Wheelchair a lot of physical effort in the parks vs ECV?

[WaDiWo]

Hi all!

I am trying to decide between using a wheelchair va ECV? I have a running injury and have been on crutches for 2 months, and will be going to WDW next week. I am leaning towards wheelchair since it is foldable/collapsible, and i dont want to take up too much space, and i will be renting a car. I also dont want to take up too much space, if that makes any sense. Thing is, in your experience, is it a lot of physical effort (eg upper body) to maneuver it around the parks? I dont want my wife to have to push me around the whole time. (ideally it would be great if i was completely healed by next week, but i have to consider all possibilities.). Of course the ECV is motorized, but not sure about taking it apart to put in the car. Any experiences and advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

[jworkkul]

As someone who has done both I can tell you that if you are going during the Summer months, the heat and humidity will take a toll on you or whoever is pushing a wheelchair. WDW is not flat at all. Everywhere there are little hills and valleys. This can make it difficult to push a wheelchair especially if you are a "hefty" sized person. Yes, the wheelchair would be easily broken down too transport in your own car but an ECV would save a lot of muscle power on your wife. Most of the ECV's that you can rent can be broken down and hauled into the trunk. If you are staying on WDW property the bus system can be a major factor in this. I know that there have been many, many threads on the bus transportation but I have not had any major problems with it. There is quite a lot of upper body strength in moving a wheelchair. Like I said earlier, WDW is not all flat.

 

[JennyDrake]

I'll echo what PP said. Unless you have several people with whom to trade off pushing, the wheelchair will be very tiring to push espeically in summer heat. AK is the worst due to its uneven pavement and HILLS.

 

[ttintagel]

I hurt my foot on the first day of a super-hot week in WDW last summer. I tried a manual wheelchair, but there were so many more hills and ramps than I realized. By the end of the day, both my arms and my friend's were in rubbery agony. We called the company and they had an ECV waiting for me at the resort the next morning. Much better.

 

[WheeledTraveler]

I'm a manual wheelchair user most of the time, not just at WDW, and I have trouble wheeling myself through everything at WDW. I also have a much lighter wheelchair than you'd get from a rental anywhere, so it should theoretically be easier for me just based on weight. Even if you were to have one lighter than a rental, though, wheeling yourself in a manual wheelchair is always going to be really hard if you don't have experience with it. It took me probably 6 months of using one to really build up the muscles I needed to be able to wheel myself through a mall, much less through a place with hills and bumps.

In other words, I agree with everyone who says rent an ECV. You can definitely rent one offsite and it will be delivered to your hotel (offsite or onsite). I know Apple Scooters has ECVs that are fairly easy to take apart to load into a car and several of the other places listed in the FAQ at the top of this board do as well, just let them know you need to be able to put it in a car when you reserve. A scooter as small as the ones Apple has should fit in most car trunks (I know someone who fit one in the trunk of a Dodge Neon).