first visit in two years, now with medical issues

[PigletIsMyCat]

it's been two years this week since i've been to disney world and i'm going through serious withdrawals. after living so close to the magic and being a pass holder for so many years, ugh. it stinks.

this october will be our tenth wedding anniversary and i'm just starting to plan the trip. my main concern now is walking. i've been diagnosed with an immune disorder that causes a lot of pain and fatigue. even if we get my treatment in line by october and i'm pain free, the fatigue is debilitating. the disease causes fatigue and my medications to treat the disease cause more fatigue on top of that.

i read that you can rent a wheelchair/ecv from disney for like a week at a time for a discount - anyone have any experience with that? depending on where our room is, i don't think i'll need a chair from the car to the resort, etc. plus we won't be able to fit it in a rental car. but i know i'll need one off disney property when we go to universal for a day or two - should i look at an off-site vendor? any tips appreciated - tia

 

[luv]

Disney rents them, for sure. I don't know if you can reserve in advance or if it's a daily First Come, First Served.

I see a LOT of rental scooters from other companies, so my guess is that they have better scooters, cheaper scooters, or both. You might want to check into that.

 

[olinecoach61]

Disney is great with people who have needs. Just reach out and I'm sure you will be able to reserve a scooter.

 

[Minnie_girl]

Disney is great with people who have needs. Just reach out and I'm sure you will be able to reserve a scooter.

x2

 

[JohnD]

I'm going with the folks in April. My mother, simply by being older, will require a wheelchair. She can walk short distances fine. But all around the parks? Forget it. We thought about renting a wheelchair from WDW but were concerned about waiting to get one each morning at the parks. You can only pick them up and leave at the park. You can't take them with you. And, believe me, we're not going to arrive at early EMH nor even regular opening, anyway. So, there's the concern we may not get one. Instead, we have an avenue for getting one of our own in my parents' hometown and taking it with us which is what we are going to do.

My parents have also ruled out a scooter. My Mom has issues with her hands too and doesn't want to learn how to navigate the thing. It would also hold us up more. Easier for us to push her around (in the wheelchair, not figuratively!). I'm sure my father and I will trade off.

 

[Kingdom Konsultant]

Go with a good rental company like Walker Mobility or Buena Vista Scooter. they will deliver them to your hotel and pick them up when you are done. My agents and I have used both companies and have not had a single complaint about either.

Pam

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Go with a good rental company like Walker Mobility or Buena Vista Scooter. they will deliver them to your hotel and pick them up when you are done. My agents and I have used both companies and have not had a single complaint about either.

Pam

Pam,

I think with Walker, not sure of others, you have to arrange to be present to receive and return the scooters now. It's not like it used to be when they'd hold them at bell services. My mom uses a scooter from Walker for every trip due to her myriad of health issues. In December when they were there my mom had to schedule carefully to meet the Walker folks at the resort. They're always around the area so they can get to the resorts fast. I think they coordinated the meet-up via cell phone as they knew when they'd be there (they drove in).

Another solid vote for Walker. Both my mom & aunt have always had great service with them.

 

[PigletIsMyCat]

thanks for all the tips so far. my concern with renting from an outside agency would be traveling with it. we will be renting a car to go to universal and visit friends. i don't know about shoving an ecv in the trunk of a rental car. does anyone have any advice on that? i think we'd be able to do that with a wheelchair, right?

 

[PrincessNelly_NJ]

thanks for all the tips so far. my concern with renting from an outside agency would be traveling with it. we will be renting a car to go to universal and visit friends. i don't know about shoving an ecv in the trunk of a rental car. does anyone have any advice on that? i think we'd be able to do that with a wheelchair, right?

I've never rented an etc but was thinking about doing so for a trip next year for my mother. I just checked out buena vista scooter and saw they have a "portable scooter" that can fit in a truck

 

[buseegal]

just remember that park wheel chairs can not go out the gates, so at end of day when you are tired you will have to get to your car without wheel chair including standing in line for tram or monorail or boat. no or very few places to sit and wait. that is what kills me.

 

[Kingdom Konsultant]

Sweetpea is correct, you do have to meet Walker since they are not an "approved" company, but they are very good. They do rent wheelchairs also if that is what you want. The pricing is very reasonable and you have it for your whole stay

Pam

 

[PigletIsMyCat]

they used to have courtesy wheel chairs from gate to parking - are those gone now?

 

[buseegal]

I have never been able to get at end of day to get back to car and have seen only a couple of times on arrival. would not count on one being there. have never seen one at MK and that walk just seems long plus the wait for either monorail or boat

 

[Nemo14]

When I was in a boot 2 years ago, they were very good about making sure I had one to get back to the car with.

 

[ratherbeinwdw]

they used to have courtesy wheel chairs from gate to parking - are those gone now?

thanks for all the tips so far. my concern with renting from an outside agency would be traveling with it. we will be renting a car to go to universal and visit friends. i don't know about shoving an ecv in the trunk of a rental car. does anyone have any advice on that? i think we'd be able to do that with a wheelchair, right?

A wheelchair will fit in most trunks as long as it's not a compact car. We have even gotten my mom's in the back seat of several different cars. The ecv's will not fit in a trunk unless you rent one of those fold-up kinds. I've had to rent an ecv a couple of times because of a ruptured disk. They are very easy to drive-- unlike my mom's which has the little controller on the arm of the chair instead of handlebars and is very hard to get used to.

 

[JohnD]

My mother will have a fold-up wheelchair. My parents intend to put it in the trunk of their sedan. It's a pretty large trunk. The only issue I could think of, having it on-hand, once we're ready to board a bus, is how the bus driver would deal with it. Could my parents fold it up and walk on the bus through the front entrance with it (she can still do that. She's not wheelchair-bound), or would the bus driver insist on lowering the bus so that the wheelchair could be wheeled on through the back entrance to the bus? Don't know.

 

[iluvMainStMagic]

Another thought or two, if you decide to rent a regular type of ecv (vs a fold-up type)....
-You or someone would need to drive it up the ramp and park it in the bus.
-What I call the "regular type", like those that can be rented at the park entrances, won't fit in a trunk (besides probably being way too heavy to lift anyway), but
-most rental companies have them in different sizes, depending on what you need.

I am not familiar at all with the type ecv that can fold up and fit in a trunk, but it sounds very useful.

Congratulations on being able to plan another trip! You are wise to be planning this aspect now, so that you have the best info for your needs when it's time to go. I hope you have a Wonderful & Magical trip!!!

 

[iluvMainStMagic]

My mother will have a fold-up wheelchair. My parents intend to put it in the trunk of their sedan. It's a pretty large trunk. The only issue I could think of, having it on-hand, once we're ready to board a bus, is how the bus driver would deal with it. Could my parents fold it up and walk on the bus through the front entrance with it (she can still do that. She's not wheelchair-bound), or would the bus driver insist on lowering the bus so that the wheelchair could be wheeled on through the back entrance to the bus? Don't know.

I'm pretty sure, if memory serves me , that all wheelchairs are boarded through the bus back door, whether the guest walks in or rides. I don't know if that can be at the driver's discretion when the guest is obviously able to walk on, but then, when my mom had to use a wheelchair, it was a bit heavy and awkward for me to get it in and out of my trunk, so pushing it in might much easier.

 

[JohnD]

I'm pretty sure, if memory serves me , that all wheelchairs are boarded through the bus back door, whether the guest walks in or rides. I don't know if that can be at the driver's discretion when the guest is obviously able to walk on, but then, when my mom had to use a wheelchair, it was a bit heavy and awkward for me to get it in and out of my trunk, so pushing it in might much easier.

Yeah, my mother can get on and off buses, maybe with a steady hand to help her. And walk in and out of buildings and short distances. But it will be impossible for her to walk the distances that touring around parks require, hence the wheelchair.