ECV Info & Experiences Please!!

[KatGarcia]

I am planning a day trip this year for F&W and am going with someone who is fairly big. He has back problems and can't walk much. He is reluctant to get an ECV but I know he'd be happier if he did....so help me convince him that it will be ok.

Tell me your experiences and pros and cons!

Thanks Dis-ers!

 

[SueM in MN]

I don’t have much time since I didn’t get to this until late, so I will suggest these recent threads might be helpful for you.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2766812

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2766831

Also, visit post 2 of the disABILITIES FAQs thread, which is about renting ECVs and wheelchairs. You can find that thread near the top of this board, or follow the link in my signature to get there.

For the convincing part, I have 2 suggestions.
One is to pick out a place that he knows well that is about 2 miles from your house and ask if he could walk there.
He’s likely to say no and look at you like you have 2 heads.

If he says he could, ask him if he could walk there and back. I can pretty much guarantee that he will say no to that, but if he doesn’t, then ask if he could do that every day in a row for the number of days you plan to be in the parks.

There and back would be 4 miles.
The distance to walk from the park entrance at Epcot to the entrance area to WS is over a mile. The distance around WS lagoon just walking on the main paths is 1.0 to 1.1 miles, depending on how close you are to the water (staying very close to the water is a shorter circle).
If you go to see Soarin’, your walk in the queue will be 1/4 mile and after you are done, another 1/4 mile to get back out to the ride entrance again. and that doesn’t include walking the steep hill to get into the building in the first place.

Estimates of the distance people walk in a day at WDW range from 3 miles to 9 or even 12. The average is probably at least 6.
And, most of the resorts are large, so it is easy to walk 1/2 mile before even leaving your resort.

The second thing to think about is my FIL. He had bad knees and hips, but toughed it out. He thought about renting an ECV every year for a number of years, but just didn’t do it. We watched him in pain and not able to walk far enough into the park to do many of the things he wanted to do. He finally rented one at Epcot one year and said he wished he had done it sooner because he saw more in that one day than he had in his last 5 years of “walk a little, sit a little, walk a little, sit a little” and go home in pain by late afternoon. He also said it was the first time in years that he had not ended a day in pain.

 

[KPeveler]

I don't have time for a long post, but something I always try to remind people is that there is a difference between "surviving" disney and "enjoying" disney!

How much money would that person be spending on disney just to be in pain all the time? Vacation is not a contest - you don't get extra points for "toughing it out!"

 

[Bete]

Go to a local zoo or museum and see how he does for a day walking. He may manage, but he may have to have a lot of rest stops which takes away from true park time. See how it goes. If it's really bad he'll cave without even discussing it. At most zoos you can get a scooter; so, he could see how it is there; so, he'll be more prepared at Disney. Sometimes after an hour or so with walking the person is ready for a scooter. I would say a day at the zoo or a museum is still much easier than a day at Disney. Infact, you may want to try just a larger enclosed shopping mall and see how he does there first. If he passes the mall test then you go on to the zoo.

You can always rent a scooter at the Disney park once you get there for a day if he's stubborn about it. You get them at stroller rentals in each park. It is first come, first serve for the park scooters and there is not an unlimited supply of them. You do pay more at the parks, but it might be easier that way for you and then you don't deal with the buses and loading a scooter, nor do you need to battery charge the scooter every night. If you rent offsite it's much cheaper, but make sure you have a sturdy scooter to hold his weight. The smaller scooters are the cheapest, but there are weight limits for the scooters and they can be a tight fit depending on the size of the person. You can probably get a scooter rental once you are there from an outside source depending on when you are going if he won't do it ahead of time.

My hubby never resisted and it made his time there so much more enjoyable. He could last longer and that made it worthwhile. There's no sense in suffering or even injurying yourself. He will be so suprised on how well he can do and last with a scooter. To me it's like doubling your pleasure time there with a scooter; because, you can last so much longer and most important without pain or injury. It's well worth the cost.

 

[GrammyJudy]

If you are planning just a day trip rent one at the park..get there early and you will surely get one. Tell him not to try to walk. Epcot does have an incline and it is a lot of walking.

 

[KatGarcia]

Thanks so much to everyone for posting, I knew I could count on the DIS-ers to help!

We are only planning a day trip for food & Wine, as im only about 45 min away. He wont generally go to any amusement parks or anything because of his his health and back issues. Knowing that Disney has the ECV option I really want to convince him because I know he's have a great time.

We are hopefully planning a quickie trip up to DTD soon so thats a decent test run of how things can be in WDW so that may help convince him.

I get that he's embarassed about the ECV idea but knowing it would save him paina dn suffering and have him be able to enjoy himself is worth it to me, now I just need to convince him!

Again thanks everyone!!!!

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Please ask the following questions. Here are the suggested answers to go with them.

1. Are you disabled (even temporarily)? Yes.

2. Do the people you are traveling with, such as your family, know you are disabled? Yes.

3. Do you expect to meet anyone you know during this trip who may not know you are disabled. Probably No!

4. Do you expect to meet a bunch of people who you will probably never meet again in your life? Probably yes!

5. Is there any reason at all that you should care what these people think about you? Absolutely No!!

6. Will using a wheelchair or ECV make for a better vacation for you and your family? Absolutely YES!

 

[GrammyJudy]

Also tell him he can park it sometimes and walk. And you might try the guilt trick that it will make your day so much better not worrying about him. My last trip without an ECV was in 2005 and one day we were in Epcot on my DD bday and we had dinner at San Angel Inn and I could not walk back to the exit without sitting on every bench along the way. After that it was an ECV for me. I rented at the park 2 years and then last year rented from Apple for the whole week and loved that.