Renting an ECV for a newbie

[ljspjsapsras]

Hi.

I've read some of the posts here and still have a question.

Are ECV's hard to navigate? I recently had knee surgery and don't know if I'll be up to walking the distances in Disney for our trip later on, so I was considering renting one.

I've never driven one of those things. How hard is it to drive and navigate the parks?

We're staying on site (Beach Club here we come). How about getting around the resorts on an ECV?

Thanks.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Hi and to both DisBoards and disABILITIES!

If you have ridden a bicycle or tricycle you can drive and ECV with no problem. Almost all of the off-site rentals have three wheels and there is a handlebar in the front for thye steering. On the handlebar is a long lever; normally it is actuated by pushing one side or the other with a thumb; right hand makes it go forward and left makes it go back. The harder you press, the faster it will go.

There is plenty of space inside the rooms, especially in the deluxe hotels for parking and recharging overnight. And having the ECV in the hotel is great for the long corridors.

You might go to a very large supermarket or WalMart or similar and borrow one of their ECVs for use in the store. Just be aware the store ECVs are much slower than the rentals and because of the very large shopping basket on the front they are much harder to maneuver than the rentals. So if you can drive one of them without running over too many people you should have no problem at wDW with a rental.

 

[ljspjsapsras]

Hi and to both DisBoards and disABILITIES!

If you have ridden a bicycle or tricycle you can drive and ECV with no problem. Almost all of the off-site rentals have three wheels and there is a handlebar in the front for thye steering. On the handlebar is a long lever; normally it is actuated by pushing one side or the other with a thumb; right hand makes it go forward and left makes it go back. The harder you press, the faster it will go.

There is plenty of space inside the rooms, especially in the deluxe hotels for parking and recharging overnight. And having the ECV in the hotel is great for the long corridors.

You might go to a very large supermarket or WalMart or similar and borrow one of their ECVs for use in the store. Just be aware the store ECVs are much slower than the rentals and because of the very large shopping basket on the front they are much harder to maneuver than the rentals. So if you can drive one of them without running over too many people you should have no problem at wDW with a rental.

Thanks Cheshire Figment. It sounds like it's not to hard to drive. I like the idea of trying one at Walmart or supermarket. You're the best.

 

[videogal1]

Hi and to both DisBoards and disABILITIES!

there is a handlebar in the front for thye steering. On the handlebar is a long lever; normally it is actuated by pushing one side or the other with a thumb; right hand makes it go forward and left makes it go back. The harder you press, the faster it will go.

Ummm, not exactly. If that were true, those of us with the use of only one hand would be driving with our noses part of the time. You push the bar forward or back with either hand. Forward is forward, back is back if you drive right handed. For left hand only, it should be the opposite. (I only drive right-handed so, I can't really speak to that from my own experience.) Speed is controlled by the turtle/rabbit mode dial, although you can, with practice, set the dial to full rabbit and still go turtle speed by adjusting your thumb pressure on the controller bar. You cannot, however, do the opposite...go rabbit speed with the dial set to full turtle. The scooters in stores do not allow you to set the speed, probably for the safety of their displays of wine and other messy breakables....Some scooters require that you stop and reset a forward/reverse switch manually to change direction. And, NO BRAKES. To stop, release the thumb pressure on the accelerator bar. When the scooter is in working order it should stop almost immediately. Make sure this is working properly before accepting it because if the controller is out of adjustment the scooter will not stop immediately and you could get into trouble trying to stop short to miss an unwary pedestrian. My own scooter once broke a sliding glass door when it failed to stop as planned. Luckily it was my own front door but it ruined my day!

