Wheelchair rental and parking lots

[BrettS]

My wife and I are going to be bringing her grandparents to disney for the first time tomorrow. Her grandfather can only walk very short distances. Her grandmother does better, but still tires quickly. We're planning to rent wheelchairs for both of them, but I'm concerned about parking. They have an HC placard, so we'll be able to park in the HC section, but I'm not sure her grandfather will even be able to make it from there to the wheelchair rental location.

Is it possible to drive up and drop them off near the gate or will we just have to hope to find parking lot wheelchairs to bring them in with? How likely are we to find some in the middle of the day? (and what looks to be a reasonably crowded day tomorrow too). We're probably going to the AK tomorrow, but depending on how they're feeling we may hit the MK too.

Worst case at the AK I'm thinking that my wife or I can just go up and rent a wheelchair and bring it out to the parking lot, but that won't work so well at the MK. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Brett

I'm more worried about the MK

 

[kaytieeldr]

You generally won't be able to take the wheelchairs out of the park, once rented. Sometimes there are courtesy chairs at the bus drop area, but you won't be near there. Handicap parking is actually closer to the entrance than the buses.

Can you get to the FAQ in this forum? It's got the names and numbers of some rental companies other DISers have used satisfactorily. If you can't access it, they're Randy's Mobility, Walker, Care Medical, Buena Vista Scooters, Scooterama, Scootaround - check the phone book. It won't help you tomorrow/today, but they'll be able to deliver wheelchairs to your hotel while you're out today, for the rest of your trip. They'll fit in the trunk.

 

[KPeveler]

Yes you can drop them off at DHS, Epcot, and AK, but its still a LONG hike in to AK from there! MK you can only drop them off at the TTC, and not even very close to that... then they have to walk a long way to boat/monorail, then in the entrance...

I would definitely rent at least one wheelchair off site, to make sure you can get them to the parks!

 

[SueM in MN]

There are courtesy wheelchairs at the different parks. Some (like AK) have them both at the buses and at the handicapped parking area. TTC center has a coutesty wheelchair area as you enter from the parking lot. Whether or not you will find one there when you arrive is another question, but they are shuttle wheelchairs and as they are brought to the wheelchair rental area in the park, CMs take them back out again.

DHS, Epcot and AK have drop off points that are at the edge of the handicapped parking area. DHS and Epcot are not that far a walk, but AK is far enough that there are benches along the path from handicapped parking to the park entrance.

Besides the suggestions the others gave, IF they can step up the small step to get into the parking tram, I would suggest NOT parking in the handicapped parking area. There is no tram service from that lot to the entrance. Park instead in the regular lot and take the tram to the entrance. Of all the options (bus, HC or drop off), the tram will deliver you closest to the entrance area at any of the parks. As you get to the parking area and are directed to a spot, let the CM at the end of a row know that you need to park close to the tram stop and they will direct you appropriately.

 

[BrettS]

Thanks for the advice everyone. We're Orlando locals and her grandparents are staying with us for a few weeks, so we really can't just rent a wheelchair for the length of their trip, and renting offsite for a single day seems to be pretty expensive. I'm thinking the tram idea might be the best bet. Her grandfather can do stairs a bit and I'm thinking the goal is to make this day as easy as possible on him, since just getting out for a while to do half a day at disney will be a little hard. He does get around without a wheelchair all of the rest of the time.

On a somewhat unrelated note, any advice about the safari at the AK? That's the one most important thing for us today. We'll have two wheelchairs and it's my understanding that the HC accessable safari vehicle can only hold one. Her grandmother should be able to transfer though, so we should still be able to get everyone on at once, I'm thinking.

Thanks,
Brett

 

[SueM in MN]

On a somewhat unrelated note, any advice about the safari at the AK? That's the one most important thing for us today. We'll have two wheelchairs and it's my understanding that the HC accessable safari vehicle can only hold one. Her grandmother should be able to transfer though, so we should still be able to get everyone on at once, I'm thinking.

Thanks,
Brett

That is correct, the tram can only hold one wheelchair. But anyone using a wheelchair or ECV can keep it with them until the boarding area.
They have a dedicated boarding area for guests using wheelchairs and ECVs. That area is used for both boarding and exit for those guests.
Those who can transfer, get on the tram and leave the wheelchair or ECV there. It will be waiting for them just where they left it. Those who can't transfer (like my DD) can stay in their wheelchair and ride in it.

 

[BrettS]

Thanks for the replies everyone... We just got back and I wanted to post a quick note and let you know how it went. We got to AK at about 3PM and did park in the HC lot. There were two curtesy wheelchairs in the lot, so we used those to get into the park and rented two wheelchairs there. We watched the parade and did the safari and had no problem transfering the grandmother to the ride and rolling the grandfather on. All in all everyone had a good time and it worked out well. We're probably going to try the Magic Kingdom on Monday afternoon/evening, so we'll see how that goes.

Thanks again,
Brett

 

[SueM in MN]

Glad to hear things went well.

If you have any questions about MK, let us know.