Wheel Chair or Scooter?

[jjgoo]

Hi All. We are bringing my father-in-law along with us in December and he cannot stand or walk for too long. We are going to rent a wheel chair or scooter (ECV) for him to use while we are there. (Outside rental for the week, so he always has it available) We will be staying at AKL and using the busses to get around and I am not sure what would be easier.

I'm of two minds. My DW and I really feel like the scooter would give him more freedom and he would not have to rely on us too much. He would also feel better not having to have us push him around. On the other hand I have seen people try to get those scooters on to the bus and it did not seem that easy. He is used to using them in the grocery store but has neck problems so navigating tight spaces might be a little difficult. So would a wheel chair be easier?

I also understand that some rides you cannot go in with an ECV. Do those rides have wheel chairs available to transfer? While he could walk through a short line, he could not stand and wait for too long.

I appreciate any advice or experience you all can share.

Thanks! -John:wave:

 

[shoppingnut]

Get the ECV it's a lot easier. If he can't turn his head to get it on/off the bus, just do what I did with my mother, I got it on/off the bus for her. You have to back the scooter up onto the bus, it's like parallel parking a car, it's really not that hard.

It's not so easy pushing the wheel chair around because many parts of disney have slight inclines.

Certain rides, like POTC, Winnie the Pooh (that I can think of off hand) where you can't bring the ECV in, you would park it outside and they have wheel chairs available for transfer. I found that if I used the FP system for the rides that always have long waits like Peter Pan, it worked very well so we never had to wait in any long lines with my mom. The Jungle Cruise you would go to the left side where people disembark to get on with an ECV/Wheelchair. Small World, you take the ECV/Wheelchair down the exit ramp and park it there and get on the boat.

 

[jjgoo]

Shoppingnut, thank you for the info. We were sort of leaning toward the wheel chair because of ease of use on the busses and rides, but may father-in-law would really rather the ECV. (I've pushed him around before so the inclines were not a big issue)

Maybe we will reconsider getting an ECV.

Anybody else have any experience with ECV or wheelchair? Please share your thoughts.

 

[SamnDawn060304]

We rented 2 in May of 07 for my mother and Aunt who both could not stand or walk for long periods of time. We had no problems whatsoever gettting around and on and off rides. The CMS are very helpful. This is a link to the company we used. They drop it off and pick it up. They are very helpful and nice great customer service.

http://www.caremedicalequipment.com/

I am not sure about the bus situation because we stayed off property that time and had a truck to haul them. (we drove down)

Hope this helps a little.

 

[CBug88]

We got a wheelchair for my grandma our last visit. I'm glad we did that instead of the scooter b/c of the ease getting on buses and off rides. If your father in law can get on a bus, you will have the option of not relying on other to help load you on rides, buses, etc.. Plus, we had four other people to push grandma around so we all took turns and it worked out just fine.

With a scooter you'll be stuck in having to wait on the bus driver to help load it on and or trying to find places to park it during meals etc., where wheelchairs are easy to fold up and place in a corner... just in my opinion.

 

[The Mom]

I used a wheelchair for my mother, because I was concerned that she would be unable to "work" the scooter, and would hurt someone. She had no capacity to absorb new information. (Hence the constant calls about her broken TV; she had just messed up the remote program again. She didn't have any problem with the old TV, and remote, in her bedroom.)

Since I was travelling alone with her, she had to be loaded on the bus, as I couldn't handle both her and a folded wheelchair. But it was easier getting into restaurants (they just moved a chair) and shops, along with most attractions.

 

[dipdee]

Hi All. We are bringing my father-in-law along with us in December and he cannot stand or walk for too long. We are going to rent a wheel chair or scooter (ECV) for him to use while we are there. (Outside rental for the week, so he always has it available) We will be staying at AKL and using the busses to get around and I am not sure what would be easier.

I'm of two minds. My DW and I really feel like the scooter would give him more freedom and he would not have to rely on us too much. He would also feel better not having to have us push him around. On the other hand I have seen people try to get those scooters on to the bus and it did not seem that easy. He is used to using them in the grocery store but has neck problems so navigating tight spaces might be a little difficult. So would a wheel chair be easier?

I also understand that some rides you cannot go in with an ECV. Do those rides have wheel chairs available to transfer? While he could walk through a short line, he could not stand and wait for too long.

I appreciate any advice or experience you all can share.

Thanks! -John:wave:

Hello, My aunt rented a scooter before we got to disney and they had it waiting on her when we checked in.The scooter placed we rented from is
Walker Mobility. They have a web site with all their info on it. It's walkermobility.com

Hope you have great time.

dipdee

 

[shoppingnut]

We got a wheelchair for my grandma our last visit. I'm glad we did that instead of the scooter b/c of the ease getting on buses and off rides. If your father in law can get on a bus, you will have the option of not relying on other to help load you on rides, buses, etc.. Plus, we had four other people to push grandma around so we all took turns and it worked out just fine.

With a scooter you'll be stuck in having to wait on the bus driver to help load it on and or trying to find places to park it during meals etc., where wheelchairs are easy to fold up and place in a corner... just in my opinion.

We had no problem finding a place to park the scooter, you park it anywhere they park strollers basically. Some rides, however, like Pirates & Peter Pan, you can park it right outside the ride.

With the amount of scooters down in disney your chances of having to wait for one to be loaded on the bus are significant even if you have the push wheelchair.