Need advice from experienced scooter users

[yorkieteacher]

I just returned from a five day, four park trip five months post total knee revision. I am 70. Because of my extended time in a wheelchair over the entire summer waiting on the infection to clear, I really wanted to walk. And walk we did- 24,000 to 26,000 steps each of the four days. I felt blessed, but exhausted. We walked at a slow pace , but by the end of the day I was powering though and not enjoying it. I will be going with my family is early December, daughter, SIL and 2 grandsons . I don’t want to slow them down. I was thinking it may be easier to rent a scooter at the park gate, since I can walk, and not have the issues loading it on Disney transportation. I mainly just need to not have so many steps at a faster pace. What are the pros and cons of renting a scooter at the gate, compared to having one delivered to your resort, for someone reasonable ambulatory. (Just older, slower, and less stamina!) I was told you can ride your scooter to the ride entrance and cast members have it waiting for you at the exit. Is this true? Do the park entrance scooters run out quickly?(my family will be at the park prior to early entry rope drop). All advice appreciated. Tons of new respect and support for those who are always in a chair.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

I just returned from a five day, four park trip five months post total knee revision. I am 70. Because of my extended time in a wheelchair over the entire summer waiting on the infection to clear, I really wanted to walk. And walk we did- 24,000 to 26,000 steps each of the four days. I felt blessed, but exhausted. We walked at a slow pace , but by the end of the day I was powering though and not enjoying it. I will be going with my family is early December, daughter, SIL and 2 grandsons . I don’t want to slow them down. I was thinking it may be easier to rent a scooter at the park gate, since I can walk, and not have the issues loading it on Disney transportation. I mainly just need to not have so many steps at a faster pace. What are the pros and cons of renting a scooter at the gate, compared to having one delivered to your resort, for someone reasonable ambulatory. (Just older, slower, and less stamina!) I was told you can ride your scooter to the ride entrance and cast members have it waiting for you at the exit. Is this true? Do the park entrance scooters run out quickly?(my family will be at the park prior to early entry rope drop). All advice appreciated. Tons of new respect and support for those who are always in a chair.

biggest con for at the gate rentals is that they are out of the ECVs when you need one even at beginning of day. another can be cost as they cost more for in park. at most rides you can ride all to ride. there are a few Pirates being one where you need to transfer to one of their wheelchairs. and yes where you can ride to ride your ECV will be waiting for you at end of ride. I prefer to have at resort as it can be a distance from bus to park gate and also a distance from bus stop to room.

 

[NLKim]

If you are still reasonably ambulatory you might find it more convenient to park the scooter in the stroller/ecv area of the ride and walk the line for those rides where they require you to transfer to a wheelchair (which means that you can't take the ecv all the way up to the ride). My husband did that for several years because he found that maneuvering the wheelchair in the lines could be quite a challenge. Unfortunately he can now no longer walk the lines but it was a very good option when he could.

 

[Tiggerish]

It is true that for many rides you stay on the ECV all the way to the ride car and the CMs will have it waiting for you as you exit the ride car.

It is actually not that difficult to ride the Disney buses with an ECV. In most instances, the bus driver will assist with instructions or physical help.

The biggest reason to rent to have all the time - getting back to your room at the end of your day. It is when you will be at your most tired and have the least energy left. If you rented a park ECV, you have to leave it at the front of the park and then walk to your bus stop and when the bus drops your off at the front of your resort, you still have to walk to your room. Those walks can be fairly long and what was doable at the start of the day is doubly hard at the end of the day.

 

[RoseGold]

The park ECV quantity is limited because of storing them and all the batteries. They can and do sell out at the parks. If you go through this forum, you'll see a lot of solutions, including some very portable scooters that don't necessarily require lifts on transportation.

Example:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/let’s-meet-sven-my-newest-travelscoot.3903363/

I recommend you go to your local mobility store and see what the modern choices are, you might be surprised. My family member uses a Whill, which is a fancy, new brand. You probably don't need one of those, but a local Whill vendor is going to have all kinds of stuff you may have never seen.

Some people park ECVs like strollers. And some people take them all the way to the ride, you know, because they have to. A smaller scooter would have the advantage of being able to fit in lines a big rental won't.

 

[maxiesmom]

Does your family already have a resort booked? If not, consider a boardwalk area resort, or one on the skyliner line. Either of those will take 2 of the bus routes off of your list, and the buses are the worst part (to me) of using an ecv.

I can walk just fine most days. But I have a knee that disagrees with me sometimes. Especially if I walk a lot. So I use an ecv. I don't want to rent one at the parks, because I would be stressed about them running out. And I like having it with me, just in case I'm having a very bad day. Also, I use a 3 wheeled rental and have never had a problem taking it in line. I love Golds Mobility.

 

[R&RsMom]

I was in your shoes in December. I can walk fine, just not 20,000 steps a day. After one day, I rented an ECV at the parks. It was only a weekend trip, so I didn’t try to find an offsite rental. I had no problem getting an ECV at park open; however we hopped, and there were no scooters available at the second park. That worked ok for me for the two days. We are going in October for 6 days, and I am debating options. If I follow my walking program till the fall and build stamina, I will likely do the park rental again. Mostly because my son-in-law likes to Uber at the spur of the moment, and I think an offsite rental will complicate that. (There are 6 of us going.) If I think I will still have difficulties, I will rent offsite. I will say we saw lots of Gold scooters on the busses, and they looked super nice.

 

[disney-inspired]

Does your family already have a resort booked? If not, consider a boardwalk area resort, or one on the skyliner line. Either of those will take 2 of the bus routes off of your list, and the buses are the worst part (to me) of using an ecv.

I can walk just fine most days. But I have a knee that disagrees with me sometimes. Especially if I walk a lot. So I use an ecv. I don't want to rent one at the parks, because I would be stressed about them running out. And I like having it with me, just in case I'm having a very bad day. Also, I use a 3 wheeled rental and have never had a problem taking it in line. I love Golds Mobility.

I totally agree.

We stayed at Beach Club last month with two scooters and while the skyliner wasn't open during our week, monorail and boat were awesome.

My biggest concerns is price - daily rentals from the parks is astronomical compared to a weekly rental from Gold Mobility. Also their customer service is great and their ECVs are well maintained with a bunch of nice extras - cup and phone holder were the best!

I'm hoping to transition to mostly using a rollator on my next trip but may have an ECV rental as a back up, just in case.

 

[maryblanchard49]

One of the cons of renting a scooter at the park is that it's first come first serve so, you run the chance of them running out. The second con is that the scooter rates is a bit much to pay daily if you’re going to be visiting a couple of days.

After much research on the different scooter companies, I rented from Walker Mobility Scooter Rentals a third-party vendor with scooters that delivered to my resort. Their ECV is portable so, that it breaks apart to fit in your vehicle. If you are staying on Disney Property you can take it on the monorail, ferry, skyliner and monorail. The total rate I was quoted for the week was such a great savings deal that saved me more money than if I would have rented from the park.

The scooter lasted me all day, I didn't have to worry about taking the charger with me.

Walker Mobility's scooter is also water resistant, which is super important in Florida because, it can typically have an afternoon shower and you don't want to have to worry about your scooter breaking down in the rain. I was able to keep riding in the rain with no troubles.

MY ECV came with a cellphone holder, 2 USB ports, a basket, 2 cup holders, headlight and even a horn! With all the videos and pictures I was taking it was nice that I was able to charge my phone on the scooter with the USB ports.

I definitely recommend you get a scooter on your next trip. It made my trip an enjoyable one!