Laura527
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2019
- Messages
- 98
My husband and I took my adult brother who is severely disabled to Disney World last week (2/25 to 3/3/2019). My brother had never been to Disney World before and was VERY excited to be able to go with us. He was born with cerebral palsy and can walk a short distance with canes but otherwise needs to use a wheelchair or ECV. He also has some difficulty with eye-hand coordination and mild developmental impairment. In planning our trip, I had gotten a lot of great advice on this forum and wanted to share our experiences in case it helps someone else.
ECV rental. We rented the Pride Go-Go Sport 4-Wheel Mobility Scooter from Gold Mobility Scooters and could not have been happier with this company or the ECV! I called and talked to Gold before renting and, based on my brother’s needs, they recommended the 4-wheel (more stability) and the smaller Pride Go-Go Sport for easier maneuvering. The advice was spot on, and the vehicle, price and service were all exceptional. The ECV came with a cane holder at no extra cost. Nick from Gold texted us before our arrival and was waiting for us at our resort when we arrived. He adjusted the seat and handle bars, and showed us how to take the vehicle apart to store in the trunk if we needed to use an Uber. The ECV was almost new, and the battery lasted around 9 hours with normal use. On longer park days, we easily found outlets while eating lunch or dinner and never ran out of juice. We were really glad we rented the smaller Pride because it was much easier to maneuver on and off the buses and around those sharp turns in lines at the parks. On our departure day, Nick was waiting for us at the resort at our agreed upon time. We HIGHLY recommend Gold Mobility!
ECV and crowds. My brother has never been able to drive a car or owned a scooter. He’s used scooters before in the grocery store so we naively thought we would be fine steering the ECV on his own at Disney World. He did OK when it wasn’t crowded, but my husband had to walk beside him and navigate the ECV in crowds. Unfortunately, it was crowded every day at WDW during our stay except for a relatively peaceful Wednesday at Epcot (Touring Plan crowd levels were in the 6-9 range at MK, DHS and AK). Most people are very respectful of WCs and ECVs and went out of their way to be helpful, but some would cut right in front of us (sometimes intentionally!) or stop suddenly in the middle of the walkway to check their iPhone or chat with their friends. When walking, it’s fairly easy to move around these people. It’s a lot harder when driving an ECV in a crowd to make quick stops or turns. One of our worst experiences was at MK when a mother with two babies in a double stroller intentionally cut right in front of our ECV as she was literally running to get to a ride at RD. Our ECV was within millimeters of hitting the stroller! Her husband was running behind her trying to keep up and apologized to us. Without breaking stride, she turned around and gave us – and her husband – a dirty look. MG, you would think she was trying to escape a burning building. It was shocking that someone would put their babies in such danger just to get to a ride! Fortunately, we never ran into anyone in the ECV but it took quite a bit of concentration at times.
Buses. We stayed at Pop and the bus system worked great for us. There is a handicap line and the bus drivers load the ECVs on the bus first, along with family members, before loading people in the regular line. However, if you arrive while the bus is already loading or if there are two or more ECVs already in line, you have to wait for the next bus to arrive. We usually got on the first bus and never had to wait for more than two buses. The bus drivers were all very nice but we found it amusing that each driver follows different rules and procedures when loading ECVs, some are very lax and other go strictly by the book. Also, we were never glared at (that we noticed) from people in the regular line when we got to board before them.
Ride access: every ride at Disney World seems to have a different procedure for accommodating ECVs and WCs. On some rides, we were able to go through the standby line with the ECV right up to the ride vehicle; on others, he had to walk with his canes for 10-20 feet to access the ride; on others, we went through the FP+ line or entered through the ride exit; on others, we needed to transfer to a Disney-provided wheelchair before entering the handicap-accessible line. If we were unfamiliar with a ride, we ended up going to the FP+ entrance first to ask the CM there what we needed to do. The CMs without a fault were very helpful. My brother was able to get onto the moving walkways with our assistance and using his canes; the CMs would slow the ride down to a crawl if needed as he transferred onto and off the ride. We found that the most difficult rides to transfer onto were Space Mountain, Astro-orbiter and Rock ‘n roller coaster; it took both by husband and me to (literally) lift my brother into and out of the vehicle. The easiest ride was Toy Story Mania with their ‘Wave’ access for ECVs and WCs. Shows were also a mixed bag: sometimes, we got the best seats in the house but usually we were at the very back of the theater.
DAS access: I hadn’t set up DAS for my brother because I thought that people who primarily have physical disabilities are ineligible for DAS. However, on our third day in the parks, a CM at Space Mountain suggested that we get DAS access. We went to the DAS rep in Fantasyland (near Buzz I think) who asked my brother a few questions about his disabilities and immediately set up DAS for him. To be honest, I’m still not sure what disabilities actually qualify for DAS. The way DAS works is that the disabled person and his/her companions get a return time for rides (the standby time minus about 10 minutes) and, instead of waiting in the actual standby line, can return through the FP+ line at their return time or at any time after that and before park closing. Also, a companion can walk over to the ride to activate DAS for the disabled person and his/her party without the disabled person needing to be there in person. However, only one DAS ride can be active in MDE at a time, and companions cannot ride on their own without the disabled person. Because I had FPs lined up for the headliners and a good touring plan each day, we ended up using DAS only once or at most twice each day. Also, DAS does not interfere with any FPs you have – they are entirely separate systems in MDE.
