Wheelchair Transport to Off-site?

[Andrew Bichard]

Hi!

I will soon be at Boardwalk Villas with my wheelchair.

I am not renting a car. I cannot transfer out of my wheelchair into a taxi.

I would like to go shopping for food, but would like a better range than I can find at the Boardwalk or in Downtown Disney. I know about Goodings at Crossroads, but it is probably too far for me to ride all along the sidewalks from Downtown Disney Marketplace, even with my powered wheelchair (especially coming back loaded with groceries!).

If I could find suitable transport, I might even take a trip to Winter Park or one of the shopping malls.

I would guess that there have to be some wheelchair accessible taxis about that could take me and my chair, like the Mears wheelchair van I will riding to and from the airport in.

Has anyone experience of using 'disabled' taxis at WDW?

Andrew

 

[SueM in MN]

I'm bumping this up to hopefully get you more answers.
I know somebody posted a while ago that they used Mears wheelchair accessible van to get from their off site hotel to the WDW parks and also to Universal.
When we were at WDW in July, I did try to look at the sidewalks from DD to the Crossroads area. The road was too busy to get a really good look, but I would guess it's about 2 miles. Most of it is shaded, but the sidewwalk wasn't always straight. There was a driveway to get up to each hotel, but most of the hotels didn't have a sidewalk going from the main sidewalk up to the hotel. So, if you want to stop at any of the hotels to get out of the sun or cool off for a bit, you would probably need to use the driveway.

 

[Andrew Bichard]

Sue,

Thanks for bumping.

Riding my wheelchair all the way from Downtown to Crossroads while my wife takes a taxi is one option, though, as you say it is a long, hot ride.

Lynx might be an option as they stop at Downtown Disney. Crossroads *might* be on one of their routes, though I don't know if the buses are wheelchair accessible.

I already know that Mears have accesible transport, but it could be mighty expensive if they have to send something all the way out from central Orlando for me. I also know that there are several ambulance companies that offer 'non-emergency medical transport' (ie wheelchair vans) but I suspect they might be even more expensive.

Even if I don't get a reply before I depart, I will investigate thoroughly when I get to BWV and report back.

Andrew

 

[SueM in MN]

Thanks and good luck.

 

[pugdog]

use mears they have several vans already in the area and are a taxi service already. They don,t have to send one out all the time. You will have to give them 24 hours notice and i'm not sure what they will charge you but call them when you get here. Not sure about the buses but i think that Mears would be less of a headache.

 

[SueM in MN]

Here's a link to Mears' web site.
You wouldn't know from their website that they have wheelchair accessible vans, but they do.

 

[Andrew Bichard]

An update to this thread,

Since my original post, I have been doing some research, most recently about Lynx, which is Orlando's public transport system.

There are five or six Lynx routes that serve come on to Disney Property, and which stop at Downtown Disney, TTC, The cast bus station behind Magic Kingdom plus MGM, Epcot and Animal Kingdom. Lynx have informed me that ALL of their buses are wheelchair accessible.

Lynx have been very helpful, and are even sending me maps and schedules to my home here in the UK by snail mail, so that I can plan my off-site trips before I arrive. I could have downloaded their maps from their web-site at http://www.golynx.com/ But I like paper maps better.

I anticipate that I will use Mears to visit Universal and Sea World, and Lynx to get to the nearest Publix for grocery shopping. I may even take in a local mall if there is one on an appropriate Lynx route.

I will update this thread again when I receive the information from Lynx.

Andrew

 

[Nanajo1]

Andrew,
That is good news. I had no idea that public transportation came onsite. Congrats on a job well done! Let us know how it works out.

 

[SueM in MN]

I'm glad to hear this. i did see the Lynx website when I was looking for accessible trqansportation, but I just assumed that it was only for Orlando itself.

 

[Andrew Bichard]

Further to my last message, I received another email from Lynx bus service, which is extremely helpful and informative. I would especially like to thank J Burton and Randy Cantor of Lynx who have been very helpful indeed in providing information. This is a precis of that email, with a few notes of my own, It may be of interest to other visitors to WDW, both with and without wheelchairs who might want to visit off-WDW property, using public transport.
Lynx is not the only way of getting off-property. Other alternatives are renting a car. Mears bus service picks up and drops off at all WDW hotels and provides a service to all other Orlando Theme parks plus the airport.

All Lynx buses are wheelchair accessible.

Five or six Lynx routes serve WDW with routes passing through south and west Orlando and Kissimmee. All other parts of Orlando can be reached by making connections.
(How do I get to other attractions?)

Lynx connections to and from Disney are at the TTC. Disney itself has frequent, free transport from all points on Disney property to the TTC. At the TTC, your Lynx connections are #50 to Seaworld (w/connections to links #8 and #42) and downtown Orlando (w/connections to #1, 9, 200) and #56 to the Hwy. 192 attractions and, most important to the Super Wal-Mart (discount shopping and huge food supermarket with much better prices than those at other groceries in the Disney area).

(How do I get to Winter Park?)

If you take link #50 from Disney TTC to downtown Orlando, you can transfer there to links #1 & #9, either of which will drop you in the downtown Winter Park area or at the Winter Park Village.

(How do I get to shopping malls?)

Orlando is brimming over with shopping malls! Large and small, but mostly LARGE! I am unable to route you from Disney to any mall without at least one transfer, so I'll recommend two of the most popular--

Belz Factory Outlet Malls (north I-Dr. area), take #50 from TTC to Seaworld and transfer to link #8.

Florida Mall, take #50 from TTC to Central Florida Pkwy./Sea Harbor Dr. and transfer to link #42. (This trip, if you take #42 all the way past the mall, will also take you to the international airport.)

(How do I get to supermarkets and grocery stores?)

There are far too many grocery stores in our area to count. There are many in the Disney area. Most all of them in the Disney area charge considerably more for any given item than the same item outside the Disney area. My best suggestion to you in terms of reasonable price and ease of access from the Disney properties would be to take link #56 from the TTC to the Super Walmart in Kissimmee. The trip takes less than 30 minutes; the prices are much more reasonable and the selection is considerable.

Lynx website http://www.golynx.com/ has schedules and route maps.

I will be at WDW in October and will try out some of these routes for myself. I will post again in November and tell you how I got on. If anyone else would like to reply with their own experiences, I will incorporate them into my final report.

Andrew