ECV Questions at hotel and getting in a car?

[lovingthemouse]

My friend will be renting an ECV for our trip, and I have a few questions to ask.
1. Will the ECV - 22" wide, fit through the Dolphin doorway?
2. How challenging will it be for me to disassemble and put in a mid-size rental car.
3. Rather than using her walker to go through the parks, she will have the ECV for comfort and convenience. Are they difficult to manuever on the buses, monorails and boats?

Thank you so much. I want this trip to be so much fun for both of us, and having these questions answered will surely help me too.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Hi and to disABILITIES!

All doorways between a room and a hallway are 36 inches wide, no nothing special is needed. This is true at the Swolphin as well as every Disney Owned and Operated Resort.

If you click on where it says "disABILTIES" at the top of this page it will take you to the Index. One of the top items is the "disABILTIES FAQ" which will gives lots of useful information. Post #5 deals with ECVs and cars.

Or, if you want an easier route to the FAQs, click on the link in my signature.

Most of the off-site vendors will provide a sheet which shows how to disassemble and reqassemble an ECV. If you rent from Randy's the will only deliver directly to you after arrival (instead of to the Bell Desk before arrival) and will actually demonstrate the disassembly and reassembly.

 

[pbrim]

1. You should have no problem fitting through any standard doorway

2. I was able to breakdown and load my ECV myself in a Hyundai Sonnata. However, don't expect to fit much else in the trunk. Tell the company you are renting from that you will be taking it by car and they will make sure you have the kind designed for easy breakdown. Also make sure you are able to charge the batteries by themselves while not installed. That way if you want you can leave most if the ECV in the car over night and just carry in the batteries to be charged. You may also want to ask avout a walker rack on the ECV. That way your friend can take her walker with her. In some cases such as in shops, it may be easier to leave the ECV in stroller parking and use her walker for a bit.

3. I had a few peoblems loading on busses at first, but it got easier. When I last went, most busses had a lift you had to back on. I think most busses now "kneel" so you can drive straight on, which would be easier. The monrails are the easiest. I haven't tried the boats. I understand some smaller boats are not accessable and on others it depends on how high the water is in the lake (which affects the angle of the loading ramp).

 

[Bete]

then there will be challenges. Your friend should practice at home on the free ones in the stores like WalMart, Target and the grocery chains. It's not a perfect scenario, but it helps to do it. Even renting one for a day at the local zoo is helpful.

Disney is hard with an ECV. The bus is the worse. With getting on you need to be straight. You have to fit in a tight space and your have to twist and turn to get into position on the bus with the scooter. The driver is not required to help in any way on this count. The bigger the scooter the harder it is to get on the bus. Sometimes, we have done it for someone; because, they just don't have it to do these manuevers on the bus. Many say it's easier with a three wheel scooter for the buses. Some even put it into manual overdrive and push it into place on the bus rather than drive it, but it's heavy to move on your own. The monorails are the easiest I would say to go on and off, but you need to be in the compartment that uses a ramp to get on it. This requires a cast member. The boats uses a ramp, too. Not all boats take scooters; be aware.

There are travel scooters that are designed to breakdown easily and fit into car trunks. Worse scenario you might have to put a piece in the back seat of the car. It's usual for them to break down into 5 pieces or so. On travel scooters you can expect the heaviest piece to be around 35 pounds. The base is awkward to handle (pretty long) and heavy and so is the battery heavy. The smaller scooters use one battery while the larger ones use two. You need to charge it up everyday especially the one battery scooter. It's also a good idea to have the charger in the parks with you. There are places where you could get a charge in the parks just in case you run out of juice. Remember you can push it in manual overdrive if necessary. All of this is a reason why some bite the bullet and pay more for a scooter at the park; so, they don't have to deal with the buses or car with a scooter. You can always go to a local medical supply store that sells travel scooters and they will let you ride on one as a demo and they will show you how to dissasemble it into and out of a car. We did this our first time.

Be prepared for tight ride queues and such where you have to turn a lot and there are some parts that are tricky this way. Reverse is difficult for some and you may have to serve as a roadblock if it comes into play. Also, people will ignore the scooter and dart out in front of you; so, you need to be prepared for all of this. Don't go off any curbs. You need to use the same sidewalk ramps that the wheelchair uses. Near the castle at MK is probably the worse for this aspect.

This is not a piece of cake and there will be frustrations especially if it is the first time for it. Help the person to be aware of obstacles and guide them through the difficult parts. Don't be harsh with them. Try it yourself; so, you know how it works.

Regardless of the above, it's still more help to have a scooter than not to do it if you need one.

 

[lawblond7]

If you get one where the seat removes and the battery removes it will easily fit into a trunk. We rented one (we just got back yesterday from GKTW) and putting it together was easy - sometimes I had a hard time finding the niche to lift it up but we did it - sometimes just took several times. Granted we had a yukon that was rented for us, BUT I also had to get a wheelchair into the back and both fit with no problems.

 

[peemagg]

I just spent the last week getting my scooter in and out a Mustang convertible trunk. This was quite a jigsaw puzzle, but as long as we put the seat in the back seat of the car, the rest of the scooter fit in the trunk although tight.

To help with taking my battery to the room every night, we took along a folding luggage carrier to carry the battery back and forth. Saved the back.

 

[Bete]

To help with taking my battery to the room every night, we took along a folding luggage carrier to carry the battery back and forth. Saved the back.

That's a good idea.

 

[lovingthemouse]

Thank you all so much. She is familiar and has driven ECV's before- though not an expert. Through suggestions by others, we are renting from Walker's - their smaller ECV.
The in and out of the car will be minimal since we are at the Dolphin, but if we want to go off property, then I will learn fast!!! She can't lift very much.Trust me, if we have any other questions, we'll be back. Caroline

 

[klmall]

All these comments are very helpful to me too, who is planning a trip with my DH a first time ECV user! Thank you everyone so very much!!!