AnninIowa
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2005
- Messages
- 2,009
Hello! My dad (79) and I (37) were at Disney World from October 2-7. This was the first time my dad used a scooter, so thought I would let everyone know how it went.
My dad fell and broke his upper thigh (close to the hip) two years ago, plus he has arthritis and sore feet. Therefore, even though he doesn't use a scooter at home, I insisted he use one on vacation.
For the plane ride, I made him take his walker. While he doesn't use this at home, either, I wanted him to have it so the flight attendants would see he needed a little extra help. It's a walker with wheels, breaks on the handles, and a seat. Let me tell you, that seat was helpful in hauling our carryon, lol! The walker did what I wanted in letting him board before everyone and have a few extra minutes to get to his seat. The walker was tagged and waiting for us when we arrived at both our layover and in Orlando.
I booked aisle seats for us so that we were sitting across from one another. I have found this gives my dad a little more leg room and helps him get up and down out of his seat with more ease.
We used Magical Express this trip. We stayed at AKL. The walker was stored with the luggage on our trip to the resort.
I rented a scooter from Buena Vista Scooter. It was delivered our first full day, October 3. I went outside to the valet area at 8 am and they brought it out for me, also showing me how to use it. I drove it back to the room and gave my dad a quick lesson. Very easy to use!
There are designated handicapped areas at the resort bus stop. In the mornings, there was also a cast member present who would come over and assure us that my dad would board the bus without any issues. When the bus came and the driver saw someone was waiting in a scooter, he/she would tell the other people waiting that the scooter needed to board first, then the front bus door would close and the back would open. The driver went to the back of the bus and lowered the ramp, always directing my dad how to drive the scooter in and get it situated. Only 1 driver told my dad he could stay seated in the scooter - the other drivers insisted he sit in a regular seat. After his scooter was secured, the drivers told me to board. Then the front door was opened for the other guests.
Once at the park, the driver waited until all the guests had gotten off and then came back to unhook the scooter and help my dad drive it off. Every driver was very kind and friendly about it - my dad had been so worried, but the drivers all put him at ease!
In the parks, we had the easiest time with the scooter at Epcot as the wide pathways made navigating easy. For Soarin', my dad drove the scooter all the way into the attraction, and then left it in front of his seat. A cast member then moved it out of the way. At Living With The Land, he went through the wheelchair line (even though the ride was walk on and no one was in line, lol!), boarded and the cast members moved the scooter. At the American Adventure, we rode an elevator up to the second floor and were led in first through the back row where my dad parked the scooter and then took a regular seat. For Illuminations, we went to a designated wheelchair spot in the back by Germany. The cast member there was very sweet and friendly. I didn't know this spot existed until I just stumbled upon it. We got in there at 7:30 as I thought we needed to stack a spot, but could have come right before the show as there was plenty of room. I was able to let my dad rest there while I grabbed us some snacks. The view of Illuminations was great - in fact, we could also see Wishes at MK going on at the same time!
My dad also navigated the Magic Kingdom fairly well with the scooter. Most of the attractions had scooter parking...or at least scooters seemed to just park with the strollers. For my dad, who can walk short distances, this worked out great. He parked his scooter and was able to walk the line...although most of the time, we were directed to walk through the wheelchair line. The only tricky attraction was Philharmagic. We were told he could ride his scooter right in, which he did....but it was packed and he was with everyone else. I wished we would have parked the scooter outside and had him walk the line for that one. We went to Wishes, but that night he decided to walk and didn't even bring his walker
....but he ended up doing just fine. I honestly couldn't imagine taking a scooter into MK at night for the parade or Wishes - I guess the thing to do would be to wait until everyone else leaves the park before trying to exit. I know there are handicapped viewing spots at MK, but now sure where they are. We watched the fireworks as close to the exit as possible, then made our way to the bus where we were one of the first in line, so he did get a seat. Otherwise, I would have waited for a second bus as there was no way he could stand.
We went to DTD a couple of nights, but he walked both of those since we stayed on the West Side and there wasn't too much walking. After being in the scooter all day, he actually looked forward to walking a bit!
The only park we had problems with was Animal Kingdom. The crowds were very low on our trip, and I picked park days avoiding EMH. However, with the narrow, bumpy walkways at AK, there were bottlenecks at every turn. Plus NO ONE would move for the scooter. You would think a mini car driving towards you would make people move or stop, but no. We ended up spending twice as long as we normally do at AK just because it took so long to get anywhere.
Also at AK, they board all the scooter/wheelchair guests together. You drive your scooter thru the line and then wait in a seperate area until they have enough people to fill one truck. For those who can walk some, I recommend parking your scooter outside the attraction and walking the line. The wait to board a truck was 4 times longer than the standby line.
I honestly wouldn't take my dad to AKL again with the scooter. For someone who doesn't normally use one, it was just too much (for him, at least).
The scooter was due back the morning after the last rental day, but I actually returned it the night before. I just dropped it off to the valet, and that was it! The scooter fit inside our room just fine, too - the little hallway leading into the room was just the right size for the scooter, plus we had room to walk around it if needed.
All in all, having the scooter was a lifesaver! For anyone with mobility issues, even if you don't normally use a walking aid, I would highly recommend one! A few times when my dad needed to stretch his legs, I got to drive it, too. It's actually a lot of fun! Disney makes it so easy, that there is no reason to suffer by walking when you can use a scooter!
My dad fell and broke his upper thigh (close to the hip) two years ago, plus he has arthritis and sore feet. Therefore, even though he doesn't use a scooter at home, I insisted he use one on vacation.
For the plane ride, I made him take his walker. While he doesn't use this at home, either, I wanted him to have it so the flight attendants would see he needed a little extra help. It's a walker with wheels, breaks on the handles, and a seat. Let me tell you, that seat was helpful in hauling our carryon, lol! The walker did what I wanted in letting him board before everyone and have a few extra minutes to get to his seat. The walker was tagged and waiting for us when we arrived at both our layover and in Orlando.
I booked aisle seats for us so that we were sitting across from one another. I have found this gives my dad a little more leg room and helps him get up and down out of his seat with more ease.
We used Magical Express this trip. We stayed at AKL. The walker was stored with the luggage on our trip to the resort.
I rented a scooter from Buena Vista Scooter. It was delivered our first full day, October 3. I went outside to the valet area at 8 am and they brought it out for me, also showing me how to use it. I drove it back to the room and gave my dad a quick lesson. Very easy to use!
There are designated handicapped areas at the resort bus stop. In the mornings, there was also a cast member present who would come over and assure us that my dad would board the bus without any issues. When the bus came and the driver saw someone was waiting in a scooter, he/she would tell the other people waiting that the scooter needed to board first, then the front bus door would close and the back would open. The driver went to the back of the bus and lowered the ramp, always directing my dad how to drive the scooter in and get it situated. Only 1 driver told my dad he could stay seated in the scooter - the other drivers insisted he sit in a regular seat. After his scooter was secured, the drivers told me to board. Then the front door was opened for the other guests.
Once at the park, the driver waited until all the guests had gotten off and then came back to unhook the scooter and help my dad drive it off. Every driver was very kind and friendly about it - my dad had been so worried, but the drivers all put him at ease!

