On site resort recommendation for scooter use?

[eyeheartgoofy]

Does anyone have any resort recommendations for a scooter novice? Is there any one resort that seems easier or more difficult to navigate? Does it even matter? Am I overthinking this? Should this even influence where we stay?


Thanks!

 

[Cheshire Figment]

It really does not matter. All room exterior doors are at least 36 inches, and there is sufficient space to park an ECV without too much bother.

If you will primarily be going to MK and Epcot you might be best off staying at a monorail resort. If you will primarily be going to Epcot or Hollywood Studios you would be best off at a Crescent Lake resort. These choices will assist in avoiding buses.

All other resorts, or to get to the other parks, will require using buses. This is not a problem in itself, as all the buses are equipped for two ECVs or wheelchairs (actually there is at least one that can handle four); however the procedures are not as easy as for the monorail or Friendships.

If you will be staying at Caribbean Beach you would have to request a ground floor room for medical reasons as there are no guest-accessible elevators in that resort.

 

[hematite153]

One other thing to think about (maybe others can provide more info) is what type of buses are most commonly used with each resort.

We had stayed at many resorts traveling with a w/c and only rarely encountered buses with stairs and lifts (rather than ramps). But, on our last trip we were staying at SSR with my DFIL who was using a scooter and only 1 of the buses we took all week had a ramp!

The lifts seem to require both more skilled scooter drivers and more skilled bus drivers. In his first couple of days, my DFIL had several inelegant boardings that ended up with someone lifting the scooter somewhere. We had one driver who took about 10 minutes to figure out how to get the lift down. We had several drivers who opened the front doors and started letting people on before checking to see if anyone was waiting to load at the back. (At least, that was the argument made, but, it's confusing to me since they had to drive past him to pull in!) In one case, we'd been the first people at the bus stop, but then there'd been a long wait and 40-50 people wanted the bus by the time it arrived at our resort stop. A half-empty bus pulled up, the driver opened the front door and refused to speak with us until after everyone else had boarded--even though a member of our party was at the front of the regular line. Then, he told us there wasn't any space for the scooter and we'd have to wait.

I don't know whether we had bad luck or whether there's something to the type of bus. As I said, we've never had these problems before, and we always travel with a w/c.

Does anyone know why we were getting the buses with stairs? Are they more common at SSR? (If so, which resorts use them the least? I'd recommend those resorts for the OP.) Are they just becoming more common in the fleet?

 

[vafarmmom]

, we'd been the first people at the bus stop, but then there'd been a long wait and 40-50 people wanted the bus by the time it arrived at our resort stop. A half-empty bus pulled up, the driver opened the front door and refused to speak with us until after everyone else had boarded--even though a member of our party was at the front of the regular line. Then, he told us there wasn't any space for the scooter and we'd have to wait.

This was our entire experience at okw. Over and over. I tried to ask for assistance and I have never been treated so poorly in my life. Repeatedly.

We took the bus a few times from Saratoga, and each time it was one of the stair ones. I was a novice scooter driver and I didn't have much trouble. We also were treated very kindly at ss.

 

[SueM in MN]

The buses with the stairs and lifts are the oldest buses and we have 'run into' them at .
I don't think there is any one resort that uses them most. When we were at SSR last fall, we only had the lift buses a few times, while you had them most of the time at that resort. Last year in Spring, we stayed at OKW and seldom had a bus with a lift. This April, we seldom had one that was not a lift bus.
I think they are kind of distributed around. I know when we have been waiting at the park bus stops for our bus, we have seen them come to the stop for each resort.

They may use the newer buses at the resorts that tend to have more families with strollers because it's easier to get strollers on the bus with those buses. Those would also be the busiest resorts though, so maybe that ourweighs having those buses.

 

[eyeheartgoofy]

Thanks for the information ... I appreciate it .