Wheelchair vs scooter

[liquid17]

Hi! I know that there are lots of threads about this and I think I have read them all...but I really want some input - thanks.

I am planning a trip in January 2017 to the CBR (we've stayed here several times so don't worry about warning me about the buses - we're ok with them ) with my husband and 3 of our children - 23, 18, and 16.

Last trip - January 2016 - I noticed I was slowing down but I never felt the need for a wheelchair, as I just took breaks when I needed to. Since then, I have been diagnosed with RA. From May-July I had a moderate (according to the dr - I found it pretty major!) flare-up but things have been much better for the past few months. I am able to rest any time I need to so I have been doing pretty well. I am on Plaquenil and Advil/Aleve work very well at this point. For this upcoming trip, my husband thinks I should rent a wheelchair just-in-case.

We have almost totally ruled out a scooter. I struggle with telling my left/right, going backwards, etc. - I don't even have my drivers license (I live in Brooklyn and have never felt the need to drive, though my husband does and we have a car)- and the very thought of trying to drive myself around is very stressful. I have 4 people who can take turns pushing me in the wheelchair so it won't be too overwhelming for any one of them.

But. Let's say I am just realllllyyy tired and I want to go back to the room but don't want my husband/one of the kids to miss out on something? A scooter would give me that independence. Otherwise I would have to wheel myself - I am sure that I could do it for a little while, but not when I am so tired I want to get back to the room! This is the only situation in which I can see myself wishing I had gone with a scooter...even though I can see myself crashed or stuck or stressed the rest of the time.

I think I am just thinking out loud here. I am not exactly looking for advice but, I guess, for perspective from those who have used both in WDW.

 

[Nanajo1]

There are First Aid stations where you could rest.

 

[Hopefully]

As a relatively new ECV driver in WDW, who has a drivers license and drives 70 miles on highways and city streets to work each day, I find using a scooter takes intense concentration and can be exhausting. Folks do not look out for you but rather dart right in front of you, stop short in front of you, walk right into you. It is truly unbelievable and as if you are invisible. I find myself exhausted after several hours.
I would not advise a scooter given your description and your concerns
Good Luck

 

[gap2368]

I think a wheel chair would be the best thing for you you could use it as a walker and sit when need be and like you said with 4 people able to push you there really should be no one getting tired.

as the PP said first aid is great place to take a break each theme park has it ( some are more privet then others) I have never had a time where there was not a bed to lie down in ( even on the 4th of July at the MK)

if you know head of time that you will have a ling day you may want to go back to your room to rest some before you get to the I can not move point.

I would also get a wheel chair off site so that you have one for the whole time. the ones at disney are good but some are really run down and just hard to push. and most of the wheel chair are the extra large size.

 

[kamik86]

Honestly unless you were used to driving a scooter around crowds I would go with a wheelchair. I have been hit times by someone that couldn't drive the ECF (I had been standing still well before they came up so not an I stopped in front of them situation... she would have plowed into the grand floridian gingerbread house except that she hit me first) at least she hit me and not a small child that she could have seriously injured.

Other bonus is that wheelchairs dont have battery issues. (I have also seen people with problems that their ECF battery died in the middle of a resort walkway and they had to get someone to push it back, which took a while)

Again as said above get one from offsite if you want it to be able to go back to the room. Otherwise you would have to give it back at the front of the park anyway.

 

[Selket]

I have severe arthritis in both knees (both need replacing) and I started using the ECV for my trips last summer (July 2015). Sometimes my knees are better than other times so I'm able to park the ECV (once at the park) and do more walking - other times I'm in it for most of the trip. I also had a traumatic brain injury from an accident about a year ago. I tend to go during the busiest times - 4th of July, Spring break, etc. and I've found the off-site ECV's to be super simple to drive. It's nowhere near as complicated as a car. I really, really like to have my freedom to come and go so an ECV is a must for me.

Another option, if you're open to trying the ECV - might be to go ahead and rent one and use it to get back and forth to the parks and switch over to a wheelchair in the park. That would let you go back and forth as you please and if you like the ECV you can just remain in it. It's not hard to find an out of the way place to park and leave it in the park. That way you're not stuck if you want to go back to the room. If you didn't feel like operating the ECV on your way back to the room it sounds like you have enough adults in your party that someone could take it for you.

 

[liquid17]

Thanks for the input.

Selket - that is a good idea but it is a lot more money....

I don't think I need to make a decision till after the holidays. I will see how I feel then and decide!

 

[Hopefully]

I have severe arthritis in both knees (both need replacing) and I started using the ECV for my trips last summer (July 2015). Sometimes my knees are better than other times so I'm able to park the ECV (once at the park) and do more walking - other times I'm in it for most of the trip. I also had a traumatic brain injury from an accident about a year ago. I tend to go during the busiest times - 4th of July, Spring break, etc. and I've found the off-site ECV's to be super simple to drive. It's nowhere near as complicated as a car. I really, really like to have my freedom to come and go so an ECV is a must for me.

Another option, if you're open to trying the ECV - might be to go ahead and rent one and use it to get back and forth to the parks and switch over to a wheelchair in the park. That would let you go back and forth as you please and if you like the ECV you can just remain in it. It's not hard to find an out of the way place to park and leave it in the park. That way you're not stuck if you want to go back to the room. If you didn't feel like operating the ECV on your way back to the room it sounds like you have enough adults in your party that someone could take it for you.

