Best Hotel for Scooter and person with BAD knees!

[skellinton]

Hello,
My mother and aunt will be traveling to WDW and we were wondering which hotel would you recommend for my aunt who has to use a scooter and my mother who has very bad knees but won't use a scooter. We just returned from a trip where we stayed at the Pop and the walk to and from the buses then to the park entrances would be just about undo-able for my mother. We were looking at upgrading them to the Contemporary but they are booked.
Any suggestions for which hotel has the best transport for someone who can't do a lot of walking and someone in a scooter?

Thanks!

 

[mickeymaker2003]

If your mom has trouble walking to and from the park bus to the entrance, how is she going to be able to handle walking through the whole park? It is often posted here that people walk 6 or more miles daily at WDW.

Renting one from off-site places will allow you to have the scooter with her all the times, but she would have to deal with it on the busses. If she rents at the park (which is more expensive) she would only be able to use it within each park and would need to return it at the gate and try to get another one at the next park if you park hop.

I would encourage your mom to go to Target or Walmart or another local store and practice using their scooters so she is more comfortable with them if she finds there is too much walking for her.

 

[SueM in MN]

I agree with the other poster. Someone who is worried about walking around to the bus stops at the resort is going to have problems at WDW.
I would strongly suggest she also rent an ECV.

As for resorts, any of the Epcot area resorts would be good. You can take the boats to both Epcot and the Studios.

 

[skellinton]

My mother isn't worried about the walking, my brother and I are worried for her. The Pop consistently had the stop the furthest from the entrance and it is a loooong walk at the end of the day. While in the park there is so much stopping and riding it isn't as bad. At the end of each day the walk to the bus
almost seemed 10 miles long to me, but inside the park I didn't notice the walking at all.
Any specific resorts seem better than others for buses (that was another problem with the Pop it was so crowded we often had to wait for 2 or 3 buses to get home- while other resorts had no lines at all).
Thanks!

 

[NotUrsula]

Swan. The bus stop is quite close to the building, and the building itself is small and tall. As long as you request a room near the elevators, the only really long walk is to the themed pool (there is a lap pool on the Swan side of the complex.)

I agree that your Mom probably will need a scooter in the park itself if she can't manage the walk to/from the bus stops, but if she rents inside the park, she does have this part of the walk to deal with.

 

[SueM in MN]

My mother isn't worried about the walking, my brother and I are worried for her. The Pop consistently had the stop the furthest from the entrance and it is a loooong walk at the end of the day. While in the park there is so much stopping and riding it isn't as bad. At the end of each day the walk to the bus
almost seemed 10 miles long to me, but inside the park I didn't notice the walking at all.
Any specific resorts seem better than others for buses (that was another problem with the Pop it was so crowded we often had to wait for 2 or 3 buses to get home- while other resorts had no lines at all).
Thanks!

One thing to keep in mind is that the bus locations at the parks change periodically. So, the farthest bus from the entrance on one trip may not be the farthest at every park or on every trip.

Pop is a large resort with many guests, so their buses are going to be very busy. It seems to me that their lines are long, but they often have more buses sent to that stop than many other resorts
Any park leaving at the end of the day will be busy and you could wait for 2-3 buses. So, you can choose to wait 2-3 buses at the bus stop or make your way more slowly out of the park and wait inside the park.

 

[Bete]

Do you have a preferred room location at POP, right now? For $15/day you get to have a resort room closer to the lobby, food court and buses. Generally, this means you are in the 50s or 70s buildings. This is not a complete answer, but it does help to a degree.

You can get a wheelchair rental for the resort and parks. This does not have to be used all day, either. This way you can have your mom sit in the wheelchair for the bus travel and getting back and forth from the parks. Of course, this means someone will have to push it. Most park stroller rental locations (who rent the scooters, too in the park) will allow you to leave your wheelchair there at the beginning of the day and pick it up when you are ready to leave. Just make sure you get a receipt. If you want to keep the wheelchair with you your mom can use it as a walker (stand behind it) and not ride on it all the time. These options are cheaper and better than upgrading to a deluxe resort.

If your mom fears using a scooter have her practice at her local stores for free. You can even go to a local zoo for a day and get good practice that way with a scooter. I agree with the other posters that it would be better with bad knees to use a scooter. You, yourself can get the scooter on and off the buses (hardest part for most people) for her. You can rent at the parks (for more money) and then you don't have to deal with the scooter for the buses. Your mom will still have to walk at the beginning and end of the day to the buses, but it should be better and easier if she has used a scooter all day at the parks. Keep in mind using a scooter all day at the parks will probably give you a longer day and a better, faster day. You will likely move faster and get to more attractions and so forth. Just help your mom with the scooter. You may have to park it for her or go through a ride queue with it while your mom walks depending on how mush she can handle twists and turns and reversing.

The monorail resorts help to a degree, but it can still be a long trek from your room to the monorail; the difference is you are inside the resort, but you still may have to walk a long way to get to the monorail. Exiting the parks you have to go up steep ramps to get to the monorails; afterall, they are elevated. Also, the monorails only help with 2 parks, not 4. Contemporary is not the only resort with monorails. You can look into The Polynesian and Grand Floridian if you are really set on it.

 

[sjs314]

Hello,
My mother and aunt will be traveling to WDW and we were wondering which hotel would you recommend for my aunt who has to use a scooter and my mother who has very bad knees but won't use a scooter. We just returned from a trip where we stayed at the Pop and the walk to and from the buses then to the park entrances would be just about undo-able for my mother. We were looking at upgrading them to the Contemporary but they are booked.
Any suggestions for which hotel has the best transport for someone who can't do a lot of walking and someone in a scooter?

Thanks!

Due to back and knee problems I am most likely going to rent an ECV for my upcoming trip. My biggest concern is the buses so I did book the Contemporary but as pp mentioned the Poly or GF also are on the monorail line. While it is true that the monorail only serves MK and Epcot, if you have park hoppers you can take the monorail to Epcot then exit thru the Int'l Gateway and either take the Friendship boat or use the walking path to DHS, which is what I plan on doing in March.
Any of the Epcot resorts would be good since you can ride your ECV to Epcot & DHS or use the boat. You could also take the Epcot monorail to the TTC and then get the monorail to MK to avoid the buses.
Visiting AK and DTD leave no options other than the buses I plan on skipping AK this trip as it is not my favorite of parks, not sure about DTD yet.

 

[I Love Pluto]

We find that the Value resorts are the most scooter friendly. There are no obstacles. There are concrete pathways to easily navigate the resort.

The doors to the main building open as you walk up to them. They remain open for a long time, so that you can actually get through them. You never have to worry about getting stuck in the door (this actually happened to me at a mod).

The food courts are large and easily accessible. The general walkway space just feels larger than in the mods. There are no wooden bridges nor cobblestone walkways to deal with.

I particularly like Pop for my scooter.