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Of ECVs and loud, persistent beeps....

InfernalPenguin

New Member
Original Poster
Ok, so sometime around late March I'm going to... well I guess the term is "chaperone" a cadre of old women on a trip to WDW.

They're my grandmother's friends, you see, and me having realized she's not quite fluent in the language (at least not as much as she thinks she is...that's the problem) and neither are the others, I offered myself up to act as a buffer between her and all the poor "gringos" so they aren't forced to decipher what "Huer ees day huweincher antrans" means. I mean, it's not that bad, but I mean jeeeze sometimes it gets outta hand, and the worst thing is when they don't understand her she gets all old-lady It's My Party and I Cry if I Want To on their butts....


Well one of my main duties as chaperon is going to be the avoidance of what I've always noticed is my grandma's great Disney peeve: Jammin' on the ECV horn like she's Moses to part the sea of tourists for her little scooterin' vehicle.


It's always the same situation. She beeeeeps.....beeeeeeps.....beeeeeeps.... at some point she starts yelling "escuze mi".... and then it gets UGLY.


She's been known to run people over, much to my chagrin. And pain, since I've been on the receiving end of it more than once.



Well, that's all pretty much MY problem (I've devised a clever solution to it, which I call "The Old Lady Shepperd", where I line them up and clear a path with my calm, clear, level headed voice.


But what I wanted to ask tho is what about all the other old fa....err...I mean young women of a wise age... think about the whole ECV thing? Do you get the whole trying to get people to move out of your way problem? Especially since that damn horn is about as loud as a mute cricket.

...oh, and has anybody else been on the brunt of old lady road rage.


BTW, in case there's any victims of The Wrath of Gran, try to remember if you've ever faced down a large, angry latino lady with white hair sitting in an ECV.

You could probably recognize her. She looks EXACTLY like Ursula. No kidding.
 

Disneykidder

Well-Known Member
I have been on the other end of people in EVCs being all "my road" and also on the please allow me to get through with my Dad on one in Hershey Park. Neither are fun.

My advise, ask Disney to cut the wire, thus eliminating all the beeps. No seriously, I don't think there is a way to tame an elderly person set in their ways. The only thing you can do is explain to her how Disney operates and that beeping and being rude would not be proper behavior. No one knows your Grandmother better than you but that is the best advise I can give.

Good luck.:)
 

photoflight

Well-Known Member
Great message... you had me laughing.

I've witnessed people on the receiving end of ECV carnage, but haven't participated in the carnage.

In December I was trying to fight through a pretty thick crowd of people in Frontierland. It was right after a parade and the crowd was thick as molasses on a cold day. An older gent in front of me had his scooter going as quickly as he dared go...albeit in short bursts of quickness.

I'm sure it's not easy getting around a crowd in one of those suckers, but he wasn't helping matters much. Not only was he pushing the crowd out of the way, but he'd strategically placed WDW souvenir popcorn buckets on the arms of the scooters. They were hanging by the handles so the buckets pointed out at a 45° angle to the sides, conveniently banging into the thighs of us footbound folk. Worse yet they were at the perfect height to wallop small children as they tried to get past.

He seemed pretty oblivious to it, as were the people he was with.

Later on he seemed to be determined to continue on a straight line through the crowd without stopping, and in so doing started bumping more people...and then strollers. He bumped the handle on one stroller and a small yelling match between one of his family and the owner of the stroller. I thought I was going to see my first WDW fight. Up close and in real life!

The ECV guy just kept going, never even looked back.

All I can say is... GOOD LUCK! :D
 

InfernalPenguin

New Member
Original Poster
Oh dear GOD... I just got heavy flashbacks from that video. Hahahahaha, that's exactly like her, except she adds her wailing to the sound.

Although I will admit that exit crowd can be hell for wheelchairs. Hers broke down once as we tried to exit and we were basically fenced in by spectromagic and the thick crowd watching it. Had to figure out how to unhook the break and push it myself.


I am going to show her that video... as a warning.
 

InfernalPenguin

New Member
Original Poster
I was just thinking about this video...people like that need to be punched in the face.

Hey, thanks for the advice! I went and punched my 70 year old grandmother in the face, straightened everything out. Can't believe it was that easy.

She says she's gonna behave from now on... well I mean, she better, otherwise it's *pow* right in the kisser!

Got what she deserved, I think.
 

Rob562

Well-Known Member
That was exactly the video that I thought of, too. :)

A suggestion to the original poster. If you think you might need to go drastic with your grandmother (or someone else in the party)... Learn where the "key" inserts in the control console, and how to remove it. Many times it's not really a key, but rather something similar to a 1/4" headphone plug. They just pull right out with no fumbling or turning necessary. If she acts up, yank it out and tell her she needs a time-out. Let her sit there and think about it for a couple minutes. :)

-Rob
 
My sisters and I went to WDW with my grandma a couple years ago and rented a ECV. When my g-ma began to ride it it was way slower then the ones she had gotten years past. So she took it back and asked for another cause hers was "broken". So she got another and it had the same speed so she took it back again cause this one had to be "broken" as well. After the second one the CM there told her that they had lowered the speed on the ECVs from the previous year. Now i do not know if that is true or not but my grandma's face when she found out she could not have a cart that could mow down disney guests was priceless lol like she lost part of her disney experience... at least it saved my heals from a little torture :lol:
 

NASAMan

Member
Penguin, I commend you for placing yourself on the front lines in the constant battle between cast members and those who practice the art of 'stupid guest tricks'. So, here is a suggestion that may help your experience.

