Wheel Chair Rental and Rules

[Wellington2011]

Hi, will we have trouble renting a wheel chair at Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and the Grand Floridian in early May? We'll have 3 kids under 5 and great-grandma. Great-grandma (75) does ok, but we don't want her getting too tired. Also, what are the rules for rides? Does the wheel chair get left once we get in line? Thank you.

 

[EOD K9]

@Wellington2011 You can rent wheelchairs in the parks but they must be left at the parks. You cannot use them on Disney Transport. My father used one from the hotel and they allowed him use of it for the four days he was there. There are newer lines where the wheelchair will stay in line up until the load area. Depending on the ride, and if she is mobile, she can either stay in the chair and board a special vehicle like a boat in "small world" or a mover such as Toy Story. If she is mobile and can get out, she can just jump in the regular ride vehicle. And in those instances, they have wheelchair parking.

 

[J_Krafty24]

I don't believe they have wheel chairs available at the resorts anymore. If you need a wheelchair at your resort you will need to rent from an offsite company or bring your own.

 

[ninjaprincesst]

The resorts no longer offer wheelchairs. If she needs one at the resorts and outside of the parks I would suggest just getting one from one of the outside venders.

 

[anchorman314]

Just to add one more option to what @EOD K9 said, there are outside vendors that you can book ahead of time. The one my family used is a "partner" vendor, and left a wheelchair with bell services on our check-in day. It was ours to use for the entire week, and we just had to leave it with bell services on check-out day. (Though we did drop it off the night before, just to be sure.) The advantage to this was that it could be used at the hotel and the walk from the parking lots/buses to the front gates. The parks do provide complimentary transport chairs in these areas, but they are sometimes very hard to track down. Cost-wise, it was right around the same as renting an in-park wheelchair for the length of our stay.

 

[EOD K9]

I wasn't aware as it has been a few years. But I think everything else was accurate.

 

[RoyWalley]

Try this place. We had no problems what so ever the last 3 visits we made to Disney World. They will have it delivered to your Hotel before you arrive and just drop it off at the same spot at your Hotel when you leave. Super easy.

https://www.buenavistascooters.com/

 

[KikoKea]

I second the idea of renting from an outside vendor- we used Scooterbug. We did this for our elderly moms and it was much nicer for them since we could use them everywhere we went. If you do, I would suggest you buy a foam pad for them to sit on since there's no padding. I ordered a set from Amazon that had a seat and back rest that was thick foam but very inexpensive. I put large pink pillow cases on them and they rode in style. I also purchased a wheelchair backpack for about $11 that hung on the back of the wheelchair and held everything we needed.

 

[bethymouse]

The resorts no longer offer wheelchairs. If she needs one at the resorts and outside of the parks I would suggest just getting one from one of the outside venders.

We used a wheelchair at Grand Floridian when we were there last year.

 

[bethymouse]

Most rides you can take the wheelchair through. They used to have a wheelchair entrance, but they no longer have those. Once you get to the ride vehicle, you must be able to transfer from the wheelchair to the ride vehicle. Be sure to ask a cast member for help, and they will direct you to the proper entrance. Have fun! Disney does a great job of taking care of their "elderly" guests. My Mom uses an electronic convenience vehicle that she rents from an off-site vendor. They deliver it to the hotel, and she uses it everywhere on Disney property! Mom is 76

 

[phrog]

I would suggest renting her an ECV. They really are cost effective when renting from an outside source. If great grandma is under 225 pounds you can rent the basic model for probably cheaper than you can rent a wheelchair. Also something you have to consider is that somebody who is already hot and walked 7 miles that day is going to have to push her. Then you have to surrender the wheelchair at the gate and still have to get back to the hotel. I made that mistake the first visit.

I rented from apple scooters this time because they have the Victory 10 model that I wanted. We have also rented from Randy's Mobility when we stayed off property.

 

[jaklgreen]

When I read your post I was wondering who was going to push Grandma. Will you have enough help with Grandma and 3 little kids? Maybe a scooter would be better.

 

[bjlc57]

GET A SCOOTER. .you are going to get pounded pushing a wheel chair.. there are too many subtle hills on property that you will find as soon as you start pushing one.. Rent a scooter from an off property source..

 

[Goofyernmost]

I would suggest renting her an ECV. They really are cost effective when renting from an outside source. If great grandma is under 225 pounds you can rent the basic model for probably cheaper than you can rent a wheelchair. Also something you have to consider is that somebody who is already hot and walked 7 miles that day is going to have to push her. Then you have to surrender the wheelchair at the gate and still have to get back to the hotel. I made that mistake the first visit.

I rented from apple scooters this time because they have the Victory 10 model that I wanted. We have also rented from Randy's Mobility when we stayed off property.

I'd have to agree with that. I once took a gentleman that had CP. He was a resident of my community care home. He didn't weigh 95 pounds soaking wet. We used his standard wheelchair and I was wiped out by the end of the day. Going up the monorail ramps can be a challenge as well as holding the chair back when going down them. If you can get an outside source ECV, it will save a lot of effort and just be handier. As stated before, there are a lot of subtle elevations changes in WDW as well.

 

[mattdenine]

A little off topic but am I the only one who wants to going to the scooter business? These guys make a killing.

 

[bjlc57]

they charge a heck of a lot less then Disney does.. and they allow EVERY ONE to go to the park.. plus they service you right in the park.. my wife's scooter lost power and within 30 minutes ,, most of which had to be drive time, they brought us a new scooter in Hollywood Studios.. the money we have spent has been worth every penny..

 

[phrog]

A little off topic but am I the only one who wants to going to the scooter business? These guys make a killing.

I think we need to just set up a booth outside the parking lot.

 

[jaklgreen]

I think we need to just set up a booth outside the parking lot.

Add some Pepsi to that and you will make a fortune.