Help!....I need wheelchair rental advice

[crbrown24]

We are taking my grandmother to Disney World for the first time in November and I need some advice as far as the wheel chair rentals are concerned. I found a company called Walker Medical and Mobility Products that brings the chairs right to your resort and pick them up when you leave. My grandmother really wants a ECV instead of having to depend on someone pushing her everywhere. Has anyone ever used this company? How was the service? I am torn between getting her a chair at the parks everyday we go or just getting a chair from this company so she can have it any time she wants.

Is it a pain to have to deal with getting the chair to and from the parks on Disney transportation?

She can walk but she has arthritis and gets tired very quickly...I was even thinking we could fold the thing up and just carry it on the DIsney buses.:veryconfu

Any thoughts?

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

I believe that you can rent them weekly from Disney

 

[crbrown24]

I know that you can get a weekly deal but you still need to leave the chair in whatever park you rented it in I think. We are staying at Pop Century and I have seen on the boards that the buses for this resort tend to be far away from the park entrances. I don't want her to be tired out before we even get to the park if I can help it. I also thought that the ECV's were sometimes hard to come by at the parks.

 

[ImaYoyo]

During peak times they can be. Walker Mobility is even on the Cast Portal (sorry, I hate "The Hub") so they seem to be ok with Disney

 

[crbrown24]

Thanks for the info.....Has anyone ever done this where you get the wheelchair at your resort and then take it everywhere with you? Any horror stories?

 

[AndyJo0930]

We rented one of those power scooters for my mom a few years ago (sorry don't remember the company name). They delivered it to our resort (pop century) and she was able to use it all week. Its a little difficult to get on and off of the buses, but by the end of the week she was used to it. It needed to be charged one night, and we just brought it down to the lobby and they took care of it for us, and we picked it up the next morning, and on our morning of departure, we left it there and the company came and picked it up. WE had no problem at all. There are quite a few companies who do this. When you walk around Disney, you see a whole bunch of them, with the names of the company on the scooters. You should have no problem.

 

[crbrown24]

Thanks! That is good to hear...we are staying at Pop Century too so that makes me feel better about the whole thing.:sohappy: I was wondering how bulky those ECV's are? If you didn't want to deal with having to be lifted on and off the bus could you just break the thing down in pieces and everyone in your party carry a piece when ever you get on the bus?

We have 6 people going so we have plenty of hands.....

 

[mousermerf]

Breaking an ECV down to carry is never gonna happen. Just ditch that thought - those things weigh a ton.

There may be some new miracle models that can do this, but the rental companies certainly don't have them.

 

[crbrown24]

Do you know if all of the Disney buses have lifts for wheelchairs or is it just hit or miss finding a bus with a lift?

 

[mousermerf]

Most do, some lean over and you drive onto the bus, others have the full lifts. It's rare to get a bus that doesn't have one, and those buses are being purposely phased out - I don't recall having seen one recently, but they probably still exist.

 

[Krupknick]

I have rented a ECV from Care Medical 3 times and have never had a problem all trips 10-12 days.... the ECV is deliverd to the resort a few hours before your Arival......The buses are no problem the drivers are verry helpful in loading and un loading with ramps or lifts... All of the buses Monorails and large Boats {crusers,ferrys and friendships} are easy to get on and off of.......OH yea the ECV must be Charged every nite in your room....................

 

[Astronaut Jones]

I don't know anything specifically about ECV but my dad has ALS for 3 years and I went to Disney with him twice in that period. First time we rented a push wheelchair from Disney and the second time he rode his own electric wheelchair. Neither experience was a bad one, Disney rents out both push wheelchairs and electric ones that can either be rented at the parks or a wheelchair rental for the duration of your stay (i'm pretty sure) which sounds similar to what the ECV company does. Disney is about the most impressively wheelchair accessible place I've been and even when my dad had his huge bulky electric wheelchair it wasn't a pain to get around at all. Other than I think some of the boats, we could use just about every mode of transportation. Hopefully that's of some use.

 

[Becky]

The lift buses are great but few are left. The ramp buses work well for power scooters as you can simply drive up them.

The WDW drivers are great. You just have to watch out for the guests who think when the back door opens and the ramp comes down/out that it is time for them to run up the ramp.

Disney is one of the best companies for a person with a disability to work for or for a guest with a disability to be treated like the valued person they are.

 

[Kingdom Konsultant]

Walker is a very good company. They will bring the ECV to the hotel for you. This is the only company that we work with as far as wheelchairs and ECV's are concerned.

Pam

 

[popsicletrees]

Thanks for the info.....Has anyone ever done this where you get the wheelchair at your resort and then take it everywhere with you? Any horror stories?

We always call the hotel about a week before our check-in date and request a wheelchair for my grandmother. We have always gotten one that we keep with us the entire trip. Sometimes it is a pain getting the wheelchair on and off the buses. Some busdrivers are more sympathetic than others and help you load the wheelchair. We've even had guests lift the wheelchair onto the bus for us before (it is usually on my mother, grandmother, and me travelling). It is a lot easier to keep a wheelchair with you the entire time rather than renting one at the park entrance everyday. We don't use a motorized wheelchair, so I can offer no advice there.

 

[crbrown24]

Thank you everyone for all of the help and advice. I really do feel alot better about the wheel chair on this tripand I am sure my grandmother will have a fabulous first trip to the World. I just made my ME reservations today...how exciting! :sohappy: