Which parks are harder to manage with an ECV?

[mollybeasley]

I have tendonitis in my foot, and I plan to rent a scooter if it gets really bad. I think I'll be fine for 2-3 days before I can't stand it. Which parks are harder/easier to manuever with an ECV? I figure I can hit the less manueverable parks the first few days while I can stay on my feet.

It would also help to know which parks have easy drop off areas.

 

[videogal1]

I have tendonitis in my foot, and I plan to rent a scooter if it gets really bad. I think I'll be fine for 2-3 days before I can't stand it. Which parks are harder/easier to manuever with an ECV? I figure I can hit the less manueverable parks the first few days while I can stay on my feet.

It would also help to know which parks have easy drop off areas.

An ECV is a great equalizer in terms of terrain and, compared to hoofing it through the parks, makes getting around a breeze. I found AK, however, to be littered with more uneven terrain and bumpy areas than other parks. My scooter, though, has solid core tires, so hitting a tree root is more of a threat to my dental stability than you might find with most scooters, which usually have air-filled tires (and more flats). Others sharing the walkways are more of a threat actually, than the configuration of park layout.

 

[pampam]

I agree with videogal. Something I've found is since the terrain at AK is rougher, it jostles the joints.

Hey. Jostles the joints. I like that. Where is the tag fairy when you need her.

Ak is larger, and there is quite a bit of walking, but I push a wheelchair, and it is more difficult at Ak.

 

[peemagg]

It is all a matter of crowds as to which park is easier to manuver in. It is not the park itself that is hard to use an ECV in it is the people in the park with you that make it difficult.

I would suggest finding a crowd predictor site that gives you an idea of which park would be the most crowded on which day you are there and use that as your guide.

 

[lovetoscrap]

I would say that Hollywood Studios is the easiest to do without the scooter-- it isn't very big and since most things are shows you get to sit and rest a lot.

Magic Kingdom is my least favorite park to do with a scooter-- It has some very crowded areas where the path is narrow and the traffic flow is difficult that are hard to get through, some of the lines are not mainstreamed, and you can't use the scooter for Pirates. The rides are not all that far apart in each land so you can do a land and then stop and rest before moving on.


I would do DHS and MK without the scooter if at all possible and then get one for AK and Epcot. Things are just more spread out at those parks, so a lot more walking. Just the que for Soarin and the Safari are too long for some to walk. The walk around World Showcase is enough to tire even the healthiest of people!

 

[SueM in MN]

My FIL always felt the MK was the worst with an ECV. It is very crowded and most of the walkways are quite narrow compared to the amount of traffic.

 

[mollybeasley]

It sounds like the scooter will be most necessary at Epcot. I really want to see all the holiday decorations and entertainment in the World Showcase.

When I think about it now, I'm pretty impressed that my mother did so well when we visited 13 years ago. Now she can't walk without a walker. It motivates me to keep up with my PT.

 

[iuki]

I would say that Hollywood Studios is the easiest to do without the scooter-- it isn't very big and since most things are shows you get to sit and rest a lot.

Magic Kingdom is my least favorite park to do with a scooter-- It has some very crowded areas where the path is narrow and the traffic flow is difficult that are hard to get through, some of the lines are not mainstreamed, and you can't use the scooter for Pirates. The rides are not all that far apart in each land so you can do a land and then stop and rest before moving on.


I would do DHS and MK without the scooter if at all possible and then get one for AK and Epcot. Things are just more spread out at those parks, so a lot more walking. Just the que for Soarin and the Safari are too long for some to walk. The walk around World Showcase is enough to tire even the healthiest of people!

Not only do you have to walk to ride the Pirates of the Caribbean, Winnie the Pooh is the same. When I went there yesterday, it was a 70-minute wait and the CM said that I would have to park my scooter and walk to the ride. There was no way that I could walk that distance for that length of time. Needless to say, I guess I'll never get to ride the Pooh attraction. I feel for the children confined to wheelchairs who are unable to walk at all.

What I find interesting about the Pirates attraction, you can see side-doors with the handicapped logo. What is that all about? Does anyone here know?

 

[peemagg]

There should have been wheelchairs available to use when you can't use your scooter.

