Wheelchair rentals for trip

[migmarlin]

I will be traveling with my aunt and uncle this summer. We are staying at the AS Sports for a week and was wondering what was the best/most cost effective way to rent a motorized wheelchair. They both have knee issues and can't walk all day. They are pretty pricey at the parks, so I was wondering if it was better to rent outside? If so, where can we find that information? Is it better to get it from the hotel for the length of the stay? Any information you guys could provide for me would be great. Thanks in advance.

 

[pbrim]

Check out the DisABILITIES forum, especially the stickies at the top. There is a lot of helpful advice, and the names of several off-site vendors that people on the thread have used and liked.

I have been debating this same question myself. A friend and I are going in Sept and we are going to be renting ECVs (scooters) offsite. You can get them delivered to your hotel and picked up from there after you leave. I decided to rent from offsite because:

1. It's cheaper. You can get an ECV from an off-site vendor for $30 per day vs. $45 per day from Disney. (Off-site vendors may be more if you weight over 350 lbs.)

2. It's more convient. You have it all the time. It seems there is a lot of walking outside of the parks (getting to and from, plus the hotels are quite large) and you can only use the park ECVs in the individual parks. That is, if you rent one from the Magic Kingdom and want to go back to your hotel in the middle of the day, or want to hop to Epcot, you need to turn in the one you have and hope you can get another one later.

3. It's guaranteed. Disney warns that if you come to the park later, or if you parkhop, you may welll find all of the ECVs in use

 

[migmarlin]

Thanks!

 

[pbrim]

One other helpful hint I got that I would never have thought of. If you are going to have two ECVs, be sure to bring along a power strip or extension cord, or you may not be able to plug in both at the same time for re-charging

 

[migmarlin]

WOW! I would have never thought of that. Thanks!

 

[aubriee]

We always rent an ECV for my mom through Walker's Mobility. They are great. They don't charge your card until the night before you arrive, the ECV will be waiting for you at baggage services, and at the end of the trip, just drop it back off at baggage services for them to pick up. Walker's also gives you a discount if you need one for more than 7 days and depending on what time of the day you are picking it up and dropping it off. We rent one for my mom for 9 days and it is usually around $260.00.

Just FYI: Randy's and Care Medical also gets good reviews, but with Randy's you must be there when he delivers it. The other companies just leave it in luggage services with your name on it. I'd definitely rent one from offsite. It would be much cheaper, plus they'd have the ECV to use at the resort and DTD. Plus the ones from offsite are easier drive and less bulky than the ones they have at the parks. If they are not used to using them, be sure to take them to WalMart or somewhere to practice. They may have trouble backing them onto the buses. (I know my mom did her first time). If so then as long as they can transfer, anyone in your party can back them on for them. I swear the only time my mom had trouble that first trip was backing onto some of the buses, but she quickly learned to just slow down and take her time. She has no trouble with them now and she never uses an ECV, except at WDW. I had to talk her into using one for her first trip, but now as soon as we start planning a trip, she throws a fit for me to go ahead and reserve her ECV. In fact, she's going down there with us in Dec and insisted I reserve her ECV a few weeks ago. She was sitting right next to me when I called, and was telling me to ask for a red one and make sure it had a headlight. As I tried to hush her and tell her the color didn't matter, the lady at Walker's started laughing, said no problem, and they'd make sure she got a red one and to assure my mom that all their ECVs now have headlights. lol

 

[*Valdez*]

We rented from www.caremedicalequipment.com we got my FIL an electric wheelchair for $45 per 24 hour period. They delivered it to OKW and picked it up. I highly recommend them. Very nice group of people to work with.

 

[SueM in MN]

Check out the DisABILITIES forum, especially the stickies at the top. There is a lot of helpful advice, and the names of several off-site vendors that people on the thread have used and liked.

If you follow the link in my signature to the disABILITIES FAQs thread, you will find information about wheelchairs and ECVs in post #2 of that thread.
There are a number of companies listed; some people prefer one that will deliver to Bell Services before they get there. Other people prefer Randy's Mobility because they will deliver it directly to their room and explain/demonstrate how it works and also how to take it apart and put it back together if they plan to transport it by car.

I will be traveling with my aunt and uncle this summer. We are staying at the AS Sports for a week and was wondering what was the best/most cost effective way to rent a motorized wheelchair. They both have knee issues and can't walk all day. They are pretty pricey at the parks, so I was wondering if it was better to rent outside? If so, where can we find that information? Is it better to get it from the hotel for the length of the stay? Any information you guys could provide for me would be great. Thanks in advance.

Just a little FYI......
What you want to ask for is an ECV or power mobility scooter.
A motorized or power wheelchair is something very different and most of the companies will only rent those to people who are experienced driving them because they take more practice/are harder to drive. Power wheelchairs are driven with a single joystick that controls the speed and steering/direction (forward/reverse/turns) at the same time. ECVs are turned with a yoke, sort of like steering a bicycle, and have a separate throttle for controlling the motion and usually have a switch or slider that allows you to set the speed to turtle (slow) or rabbit (fast).

I mention it because someone who actually wanted to rent an ECV, asked about motorized wheelchairs, was told they didn't rent those and settled for a manual (push) wheelchair instead.