Are ECV's always available in the parks?

[Ikaikalani]

We have a family member who may need to move to an ECV at some point during the day while we're at the parks. Are the ECVs most always available at the parks, or is a reservation required?

 

[Betty Rohrer]

We have a family member who may need to move to an ECV at some point during the day while we're at the parks. Are the ECVs most always available at the parks, or is a reservation required?

they are first come first served and the parks do run out. also at end of night park ECVs came not go out the gate to transportation. there is very little if any seating while waiting for transportation

 

[gap2368]

they do run out as the PP said wheelchair do not run out that I know of

 

[Lewisc]

Reservations are not accepted. First come first served.

 

[Evita_W]

In general, they have been running out much quicker lately, sometimes before the park's official opening, but usually about 30 minutes to an hour after park opening.

 

[ttintagel]

When I realized I was going to have to use an ECV instead of the manual wheelchair I had rented, the rental company was able to get the ECV to me the same day. If you do decide to take the chance and go without renting offsite in advance, I advise keeping the contact information of a rental company handy. They may be able to get you something more quickly than you would imagine.

 

[Bethctraveler]

Rent from off site company almost every day we were there the park was out.

 

[lockets]

I believe ECV are also more expensive at parks vs via a rental company. And they are way clunkier. Bigger with four wheels and harder to maneuver. I rented a three wheeler from Gold Mobility and zipped around everywhere and couldn’t recommend them more! The staff was wonderful and it was reasonably priced.

 

[Ikaikalani]

Thanks for your replies everyone!!! One thing we're up against: we wont know ahead of time if an ECV is needed. I believe my family member will start the day out on foot, but at some point may need assistance, so its hard to reserve ahead through an off site company.

 

[lockets]

maybe by the time they need it later in the day someone would be on their way out of the park and returning one? Fingers crossed!

 

[Betty Rohrer]

maybe by the time they need it later in the day someone would be on their way out of the park and returning one? Fingers crossed!

but it would not be fully charged plus your party member will not be able to use to get to transportation as it will have to be turned in before going out the gate and there is no seating while waiting

 

[Evita_W]

Thanks for your replies everyone!!! One thing we're up against: we wont know ahead of time if an ECV is needed. I believe my family member will start the day out on foot, but at some point may need assistance, so its hard to reserve ahead through an off site company.

I would suggest renting from an offsite company and trading off with other walkers in the party until they need it. It honestly would be better than the alternative of needing one and not being able to get it.

 

[jo-jo]

Does your family member use anything at home? Or are you just expecting weariness as day go on?

I would just rent one off site. I don't think anyone ends at day at disney saying, "boy , I'm disappointed I didn't get to walk more than 8 miles today". Most people are wishing they had a skate board , so they can be dragged out by those with the EVCs.

 

[Lewisc]

JMO People who think they might need a scooter will almost certainly need one. Your night will end with a long walk to your bus stop.

You're at thunder mountain. You need assistance. You send a family member to rent a scooter. They come back in 45 minutes with a wheelchair.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

Thanks for your replies everyone!!! One thing we're up against: we wont know ahead of time if an ECV is needed. I believe my family member will start the day out on foot, but at some point may need assistance, so its hard to reserve ahead through an off site company.

so at the end of night person got lucky and got an ECV later in the day but now as you leave park and long walk to bus or car ahead ECV has to be turned in before you go out the gate with few if any benches to sit rest. how are you going to get to car or bus. best plan is to have with you when needed as it is a long walk to front of park to get from anywhere in park. yes you can sometimes get replacement in middle of park but not a new rental

 

[lockets]

Previous posters have made a lot of good points here. In summary: "Better to have it and not need it, then to need it and not have it."

Perhaps present your family member with their options and let them decide?

I do think it's good to keep in mind that Animal Kingdom has a lot of hills and uneven pavement. Epcot is HUGE. Magic Kingdom also has some hills and is quite large from end to end especially diagonally. Hence Lewisc's mention about it taking 45 minutes just to get an ECV (from front of the park) while waiting at Thunder Mountain (the other end of the park). Hollywood studios is a long walk from end to end as well. So it's not only how much they will walk, but the fact that a lot of the parks either don't have even pavement, or flat ground or both. It can be a lot even for the most athletic honestly...

It will also be affected by the number of days you go. Maybe a half day at one park is fine, but park hopping for one day - or one-park-each-day for a couple of days is probably a lot when you think about door-to-door steps.

To give you an idea, our step counts for our recent trip to WDW ranged from 15K to 22K steps per day, per park.

 

[ninafeliz]

Thanks for your replies everyone!!! One thing we're up against: we wont know ahead of time if an ECV is needed. I believe my family member will start the day out on foot, but at some point may need assistance, so its hard to reserve ahead through an off site company.

My MIL injured her knee not long before our big July trip last year. She found she couldn’t keep up without something. The first day she had planned to rent an ECV we didn’t go early and they were out at the MK by 11:09 or so, so she rented a wheel chair for very cheap and my DH pushed her. The next day she got an ECV, and while it was fine it was slow and clunky, and she was incredibly tentative and unsure of herself driving it. So the rest of the trip on long park days she rented a wheelchair. My husband had no issues at all pushing her, she would often just park it with our stroller for rides or when we were staying in one area for a while, but she could have used it in the lines had we wanted to. She and my DH agreed it was much better than an ECV for her. She really didn’t need anything outside of the parks so we didn’t want to mess with one for busses, In our room, etc by renting one offsite. As a bonus it was much cheaper and there was no real worry of them running out.

 

[Groot]

No, not really, especially during the busy seasons.

There’s no worst feeling than sitting out front near the scooter rental waiting for one to become available. Especially when you want the freedom of moving around by yourself, but because of whatever reason (armrests are too high, no one to help push you, for example), you can’t use a manual wheelchair.

 

[lanejudy]

You are likely to end up spending as much if not more to rent in-park for a few half-days (no half-day rate) as you would for the full trip rented from off-site. I'd rent it, bring it to the park each day -- any adult in the party can drive it if the one family member prefers not to do so. Park it somewhere and walk for a while. I suggest parking it in a "land" while you do attractions in that area, then drive to the next "land" and park. No need to sit on it all day every day, but having it with you may help that family member make it further through the day before getting tired, instead of pushing themselves to keep going on foot and ending up exhausted.

 

[Starwind]

I would suggest renting from an offsite company and trading off with other walkers in the party until they need it. It honestly would be better than the alternative of needing one and not being able to get it.

Also, a strategy I often use is to use the ECV to drive from land to land, and then park it and walk the nearby rides, then back to the ECV and drive it to another area [even within the same land], park it and walk some nearby rides. How much walking I do depends on how I feel at the time - I may only walk 1 ride or I may do a few. On bad days, I ride the ECV through the ride line. It is a bit of a tricky guage because if you walk the line you need be be prepared that there could be a delay and the time in line could be longer than you expect, so I err on th side of caution. But on good days for me it is nice to be able to walk a line And I only committ to one line at a time - the ECV is always nicely parked nearby to go back to if needed.

Some rides I can't or don't do - like Space Mountain - but my sister does, so with the ECV I have a nice handy seat to sit on while waiting for her to ride, no need to try to find a bench or something else to sit on (which are in short supply).