this is probably something i should have addressed earlier

[ThreeBeans]

We have a 1 bedroom villa at OKW. Haven't made any particular requests about location or accessibility. We leave on the 30th.

If we do end up need to retain an ECV, how likely is it that we can get one johnny-on-the-spot from one of the recommended outside companies rather than paying WDW daily highway robbery rate, and how easy will it be to access a non-accessible room if we have one to bring 'home' with us?

 

[goofieslonglostsis]

No experience with rentals so can not help you there.

As far as OKW goes; you WILL need to have them note it on your reservation beforehand. Only very few buildings (2 if I remember correctly) have an elevator. So good odds you can end up in a building with stairs only on anything else but first floor. That would be a big problem, you can imagine.

Having them note on the reservation that you are using an ECV and it shouldn't be a problem to assign you a non accessible villa on either 1st floor or in one of the buildings with an elevator. You DO want this noted on the reservation beforehand though, otherwise you might run the risk of it not being able to work out on the spot with "first come first serve" other options either being assigned to others already having made a need known or being occupied by guest who checked in earlier that day or day(s) before.

 

[goofieslonglostsis]

As far as getting the ECV into the villa itself; plenty of room. After all; these are the largest villas on property.

Door might be a bit of a challenge if not used to with the automated shutter on it. Help can be enough to make it no problem. By yourself; if enough arm strength should be no problem either, by using arm for opening and from there on strategically using your ecv do block the door from closing. Entering the room; very easy by slowly driving into room, carefully "pushing" door with your ecv, last part might need an arm if not used to it. Leaving; open door, front wheel moved forward so door can no longer close. Give door a bit of a push, door will move away from you and you can move on.

Struggling too much? They can alter the system to have it close slower. Be aware of the downside though; you might end up waiting for the door to close. If not doing so, others could slip into the room before door closed depending on settings. If absolutely need be they can even totally disable the system, but that would require you actively closing the door yourself, comes with its own set of pros and cons.

Any alterations needed with this, are taken care off once you have arrived by maintanence. I find it only really works when I'm there to explain what I can and can not do. They mean well, but most don't understand different needs and end up setting it to a standard most ecv users can navigate. Great for them but not a setting I can operate with my powerchair and above all; arm function.

 

[ThreeBeans]

Thank you very much. I will call immediately to have it noted. I am hopeful that it will be a non-issue but the reality is I will probably need something by the third day. My husband is more than willing to push me around in a rental chair for a week but that seems impractical at best.

As far as door opening goes, I have another adult and a couple able-bodied kids

 

[peemagg]

On our trip in May I had to rent a scooter from off site after a CM broke my personal one. I called Apple and within an hour we had one delivered at our resort. We stayed at OKW in a studio and had plenty of room for both my scooter, the rental scooter and my wheelchair. It worked out fine for us. I also had my braces that are quite extensive in the room.

 

[FortForever]

At Apple you can reserve one and cancel up to the day before with no charge. You don't even have to give them your credit card info until the day before the ECV is delivered.