Mom is concerned about taking her scooter to Las Vegas

[Sandi]

To my DIS friends,

I'm not sure where else to turn for advice and I know I'll get the straight scoop from you. My sister and I are taking my mom to Las Vegas for a belated 70th birthday trip in December. It's a Thursday to Sunday trip, so quick, but we're planning to see a Cirque show and a musical, see the sights and just have a fun time. We have traveled to WDW many times with Mom, and the last couple of times, she has had her scooter. While Mom has flown with my family, my dad likes to drive and has the time, so they put her scooter in the van and he drives it to Florida from Michigan. At WDW, using the scooter works great and we know how to navigate the bus system, etc.

I haven't been to Las Vegas in 20 years and my mom has never been. I'm booking our flights and I asked her whether her scooter uses a wet or dry battery. She said that she doesn't want to take it to Las Vegas because it will be a big hassle on the plane and she can just walk and sit and walk and sit.

My mom has fibromyalgia, heart problems (triple bypass a few years ago), and other health issues, but can walk and sit and walk and sit. I'm thinking she'd be happier, however, with her scooter.

So, my questions for you scooter users are:

Is it a big hassle to take your scooter on the plane? We'll have one connection in Detroit (flying Lansing - Detroit - Las Vegas).

Is Las Vegas a scooter friendly city?

Do you have any other advice for us? I know this won't be like going to WDW (which was my first choice but my mom and sister think I'm Disney nuts and they said NO), but I want to be prepared and make this a great trip for Mom.

I appreciate any help. Thanks!

Edited: Whoops, I just found the "other than Disney" forum. Moderators, if this should be moved, please do so. Sorry!

 

[dclfun]

I travelled to Las Vegas last year to visit my Mom who lives there. I use a power wheelchair so need special transportation with a lift bus. I had been told that Las Vegas is very accessible, but I didn't find that to be the case. For instance, the only transportation I could find only went from the airport to the hotels and she lives a bit outside the city in Summerlin. Fortunately I am certified for paratransit where I live, so all cities have a reciprocal agreement and as such, I was able to get door-to-door paratransit for my stay. If you are renting a car and her scooter can be broken down, then I doubt you will have any problems. You won't have problems with the airline either as long as you let them know in advance that she will be taking her scooter and that it is being gate-checked. She will need to be sure that her batteries are gel, vs. wet-cell batteries, but most are. Are you staying at a hotel on the "strip"? If so, you may want to contact them to see if their shuttle is accessible ( assuming you are taking a shuttle). Sounds like she really needs to have her scooter- there would be lots of walking and sitting involved vs. her just being able to enjoy getting around.---Kathy

 

[Sandi]

Thanks Kathy. This is helpful and I'll share your experience to help convince her that bringing the scooter will make our trip more enjoyable. Her scooter can be broken down. We're planning to take Taxis. The hotel we're planning to stay at is the Platinum and it appears to be "just off the strip."

 

[kaytieeldr]

You know, you might want to contact them and see if they can help you with a scooter rental there. Sure, it'll be more expensive than taking her own - but this way she doesn't have to worry about anything bad happening to her ECV on the plane. I don't have the list any longer, but there are a number of companies in Las Vegas that rent medical equipment.

I know this is a bit of a touchy subject, but... since you're going to be using taxis, and most likely the driver will be doing more lifting in and out of the trunk (even with your help) and the pieces can be pretty heavy - you might want to consider tipping more than the 'typical' percentage.

 

[Sandi]

I know this is a bit of a touchy subject, but... since you're going to be using taxis, and most likely the driver will be doing more lifting in and out of the trunk (even with your help) and the pieces can be pretty heavy - you might want to consider tipping more than the 'typical' percentage.

Absolutely! I did consider that and will factor that in.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I have just done two round trips between here and Los Angeles on Delta with my ECV in the last 3 months. Three of the flights were non-stop, one had a change planes in Atlanta.

First of all, all scooters built within the last several years use spill-proof batteries. They may be either gel or wet-cell. You can check your manual, talk to the person who services the ECV, or open up the covers and look at the batteries themselves; it will so state on them that they are spill-proof.

For each flight departure I drove the scooter all the way down the ramp to the actual aircraft door. Removed the basket and case with the charger and removed the key. I was given a "gate check" claim stub.

I had made a two-sided sheet with pictures and excerpts from the manual showing locking/unlocking the tiller, how to lower or raise the tiller, about getting in and out of freewheel, and where tie down points were. I put this inside a plastic page cover and attached it to the scooter with a twist-tie.

Since I knew that my arrival and departure gates in Atlanta were close together I told them that I did not need the scooter in Atlanta.

In each of my four arrivals I walked (slowly) up the ramp, told the person at the top I was waiting for my ECV, and sat down within view. In each instance within about ten minutes someone showed up pushing my scooter from an elevator somewhere.

All I had to do was put the basket and charger pack back on, remove the instruction sheet, make sure it was not in freewheel, put in the key and scoot off.

All the flights were with no problems and no damage to the scooter.

ETA: One of the trips I had a rental car and did not have any problems. For the other I decided to use "public" transportation. The bus between LAX and Anaheim had a lift, so that was not a problem. The bus from Anaheim back to LAX did not have a lift, but the scooter (Pride Celebrity-X) easily fit in one of the luggage compartments under the bus. The driver and bellman first put the front wheel into the luggage compartment and then lifted up the rear to get it the rest of the way in; it was taken out the same way.

Since I had an early morning flight out I spent my last night in an airport hotel. The first shuttle but that came by did not have a lift, but the driver radioed in and within ten minutes there was another bus with a lift. Going to the airport in the morning the shuttle had a lift.

I can't talk about Vegas, but I would imagine the transportation bewtween the airport and hotels would be large buses with the big luggage compartments. Otherwise the ECV can probably be broken down to fit in a taxi if needed.

 

[Figaro]

I'm in a wheelchair, not an ECV , but we did spend eight days in Las Vegas with friends this past April. Our hotel was on the very north end of the strip and since everything on the strip is a goodly distance from everything else we would not have been able to manage without the rental car.

Some of the strip hotels are reasonably close to the monorail which is completely accessible. The entrances/exits to the monorails are generally toward the back of the casino and it is usually a pretty long walk to get back and forth from it. But you can purchase daily passes to use the monorail and it does work to get you back and forth to some of the casinos. My spouse said that Las Vegas is the only vacation place we have been to that made the distances walked at Disney World seem short.

The rental car worked well for us because valet parking at the casinos was free. We only had to pay a tip when we picked up the car. If we chose not to use the valet, the self-parking was also free and there were plenty of handicapped spots close to the elevators in the parking garages. This made visiting the different casinos quite easy. The newer casinos are all handicapped accessible and mostly they have pretty decent size handicapped stalls in their restrooms. The older casinos in the old downtown of Las Vegas are not great for accessibility but they are a bit smaller than the newer casinos and so easier to get around that way.

We loved the entertainment and had a great time in Vegas. Hope you have a fun time.

 

[videogal1]

Most Taxi companies have a few cabs with ramps and they are accessible for scooters and passengers....just drive the scooter in. Request one when you call. No hassle with breaking down the scooter.

 

[Sandi]

Thanks for your helpful suggestions and real life experiences. This is exactly what we need to know.