Scooters concerns

[amykathleen2005]

Hi,

My husband walks with a walker because of various old broken bones. When he is in Disney he plans to use a scooter.

He is a bit tentative of being able to fully use it in the parks. He is also unsure if he should attempt to drag his walker on the scooter with him. He can easily transfer and can walk a few steps holding on to things but that is it.

Can you please post any experiences/reassurances that he will be able to fully utilize it in the parks including table service, counter service, rides, hotels and/or buses.

All experiences welcome! Thanks!!

 

[rtilner]

I have been renting a scooter since 2007. I can't walk to much due knee, hip and back problems.

Some places when you make food reservation it ask you about handicap status. I can park my scooter and walk a small distance. Some places if you need to take the scooter to the table you can, or you can transfer to a wheelchair.

The scooter seat turns so you can sit at a table.

Don't worry.

 

[lauran]

My sister's MIL used an ECV last time we went to WDW. She has MS and although she can walk, she can't walk well or far. A lot of rides allowed her to ride the ECV in the queue. Some rides, she would park the ECV with the strollers and someone in our group would offer an arm to keep her balanced. She always left her ECV outside of restaurants and stores because those can get tight. The bus set up is very nice for ECVs, you park in a designated area and when the bus pulls up they would load the ECV first (so long as it had space, most buses can hold two) then her husband would join her. Sometimes he would ride the lift and park it on the bus for her because she had trouble negotiating that part. The drivers were always very helpful. The rest of us in the group would stand in the regular queue line and we would normally all get on the bus together. I would suggest taking the walker to give your husband a secondary way to get around. The ECV she rented (off-site to save money)had a storage space on the back where you could store it. She requested an accessible room in Old Key West. It was ground floor and she could ride right into the room. She took the ECV on a boat to Downtown Disney and rode the monorail too. Some rides make you switch from an ECV to a wheelchair. The CMs outside of the rides will let you know the rules. Hope this is helpful.

 

[SueM in MN]

Follow the link in my signature to the disABILITIES FAQs thread (or look near the top of this board).
Post 2 in that thread is about renting wheelchairs and ECVs and has links to information, websites and phone numbers for a number of companies that rent them.

Post 1 of that thread is an index to which posts have which information. There is a post about room accessibility ( not all guests using an ECV need an accessible room), buses and accessibility of the queues.
There is one post about each park on the second page of the thread that has helpful hints about using an ECV - such as, which attractions may be a difficult transfer.

 

[amykathleen2005]

Thanks for the replies thus far. Any other experiences?

 

[EpcotQueen]

We have encountered times when there were no Disney scooters available at the parks...all out. So we prefer to rent from an off site company. Handy to have when outside of the parks and if you get a 'portable' one (GoGo) then they are more maneuverable. Disney's are BIG lumbering scooters.

 

[stargazertechie]

We ad went with my father near the end of his battle with cancer. At that point in time, he could only walk 15-20 feet at a time, and his legs often gave out unexpectedly. He was 60 at the time.


The scooter saved our trip. We rented from offsite, and we are so glad we did. The walk from the room to the bus at WL alone would have killed him.

The first time getting on the bus was a bit rough, but by the end of day 1 he was flying on and off like a pro. We only had one incident with a "broken" lift- and two other gentlemen in line picked up the scooter and carried it onto the bus for us while mom and I helped dad board.

We had no issues with any restaurants or lines.

 

[Andianna]

Unfortunately arthritis is mine and DH's companions so we use scooters wouldn't be able to do the parks any other way. Love the friendly bus drivers and gracious CMs in the parks who have always been so sweet to us. We also use an offsite company and are very happy with almost half the price of renting them in the parks.

 

[ttintagel]

Just to add to what others have said about where and how far they've been able to take their ECV's, I wanted to mention that it's worked out well for me carrying crutches on an ECV.

The crutch clips that came with my ECV from Walker Mobility weren't very strong, and the crutches fell out whenever I stopped or turned a corner, so I just carried them in front of me, held them in place with my knees, and there was plenty of room. (Walker said they would bring new clips, but by the time they got them to me, it was time to go home.) A family member used an Apple scooter the next time, and the crutch clips were plenty strong and gave her no trouble. I saw other people securing both crutches and walkers to ECV's with bungee cords. and also using my hold-in-front method.

