GV and scooters?

[rsschneck]

We are planning a BIG family reunion for 2005. My MIL is in her late 50's and has had bunion surgery on one foot and still needs bunion surgery on the other. She has stated she doesn't want to go to WDW because she can't walk around all day with her feet hurting. The rest of the family REALLY want to go to WDW because no one else but our family of 3 have been to WDW.

I pulled up an old thread on ECV rentals. I think if we rent a motorized scooter she will be less reluctant to the family gathering at WDW.

We are thinking about a Grand Villa and probably a studio as well. I do not want to request a Handicap Room because she is not Handicapped. I want to know if there are any Grand Villas @ OKW on the ground floor or in one of the newer buildings that have an elevator? Could I request a ground floor or elevator access due to medical reasons? I would HATE to lug up an ECV up 2 or 3 flights of stairs everyday!

Any past experiences or words of wisdom would be appreciated.

 

[Chuck S]

From reading past threads, I think there are GVs that are not handicap equipped, but that do have access for a scooter in the newer bldgs. In fact, I don't think ANY GV at OKW has access to the second floor bedrooms of a GV, so she would have to be either on the pull-out or in the master bedroom.

But if worse comes to worse, could you leave the scooter in your trunk and simply have her walk to/from the villa to the car?, of course, then charging the battery may be a problem.

 

[rsschneck]

She is fully capable of walking. Walking to the second floor of the Grand Villa should be no problem. She just can't walk through the parks all day because her feet can't handle all that walking.

I just want to be able to get the ECV inside the GV without any problems or back aches. I don't want a HA room because none of us are truly handicapped.

So, you are saying I should request a newer building with an elevator? Do most GV have ground floor access?

 

[Chuck S]

I think there is only one or two first floor GVs at OKW, most are the 2nd and 3rd floors of 3 story bldgs.

You may want to call the resort directly with your question, but generally, yes, you'd probably be better off requesting an elevator bldg...but since they aren't guaranteed, the resort could give you a better idea of configuration options that are available.

 

[kathleena]

All the OKW GVs are on the second and third floors.

Not sure if all the ones in the elevator buildings are handicapped equipped though. And I don't think any of the other buildings have the elevators? I could be wrong on that one, but I think I have been told that it's just the h'cap buildings.

I had the same issue in March. I was diagnosed with Graves hyperthyroidism - was sure I could sit around and take short walks, but I was having problems with prolonged walking and fatigue. So we asked for a 1st floor in case I needed a scooter. But we had a 2br so it was an easier request. Thankfully, I was still healthy enough to walk around by trip. So I know what you mean - healthy enough to get around on her own, but just can't do it for long periods of time.

Hope she recovers after her surgeries.

 

[dianeschlicht]

If you rent the scooters at OKW, they allow you to store them in Papa's Den and plug them in for recharging there, if your room is on a second floor, as most GV's are. We had the elevator building once when I had the scooter, and a first floor room the next time, so it wasn't an issue, but I was perfectly prepared to do that if I had to. Works out well, since you just have to get to HH to pick up the scooter before departing for the parks.

 

[Chuck S]

Originally posted by dianeschlicht
If you rent the scooters at OKW, they allow you to store them in Papa's Den and plug them in for recharging there, if your room is on a second floor, as most GV's are. We had the elevator building once when I had the scooter, and a first floor room the next time, so it wasn't an issue, but I was perfectly prepared to do that if I had to. Works out well, since you just have to get to HH to pick up the scooter before departing for the parks.

The resort rents scooters? I learned something new, I thought the resort just provided standard wheelchairs. That's nice to know for the future

 

[Pa@okw95]

I think you can rent those things at the parks themselves, since she does not need them otherwise, that might be an option.

 

[garylpn]

call the wdw special needs phone number, explain the situation and have them help you figure out what configuration you need, we had much the same thing to deal with in dec, fil went to wdw at age 80, his first trip off the farm since 1946, due to farmers arthritis he can't walk long hours so we needed to rent an ecv
he and mil stayed at wl with other family members while dw and i were at okw, special needs assured me that all the hotel room doors are wide enough to drive ecv through, we had no problems driving into his room each night to charge unit up
we rented from a medical supply company in orlando, you can find the link on all ears net, this is better than renting from the parks because you can park hop with this unit, disney units have to stay at the parks, and once they are rented out for the day you risk not being able to get another if you decide to park hop
unit was delivered right on time, it was at wl waiting for us on check in, and on departure day we just left it with front desk
pm me if you need any further info

 

[BillPA]

I think there are 2 GVs that are ground floor and 2nd floor. Out in the back end of OKW somewhere around Bldg 47-49. I don't have Doc's report here, but someone should be able to post a link to it.

 

[Richyams]

There is only one ground floor GV in all OKW, it is HA. There are two served by an elevator, I stayed in one requesting HA and it was. I do not know for sure if the other one is HA or not, I suspect that it is.