To me the double booking is very expensive.

 

[Selket]

Thanks for the input.

Selket - that is a good idea but it is a lot more money....

I don't think I need to make a decision till after the holidays. I will see how I feel then and decide!

It is definitely more money - no doubt about that - not sure it's a lot more (the WC that is). I don't know how much it is to rent a WC from an offsite company but an ECV from off-site is about $30-35 a day more or less. A multi-day rental of a WC inside the park at WDW is $10/day. I guess for a week (7 days) of WC in the parks would only cost you another $70 so really not that much (at least $70 is a drop in the bucket compared to the overall cost of going to WDW). I wonder if one of the off-site ECV rental places would be willing to give you a deal (either to exchange the ECV for a WC if you don't like the ECV or renting both to you for the week)? January is a slow time so it might be worth the ask. The ECV is definitely a lot more than renting the WC alone though.

Bottom line though - if the thought of the ECV makes you stressed - no reason to go with it! It's your vacation so definitely do what you feel most comfortable with!

 

[Starwind]

If you don't wait until the "I can't walk" stage to go back to the resort, you could use the wheelchair as essentially a walker and push it yourself, taking pauses to sit and rest as needed. Others have suggested the first aid centers as an option to rest.

I now use an ECV for the parks, and while it can be challenging when people get in your way and navigating heavy crows, I find using it itself pretty easy to do. the first time I rented one, i practiced with it for a while around the resort we were staying at, to get the hang of it where there weren't that many people.

In the parks, I will often park the ECV in an area and do the surrounding attractions; how many//how far between "parking" depends on how I am feeling. Some days I park at each ride, others, I park in say Toromorowland near the escalator to TTA and then do all the attractions in that area. I take advantage of downtimes to sit and rest, usually on the ECV. For example, my sister likes Space Mountain but I can't ride it. So she will do the single rider line and go through twice while I take a break. We do this for pretty much all the rollercoasters as there are only a couple I can do and she likes almost all of them. Ditto for other rides she likes that I don't. If I don't want to just sit and relax, with the ECV or walking I can take myself to another attraction, into a store, etc.

My sister has a drivers licence but does not drive and the thought of driving for her.. well, lets just say it isn't going to happen short of an absolute emergency where there is no other choice. But she is fine driving the ECV (she has experiemented with it a few times).

I found having her with me was very helpful -- she would walk ahead of me (now, we did learn that it is important to keep a certain distance between us because if she has to stop suddenly because of someone cutting her off, I then have to stop suddenly too, and need room for that to happen; lets just say each trip at least once I will manage to slightly run into her heels... ) which creates a buffer space relative to other people. MOST people do not cut into the space between her and I as it is close enough they actually usually have to pay attention to what they are doing. She was also very god for things like backing up .. she would stand behind and help make sure the coast stayed clear. If there was a weird angle I had to do, she would verbally coach. One time I got boxed in and the two of strategized how to get out and then I drove and she coached because she could see the bigger view and all the obstacles.

Since you have others with you, one of them could always do the backing up and such. For example, if you are going to park the ECV, back into the position, then when it is time to leave the space you just have to drive forward and out. I did this often, usually with my sister as the spotter as I backed in.

An ECV may still not be an option, but I wanted to let you know it may not be as bad as you fear. And, working as a team with your family, it might well be a viable option. If it isn't, the wheelchair can also be doable, but may require some additional planning -- e.g. if you expect you will need to go somewhere alone, planning to be at a point where you can perhaps use it as a walking aid and push it.

SW

 

[Starwind]

An idea, too.... although they are large and cumbersome and do not compare well to the ECVs you can rent from offsite at WDW, consider visiting a large box store near you (in the very-few-customers-in-the-store time) and borrowing one of the ECVs they have and drive it around the store. They are NOT the same, but it will give you a bit of sense of what it is like.

SW

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

Another RA sufferer here. (Lupus as well, but that's another story.)

The fatigue hits like a fist and it is sudden. I can't plan for it. When it hits, I find a quiet place at the park and ride it out. Think : Carousel of Progress. Anywhere I can park and close my eyes.

Even with a scooter, I wouldn't try to make it back to my room. I just wouldn't make it.

All of that said, it doesn't happen very often. I try very hard to plan out my day. I make sure that I don't do late nights and early mornings. I take breaks. I schedule down time, to rest. It helps.

 

[gap2368]

For example, my sister likes Space Mountain but I can't ride it. So she will do the single rider line and go through twice while I take a break.

SW

Just an FYI

There is no single rider line for space. The CM will sometimes ask if there is a party or 1 ( or how ever many they need to fill the ride) when you are in line close to the ride. I do wish there was a single rider line for this ride.

Disney only has 3 rides that do have single rider and they are:

EPCOT-TT

HS-RnR

AK-EE

 

[Starwind]

Just an FYI

There is no single rider line for space. The CM will sometimes ask if there is a party or 1 ( or how ever many they need to fill the ride) when you are in line close to the ride. I do wish there was a single rider line for this ride.

Disney only has 3 rides that do have single rider and they are:

EPCOT-TT

HS-RnR

AK-EE

Ah, then I misinterpreted what she tells me each time... she goes through faster as a single rider, I guess that is near the end then where they are looking for singles to fill a seat.

SW