 

[wisbucky]

I have used an ECV for 5 years now. While at the parks in December I observed a person who had their walker attached on the front of their ECV. I was intrigued as to how that walker was attached. I went over by the ECV and observed they had the walker just attached using velcro strips. They simply wrapped the velcro strips around the the front of the scooter and it was very secured.

Now that I will be using a cane I have tried the same with the cane and velcro strips to my scooter. And to my surprise it works very well. You can buy those velcro strips at places such as Lowes, Menards, Home Depot. You can also buy rolls of the velcro strips.

 

[Bete]

First, I think you should have him try a scooter back home. You can do free scooters at the grocery stores and such. Make sure he's comfortable turning the scooter and backing up. You can visit many zoos that offer a scooter rental and the fee is nominal and it would be good practice for Disney World.

I'm not sure about how may rides would allow a walker on it. You can probably use it to get on and off, but someone else will have to get the walker back to the scooter and get it again after the ride. I'm not sure how well the cast members will tolerate the wait for someone to do this, either. In most instances, there is a small distance from where you leave the scooter and get on the ride. Because, others are boarding the rides, too Disney doesn't want the scooters right by the rides. If you can help him get to the ride from the scooter drop off area that will probably be the best answer. Another option may be to use a cane. There are canes that fold up and you probably can take them on most rides with you. You will need to practice with a cane to make sure this would be a manageable answer. You could also provide support on the opposite side for him to keep better balance. There are some rides where you could leave the scooter outside and use a wheelchair through the ride queue. Then, you could probably get him to be on the ride and then get the wheelchair to the appropriate area yourself.

Having a scooter the whole time is probably a better idea. It's a lot to get in and out of the parks and back to the resorts with your car or resort transportation. Keep in mind if you are using your car you have to take the travel, portable scooter apart and place it into the trunk of a car.

If you get an off site scooter, you will have to be diligent about charging your battery each day; so, you don't run out of juice to run it. You need to get the scooter into your room at the Disney resorts in most instances.

With a scooter you will have access to handicap viewing spots for parades, fireworks, and shows.

If you need to use a Disney bus with the scooter it will take some time to learn to get on and off the buses. You may want to go the first time time when it's less crowded to get a feel for getting on and off of the bus before doing it at a peak time. Monorails are easier and preferable for scooter travel if you can afford to stay at those resorts.

I would not attempt to use a scooter at a table service restaurant. I would do a transfer by wheelchair or I would stick with quick service places only. It's too busy and crowded to maneuver through a table service restaurant with a scooter. I have to say after 40 trips to Disney World I have never seen a scooter at a table service restaurant inside. I can see that it might work at a few restaurants like the Crystal Palace, but overall I would say it would be horrible to do this.

Doing a scooter for the first time at Disney World has challenges. There will be crowds to deal with it that will dart right in front of the scooter and he has to be able to stop quickly. You need to be well aware of your surroundings and pay attention in all directions while driving the scooter. A few rides may be difficult. Epcot's Soaring ride needs to use an elevator for the scooter to get down to the level of the ride.

A scooter will allow you to have a much longer day at the parks and in most cases it is a blessing; so, it's worth learning how to do them and use them.

 

[stargazertechie]

First, I think you should have him try a scooter back home. You can do free scooters at the grocery stores and such. Make sure he's comfortable turning the scooter and backing up. You can visit many zoos that offer a scooter rental and the fee is nominal and it would be good practice for Disney World.

