wheelchair/scooter thing

[lemstar]

my mom is coming with us to wdw, and will need one of those electric carts as she cannot walk much. i have 2 questions:
1. how hard is it to get one of these at any of the parks? we will be there thanksgiving wed-sun.
2. is there some kind of handicap entrance to rides? she cannot wait on lines....
thanks!
jayne

 

[Baloo]

lemstar...I'm moving you're post over to the disAbilities Board because I know there are all sorts of helpful people to answer your question over there.

 

[SueM in MN]

You can follow the link in my signature to the disABILITIES Board for more information, but to answer your questions quickly.

1. how hard is it to get one of these at any of the parks? we will be there thanksgiving wed-sun.

They are called ECVs or scooter and are limited quantity, first come, first serve at the parks. The time you are going is a busy time, so unless you get to the park early, they may be all gone. A lot of people chose to rent from one of the off-site medical rental companies. Here's a list of the ones DIS posters report renting from:
Care Medical:
http://www.caremedicalequipment.com/
Phone (407) 856-2273 • Toll Free U.S and Canada (800) 741-2282

Walker Mobility:
1-888-726-6837
www.walkermobility.com

RANDY'S Mobility is in Kissimmee 407-892-4777
http://randysmobility.com/

Colonial Medical
http://www.colonialmed.com/about_cms.html
(800)747-0246

2. is there some kind of handicap entrance to rides? she cannot wait on lines....

If her only problem is that she can't stand in line, having an ecv will take care of that for her. In most of the lines, she will be able to bring the ECV right into the line with her. For the few where ECVs can't go, you can trade it at the line entrance for a manual wheelchair.
Most of the lines and all the fastpass lines at WDW are what is called "Mainstream Access", which means the lines have been made wide enough so that wheelchair and ECV users wait in line with everyone else. There are a few rides/attractions with wheelchair entrances, but in most of those cases, you wait in the regular line until just before the main line goes to the regular boarding area. At that point, there is a wheelchair access that takes you to the wheelchair boarding area. Here's a link to a post about boarding that explains a little more about how the process works.
Here is a link to the DIS page about touring with mobility disabilities. If she has other conditions besides mobility that will make waiting in line difficult, please come to the disABILITIES Board for more advice.

 

[SueM in MN]

I posted and then couldn't find it - becasue as I was posting, Baloo was moving this to the disABILITIES Board!
Welcome to disABILIITIES.

 

[happylady]

Just returned from WDW. I had foot surgery and still can not walk, so we decided to rent a scooter. We choose Randy's Mobility and they were fantastic. They delivered the scooter right to WL. All I had to do was call when we were arriving at the Lodge and Jerry was there with in 30 minutes with the chair. At drop off, we set up a time for pick up.

When you approach the ride, a CM will instruct you on where to go. It was VERY easy. Most of the rides have you go through a different line, usually the fast pass line. So the waiting on most rides was very short. On some rides we entered with everyone else, and were later seperated into a short wheelchair line.

 

[SueM in MN]

Most of the rides have you go through a different line, usually the fast pass line. So the waiting on most rides was very short. On some rides we entered with everyone else, and were later seperated into a short wheelchair line.

We've been at WDW many times over the years and find that this is more likely when it is not busy. Because you often would be waiting pretty much the same amount of time whether you had a fast pass or not, they often will let people with wheelchairs and ecvs go thru the fastpass line without a fastpass. During the busy times of the yuear, plan on getting a fastpass.
For the rides where you wait with everyone else, usually the wheelchair "pull-off point" is just before the regular boarding area or before an obstacle (like stairway) where wheelchairs are not able to go. You will usualy end up boarding at about the same time as the people who were just ahead of you in line before the pull off point. Sometimes, you will wait a little longer - on Buzz Lightyear, we frequently see people who were ahead of us in line getting off the ride while we are waiting at the exit to board.