ECV on Monorail

[gtg1026]

A few years ago my mom rented an ECV from an outside company for our disney trip. It really made the trip more enjoyable for her. We are going again at the end of April. She gets around much better now than she did then but is considering getting one again. Here the issue. She hated getting the ECV on and off of the busses. This time we are staying at the Contemporary Resort in the Tower. Does anyone know what the process is for boarding the Monorail with the ECV? Can she just drive it on or will she need to manuver it into a space like she did on the Busses?

Thanks for any information!

 

[arminnie]

Much easier - just drive on and drive off. Although you generally do need to back off if you have boarded going forward. I'm not sure if that is true for every station though.

Generally when you board they ask you where you are getting off so someone will be ready to position the ramp right away at your stop.

 

[yorkshiregirl]

They come and position a ramp for you and allow you all the time you need to get it positioned. It was mostly drive on and drive off forwards but once or twice DH had to reverse up the ramp. He got the hang of it quite quickly as it was his first time using them last trip.

 

[mrmagicmph]

Just one word of caution. When I was using an ECV on the MK-TTC loop, a "helpful" but VERY impatient CM decided that, after the person in the wheelchair who was in the same car with me got off, & I had started to back out (I was against the far wall, so had to back all the way back), he was going to reposition the ramp. Unfortunately, I wasn't still looking back that way (I was turned forward for a moment to make sure that I didn't catch the front wheel on the pole). I ended up almost tipping over as one rear wheel was fully on the ramp and the other one was unfortunately not.

Moral of this story? If you're with someone when you're driving an ECV, ask them to LET YOU KNOW if the ramp is being moved as you back up, or ask them to make sure the CM's don't move the ramp while you're backing up! Always remember, it's better to arrive with YOU on the ECV than it is to arrive with the ECV on YOU!

Enjoy the Magic!

 

[SueM in MN]

Getting on and off at MK and the TTC, there is a long ramp to get to and from ground level to the monorail station. At Epcot, there is an elevator and at the resorts, you can take the elevator to the floor where you board the monorail.

 

[gtg1026]

Thanks everyone. My mom ordered the ECV today. This information made her feel much better about getting around.