and the two others can use the parking trams.

Oh, another question. We are staying at OKW in a Grand Villa, I think those are all located on the second and third floor of the building with mostly no elevators, so we would have to carry the scooters up and down each time for charging. Is there some place to charge scooters overnight at the ground floor of the buildings? Or could we park them somwere around the Hospitality House for charging overnight and just pick them up in the morning before going to the parks?

 

[Bete]

you can still use Disney transportation if you want to. All the buses have at least two spots for handicap vehicles. Sometimes you may have to wait for the next bus to be all together, but it's totally doable. You get the advantage of getting on the bus first. There are a lot of twists and turns at Disney and it can be quite confusing by car if you are not use to the place and getting back and forth to the parks. You can even end up out of Disney proper if you really get confused.

Not sure how OKW would handle the charging considering your situation. I'm not sure how many responses here will have that direct experience, either. Depending on your scooters you should be able to just take the battery alone to your room for charging. If the scooters are travel, portable ones you can charge without the scooter. This is better anyway; because, you don't have to get the scooter in and out as much; so, it's less work. If you need the scooter for the resort then you will have to get the scooter out all the time. Still at the end of the day you can have the scooter back in the car and just charge the battery each night.

 

[Brandis]

I don't like the Disney busses, and as I know the WDW street network pretty well it shouldn't be a problem getting around by car.

I'm leaning now towards the lighter travel version of the scooter where we only would need to take the battery pack for charging to the room. However, I'm a bit concerned about the smaller driving radius per charge.

Any idea if 14 miles would be enough for a full day at Epcot?

 

[Debbie Jean]

Thanks!

We are a party of 5 with 2 people using scooters. I don't mind the walking, so I will just walk with my aunt and the other person in the scooter and the two others can use the parking trams.

Oh, another question. We are staying at OKW in a Grand Villa, I think those are all located on the second and third floor of the building with mostly no elevators, so we would have to carry the scooters up and down each time for charging. Is there some place to charge scooters overnight at the ground floor of the buildings? Or could we park them somwere around the Hospitality House for charging overnight and just pick them up in the morning before going to the parks?

Call immediately and tell them you need to be in an elevator building because of the scooters! You don't want to leave them outside and for sure don't want to carry them upstairs!! I have always been given either a first floor room or an elevator building with my scooter... though I've never needed a grand villa. Since I imagine there aren't a lot that meet your needs, you should call NOW!

 

[Bete]

This is somewhat dependent on the user. Every chance you have to shut off the scooter you need to do so. For example, if you are watching a parade, the scooter should be off. If you are seeing a show the scooter should be off. If you are in a long ride queue the scooter should be shut off and started back up as necessay. Seeing fireworks is another time the scooter should be off. I think an important consideration on your end is not to use the scooter a lot at the resort before you are going to a park.

Of course, the length of your day at the parks will dictate the battery charge, too. I'm not sure the smaller scooters can last 12 hours or longer at a time on a single battery charge.

Finally, the weight of the person has to do with how long the battery will last, as well. If you are towards the maximum weight limit of the scooter's capacity this will reduce the battery charge. Adding weight to the scooter doesn't help, either. Camera bags, purses, bottled water and so forth can add up, too.

There are outlets in the park that can be used to give a boost to the battery say while you are eating a meal. These outlets can be tricky to find. No one really has a map of these outlets. Disney uses these outlets for their maintenance needs and so forth and they are not there specifically to charge someone's scooter, but scooter folk have used them in a pinch. You need to carry your battery charger to the parks to be able to do this.

If you follow the guidelines above I think you can get 8 to 10 hours on a single charge. There really are too many variables to give this an absolute answer.

 

[Brandis]

Thanks a lot!

 

[TyRy]

My dad used one of the smaller scooters last year that we rented offsite. It was the kind where you just needed to bring the battery in at night. He ran that thing all day, turned it off occasionally, but it was on more than off. The needle never even dropped out of the fully charged range. We forgot to plug the battery in one night, and it still showed almost a full charge. The scooter was also extremely easy to take apart and throw in the trunk when we would go to the parks. They would then have it back together in about 20 seconds (yep - we timed it.) We rented from Apple Scooters if that helps.

 

[Brandis]

That sounds very good! I'll go with the lighter version of the Apple scooter then.

 

[Brandi1leigh]

I also asked about this a couple of weeks ago and was told that you can also drop off the people on scooters at the park entrance or at the TTC for the Magic Kingdom. Then, you can go park the car. You would have to explain to the parking attendant what you were doing and why, but I was told it was pretty easy. This might be a better option, especially if you are worried about the scooters' battery lives. Rolling across the giant parking lot might waste unnecessary battery life.

Also if you are getting two scooters, make sure to get a vehicle that will hold two scooters and all the people on the trip. Even the small scooters take up room, so maybe someone with more experience than me could tell you a good car to rent.

 

[SueM in MN]

OKW has only 2 grand villas that are not entered on the 2nd floor. One of them is in building 48 and is entered om ground floor.
The other is in building 63, which is a building with an elevator. Both of those grand villas are handicapped accessible, with roll in showers. If someone required a roll in shower, one of those would be reserved and blocked for them.

All the other grand villas at OKW are entered on 2nd floor. If you have one of those, you could park the ECVs at the Hospitality House or Bell Services for charging. The easiest option may be to have the batteries which can be removed for charging.
You should do OK with 14 miles and could always bring the charger along with you so you can do some recharging while at lunch.

All the parks do have a drop off point - you just tell the CM at the entrnce and each CM directing traffic as you come to them. The drop off point for MK is the Ticket and Trandportation Center.

the is more information about parking in the disABILITIES FAQs thread, located near the top of this board or follow the link in my signature.

 

[peemagg]

Seeing as how you are using a car to get around, here is my suggestion. Just get and bring one of those fold up luggage carts and place the batteries on it to take back and forth to the room. Leave the scooters in the cars unless you need them at the resort.

 

[Brandis]

Thanks! Getting the batteries to the room shouldn't be a problem, they have a carrying grip.

 

[bedogged]

That sounds very good! I'll go with the lighter version of the Apple scooter then.

Just ask if the scooter has the AH 17 or AH 18 batteries? The new Go-Go scooters have these and they last ALL day without much battery loss.

 

[peemagg]

Thanks! Getting the batteries to the room shouldn't be a problem, they have a carrying grip.

You still might want the luggage carrier, since the batteries weigh close to 30lbs each. You never know how far you might need to carry them from your car to you room.

 

[EpcotQueen]

I have knee problems also. Recently had a knee replacement. Have rented scooters that last 2 times we were down and have one reserved for October. We are staying at OKW and told them we will either need ground floor room or a building with an elevator. We've tried to breakdown the scooter and it was a PAIN! We don't do that anymore. When we drive to the parks we tell them we have a scooter (no handicap card in the past). The folks in the parking lot direct us to parking spots near the entrance. My husband walks; it's not too far. BTW, I rent from Buena VIsta Scooters, their smallest. Ok for us to lift in and out of a van or SUV without dismantling. Hope this helps.

 

[TyRy]

Seeing as how you are using a car to get around, here is my suggestion. Just get and bring one of those fold up luggage carts and place the batteries on it to take back and forth to the room. Leave the scooters in the cars unless you need them at the resort.

We did something similar. We emptied our carry on luggage (on wheels) and just left that in the car to get the batter back and forth. Made is super easy.