 

[aspen37]

Ummm, not exactly. If that were true, those of us with the use of only one hand would be driving with our noses part of the time. You push the bar forward or back with either hand. Forward is forward, back is back if you drive right handed. For left hand only, it should be the opposite. (I only drive right-handed so, I can't really speak to that from my own experience.) Speed is controlled by the turtle/rabbit mode dial, although you can, with practice, set the dial to full rabbit and still go turtle speed by adjusting your thumb pressure on the controller bar. You cannot, however, do the opposite...go rabbit speed with the dial set to full turtle. The scooters in stores do not allow you to set the speed, probably for the safety of their displays of wine and other messy breakables....Some scooters require that you stop and reset a forward/reverse switch manually to change direction. And, NO BRAKES. To stop, release the thumb pressure on the accelerator bar. When the scooter is in working order it should stop almost immediately. Make sure this is working properly before accepting it because if the controller is out of adjustment the scooter will not stop immediately and you could get into trouble trying to stop short to miss an unwary pedestrian. My own scooter once broke a sliding glass door when it failed to stop as planned. Luckily it was my own front door but it ruined my day!

The scooter I had was just like this. Practice stopping. It is abrupt and is jarring at first. I kept the setting pretty close to the turtle so I wasn't shooting off really fast.

 

[5 for WDW]

We were just in WDW last week and I had to reserve an ECV for myself when I tore my MCL and meniscus a week before we left. I have had 5 knee surgeries on this knee and have always been okay taking the parks at a gentle place with my knee brace on. This time, it was either get an ECV or cancel the trip. There was no way I could walk the parks since the Ortho has me on crutches for the next three weeks at least!

Anyway, I have never driven one. It was a piece of cake. Even getting on the buses and parking it. I just rode around the resort for a few minutes to get a feel for it and I was on my way. I kept it at a very low speed to avoid running anyone over and to keep up with my family.

The only negative was what others have posted in the past. It is very hard to drive in crowded areas. People don't look where they are going and will walk right in front of you. Most times giving you a look that makes you know they think you were in the wrong. I got really good at avoiding..lol.

We used Apple scooters online and they were great! Affordable and very helpful. The ECV was delivered to our hotel when expected. We had a problem with the battery not holding a charge. One call and they met us at the bus stop at SSR with a new one and refunded us a day for the hassle. We decided to add another day and they let us keep it at no extra charge as well. Great experience. Highly recommend them!

As a multiple knee surgery person I highly recommend getting an ECV. You will enjoy your trip much more! Also, keep the first aid stations in mind. They were awesome for getting ice for my knee and taking a rest when it swelled. There is one in each park. Check the maps.

Have a great trip!!

 

[ckdsnynt]

A couple of things: some of the ecvs require you to flip a button to get them to go in reverse, not turn the handlebars in reverse. Also, parking the ecv on the buses is a little bit difficult and I am a great parallel parker. Generally, parking them is okay but sometimes you have to park them after people are already on the bus and you have to be really careful not to back over their toes or hit their knees (heaven forbid they move!). That can be scary. Also, I have rented from several different companies in Orlando and have never gotten an ecv that stopped as soon as you let off the handlebars. They all sort of glided to a stop, making it hard to miss those people that love to cut you off in heavy pedestrian traffic (or stroller pushers that will look right at you and see you but decide to cut in front of you anyway!).

All that being said, I need the ecv at WDW due to back pain and leg nerve pain and will coninue to rent them while I am there.

Good luck to you!

 

[retired and happy]

I'm thankful for ECV's. Last visit I was in MK with my son who is in a wheelchair. We were trying to leave the park during a street show of some sort. A gentleman on an ECV was also leaving. He kinda cut through the crowd (think: Parting of the Red Sea), and we snuck in behind him and were out in a jiffy. With our three in wheelchairs, we try to be mindful of others, not cutting them off as we don't like to be cut off either. After all, we're there for a good time and a usually leisurely vacation. "Can't we all just get along?"

 

[disneymom3]

Anyway, I have never driven one. It was a piece of cake. Even getting on the buses and parking it. I just rode around the resort for a few minutes to get a feel for it and I was on my way. I kept it at a very low speed to avoid running anyone over and to keep up with my family.

.

Totally agree with how easy they are. The one I had could turn on a dime, I tell ya. I was really surprised at how easy it was....even backing up. I did have DH back onto the first bus we enountered with a ramp. That driver was cranky to boot, so I was nervous. Otherwise, it all went very very smoothly. Every once in awhile when we were in really deserted area, I would crank up the speed and take off. My kids thought that was extremely funny! Especially since I have really bad balance and usually slog along pretty slowly!