I'm not sure about how may rides would allow a walker on it. You can probably use it to get on and off, but someone else will have to get the walker back to the scooter and get it again after the ride. I'm not sure how well the cast members will tolerate the wait for someone to do this, either. In most instances, there is a small distance from where you leave the scooter and get on the ride. Because, others are boarding the rides, too Disney doesn't want the scooters right by the rides. If you can help him get to the ride from the scooter drop off area that will probably be the best answer. Another option may be to use a cane. There are canes that fold up and you probably can take them on most rides with you. You will need to practice with a cane to make sure this would be a manageable answer. You could also provide support on the opposite side for him to keep better balance. There are some rides where you could leave the scooter outside and use a wheelchair through the ride queue. Then, you could probably get him to be on the ride and then get the wheelchair to the appropriate area yourself.

Having a scooter the whole time is probably a better idea. It's a lot to get in and out of the parks and back to the resorts with your car or resort transportation. Keep in mind if you are using your car you have to take the travel, portable scooter apart and place it into the trunk of a car.

If you get an off site scooter, you will have to be diligent about charging your battery each day; so, you don't run out of juice to run it. You need to get the scooter into your room at the Disney resorts in most instances.

With a scooter you will have access to handicap viewing spots for parades, fireworks, and shows.

If you need to use a Disney bus with the scooter it will take some time to learn to get on and off the buses. You may want to go the first time time when it's less crowded to get a feel for getting on and off of the bus before doing it at a peak time. Monorails are easier and preferable for scooter travel if you can afford to stay at those resorts.

I would not attempt to use a scooter at a table service restaurant. I would do a transfer by wheelchair or I would stick with quick service places only. It's too busy and crowded to maneuver through a table service restaurant with a scooter. I have to say after 40 trips to Disney World I have never seen a scooter at a table service restaurant inside. I can see that it might work at a few restaurants like the Crystal Palace, but overall I would say it would be horrible to do this.

Doing a scooter for the first time at Disney World has challenges. There will be crowds to deal with it that will dart right in front of the scooter and he has to be able to stop quickly. You need to be well aware of your surroundings and pay attention in all directions while driving the scooter. A few rides may be difficult. Epcot's Soaring ride needs to use an elevator for the scooter to get down to the level of the ride.

A scooter will allow you to have a much longer day at the parks and in most cases it is a blessing; so, it's worth learning how to do them and use them.

They would "tolerate" the wait just as they would "tolerate" the wait for a non-ambulatory guest in a manual wheelchair that has to transfer to a ride vehicle- and they would handle moving the walker to the exit in the same manner.

AFAIK there are only 3 rides in MK that have a "must be ambulatory" designation- TTA peoplemover, Swiss Family Treehouse, and Peter Pan's flight. There are no "must be ambulatory" rides in any of the other 3 parks that I know of.

The rest of the rides are either transfer from wheelchair to ride vehicle, must transfer from scooter to wheelchair, or may remain in wheelchair/ECV.

 

[SueM in MN]

They would "tolerate" the wait just as they would "tolerate" the wait for a non-ambulatory guest in a manual wheelchair that has to transfer to a ride vehicle- and they would handle moving the walker to the exit in the same manner.

AFAIK there are only 3 rides in MK that have a "must be ambulatory" designation- TTA peoplemover, Swiss Family Treehouse, and Peter Pan's flight. There are no "must be ambulatory" rides in any of the other 3 parks that I know of.

The rest of the rides are either transfer from wheelchair to ride vehicle, must transfer from scooter to wheelchair, or may remain in wheelchair/ECV.

I agree about walkers in line. We have had people in line with us who were using walkers or rollators. They are handled the same as wheelchairs and are put in the same place as wheelchairs during the ride. Like wheelchairs, if the boarding area is not in the same place as the exit for guests with mobility devices, CMs will move a walker from the boarding area to the unload area.

The only other "must be ambulatory" is Tom Sawyer's Island. You can get over there on the raft, but once there, you can only go about 20 yards before coming to stairs. The whole island is full of narrow pathways, steep pathways, stairs, suspended bridges and other things that are not accessible.

 

[Bete]

we are dealing with a scooter and a walker at the same time, not one or the other.

You have to get the scooter parked, then use the walker to get to the ride and then you need to get the walker back to where the scooter is and that's a double effort.

There's more to it in this case. If it's okay then I believe you all, but I think this is more of a challenge using two, handicap devices at the same time.

All I'm trying to do here is help.