 

[icydog]

Did you think of a GV at BWV? There are definately one floor units available there. Sounds like your MIL and I suffer pretty much the same, with horribly sore feet. I suggest to save money rent an ECV at the parks when you need them. The resort will supply a free manual wheelchair for the whole time you are there. We took the manual off site with us to restaurants and shops and I only used it when necessary. Every day we drove to a park, wheeled into the front with our resort wheelchair and rented an ECV the day. They stored the manual while we used the ECV. We never had a problem going from park to park. When you leave one park have the wheelchair rental place's castmember make a call over to the next park's wheelchair place cast member and ask him to ask them to hold onto a ECV for you. They did this gladly for us, several times. Always, we found a scooter was there, at the second park, with our name on it charged up and waiting.

 

[dianeschlicht]

The scooters are not actually rented "FROM" OKW , but thrugh CARE which brings them to OKW (or any other WDW resort). I called OKW to get the number the first time. There are actually several different companys who do this. The cost was around $200 a week. Not sure if that is differerent by season, since it was less when we were there in August.

 

[Chuck S]

Thanks, Diane, for the clarification.

I didn't think the resort actually rented scooters, but that you had to get them from an off-site company...but your post (at least to me) sounded like OKW rented them.

 

[dianeschlicht]

I realized that after I read your post. I too can walk around but have some fatigue issues for the past year, so I have used a scooter the past two trips. Hope I don't need one by October!

 

[garylpn]

imho it's better to rent from offsite company and have delivered to resort, thus no risk of no ecv available if you park hop, yes you can have cm call over to rental office at another park but what if they are all rented out, i have heard of it happening, also no downtime park hopping
we found absolutely no problems using disney transport with ecv, and we did them all, busses, boats and monorails
transport manager at wl even called for another bus one day when we were waiting with more ecv and wc's than bus to mgm had space for, produced another bus in less than 10 minutes

 

[garylpn]

forgot to add, care medical was the company we used, very satisfied, no problems, also care has a good rep for responding immediately and replacing defective units

 

[SueM in MN]

I'll add a few things to the discussion:

• If you are a DVC member, or using DVC points, then MS deals with all special needs. If you are not a member and/or are making your reservations thru Disney (not DVC), then here's the phone number for WDW Resort Special Reservations:
  (407) 939-7807
  (407) 939-7670 [TTY]
• Here's the list of off-site places that DIS posters have reported renting ecvs from:
  Care Medical:
  http://www.caremedicalequipment.com/
  Phone (407) 856-2273 • Toll Free U.S and Canada (800) 741-2282
  
  Walker Mobility:
  1-888-726-6837
  www.walkermobility.com
  
  RANDY'S Mobility is in Kissimmee 407-892-4777
  http://randysmobility.com/
  
  Colonial Medical
  http://www.colonialmed.com/about_cms.html
  (800)747-0246
  
  http://www.scootaround.com/ Not much feedback. Several people who reported they had no problems.
  
  The 3 mentioned most often are Care, Randy's and Walker. All will deliver and pick up to your WDW resort. Randy's is a little less expensive, but does require that you be there for pick up and delivery. Some people like that because they can ask questions and get a demonstration on taking it apart/putting it together. Some people would rather have the scooter waiting for them when they get there.
• They do have scooters with removable batteries so all you have to bring in for charging is the battery, not the whole scooter. If that's something you want, ask when arranging the rental.
• The resorts do have wheelchairs available to loan to guests, but they are limited quantity and first come, first serve. Some people have reported they got a great one, but others have found all that was available was not in the best condition or didn't meet their needs (example: needed extra wide and got narrow, or vice versa). People have reported anywhere from a few minutes to a few days to get a more appropriate one.
• If she's going to need an ecv every day at the parks, it's generally more expensive to rent per day from the parks than it is to rent from one of the off-site places. If she only plans to use the ecv for a few days during your whole trip, then it would be cheaper to rent at the parks, since you'd only pay for the days you need. The off-site rental places generally have a 3 or 4 day minimum and usually have better rates if you rent for a longer time.
• The ecvs at the parks are limited quantity, first come, first served. If you are there during a non-busy time or there isn't much demand for scooters, you may not have a problem, but there is no guarantee. From what people have posted, if you want to park hop, the CM at the park you are leaving may or may not call ahead to try to save one for you. If you plan on leaving the park for a break and coming back to the same park, they generally will hold the ecv until you return. But, if you park hop, there are no guarantees that one will be available at the next park.
• The doors at all the DVCs will be big enough to get an ecv in your villa. OKW rooms are big enough to actually drive an ecv around in the villa. The villas in the other resorts are fairly tight for manouvering a narrow adult wheelchair (which is what my DD has).
• Only the first floor is wheelchair accessible in the 2 story wheelchair accessible villas. I've never been in the 2 GVs in the elevator buildings at OKW, but I have heard they are both wheelchair accessible.

 

[icydog]

I guess that sums it up and says it all. I will refer to your list the next time we are at WDW. I thank you and I am sure the OP will too.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Just wanted to add that the first time we rented from CARE, our unit had a short and wouldn't charge. They brought us a new one right away, and it caused no problems for us at all.