Whats a better minivan to rent to fit a wheelchair in that doesnt fold?

[DonaldsGrl103]

Hey guys,
I could really use your help in my decision. As some of you know we are brining my brother down who has CP and is in a wheelchair. Unfortunately his quickie wheelchair doesnt fold. We are contemplating renting from Alamo for a chevy venture van or thrifty which has acaravan i heard. So does anyone know which van will it fit better in?- we are only 4 people including the wheelchair bound one. If the seat goes down, it wont be a problem at all. Any help is appreciated
THANKS

 

[Andrew Bichard]

I rented from a company called 'Rainbow Wheels' about four years back. They have Chrysler or Dodge Grand Voyagers with lowered floors, a powered ramp at the door, the middle row of seats removed to make space for wheelchairs and tie downs. They drop off & collect from your hotel or MCO.

You would be able to roll your brother right in without him getting out of his chair. Only downside would be the cost.

http://www.mobilityfreedomvans.com/

An alternative if you are staying onsite would be to use Mears wheelchair van MCO to Disney and then Disney's internal acessible transport.

Andrew

 

[Ambassador]

Informative answer, Andrew. You have offered much good advice in the past. Thank you.

Please pardon my protocol staff; which flag is that again?

 

[SueM in MN]

My DD's Quickie wheelchair fits in the back of a Grand Caravan or Grand Voyager without folding the wheelchair or the seat, as long as the back seat is close to all the way forward.
(The Voyager and Caravan are basically the same vehicle with different trim. The "Grand" version is a longer wheelbase and has a bit more space all over.
The wheelchair fits sitting up in the rear, but her chair is quite narrow for an adult chair. The total width is 23 inches. She has quick release wheels (like a bike). Popping off both wheels makes it almost 5 inches narrower. With at least one of the wheels popped off, we have gotten it into the back of a regular Voyager.
The Caravan or Voyager's back seats fold down. Most vans do.
I'd suggest going to the Chrysler and Chevy websites and see if they have any information about the dimensions of the back cargo area. If they don't, you can probably visit a dealer and do some measuring.
Another thing to look at is the seating. I don't know how much assistance your brother needs to get in or if he needs to be lifted, but we have rented some vans (Chevy Astro, I think and a Ford) where the seat was so high that we literally had to have someone inside the van to pull DD in.

 

[DonaldsGrl103]

Thank you everyone for your help. However rainbow wheels is not an option since we just couldnt afford such an another expense. yes we would need to lift my brother into van and I do appreciate everyones advice. Sue- my brothers back wheels can be popped off too. THANKS EVERYONE

 

[Andrew Bichard]

Originally posted by Ambassador
; which flag is that again?

Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands, where I was born. ...and the reason I have a french name.

It consists of the red cross of St George (flag of England) overlaid with William the Conceror's yellow cross to symbolise that Guernsey was once part of Normandy.

Andrew

 

[SueOKW]

It's truly amazing what one can fit into a Grand Caravan!!!

Maybe you could stop by a nearby car rental office on arrangement and give it a dry run.

I remember the year I waited too long to rent and we actually ended up with this HUGE pick up truck with a bed cover! ha ha! Good thing DSs chair was relatively light.

I won't wait that long ever again - it was Easter week and every mini-van in orlando was already rented....

 

[Wheelin In Disney]

Since my boyfriend is going to be going to Disney World with my mom, caregiver, and me in January of next year, we'll be most-likely renting a mini-van.

With all of our luggage, my Kaye reverse walker (which is very huge, and takes up most of the room, except for when my mom pulls the 2 front wheels into the walker to make it a little more smaller in size), which may come with us on this trip, and my manual wheelchair, my mom will fold down the back seat and put everything in the back (including the cargo area), Dan and me in the middle seat, and her and my caregiver in the front. Amazingly, everything fits perfectly.

My mom has a Dodge Grand Caravan here at home that she really doesn't like to drive very much, unless she has me, and I need to use my power chair. It's a IMS-converted lowered floor mini-van that she had bought, once she found out that her Subaru Outback couldn't be adapted for a lift.

Samantha

 

[SueM in MN]

Originally posted by Wheelin In Disney
Since my boyfriend is going to be going to Disney World with my mom, caregiver, and me in January of next year, we'll be most-likely renting a mini-van.

With all of our luggage, my Kaye reverse walker (which is very huge, and takes up most of the room, except for when my mom pulls the 2 front wheels into the walker to make it a little more smaller in size), which may come with us on this trip, and my manual wheelchair, my mom will fold down the back seat and put everything in the back (including the cargo area), Dan and me in the middle seat, and her and my caregiver in the front. Amazingly, everything fits perfectly.

My mom has a Dodge Grand Caravan here at home that she really doesn't like to drive very much, unless she has me, and I need to use my power chair. It's a IMS-converted lowered floor mini-van that she had bought, once she found out that her Subaru Outback couldn't be adapted for a lift.

Samantha

My daughter used to use a Kaye reverse walker when she was smaller. Even the child size one is pretty big.
I'm curious why your mom doesn't like to drive the Grand Caravan. Is it because it's so much bigger than the Outback, or some other reason?
I like our Grand Voyager a lot (it's a Braun Entervan), but I had driven a regular Grand Caravan (or it's twin the Grand Voyager) for years before that.

 

[Wheelin In Disney]

Hi SueM; The reason why she doesn't like to drive it, is because she said once it makes her feel like she's driving a hearse. But, she will drive it if she has to, and seems to have no trouble with it, compared to when she drives her Outback. We took it on it's first out-of-state trip to Washington state from Oregon, when we went to visit family, and my mom handled driving it fairly well.

My Kaye reverse walker is the "adolescent-size" model, and that's the next-to-biggest size up from the youth-sized ones. Traveling with it, is pretty easy, even on an airplane. It fits easily into an airline storage closet (as we found out this past summer when we went to go visit family in Colorado), but the downside is that it's very heavy (and big) when you lift it, compared to some walkers.

I think that may be because of the fold-down seat that I have on it, but I'm not sure.

Samantha

 

[SueM in MN]

Originally posted by Wheelin In Disney
Hi SueM; The reason why she doesn't like to drive it, is because she said once it makes her feel like she's driving a hearse.Samantha

LOL
I had to laugh about that one.
One of the advantages of driving it, is that I figure I don't have to worry about anyone hiding in the back in a prking lot. Because of the large "hearse-like space" if someone was hiding there, I'd see them. And no one could fit in the back with the spare tire.