Although challenging at times, we all had a great time and my brother wants to return again after Star Wars opens!
ECV rental. We rented the Pride Go-Go Sport 4-Wheel Mobility Scooter from Gold Mobility Scooters and could not have been happier with this company or the ECV! I called and talked to Gold before renting and, based on my brother’s needs, they recommended the 4-wheel (more stability) and the smaller Pride Go-Go Sport for easier maneuvering. The advice was spot on, and the vehicle, price and service were all exceptional. The ECV came with a cane holder at no extra cost. Nick from Gold texted us before our arrival and was waiting for us at our resort when we arrived. He adjusted the seat and handle bars, and showed us how to take the vehicle apart to store in the trunk if we needed to use an Uber. The ECV was almost new, and the battery lasted around 9 hours with normal use. On longer park days, we easily found outlets while eating lunch or dinner and never ran out of juice. We were really glad we rented the smaller Pride because it was much easier to maneuver on and off the buses and around those sharp turns in lines at the parks. On our departure day, Nick was waiting for us at the resort at our agreed upon time. We HIGHLY recommend Gold Mobility!
ECV and crowds. My brother has never been able to drive a car or owned a scooter. He’s used scooters before in the grocery store so we naively thought we would be fine steering the ECV on his own at Disney World. He did OK when it wasn’t crowded, but my husband had to walk beside him and navigate the ECV in crowds. Unfortunately, it was crowded every day at WDW during our stay except for a relatively peaceful Wednesday at Epcot (Touring Plan crowd levels were in the 6-9 range at MK, DHS and AK). Most people are very respectful of WCs and ECVs and went out of their way to be helpful, but some would cut right in front of us (sometimes intentionally!) or stop suddenly in the middle of the walkway to check their iPhone or chat with their friends. When walking, it’s fairly easy to move around these people. It’s a lot harder when driving an ECV in a crowd to make quick stops or turns. One of our worst experiences was at MK when a mother with two babies in a double stroller intentionally cut right in front of our ECV as she was literally running to get to a ride at RD. Our ECV was within millimeters of hitting the stroller! Her husband was running behind her trying to keep up and apologized to us. Without breaking stride, she turned around and gave us – and her husband – a dirty look. MG, you would think she was trying to escape a burning building. It was shocking that someone would put their babies in such danger just to get to a ride! Fortunately, we never ran into anyone in the ECV but it took quite a bit of concentration at times.
Buses. We stayed at Pop and the bus system worked great for us. There is a handicap line and the bus drivers load the ECVs on the bus first, along with family members, before loading people in the regular line. However, if you arrive while the bus is already loading or if there are two or more ECVs already in line, you have to wait for the next bus to arrive. We usually got on the first bus and never had to wait for more than two buses. The bus drivers were all very nice but we found it amusing that each driver follows different rules and procedures when loading ECVs, some are very lax and other go strictly by the book. Also, we were never glared at (that we noticed) from people in the regular line when we got to board before them.
Ride access: every ride at Disney World seems to have a different procedure for accommodating ECVs and WCs. On some rides, we were able to go through the standby line with the ECV right up to the ride vehicle; on others, he had to walk with his canes for 10-20 feet to access the ride; on others, we went through the FP+ line or entered through the ride exit; on others, we needed to transfer to a Disney-provided wheelchair before entering the handicap-accessible line. If we were unfamiliar with a ride, we ended up going to the FP+ entrance first to ask the CM there what we needed to do. The CMs without a fault were very helpful. My brother was able to get onto the moving walkways with our assistance and using his canes; the CMs would slow the ride down to a crawl if needed as he transferred onto and off the ride. We found that the most difficult rides to transfer onto were Space Mountain, Astro-orbiter and Rock ‘n roller coaster; it took both by husband and me to (literally) lift my brother into and out of the vehicle. The easiest ride was Toy Story Mania with their ‘Wave’ access for ECVs and WCs. Shows were also a mixed bag: sometimes, we got the best seats in the house but usually we were at the very back of the theater.
DAS access: I hadn’t set up DAS for my brother because I thought that people who primarily have physical disabilities are ineligible for DAS. However, on our third day in the parks, a CM at Space Mountain suggested that we get DAS access. We went to the DAS rep in Fantasyland (near Buzz I think) who asked my brother a few questions about his disabilities and immediately set up DAS for him. To be honest, I’m still not sure what disabilities actually qualify for DAS. The way DAS works is that the disabled person and his/her companions get a return time for rides (the standby time minus about 10 minutes) and, instead of waiting in the actual standby line, can return through the FP+ line at their return time or at any time after that and before park closing. Also, a companion can walk over to the ride to activate DAS for the disabled person and his/her party without the disabled person needing to be there in person. However, only one DAS ride can be active in MDE at a time, and companions cannot ride on their own without the disabled person. Because I had FPs lined up for the headliners and a good touring plan each day, we ended up using DAS only once or at most twice each day. Also, DAS does not interfere with any FPs you have – they are entirely separate systems in MDE.
Although challenging at times, we all had a great time and my brother wants to return again after Star Wars opens!