Enlist your grandmother to aid you in your journey by bringing up the rear of the LOL (line o' ladies) as you lead. It would mean you wouldn't have the pleasure of her conversation, but she may be less likely to beep at her friends in front of her than to strangers. Rotate the others to take turns as lead, and, when it is not crowded, gran can come to the front.

Good luck, and again thanks for your service!
 

JessicaB

Member
Hey, thanks for the advice! I went and punched my 70 year old grandmother in the face, straightened everything out. Can't believe it was that easy.

She says she's gonna behave from now on... well I mean, she better, otherwise it's *pow* right in the kisser!

Got what she deserved, I think.

Yea.. Maybe that's not such a good idea.:lookaroun Old ladies can be fiesty.:lol:
 

Nemo14

Well-Known Member
On a serious note, try to plan breaks for her at busy park times. Like when everyone is trying to exit at once, do an ice cream stop, or tour World Showcase for great nighttime shots or something like that.



or drink heavily.... :lookaroun
 

sknydave

Active Member
If she's that bad on an ECV and you have to monitor her anyways... maybe you can just do us all a favor and push her around on a regular wheelchair.
 

dolbyman

Well-Known Member
Hey, thanks for the advice! I went and punched my 70 year old grandmother in the face, straightened everything out. Can't believe it was that easy.

She says she's gonna behave from now on... well I mean, she better, otherwise it's *pow* right in the kisser!

Got what she deserved, I think.

bwawawawa :ROFLOL: ... I nearly fell out of my chair this morning when I read this .. great sarcasm :)

but why not do it the baseball way ?(noo...not hitting her with the bat :p) but tell your grandma to warn her 2 times to not run beserk with that thing .. the 3rd time (strike out) take her out of the game (either the manual wheelchair option or no quality disney time anymore)
 

InfernalPenguin

New Member
Original Poster
If she's that bad on an ECV and you have to monitor her anyways... maybe you can just do us all a favor and push her around on a regular wheelchair.

Well, she finds the ECVs more comfortable.

Oh, I failed to mention this: my grandmother IS paying for the entire vacation. She also not senile, so the whole little kid approach won't work. If I yank out her key she's going to kick me outta the room. She's done it before too... on a cruise tho.


But I'm definitely going to try and deviate them when the crowd is heavy. They are, after all, still golden girls, and subject to all the temptations as such, so if I see a parade or something suddenly "Hey, let's go into that store over there!" will definitely have it's appeal. That or a little snack.

And having her in the back of the line is BRILLIANT. Who's she gonna beep at, her friends? And not me, I'm gonna be infront so... problem solved mostly.


Now then how to block out the death-stare of all those people as I wheel her onto the bus loading elevator thingie.......
 

Chance

New Member
Ok, so sometime around late March I'm going to... well I guess the term is "chaperone" a cadre of old women on a trip to WDW.

They're my grandmother's friends, you see, and me having realized she's not quite fluent in the language (at least not as much as she thinks she is...that's the problem) and neither are the others, I offered myself up to act as a buffer between her and all the poor "gringos" so they aren't forced to decipher what "Huer ees day huweincher antrans" means. I mean, it's not that bad, but I mean jeeeze sometimes it gets outta hand, and the worst thing is when they don't understand her she gets all old-lady It's My Party and I Cry if I Want To on their butts....


Well one of my main duties as chaperon is going to be the avoidance of what I've always noticed is my grandma's great Disney peeve: Jammin' on the ECV horn like she's Moses to part the sea of tourists for her little scooterin' vehicle.


It's always the same situation. She beeeeeps.....beeeeeeps.....beeeeeeps.... at some point she starts yelling "escuze mi".... and then it gets UGLY.


She's been known to run people over, much to my chagrin. And pain, since I've been on the receiving end of it more than once.



Well, that's all pretty much MY problem (I've devised a clever solution to it, which I call "The Old Lady Shepperd", where I line them up and clear a path with my calm, clear, level headed voice.


But what I wanted to ask tho is what about all the other old fa....err...I mean young women of a wise age... think about the whole ECV thing? Do you get the whole trying to get people to move out of your way problem? Especially since that damn horn is about as loud as a mute cricket.

...oh, and has anybody else been on the brunt of old lady road rage.


BTW, in case there's any victims of The Wrath of Gran, try to remember if you've ever faced down a large, angry latino lady with white hair sitting in an ECV.

You could probably recognize her. She looks EXACTLY like Ursula. No kidding.

OMG - this is the funiest thing I have read in ages. LOL thank you for sharing --- indulge her while you can!
 

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