 

[ILoveMyGirls]

I used a scooter for the first time ever at MK in Sept. Just know that people will run in front of you, that is the biggest issue. Some will give you dirty looks as if YOU tried to run over them when they ran in front of you. I'm using one again when we go in a week.

 

[SueM in MN]

Not only do you have to walk to ride the Pirates of the Caribbean, Winnie the Pooh is the same. When I went there yesterday, it was a 70-minute wait and the CM said that I would have to park my scooter and walk to the ride. There was no way that I could walk that distance for that length of time. Needless to say, I guess I'll never get to ride the Pooh attraction. I feel for the children confined to wheelchairs who are unable to walk at all.

What I find interesting about the Pirates attraction, you can see side-doors with the handicapped logo. What is that all about? Does anyone here know?

For guests using ECVs, they do have wheelchairs you can borrow to take in the line to the boarding area for both Pirates and Pooh. Both have lines that are wheelchair accessible, although they are not ECV accessible.

For Pirates, the left side queue is wheelchair accessible, but is too narrow as you get close to the boarding area to get an ECV in and manouver around. Once the guest is on the boat, a CM will take the wheelchair thru to the unload/exit area. The unload area is in actually in another building and down one floor, so it takes a bit of time to transfer the wheelchair from boarding to unload. Because of that, they prefer that guests with wheelchairs transfer to one of the attraction wheelchairs and leave their own wheelchair outside of the attraction, if possible. That way, the guest can use one of the attraction wheelchairs already parked at the unload area.
At the exit, there is a steep moving ramp to get back up to ground level. Since wheelchairs can't go up that, there is a small elevator to return to ground level. The elevator leaves guests off close to the bathrooms.

There is also a back way into the Pirates boarding area that is used for things like children on Make a Wish trips and some other infrequent situations. Since it requires a CM to take guests thru a backstage area, they only use it if the regular entrance won't work for that guest (and they are staffed to have a free CM to take the guests there.).

 

[ILoveMyGirls]

It's interesting that you mentioned the Pooh ride. The two times I rode it in Sept I had to transfer to a wheelchair, wasn't that offered to you? On the second time around, the CM gave me a hard time, asked if I had one of those cards you get from Guest Services, I said no, so I had to go thru the line. I was so horribly swollen, could hardly manage to x-fer to the wheelchair, he was a jerk for treating me that way. The next day I went to Guest Services and they said I did not need one of those cards and I told them what happened the day before on the Pooh ride so he gave me one. Again, interesting you mentioned that Pooh ride.

 

[SueM in MN]

It's interesting that you mentioned the Pooh ride. The two times I rode it in Sept I had to transfer to a wheelchair, wasn't that offered to you? On the second time around, the CM gave me a hard time, asked if I had one of those cards you get from Guest Services, I said no, so I had to go thru the line. I was so horribly swollen, could hardly manage to x-fer to the wheelchair, he was a jerk for treating me that way. The next day I went to Guest Services and they said I did not need one of those cards and I told them what happened the day before on the Pooh ride so he gave me one. Again, interesting you mentioned that Pooh ride.

Next time that kind of thing happens, ask for the supervisor.
We were told one time that we could not enter the Fastpass line with a Fastpass and a wheelchair (I had our Fastpasses in my hand in view. The CM looked at them and said we would need to go thru the regular line because it was wheelchair accessible). I showed her the Fastpass and said, "Uhm, we have a Fastpass - that's what it is for." Another CM heard and corrected the first CM - we used our Fastpasses in the Fastpass line with a wheelchair and the CM got corrected.

 

[mollybeasley]

Next time that kind of thing happens, ask for the supervisor....

... and the CM got corrected.

A girl who once worked for Disney said that anytime a CM did something wrong (requiring corrective feedback) a supervisor would something like "That's not Disney." She wanted to cry when they said it to her once. It really worked to motivate her to learn the right way to handle situations.

 

[ILoveMyGirls]

We are going to Disney next weekend. Don't know if I have enough guts to go on the Pooh ride again. I'll let you all know how it goes. One would think that when I told Guest Services what happened they would have apologized or said something but they did not.

I'll keep you posted.