Our
Scooter from Brevard medical was waiting for us at the port and we received the key at check-in. So far so good, but I am afraid things went down hill after that.
We were not in a handicap room so neither the scooter nor the wheelchair would fit in the cabin. It wasnt a big deal as my grandmother and aunt can both walk short distances. We did fold up the wheelchair and stored it inside and the scooter was parked down the hall where there was also a plug.
We explored the ship and went to the Opening Variety show. We had dinner at 8:30 so we had an hour to explore. My grandmother and I separated from my aunt and we went our own way. We were to meet at Animators Pallet for dinner. While in line I ran into FairyGodmother, a fellow disboard member. My aunt had sent her to get me. She had made it off the elevator but her scooter had died. We pushed it to the wall where luckily there was a plug. I thought maybe it had not been fully charged. After dinner we made it to the room fine. She plugged in it and we forgot about it.
Sunday was Key West Day. We woke up early and went to Topsiders for breakfast. On the way back the scooter stated to die again. So we plugged it in again. We went for a swim and then went to lunch. After lunch we headed back to the room to get changed to go ashore. Since there is only room in the elevator for one, we always get separated. My aunt took forever getting back to the room. It turns out that the scooter started to smell like burnt rubber and it died down the hall, all the way forward and we were aft. We pushed it down the hall to our room.
First we called Brevard and left a message. When they called back they said that they were sorry for our situation but there was nothing they could do. The guy said that he knew that they were having problems with it, but though it had been fixed. Obviously not! She called Disney and explained our situation and even though they were not responsible they send a mechanic to look at it. And two hours later it was fixed. It was the brake. It was overheating and draining all the power.
I was worried about the scooter dying, but my aunt really wanted to go to Key West. It was a beautiful day although windy. We went to Duval street and got about 6 blocks away from the ship when the scooter started to go slow. We immediately turned around but only made it half a block before it was totally dead. My aunt pushed my grandmother and I pushed the scooter. I made it to the bridge back to the main strip where two boys from our ship helped me push it over the hill. Then I went ahead with my grandmother to see if anyone from the ship could help. No one from the gangway seemed to want to go help retrieve the scooter. Luckily another passenger also from the Magic pushed it back for my Aunt who was trying to do it herself. We left the scooter there at the gangway. Disney again tried to fix it. And it worked two more days before we gave up on it. We just kept plugging it in. We had Disney take it away and my aunt spent a majority of her time in the cabin. She had hurt her knee trying to push it back to the ship.
The scooter dying totally ruined her trip although we still made trips to the pool and to the shows and to dinner. She just had to stop and rest a lot. Disney even gave us a wheelchair, but there was only me to push.
Our cabin Stewart Daniel, was wonderful. He always made sure she had ice and one day even went got her bratwurst from deck 9 one day. Not being able to explore Key West and Mexico which she wanted to do was bad, but she relaxed in our room. Luckily we had a verandah so she could see outside.
Having a scooter was wonderful the day it worked. I think our trip would have gone very smoothly. We never had a problem getting around. The scooter fit everywhere we wanted to go. There was a wait for elevators, especially since we needed two. But we always got in eventually. I am hoping that it was just our luck with the scooter. They seemed apologetic and said they would refund the money, but it took two calls for them actually to do it. I think we may go with another company or just make sure the one they leave actually works.
chrissy