Navigating ECV in the parks?

pecanp13

Earning My Ears
Joined
Jun 11, 2024
Messages
18
Hello - we will be visiting WDW next week and renting a scooter for my father, who has neuropathy in his leg. He is able to walk, just not for long periods and is prone to tripping and falling. Therefore, we are playing it safe and renting him a scooter for our park days.

My questions are:
1. Is there a dedicated space outside of every attraction to leave his scooter while he enters the queue? I'd imagine he would be able to walk through the line and it would be easier for everyone to leave his scooter outside of line.
2. Is it easier to drive to the parks in our rental car with his scooter? Or is Disney transportation easier with his scooter? We will be staying on property.
3. If we charge the scooter overnight, would it last a full park day? If not, are there areas in the park to charge it? We are renting from buena vista rentals.
 
  1. Do not leave the scooter outside the queue, unless it is one of the few queues that do not allow them in the queue. Those queues can be a lot longer than they appear to be and everyone will be more comfortable with him on the scooter and it will be safer than potentially tripping and falling. For the few queues where they aren't allowed, they will provide a wheelchair that someone in your party can push him in.
  2. It depends on the scooter model you rent, if you are getting a Maxima, it is pretty much impossible to put it into a rental car. A victory 10 can be done, but you need someone with decent strength. If you are getting a gogo sport or similar, almost anyone can do those. Disney transportation can be done as well and depending on where you are staying, you may find some parks are easier with the rental car and some with Disney transportation. If staying at a Skyliner resort, they are super easy, as are the monorail resorts, the friendship boats can be tricky at times. With busses, there are times where you may need to wait for a couple of them due to limited space for scooters.
  3. Our personal experience with Buena Vista Scooters have not been good, their batteries seem to die much faster than Gold Mobility's. We had one from Buena Vista that the battery would die within 2 hours even when fully charged and it took days to get a replacement and that was when we decided to find other vendors. With Gold Mobility, I would also add that if you are staying at any of the Epcot Area Hotels, you can take the walking path to either Epcot or Hollywood studios and have plenty of battery left. Gold Mobility when we have had an issue that they couldn't resolve over the phone, we had a replacement within 45 minutes. Now in all fairness to Buena Vista, it has been many years since we used them, but Gold Mobility is less expensive, meets you on your schedule instead of a set time, includes damage and theft waiver, includes a Captains seat on the Victory 10, also includes cup holder(s), fan, cell phone holder and a USB port to charge your phone with.
Just my two cents on it all.
 
  1. Do not leave the scooter outside the queue, unless it is one of the few queues that do not allow them in the queue. Those queues can be a lot longer than they appear to be and everyone will be more comfortable with him on the scooter and it will be safer than potentially tripping and falling. For the few queues where they aren't allowed, they will provide a wheelchair that someone in your party can push him in.
  2. It depends on the scooter model you rent, if you are getting a Maxima, it is pretty much impossible to put it into a rental car. A victory 10 can be done, but you need someone with decent strength. If you are getting a gogo sport or similar, almost anyone can do those. Disney transportation can be done as well and depending on where you are staying, you may find some parks are easier with the rental car and some with Disney transportation. If staying at a Skyliner resort, they are super easy, as are the monorail resorts, the friendship boats can be tricky at times. With busses, there are times where you may need to wait for a couple of them due to limited space for scooters.
  3. Our personal experience with Buena Vista Scooters have not been good, their batteries seem to die much faster than Gold Mobility's. We had one from Buena Vista that the battery would die within 2 hours even when fully charged and it took days to get a replacement and that was when we decided to find other vendors. With Gold Mobility, I would also add that if you are staying at any of the Epcot Area Hotels, you can take the walking path to either Epcot or Hollywood studios and have plenty of battery left. Gold Mobility when we have had an issue that they couldn't resolve over the phone, we had a replacement within 45 minutes. Now in all fairness to Buena Vista, it has been many years since we used them, but Gold Mobility is less expensive, meets you on your schedule instead of a set time, includes damage and theft waiver, includes a Captains seat on the Victory 10, also includes cup holder(s), fan, cell phone holder and a USB port to charge your phone with.
Just my two cents on it all.
Thank you! Do you happen to know if he enters a queue with the scooter, what happens when he goes on the ride? I’m assuming a CM would have it waiting for him at the ride exit?
 
Thank you! Do you happen to know if he enters a queue with the scooter, what happens when he goes on the ride? I’m assuming a CM would have it waiting for him at the ride exit?
It depends on the attraction. ECV guests board from the exit at Spaceship Earth, Thunder Mountain and Splash Mt (I assume same for Tiana).
Many attractions the entrance and exit are near. A few the CMs will move your ECV. They generally put it in neutral and push. You're usually told to take your key with you.
 
Thank you! Do you happen to know if he enters a queue with the scooter, what happens when he goes on the ride? I’m assuming a CM would have it waiting for him at the ride exit?
DH used a scooter for the first time this trip, at AK and MK. Like your father, he can walk, but he’s slow and has trouble walking uphill. We had LLs, so for some rides such as Winnie The Pooh he parked his scooter with or near the strollers and walked onto the ride because we knew the walk would be short. But for Flight of Passage he rode it all the way through the queue, then as instructed parked it outside the preshow room and took the key. It was waiting when we exited the ride chamber, and we were allowed through an exit door that didn’t involve stairs.
 
