Best and Worst DVC resorts for those using scooters?

[juliebee]

My husband and I have started talking about mobility changes as we get older, and we’re thinking ahead about the possibility of needing a scooter for navigating the parks in the distant future. If we were to rent a scooter, we’d likely need to take it from our room to the parks each day. Which WDW DVC resorts are considered the most convenient for transporting a scooter to and from the parks and easy to navigate at the resort?

Or is it just easier to rent a scooter at each park for the day if you can manage to walk to/from the transportation into the park?
I'm also thinking Duo studios would be out, as there wouldn't be space to bring the scooter into the room for the night. Is that correct?

 

[🍀TwinsMom]

I always rent DH a scooter from Buena Vista scooters. They have been excellent for the past six years of trips. I always get one that can handle 300+lbs with the sun shade and cup holder. He's 6'4", so we tend to go for the more deluxe one so he's not cramped. Our home resort is Riviera, and it's very scooter friendly. Riviera has pretty large hallways, and you can plug them in outside the room to charge, just bring the access key inside with you. The scooters hold a charge for a long time in our experience. Riviera's dedicated Skyliner station is nice; the CMs pull a gondola aside for separate boarding. As for buses, it's the same anywhere on WDW property. No issues, just a bit time consuming depending if it's post fireworks madness. We don't rope drop anymore, so someone else can speak to that.

The new Poly Island Tower (PIT) the hallways are narrow and you couldn't leave the scooter in the hallway for charging.

Animal Kingdom has wide hallways, as does VGF.

Really, the only issue I can think of is rain if you're at Riviera. DH was stranded at HS during a storm when Skyliner was shut down. No biggie, they just waited it out in a store, but if you wanted to get back home, you'd have to call Lyft Minnie Van to accommodate the scooter if you didn't want to wait in a huge line at BW/BC for the redirected buses.

 

[muppets3d]

I feel like you'd want to be at BLT/VGF (easy ride to MK), Riviera (for skyliner), or BCV/BWV (easy ride to EPCOT/Studios).

Of course depending on when you decide to visit the parks, a bus is no big deal. But many times I've been on a bus at SSR and the driver had to turn away a scooter rider because the bus was already accommodating as many scooters as it could.

So I would probably want to shy away from bus-only resorts if I was in a scooter, personally. But really, it's not a huge deal especially if you don't mind waiting for the next bus.

My MIL uses a scooter and she loves the skyliner.

Skyliner going down at Riviera is certainly a big issue that could make a Riviera stay a big pain. It happens a lot when it thunderstorms, which happens nearly every day in the summer of course.

 

[Genie+]

BW/BC are great because you have 2 parks where you don’t need to load/unload twice round trip. AND it’s not a bad walk for whoever joining along and not on a scooter. Bus to AK/MK.

Those are the winner.

Or stay at one of those as part of a monorail resort split stay. Some options there:

Half trip at BW/BC for EP/HS, half trip at BLT/VGF where you can walk to MK and bus AK.

Half trip at BW/BC for EP/HS, rest of trip at Poly where you can Ferry to MK, walk to EP monorail and bus AK.

 

[juliebee]

But many times I've been on a bus at SSR and the driver had to turn away a scooter rider because the bus was already accommodating as many scooters as it could.

Guessing that any resort with multiple bus stops would be an issue. So that is just SSR and OKW? Or does Animal Kingdom have multiple stops too?

How is the monorail for scooters?
Can the scooters go on any boats?

 

[muppets3d]

Guessing that any resort with multiple bus stops would be an issue. So that is just SSR and OKW? Or does Animal Kingdom have multiple stops too?

How is the monorail for scooters?
Can the scooters go on any boats?

The buses are shared between the two AKL resorts, so a similar thing can happen there where the buses cannot accommodate any more scooters and you have to wait for the next bus. But often in the mornings they run separate buses for Kidani and Jambo - at least to Animal Kingdom theme park, so this is not really as big of an issue there from what I've seen.

 

[🍀TwinsMom]

OKW, only a few buildings have elevators, so scooters could be a problem if you're not on a ground floor. The rooms are plenty big to store a scooter inside, but limited elevators is rough.

SS, there's elevators, but yeah, the internal bus loop and finding space could be tough. However, if you wanted to do DS, the path and friendship boats are very nice.

 

[fla4fun]

Guessing that any resort with multiple bus stops would be an issue. So that is just SSR and OKW? Or does Animal Kingdom have multiple stops too?

How is the monorail for scooters?
Can the scooters go on any boats?

They have portable ramps to allow scooters on the monorails.

Most boats accommodate scooters, but the boats like this do not.



These are primarily used by MK resorts and typically alternate with larger boats that are scooter friendly.

 

[juliebee]

They have portable ramps to allow scooters on the monorails.

Most boats accommodate scooters, but the boats like this do not.

These are primarily used by MK resorts and typically alternate with larger boats that are scooter friendly.

That makes sense. I couldn't remember if I'd seen scooters on the boats before. Appreciate the info!

 

[Genie+]

That makes sense. I couldn't remember if I'd seen scooters on the boats before. Appreciate the info!

For the resort boats around MK, operations depend on crowds. At minimum, every other resort boat is supposed to be able to take on scooters and wheelchairs. Those are the bigger boats. Busy weeks will mostly just use the bigger boats. Average crowds they might run only the bigger boats at park open and close, then alternate with the smaller boats during other hours.

