Newbie ECV questions

[LibrarianBecky]

Hi there!

I'm hoping someone here can help me answer a few questions that I have. First, some background: my husband, son, and I want to take my mother-in-law to Disney World, probably sometimes in late 2013 or early 2014. We have only been once, so we are not experts by any means. We stayed on-site last time, but are thinking of staying off site (Bonnett Creek) for this vacation. My mother-in-law is not in fantastic health. She has some heart trouble and gets winded very easily. Walking a grocery store can be hard for her. I think that renting an ECV will probably be the best way for her to be able to enjoy WDW. She does not use an ECV in her everyday life.

Here's my questions:

1. If we rent an ECV, will we be able to store it in the trunk of a car to get it back and forth to the parks? I know you can rent at the park, but the walk from the parking lot to the park would wipe my MIL out, so we would like to have one rented from an off site company for the entire week. We just aren't sure about how you transport it.

2. My MIL is leery of the idea of renting an ECV because she had a bad experience driving one at the grocery store (she ran into something). She thinks she would rather have a regular wheelchair. I do not think this will work because my husband and I are not in great shape, either, so I don't think we would be able to push her all day. My son will be 6 years old, so he won't be able to help with that. Any suggestions on getting her more comfortable with the idea of an ECV? I'm thinking the best thing to do is just make her do it at the grocery store until she gets the hang of it.

3. How do ECVs get their power? Do they plug in each day? Just a regular plug?

4. Is there anything we should keep in mind when booking a room, as far as having an ECV goes? My MIL will be able to walk around the condo without the ECV.

Thank you for your help! I appreciate it. Sorry my questions are so simple, but I am just not familiar!

 

[Piper]

I would suggest renting a Pride GoGo. An ECV need to be charged each night. You will need to either bring it or the batteries into your room (if you rent a GoGo, the battery pack itself can be charged.)

A GoGo is also MUCH easier to drive than an ECV you use at the grocery store! It can be easily and quickly disassembled to fit in the trunk of a car.

You might want to rent a HC room in order to have the grab bars in the bathrooms. I am not familiar with Bonnett Creek but a GoGo can fit through a standard doorway.

 

[prlady13]

We've had good experience with Applescooters.com. You can book for your trip on their website. They bring the ECV to the resort you are staying at (even if its not a Disney resort). The portable ECV's can be taken apart to fit in your trunk. When returning from the parks if you don't want to bring the whole ECV out you can just bring in the battery to charge. You can plug it in to any regular wall socket. Your MIL might feel more comfortable in the portable scooters, since they are lighter and easier to manuever than the super market ones. Applescooters will also pick the ECV up at the end of your trip.

 

[peemagg]

As far as the Go-Go scooters go, they are real easy to disassemble and reassemble. All you have to do is lift the seat straight up and off, lift the battery pack off, tilt the tiller down and lock the front wheel in place. Then behind the post for the seat, there is a lever that you lift to break apart the front deck from the rear wheels. The heaviest piece weighs only 32lbs. I have got mine into the trunk of a Mustang convertible. Not the easiest, but it was doable.

 

[SteveMouse]

Note that "fit in the trunk" usually means without much else in the trunk.

Also note that, as far as rooms go, you might want to avoid rooms on the 2nd floor in buildings wit no elevators.

-steve

 

[Bete]

Try to find local places like a zoo or another amusement park where you can go use one for the day. These places rent scooters onsite. Also, you can rent a scooter locally at a mobility store and then you can go any where to practice with it. You can probably do a short run like in their parking lot with a demonstrator scooter model at a local mobility store. Then, your mom could see they are easier and nicer than the store models.

Most people feel the store scooters are more awkward to use. The scooter you will rent will be easier to use.

Also, once you get to your condo, practice there with the scooter before going to the parks.

I will say Disney will be tougher for scootering; because, you have so many people darting in and out in front of you. Also, some ride queues have a lot of turns that are sharp ones. You may have to help and take over in some circumstances while she would walk a little.

If she doesn't do well at home with practicing with a scooter you may have to consider a wheelchair and alternate between you and hubby for pushing. The best strategy here is to alternate between shows, rides, eats, and parades; so, you can rest from pushing a wheelchair.

My mother never drove and I would never trust her on a scooter; we pushed a wheelchair many times. Believe me we were not fit to do it, either. We managed by pacing ourselves as stated above.

 

[LibrarianBecky]

Thanks so much for the suggestions! After I posted this, I did read the sticky thread about ECVs, so that helped too. Going to the zoo or someplace like that for the day to try one out is a great idea. My MIL does drive, so she has that experience, if we end up having to do a wheelchair, though, the suggestion about switching off and pacing is a good one.

 

[WaDiWo]

i am a newbie ECV user here at walt disney world now, and the Pride GoGo Elite scooter is great! it's relatively small, has decent speed, and can disassemble to fit in the trunk of our Toyota Camry rental.

it's hars to explain how to assemble and disassemble it in words, so if no one shows you, there is a short youtube video you can look up. once you see it and try it once, it's easy. caution: the piecea are NOT light. I'm a 30 something year old male, others will need assistance in lifting pieces into the trunk.

the battery charge is decent. i even skipped a night of recharging it and left it in the car, altho you shd probably recharge it daily. there is a very clear meter on our model showing how mich juice is left.

enjoy.