Renting a Scooter for Mom - question

[PamNC]

Hello,

My mom has bad arthritis so we plan on renting her a scooter for our trip coming up in December. I have rented through Gold Mobility before but I want to be able to use my car versus relying on buses. I have an AP so parking is free for me. So, we're considering her renting a scooter at the parks each day. My question is this... if we have a scooter and want to leave the park to go to a nearby restaurant off property and come back to the park....can we take the rented scooter with us?? Or are you restricted to keeping rented scooters at the park where it was rented?

 

[lanejudy]

In-park rentals must remain inside the park. It cannot be taken to the bus stops, parking lot or nearby resorts. Can you rent a portable ECV that will fit in your car?

 

[SueM in MN]

Besides what lanejudy wrote, there is no guarantee the park will have an ECV left to rent when you get there. Chances are good if you arrive by 10:30 or so, but if you are going to be there during the busiest part of December, there may not be.

If you are concerned about renting a portable ECV, the company can help you figure out how to fit it into your vehicle and demonstrate how to take it apart and put it back together.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

Hello,

My mom has bad arthritis so we plan on renting her a scooter for our trip coming up in December. I have rented through Gold Mobility before but I want to be able to use my car versus relying on buses. I have an AP so parking is free for me. So, we're considering her renting a scooter at the parks each day. My question is this... if we have a scooter and want to leave the park to go to a nearby restaurant off property and come back to the park....can we take the rented scooter with us?? Or are you restricted to keeping rented scooters at the park where it was rented?

do you have a plan B if park is out of scooters when you arrive or when you get back from lunch. as mentioned earlier look for offsite rental that can be load into a car trunk. and no you can not even take scooter outside of gate with park rental. say she can not make it from parking lot with no tram you can not go in and rent and bring out to her

 

[Simba's Mom]

Have you considered the scooters from Golf Mobility that break down for portability? I think they're the Go-Go Sport Models, and the one I own breaks down to 4 parts, which fit in the trunk of my car (Toyota Camry). The heaviest piece is about 28 lbs, and my 70 yo husband lifts that easily.

 

[Bete]

The only way to guarantee availability of the scooter is to rent one from an offsite vendor. What's nice here is your mom can use it to get to the car from the park and also around the resort. If you go anywhere else like SeaWorld or whatever it will be nice to have it there, too. If you need a heavier scooter like the Pride Victory 10 than it gets to be a little harder to fit into your car and it's harder to put the broken down pieces in and out of the car. One piece can go 40 to 50 pounds. Also, with your own scooter you are responsible for charging it all the time. Some people like the two battery scooters because they will most often last all day. On some scooter models you can just bring the battery and charger in the room to recharge. This can help the wear and tear getting the scooter in and out of the car all the time. We never had a problem leaving our scooter in our car trunk but we had a very big trunk.

If you leave the park you will have to return your park rental scooter and hope you can rent one when you come back. This can be very difficult to do especially during peak times. If you are willing to do a park wheelchair when you return to a park that might work if there are no more park scooters available.

Be careful to get a scooter that is portable and breaks down from an offsite vendor. Some vendors are preventing you from breaking their scooter down even if it's suppose to come apart.

 

[PamNC]

thanks everyone - I had no idea there were scooters that could break down and fit into a car. I am definitely going to look into that. I appreciate the information !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[PamNC]

another question - how hard is it to break down the go-go line - I'm looking at the 3 wheel one.

 

[Precmom1967]

I just rented from gold mobility and there was a demo video that showed how to break down the scooter and how heavy the largest piece was. You also see the requirements for the vehicle. Also, call they are very helpful!!!

 

[Evita_W]

Gold Mobility has ones that will break down. Both the Gogo Sport and The Victory 10 can break down. The Gogo sport will fit better in smaller cars. The Victory 10 can work if you don't have a lot of people and/or have a minivan or SUV.

There are tons of YouTube videos show how to break down both and putting them in cars of various sizes to give you an idea of how it might fit in the vehicle you will have while there.

 

[Selket]

I used to rent portable ECVs for our trips when we went to US/IOA and WDW and drove back and forth. My husband and son could have it apart or back together in 5 minutes or less I'd say. I think I could have done it myself back then. If you have someone in your traveling party that does not have back problems or shoulder issues, etc. and can lift a somewhat heavy solid object (I lifted the pieces once and it reminded me of the weight of a large bag of cat litter or ice melting salt, etc) you should be fine. You don't have to carry it - just get it in and out of the car.

At the time I rented I was told basically the lighter the person is using it, the longer the battery will last and they didn't recommend it for someone over 220lbs. I was under that not a problem but still had battery issues and had to recharge during the day. This was several years ago and from Buena Vista Scooters. I would personally rent from Gold now (I do rent their regular ECV) so they can show you how to tear it down and rebuild it when they drop it off to you. Perhaps their batteries will last longer as well!

 

[Simba's Mom]

another question - how hard is it to break down the go-go line - I'm looking at the 3 wheel one.

Not hard at all! I own a Go-Go, and DH breaks it down and puts it in the trunk all the time. I could if it weren't for my disability that makes me require the scooter in the first place!

 

[PamNC]

Thanks everyone - I rented a 3 wheel go go from Gold Mobility. I am pretty sure I can handle it .... I lift 50 pound bags of horse feed all the time. Just hoping I can figure it out. I'll watch a video and maybe I can get the folks at Gold Mobility or maybe the bell services folks to help if I get confused. I appreciate all the help!!!!!!!!!!!!! Happy Thanksgiving.

 

[Bete]

Thanks everyone - I rented a 3 wheel go go from Gold Mobility. I am pretty sure I can handle it .... I lift 50 pound bags of horse feed all the time. Just hoping I can figure it out. I'll watch a video and maybe I can get the folks at Gold Mobility or maybe the bell services folks to help if I get confused. I appreciate all the help!!!!!!!!!!!!! Happy Thanksgiving.

You can go to a local mobility store with the idea of buying one and I'm sure they would demonstrate how to take one apart and put it back together again. Go go scooters can be found everywhere. Good luck.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

another question - how hard is it to break down the go-go line - I'm looking at the 3 wheel one.

can not say for sure brand but a friend at work and she is on the small size breaks down and puts hers in her small car trunk by herself. hers is a 3 wheeled one. have them walk you thru it and then watch you do it. funny story of season was day they tried to get her and I out before a major storm hit. she could take apart her scooter easier than trying to tell the leaders. took so long we ended up in worst of storm. not to scare you but she says once you learn it it is easy to do. just allow a little extra time until you get used to it

 

[PamNC]

You can go to a local mobility store with the idea of buying one and I'm sure they would demonstrate how to take one apart and put it back together again. Go go scooters can be found everywhere. Good luck.

oooooh good idea - thank you.

 

[Evita_W]

If you can lift the weight and it will fit in your vehicle, all you really need to do is lift the seat off and take the battery off with the Gogo sport. You might even be able to lift with the battery in place. It is simpler than if you need to take the back off that way, but you can split the back off as well if needed for weight or size.

 

[Bethctraveler]

We just rented 4 scooters from Gold Mobility. Best decision of our trip. We rented the Victory 10 bigger model. We needed the longer battery range than the Gogo scooter. During the the stay we moved two of the scooters to Universal in the back of a minivan with the back seat taken down. We used the video on the Gold Mobility website to teach us how to take them apart and assemble them. It wasn't hard at all to do. Our 3 issues with renting the park rental scooters was they are not guaranteed for availability, they were like $70 a day with deposit, and we could only use them inside the theme parks. We needed scooters for resort use, and to get to and from the car.