Renting electric scooters?

[metroliner]

My mom needs the use of an electric scooter on our upcoming trip to disney. Is there a way to rent them at disney? What is the cost? Any help or advice greatly appreciated.

 

[SueM in MN]

If you go to the disABILITIES FAQs thread near the top of the thread list on this board - look for the green arrow - you will find all the information you are looking for.
It is possible to rent scooters at the parks, but if you are concerned about her ability to walk around the resort, you would be better off renting from one of the off-site companies (and most of the resorts are large and require a lot of walking).
The FAQs thread has information and links about all the options.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

You will be better off renting form off site anyway, because of the price increase at WDW. It is $45/day with a $20 refundable deposit. I only paid $39/day for a heavy duty ECV to rent off site $30/day for a standard, then I had it at the resort and DTD. I didn't even pay for a full day on our arrival day and departure day either.

Suzanne

 

[Withacy]

I was there in January, and because of major back/endurance problems I rented ECVs each day at the parks. I was told here that it might be less expensive to rent one for the whole week, but I worried about transportation hassles (especially since this was the first time I'd ever had to use this kind of help), and didn't do it.

And I spent most of my trip wishing I had.

It can not be overstated how much walking is involved outside the parks. I stayed at All Star-Movies, and just walking from the room to the bus-stop was often agony. Not to mention from the bus stop to the entrance of the parks. Since I was only accompanied by a child, there was no way to have someone move me around in a wheelchair, so I was stuck and in pain. Given that this was my 8th trip, I had no excuse. Just something to keep in mind.

 

[diberry]

I've recently been making enquiries and have come up with these figures for a 14 day period:
Disney $630
http://www.buenavistascooters.com $447.30 including tax
http://www.caremedicalequipment.com/scooters.htm $420 (no sales tax)
http://www.scootarama.com $399.00
http://www.walkermobility.com/new $366.00 (no sales tax)
http://www.scootaround.com $300.00
http://www.randysmobility.com $280 including tax

They all (apart from Disney where you obviously collect and drop them off at the park if they have enough - get there early) include delivery to and pick up from your hotel.
I've booked with Randy's mobility.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

Randy's called me today to discuss our December trip and they are charging me $380 for 1 standard and 1 heavy duty scooter for Dec 13-21. I hope we like them. The rep that called me was a little backward spoken, but I guess it will work out. I didn't like that they were going to go ahead and charge my CC though, but she assured me that I would get a full refund if I had to cancel and did it 48 hours prior to check in. They were going to charge the first half today and the remaining balance prior to check-in.

Hope this works out

Suzanne

 

[diberry]

People seem to speak highly of Randy's and they offer a very good price.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1857960

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

People seem to speak highly of Randy's and they offer a very good price.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1857960

That is the thread that convinced me contact Randy's. I kept my rental with Walker for the time being, but I am sure I will cancel it to save over $100. The first time and this time, I had the problem of my ECV not holding a charge. I didn't realize that was the problem the first time, I thought it was because of the rain, but it happened last week. We charged them all night, but it just didn't hold all day. I had to end up borrowing a WC from the resort to go to DTD that evening.

Suzanne

 

[cmesq61]

Randy's called me today to discuss our December trip and they are charging me $380 for 1 standard and 1 heavy duty scooter for Dec 13-21. I hope we like them. The rep that called me was a little backward spoken, but I guess it will work out. I didn't like that they were going to go ahead and charge my CC though, but she assured me that I would get a full refund if I had to cancel and did it 48 hours prior to check in. They were going to charge the first half today and the remaining balance prior to check-in.

Hope this works out

Suzanne

Randy's also told me that they would charge half now and half prior to check in but charged the whole thing right away anyway. They seem nice and the price is reasonable so i guess it will be OK. Just make sure to check your card and see what you were charged.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

Randy's also told me that they would charge half now and half prior to check in but charged the whole thing right away anyway. They seem nice and the price is reasonable so i guess it will be OK. Just make sure to check your card and see what you were charged.

I will check when I get home, cause I didn't have enough on that card to cover the whole thing today. My mom is paying for them actually, but she didn't have a card avail. I may just have to call them if they did that.