There are different types of scooters. Some have two batteries, and they can last a long day. The travel scooters are more lightweight and come apart to fit in a car more easily, but they only have one battery. When you eat is a good time to get a recharge on the battery. Keep an eye on the gauge for how much power you have left. Shut the scooter off when viewing a show, parade or fireworks to conserve power. Be careful and don't jump a curb with a scooter; use the handicap ramps through the parks. Getting a scooter on and off a bus is a bit challenging and maybe someone else in your party can do it for him.

You should probably have him practice with a store scooter available in grocery stores and Walmart and so forth; it's free. Maybe, even go to a local zoo and rent one there for a day. Keep in mind it can be hard maneuvering through crowds. Kids are apt to dart in front of a scooter.

Ride ques have a lot of twists and turns before getting to the ride. For shows you should park the scooter in a handicap spot. I wouldn't take a scooter into a restaurant; park it outside.
 
Just make sure that CM puts the scooter back in drive-mode. Occasionally they don’t and we always have a hard time finding the lever underneath to put it back into gear. We’ve usually always figured it out but CM always are happy to help as well.

As someone who has really severe neuropathy and lose my balance/fall often, I’d highly recommend taking the scooter into the queue. If for nothing else, the basket comes in very handy for holding everyone’s water bottles, shopping bags, etc!😁
 
Hello - we will be visiting WDW next week and renting a scooter for my father, who has neuropathy in his leg. He is able to walk, just not for long periods and is prone to tripping and falling. Therefore, we are playing it safe and renting him a scooter for our park days.

My questions are:
1. Is there a dedicated space outside of every attraction to leave his scooter while he enters the queue? I'd imagine he would be able to walk through the line and it would be easier for everyone to leave his scooter outside of line.
2. Is it easier to drive to the parks in our rental car with his scooter? Or is Disney transportation easier with his scooter? We will be staying on property.
3. If we charge the scooter overnight, would it last a full park day? If not, are there areas in the park to charge it? We are renting from buena vista rentals.
1 I would take it in lines as they can be hour+ long and a mile long. some lines do not let scooter in them they will have wheelchair near by if a line is short sought you could ask a CM where you could park the scooter

2 the Disney bus driver are very good at helping or even doing the parking on the bus for you ( you will sit and they drive the scooter for you) so would say Disney transportation

3 depends on what scooter you get (golds lasted all day for me) and if you are good at tuning off the scooter when not moving. yes you can plug in the scooter at the parks
 
Thanks for all the hints. I’ll be a first time user in Feb. I’ve practiced with the ones at grocery stores. I will totally be asking for help parking the thing on busses though. I’m spatially challenged. lol.
 
This is all great advice. I had a temporary disability about 4-5 years ago and used a scooter for several visits. I found the CMs incredibly helpful around this. You can just assume that the CMs will help you on each attraction. Often they move the scooter from the load area to the exit for you. They will ask about your walking ability and accommodate as necessary. For me, I was able to walk within the attraction and just could not do long-range walking within the parks. You should definitely feel at ease about all of this as the cast will help you. I was really impressed, and it gave me hope I can continue to enjoy visits to Disney as I get older.

I would recommend if possible getting the streamlined Gogo Sport model because it would be MUCH better to move the scooter around in the car if people other than the driver can help. On my trips, I was solo. I was able to disassemble the Gogo myself and get it in the trunk one time, but it was a bit much for me at that time (thankfully not now!). But if the driver has able-bodied helpers, I think it’s very do-able. Also the Gogo Sport is just much more nimble in general and, unless you really need the larger models for your personal situation, the more streamlined version is much easier to deal with.

I found the Disney transportation CMs very helpful and would not see any problem on the monorail or Skyliner, but the capacity on buses for scooters is limited and you could end up waiting a long time. I went in off-season times and didn’t have an issue on the buses but I have heard of people having to wait for several buses to pass, so if you have the option of putting the scooter in the trunk of a car with someone to help that would be ideal. You will also get to park in a special area closer to the park entrance if you tell the parking CM that you have someone with a scooter. In a pinch, I called Mears and asked for a wheelchair taxi and had good results.

Also a shout out to Gold Mobility. Great service and their scooters are robust and last a long time. Pro tip: at the EPCOT monorail station, be sure to use the elevator to go up to save the battery, not the ramp. I did not do this originally and had no problem but in hindsight I think that is prudent. I noticed a significant decline in battery power the one or perhaps two times I went up the ramp. One does not want to run out of charge, and scooting uphill uses a lot of energy.

EDITED to refer to the elevator to ascend at the EPCOT monorail station, not the “monorail.” LOL
 
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I'm renting an ECV for the first time this February. I have some terrible Plantar fasciitis issues and recovering from a surgery. I can walk, just not 10-20k plus steps a day. I was also wondering about traveling on the bus with it. I watched some videos and hope I can get the thing parked on there. I was also wondering if I'll take it in the line or just park it. I'm nervous about it but I want to enjoy this trip and not be hurting the whole time. I hope it will all be okay. I rented from ScooterBug and I'm staying at Poly.
 
I'm renting an ECV for the first time this February. I have some terrible Plantar fasciitis issues and recovering from a surgery. I can walk, just not 10-20k plus steps a day. I was also wondering about traveling on the bus with it. I watched some videos and hope I can get the thing parked on there. I was also wondering if I'll take it in the line or just park it. I'm nervous about it but I want to enjoy this trip and not be hurting the whole time. I hope it will all be okay. I rented from ScooterBug and I'm staying at Poly.
DH had a scooter only in the parks, but my understanding reading here is that most if not all bus drivers will allow you to walk onto the bus and park the scooter for you. As far as taking it into the line, you can talk to the CM at the ride entrance, and they'll be happy to advise you. I know for sure that you can ride your scooter all the way up that big hill for FoP!
 













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