request for ecv users

[MrsPooh]

Please - if you are going to rent an ecv, take others into account...

I had seriously considered renting a ecv during my last wdw trip. I had been very seriously ill during the four months prior to our trip. I was still weak and had my PICC line removed the day before the trip so I was not fully recovered. Rather than renting a ecv we decided to take the trip slow and easy with lots of resting. I am explaining this so that you will understand that I completely understand the need for ecv usage.

My concern is the large number of wdw guests who are renting these but are not used to using them. I was appalled by the carelessness that ecv guests demonstrated. We had several bad encounters with ecvs during our week but the final straw was one morning when I was nearly injured by an ecv driver while waiting for our reservation time at the Crystal Palace. I was standing near a bench talking with my daughter and my parents. This driver completely backed into the bench. We escaped injury only because I jumped onto the bench and then onto nearby ledge while shoving my daughter out of the way. This was no small feat for me considering my physical condition at the time. The driver was never even aware she nearly caused serious injury to anyone. She even joked with her friends about what a poor driver she was.

If you are planning to rent an ecv please take some extra time to practice before getting into the crowds. I know they are very necessary from personal experience but please be considerate of the other guests also, sometimes they are just as disabled although you don't know from first look.

 

[SueM in MN]

That's a good reminder.

On a recent trip, DH and I went to the Circle of Life movie in The Land with our DD who uses a wheelchair. There was a woman using an ECV who was having a great deal of trouble getting into position. She pulled in front of the younger person she was with and then tried to back the ECV into place next to the seat her companion was sitting in. She had no clue how to back and backed into the seat several times (faster than I thought you could back an ECV), hit into her companion's legs. Her biggest problem was that she started out backing correctly, but then, she would turn completely the opposite way, ending up farther away than she started and hitting things in the process. With each problem, she got more and more panicked and did things more and more wrong.
She finally agreed to let my DH help her and he backed it in for her with no problem.

Many of us on this board suggest people practice before venturing out in crowds. At the least, people need to be able to go straight going forward and backwards and turn left and right while going forward and backwards.

 

[dj2]

i've heard people suggest practicing in stores like target, wal-mart, or most large grocery stores, but those can be crowded. i've also heard trying epcot as a first park because of the wider areas.

 

[SueM in MN]

i've heard people suggest practicing in stores like target, wal-mart, or most large grocery stores, but those can be crowded. i've also heard trying epcot as a first park because of the wider areas.

Target is a better place to practice than Walmart because Target has much wider aisles and doesn't put merchandise in the middle of the main aisles. If you go at an 'off' time, like mid-morning or mid-afternoon, it's not usually as busy.

I usually suggest Epcot as a good first park because the paths are the widest and it is usually less crowded. The Studio is also OK, but a bit more congested and crowded. MK and AK are the worst for a novice ECV user because the paths are fairly narrow and congested. Plus people are traveling in opposite directions a lot of times on the narrow paths.

 

[GroovyWheeler]

Even though our Disney trip isn't until January of next year, I've been practicing my ECV driving when my DH and I go to Fred Meyer (which is the closest store to our house, so I usually walk there with my walker), and I've discovered that I'm a bad ECV driver, than I am a power chair driver. I'm getting better though, and hopefully will be even better when we go to the Disney parks.

I haven't run into anyone yet, but I did nearly take down one of those standing displays with the store's ECV.

Samantha