In the parks, we had the easiest time with the scooter at Epcot as the wide pathways made navigating easy. For Soarin', my dad drove the scooter all the way into the attraction, and then left it in front of his seat. A cast member then moved it out of the way. At Living With The Land, he went through the wheelchair line (even though the ride was walk on and no one was in line, lol!), boarded and the cast members moved the scooter. At the American Adventure, we rode an elevator up to the second floor and were led in first through the back row where my dad parked the scooter and then took a regular seat. For Illuminations, we went to a designated wheelchair spot in the back by Germany. The cast member there was very sweet and friendly. I didn't know this spot existed until I just stumbled upon it. We got in there at 7:30 as I thought we needed to stack a spot, but could have come right before the show as there was plenty of room. I was able to let my dad rest there while I grabbed us some snacks. The view of Illuminations was great - in fact, we could also see Wishes at MK going on at the same time!

My dad also navigated the Magic Kingdom fairly well with the scooter. Most of the attractions had scooter parking...or at least scooters seemed to just park with the strollers. For my dad, who can walk short distances, this worked out great. He parked his scooter and was able to walk the line...although most of the time, we were directed to walk through the wheelchair line. The only tricky attraction was Philharmagic. We were told he could ride his scooter right in, which he did....but it was packed and he was with everyone else. I wished we would have parked the scooter outside and had him walk the line for that one. We went to Wishes, but that night he decided to walk and didn't even bring his walker

We went to DTD a couple of nights, but he walked both of those since we stayed on the West Side and there wasn't too much walking. After being in the scooter all day, he actually looked forward to walking a bit!
The only park we had problems with was Animal Kingdom. The crowds were very low on our trip, and I picked park days avoiding EMH. However, with the narrow, bumpy walkways at AK, there were bottlenecks at every turn. Plus NO ONE would move for the scooter. You would think a mini car driving towards you would make people move or stop, but no. We ended up spending twice as long as we normally do at AK just because it took so long to get anywhere.
Also at AK, they board all the scooter/wheelchair guests together. You drive your scooter thru the line and then wait in a seperate area until they have enough people to fill one truck. For those who can walk some, I recommend parking your scooter outside the attraction and walking the line. The wait to board a truck was 4 times longer than the standby line.
I honestly wouldn't take my dad to AKL again with the scooter. For someone who doesn't normally use one, it was just too much (for him, at least).
The scooter was due back the morning after the last rental day, but I actually returned it the night before. I just dropped it off to the valet, and that was it! The scooter fit inside our room just fine, too - the little hallway leading into the room was just the right size for the scooter, plus we had room to walk around it if needed.
All in all, having the scooter was a lifesaver! For anyone with mobility issues, even if you don't normally use a walking aid, I would highly recommend one! A few times when my dad needed to stretch his legs, I got to drive it, too. It's actually a lot of fun! Disney makes it so easy, that there is no reason to suffer by walking when you can use a scooter!
