Just back from Port Orleans Riverside and Dad’s first offsite ECV rental

[LindaB]

We just got back on Sunday and had a wonderful trip. My Dad has arthritis in his knees so we rented an ECV for him from Walker Mobility. He still can’t stop raving about it. He said that it was a huge improvement over the ECVs that they rent in the parks. This one had 3 wheels instead of 4. That improved the maneuverability. He could also vary the speed and it stopped much quicker than those rented in the parks. We would definitely rent from Walker again. They gave us a Solo heavy-duty ECV. We needed the heavy-duty size due to my Dad’s weight. It came with a basket and a snap-on small pouch on the back. It did not have a headlight, but thanks to a tip from these boards I had brought along a Black & Decker snakelight that I had purchased from Wal-Mart for $9.95. It worked great. We also used clip-on flashers that I purchased from Wal-Mart. We clipped one or two onto the pouch on the back of the seat at night. Another tip that came in handy was using a wrist coil keychain for the key. We didn’t need the bicycle bell, as the crowds weren’t bad at all, but that is also a great idea that I picked up from these boards.

We stayed at Port Orleans Riverside. I had requested the Magnolia Terrace building, but it was closed so they put us in the Acadian House building. I was really worried about staying at Port Orleans Riverside since I had heard so many negative reports on this board regarding the bridges, etc.. It turned out that the bridges weren’t a problem at all. My dad just zipped right over them in the ECV. He did try going over one once at a very slow speed and said that it was noticeably bumpier when traveling at a very slow speed. Overall, he thought the bridges were just fine and not an issue at all for him. He does not require a handicapped room so we did not experience the problems others have had with the accessibility of the rooms. This resort worked out just fine for us with the ECV.

We rented a Dodge Intrepid. Thanks to the Transportation Board I knew that it had a large, cavernous trunk. We had no problems fitting the ECV inside its trunk. My Dad also took the ECV on the busses, monorail, and the boat to DTD without any problems.

My Dad said that the ECV really made the trip for him.

 

[JudithM]

I read the subject & my first thought was, "Oh, I hope renting the ECV off site worked out well." Sure glad to read that your dad liked having the Walker ECV. I have rented from them a few times now & have had no problems. I know it makes our trip more enjoyable.

 

[Nanajo1]

Glad to hear the trip went so well. I'm another Walker's fan. I couldn't do WDW without them. Thanks for letting us know how great your trip was.

 

[SueM in MN]

Thanks for the nice report (especially the reminder about a snakelight - I knew there was something I meant to put on my list of things to get for DD's wheelchair, but I couldn't remember what it was).

We've stayed at PO a number of times (not much lately since we boought DVC 10 yrs ago, but we never had an issue with the bridges either. I suppose they could cause problems for someone who is pushing heavy wheelchair up them, or maybe for someone who is more sensitive to being jostled would feel the bumps more.

 

[doombuggy]

Thanks for your report! i will be in the same boat , er, situation in May. We are staying at Riverside and renting an ECV, and I was was considering changing the ressie for the hotel. Thanks for the tips!

PS: Did you see any of the parades? Fantasmic? Were you allowed to sit in a h/c designated area?

 

[Nanajo1]

I've been to Fantasmic 3 times w/ECV and always was directed to the H/P seating. You can stay in the ECV or transfer to the benches.

 

[LindaB]

Yes, we saw all of the parades. We also saw Fantasmic and Illuminations. We were allowed to sit in the handicapped designated areas. For the parades, sometimes we sat in the designated handicapped areas and other times we just found our own spot along the parade route. At Fantasmic we sat in the handicapped seating area. At Illuminations we just found our own spot along the lake. The crowds were extremely low and we did not have any problems finding spots to view parades or evening shows.