Last minute ECV or Wheelchair Rentals

[Icecoldpenguin]

We are going to EPCOT tomorrow and my grandmother would be more comfortable in a wheelchair or ECV to get around the park for the day. We are local and go often and they are visiting from out of town and we just decided we want to go to EPCOT tomorrow. We are young whipper snappers and have never had to do this before so this is an area of WDW I actually don't know. How do I rent an ECV or wheelchair and how do I go about doing it? Also once we have one how do we go about getting on rides?

Help please!

Teresa

 

[SueM in MN]

You can rent wheelchairs and ECVs in the parks. Wheelchairs are not an issue, but ECVs may be gone if you are not there at rope drop.
Wheelchair and ECV rental are past the entrance fountain, to the left before you get to Spaceship Earth. They sometimes have a few wheelchairs to rent just at the park entrance.

Some older people do not feel comfortable with an ECV, especially if they don't drive a car. The ECV driver needs to be alert and ready to stop at all times because people pop out in front of you all the time.
With a wheelchair, she can concentrate more on looking around.

For more on how to rent one, follow the link in my signature to the disABILITIES FAQs thread. Post 2 of that thread is about renting ECVs and wheelchairs.

For Epcot, she would be able to use either a wheelchair or ECV for attractions. Living With The Land, Spaceship Earth and the boat ride in Mexico have different entrances since their regular lines are not wheelchair accessible.

 

[minnie mum]

NM. Sue said it better than I ever could.

 

[Icecoldpenguin]

You can rent wheelchairs and ECVs in the parks. Wheelchairs are not an issue, but ECVs may be gone if you are not there at rope drop.
Wheelchair and ECV rental are past the entrance fountain, to the left before you get to Spaceship Earth. They sometimes have a few wheelchairs to rent just at the park entrance.

Some older people do not feel comfortable with an ECV, especially if they don't drive a car. The ECV driver needs to be alert and ready to stop at all times because people pop out in front of you all the time.
With a wheelchair, she can concentrate more on looking around.

For more on how to rent one, follow the link in my signature to the disABILITIES FAQs thread. Post 2 of that thread is about renting ECVs and wheelchairs.

For Epcot, she would be able to use either a wheelchair or ECV for attractions. Living With The Land, Spaceship Earth and the boat ride in Mexico have different entrances since their regular lines are not wheelchair accessible.

Thank you so much. After hearing what you said about her needing to be alert driving the ecv and not being able to look around as much I think a wheelchair may be best and between me, my husband and my grandpa we can take turns wheeling her around. This will be her first time to epcot and I don't want her to miss anything she wants to just look at for a while. She is very visual and will be taking it all in.

I will go to the links on your post. If anyone has any good tips or tricks to touring epcot with someone in a wheelchair that would be great. Or where the lines are for wheelchairs too would be awesome. We would not be riding test track or mission space.

Thank you so much

Teresa

 

[MOpGrad2013]

We were able to rent ECV after 2p in June--no problems.

Cost is $50 + $20 deposit. Save the receipt! When you leave, return to the counter and hand them your yellow paper and the card you used to rent. They will credit the deposit to the card.

Interesting: our deposit was paid to our account before the charge hit!

 

[minnie mum]

Thank you so much. After hearing what you said about her needing to be alert driving the ecv and not being able to look around as much I think a wheelchair may be best and between me, my husband and my grandpa we can take turns wheeling her around. This will be her first time to epcot and I don't want her to miss anything she wants to just look at for a while. She is very visual and will be taking it all in.

I will go to the links on your post. If anyone has any good tips or tricks to touring epcot with someone in a wheelchair that would be great. Or where the lines are for wheelchairs too would be awesome. We would not be riding test track or mission space.

Thank you so much

Teresa

There will be a guidebook for those with disabilities where they have the usual rack of guidebooks. Or at the wheelchair rental desk. Or at Guest Relations. This will tell you where the wheelchair entrance is for those very few attractions that are not mainstreamed.

The main tip I can think of: if you are the one doing the pushing, you have to constantly be on the lookout for the oblivious guests who will cut right in front of you or will suddenly stop in front of you without warning. I don't know how many times a day DH has had to come to a screaming halt and almost launch me out of the chair- they should have seat belts on those things.

If you want to see Illuminations there are designated handicapped viewing areas.(marked on the map) But you need to get there early- the areas are small and fill up quickly.

 

[tobikaye]

When you get to the park, there are accessible guide maps that explain what to do at each attraction. It is basically the same map as the regular guide, just with extra explanations on where to go to enter with a mobility aid. These sometimes are with all the maps when you first enter, or they can be found at GR. You can even find some of them online through searching.

As for pushing in a wheelchair at Epcot, you will feel all of the grade changes on the path. There are more than you are aware of when not pushing someone. If you are not used to pushing someone, you might want to watch your hands. It is easy to discover blisters when it is too late.

Make sure to check with your grandma that she can see things from her point of view. There might be barriers from the sitting level that are not noticed from a standing.

 

[Icecoldpenguin]

Thank you everyone so much for the advice it is very helpful and I will talk to them about everything tonight.

Teresa