I think this is similar at Crescent Lake too? We don’t have much experience there since we usually walk/scoot to HS/EP from there.

 

[CarolynFH]

I think this is similar at Crescent Lake too? We don’t have much experience there since we usually walk/scoot to HS/EP from there.

Crescent Lake has only the large Friendship Boats, so they all accept scooters and wheelchairs. The CM will place a ramp between the dock and the back deck, and on you scoot!

 

[KPeterso]

From our experiences.

If doing AKV, choose Kidani as it is the first pick up of the 2 resorts for the parks. Reverses for Disney Springs and picks up Jambo first. So if we stay at AKV with a scooter, it is always Kidani even though Jambo is the more wow resort to me. We did have a long wait for Disney Springs in 2024. The bus could not take us as the handicap spots were taken (totally fine with that). Said they were calling us another bus, but it was about 45 minutes before another came. Buses to all the parks came and went multiple times and 1 driver saw us a second time on his return trip, so I think he called again as he could not believe we were still waiting.

We like BWV and BCV for Epcot and Hollywood Studios, but had horrendous issues going to the other 2 parks from those resorts. Especially at BWV one morning when there were 6 scooters wanting to go to AK, so it took a long time to wait for a third bus to come. Had to wait multiple buses a couple times.

BLT - studio is so small we had issues finding a spot to park it to charge and there were only 2 of us. Had even worse bus luck there even with a cast member trying to keep track. There were so many people waiting for buses that it was always a multi bus wait and a huge mess with people practically charging the buses to get on. Utter chaos. One of many reasons we will not go back there. And then 2 different Epcot days, we had issues with the monorail being down when we got to the TTC and having to wait for buses there to get to Epcot. Hard pass on BLT for us.

CCV/BRV both worked for us with a scooter/wheelchair. As mentioned, only the bigger boats can take the scooters, but it can also somewhat depend on the water level. Sometimes we were first on or last on (and vice versa). Other times, they had everyone on the boat move to one side to get the side of the boat to better line up with the scooter so not too big a drop or lift for it (sorry - not explaining this well). We only had 1 bad bus experience at CCV in 2023 and that was for Disney Springs so the family member transferred and the wheelchair folded and held for the ride.

I did not have my scooter user at Riviera when I stayed there last year, but I think it would have worked pretty well for a scooter. Have not done SSR or OKW or VGF, so no experience. We did Poly a number of years ago and seem to remember it being ok or average (no standouts for bad experiences).

 

[juliebee]

It is disappointing to hear about the long waits for buses and frustrations that scooter users have. I hope things are made better and more accessible in the future. There are a lot of scooter users in the parks so I appreciate the knowledge shared here and hope others benefit from it too.

 

[Girlstar30]

I think i saw that one of the scooter rental places has a discount for dvc members in the members extras its either Buena Vista or scooter bug or possibly both, I dont remember, I think it was 10% but renting it ahead would def be cheaper, I would call to inquire!

I heard that okw doesnt have elevators and youre not guaranteed a handicapped room so I would be worried to stay there with a scooter although from what ive heard they are very good at accomodating!

 

[smrice95]

I have rented for the past few years for my mom on our trips. As others have stated, there are some quirks, but much cheaper to rent and keep at hotel then daily rentals at park. Plus, there is a change the park ones could all be rented when you get there.

SS - recommend staying at Grandstand since it is the first stop. If you are going into the parks early evening, then there could be other scooters on there returning home, but we never had that issue. Plus the scooter was nice when we would go to DS and walk over.
OKW - we asked for a first floor room because my mom was afraid of leaving it outside even though many do. There is plenty of space under stairwells.

Hallways - all other hotels we have been to have many scooters in the hallway. Thank you for the info about PIT as we have not done that hotel yet.

 

[Judique]

I think i saw that one of the scooter rental places has a discount for dvc members in the members extras its either Buena Vista or scooter bug or possibly both, I dont remember, I think it was 10% but renting it ahead would def be cheaper, I would call to inquire!

I heard that okw doesnt have elevators and youre not guaranteed a handicapped room so I would be worried to stay there with a scooter although from what ive heard they are very good at accomodating!

OKW has several buildings with elevators - maybe 61, 62, 63 or something like that.

 

[Girlstar30]

OKW has several buildings with elevators - maybe 61, 62, 63 or something like that.

Oh I didnt realize! I guess my concern then would be if I had mobility issues that I wouldnt be guaranteed to get one of those buildings

 

[Judique]

Oh I didnt realize! I guess my concern then would be if I had mobility issues that I wouldnt be guaranteed to get one of those buildings

Understandable, but handicapped accessible can be booked so for those that need it if it's available it can be booked. And, of course if it's not booked and just requested, it would not be a guarantee.

I've considered a scooter a few times recently and have come to the conclusion if I go into a park and find I really need it because I can't stay upright to do the walking, I'll check on renting there, at least for that day. Usually I can do okay but since my summer back episode, I'm well aware that one day I can walk 2-3 miles and next day I may need help just getting out of bed in the morning, plus the pain!

I've gone to 3 parks in a day at times. But I rarely stay longer than a couple of hours.