ECV rental

[WhiteRose39]

Has anyone ever done this?

Let's say I need to rent an ECV for the day at one of the parks, but want to leave the park for dinner, and then come back to the same park - can I leave the ECV at the rental location and then come back and get it after dinner?

I don't want to rent an ECV for the week from a rental company because then I have the hassles of putting it on the busses, boats, etc. I can walk - it is just painful from plantar fasciitis. I just want to rent it while in the park. But one of the days we had wanted to leave the park (epcot) and come back.

Anyone know?

Patty

 

[Cheshire Figment]

If you rent an ECV from Disney at one park, when you leave you will get your key deposit back. If you return to that same park, or go to a different park, on the same day all you need to do is show your receipt from that day and pay another (refundable) key deposit.

There are two potential problems with this. One is they will not hold an ECV for someone when it is turned in. The other is that when you return there may not be any ECVs available.

Actually, it is fairly simple to use Disney transportation with an ECV. Some of the Resorts the corridors are very long. And the off-site rentals tend to be much better than Disney's and much lower pricing.

One other thing to consider is basically a person has a certain amount of energy available to them daily. If they relax during the day the amount of energy available will increase; when they sleep at night they recharge their system,

However, when in pain energy is used up much faster than in normal conditions. If you become exhausted, with by what you have done or, more importantly, what you have done while in pain your system will not recharge to the original energy level overnight and you are starting the next day with a lower amount of energy available.

I would suggest going over to the disABILITIES Forum. One of the first threads is the disABILITIES FAQs. On Post #2 we have a lot of information for people with mobility and/or stamina problems and detailed information about wheelchairts and ECVs. To get directly to the disABILITIES FAQs from here just click on the link in my signature.

 

[Amy&Dan]

I agree with everything said above.

We have done WDW with my fil and his ECCV. It was not a pain and it was much cheaper to rent from there, than at the parks. We just couldn't risk not having a scooter for him once we got there. We used Randy's Mobility with wonderful results. So easy!

And Epcot is the park where they run out the quickest since its so large and popular with older people who want to see the WS. AK is another one where they run out, esp on hot days.

 

[WhiteRose39]

How far ahead do you need to schedule an ECV at a rental company?

 

[Brian_WDW74]

I've moved this thread to the disABILITIES! board.

 

[Amy&Dan]

I was able to get mine about two weeks before I think. My fil had thought he wouldn't need one and then right before the trip he realized that he did. They delivered it and picked it up right to our resort. It was really nice he had it, Disney resorts, even the one building set ups like WL are big resorts with a lot of walking. He probably wouldn't have been able to go to the pool or go back and forth the food court when he wanted had he not had that scooter.

I am sure there is a link with websites where you could check out prices and availablity.

I'll also add its time consuming to deal with this at the park each day, sometimes more than once.

 

[Debbie-TN]

My cousin uses Walker Mobility and have had very good service from them. One time we actually went to their office because we had a rental car and wanted to make sure we could take it apart and put it in the trunk. They had a very large room full of ECV's, which I'm sure was because when someone needs a replacement they can have one ready quickly. They may be able to get one to you when you get there if you're undecided. You could call and ask if a reservation has to be made in advance.

 

[JudithM]

I highly recommend Walker Mobility. I have been using them for several years and used them again at the beginning of this month. The ECV has always been at the hotel when we arrive.

I looked at the cost of renting an ECV at WDW. WOW! The price has gone up. Renting from Walker was well worth it!

I rode the WDW buses, boats and monorails with the ECV and had no problems.

 

[peemagg]

One thing about renting a ECV from Disney is if you rent one for the day and turn it in to go and get dinner, it then goes back up for anyone else to rent. There is no guarantee that there would be one for you when you return. They do not hold or reserve ECV's. The only way to guarantee that you have one when you return is to rent from off site.

 

[twinkable]

We used a rental service last summer when we were there. I'm not sure which vendor my boyfriend contacted but he rented me a 3-wheel Go-Go Elite Traveler. We're the sort of people who want to go when we want to, not when the bus comes - it broke down into five pieces that easily fit in the trunk of the car. A big plus was that only the battery needed to be taken inside at night for recharging. It was easy and quick to assemble, had plenty of get-up-and-go and was super easy to manuever! If I were you, I'd definitely think about renting one of these instead of the $45 per day Disney ECVs.

P.S. I loved it so much that when my settlement came in from my accident, I bought one. If I remember correctly it was only about $1000. I have not regretted it for a moment.

Have fun on your trip!

 

[peemagg]

That is exactly how I feel about my scooter "Scoots". It is such a nice little scooter and I can even handle lifting it by only taking the battery and seat off by my self and place it in the back of the van. If I have someone else with me, we can lift it in whole.

 

[AlexDurrani]

Many of the buses are easy to use with an ECV. I have been renting offsite for the last 3 trips I have taken to the world and have not had a lot of trouble. Disney Transportation policy is that it will load Wheelchairs and ECVs first and then the ambulatory guests (for those that don't know the term, people that can walk on their own). The only resort that I had ever had problems with was All-Star resorts. They share buses between the three of them and the buses usually have passengers already on board. I've been denied bording for the simple reason that there were people sitting on the benches that fold up for the ECVs.

Ok off my soap box. I've never used Walker but the company I use is very reliable. They addressed my concerns regarding the handle bars on the ECV i rented last time being too angled for me. They adjusted them for me. made my life easier.

hopping between parks and having a receipt showing you rented an ECV from one park definitely doesn't guarantee a ECV at another park or even in the same park later on.