Suzanne

 

[diberry]

Just checked and they only charged me half of the full amount as a deposit. Hope you got yours sorted out with them.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

Just checked and they only charged me half of the full amount as a deposit. Hope you got yours sorted out with them.

I went home and checked mine that night and they did only charge me 1/2 of the total. I hope I have made the right decision. Based on what Sue said, I fele pretty confident. I am going to vall later this week and cancel the one I have with Walker.

Suzanne

 

[mullertwin]

I rented from Randy's this past April and am doing so again in 3 weeks. I had a great experience with them.

 

[MELISAZACK]

We love Randy's used him in the past with no issues at all - nice scooter too!
just booked him last week again for my Aug trip... heard his prices are going to go up in the near future.. so book now just in case.

 

[kimsuenew]

I've recently been making enquiries and have come up with these figures for a 14 day period:
Disney $630
http://www.buenavistascooters.com $447.30 including tax
http://www.caremedicalequipment.com/scooters.htm $420 (no sales tax)
http://www.scootarama.com $399.00
http://www.walkermobility.com/new $366.00 (no sales tax)
http://www.scootaround.com $300.00
http://www.randysmobility.com $280 including tax

They all (apart from Disney where you obviously collect and drop them off at the park if they have enough - get there early) include delivery to and pick up from your hotel.
I've booked with Randy's mobility.

Thank you for the wonderful breakdown! That is exactly the number of days we will be there in September! I absolutely LOVED the WDW EVC's, they seemed so stable and sturdy, and drove nice (I liked the basket too). I wonder if any places you listed have anything similar to the WDW style?

 

[MELISAZACK]

Randy's comes with baskets in front and for 15.00 you can add a canopy.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

Thank you for the wonderful breakdown! That is exactly the number of days we will be there in September! I absolutely LOVED the WDW EVC's, they seemed so stable and sturdy, and drove nice (I liked the basket too). I wonder if any places you listed have anything similar to the WDW style?

All of the ones I have rented have a basket in front and it is really convenient. Most of hte of site ECV's handle better than the WDW ECV's since they don't have that "cattle guard" on the front. Now, the batter chargers from Walker's are a hassle, because they are this huge box. I prefer something smaller I can carry incase I want to plug in at the park or while eating.

Suzanne

 

[Cheshire Figment]

A few side notes:

The Disney ECVs are four wheel rather than the three which are available from most of the outside vendors. Three wheel are much easier to maneuver, and have a much smaller turning circle.

The Disney ones will not work on the Epcot Lagoon boats because their bumper will hang up on the ramps; all other ECVs will work on them.

The Disney ECVs are limited to 2 MPH while most of the rentals have a top speed of about 4¼ MPH.

If you are in a resort with long corridors, or a long way from the room to the bus stop, having an off-site ECV means it is available all the time.

 

[diberry]

As we're staying at WL I was wondering about the boats from there to MK. I read that you can get onto the larger boats without having to transfer but not the smaller ones. I'm assuming that means you can't take an ECV on the smaller boats at all even if you are physically capable of stepping down into the boat? (Sorry, never used an ECV before so I'm a real newbie.)

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

As we're staying at WL I was wondering about the boats from there to MK. I read that you can get onto the larger boats without having to transfer but not the smaller ones. I'm assuming that means you can't take an ECV on the smaller boats at all even if you are physically capable of stepping down into the boat? (Sorry, never used an ECV before so I'm a real newbie.)

You are correct, you can take the larger boats to the park as long as the water level is okay and sometimes that just means allowing other people to enter the boat before you do. there is a little area at the front where you will park and stay on the ECV. @ ECV's can fit in this space, but you will be blocking the door to the front of the boat, which is okay. The very nice CM's will let you know when the water level is okay for you to enter and exit the boat.

You cannot go on the smaller boats, the ones with the seats, because the floor of the boat doesn't come up to the side of the boat like the larger ones does and you can't lift the ECV over into the boat.

If you want to go to the CR, just take the bus or boat to MK, then ride your ECV on the path to the CR, it doesn't take long and is quicker than taking the boat then the monorail. If you want to go to FW, then take the bus or the path. Sometimes I believe one of the larger boats goes to FW. It did when we were there.

HTH, and hope I didn't confuse you any.

Suzanne