Disney World - The Online Guide - Using an ECV at WDW

The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2003
(UK customers)

Using an ECV at WDW - My Own Experience

Here is my experience of using an ECV/EMV at WDW-

I have got Lupus & therefore get joint & muscle pain, & also severe fatigue. So when I was planning my trip to WDW mobility was a big concern. After getting advice from various people on RADP(newsgroup), I decided to rent an electric scooter for the length of my stay (2wks) from Care Medical (details below), this would cost about $350 (£200), but I reasoned that if I was spending so much on the holiday, I didn't want to spoil it by not being able to get around.

The scooter was delivered first thing on the morning after we arrived. I had used scooters before, so didn't have a problem using it, even if you haven't used one before they're very easy, just watch the speed control!

The main problems I encountered using the scooter were people! In addition to being starred at, being on a scooter seems to make you invisible. I lost count of the number of times people would just dash across in front of me, forcing me to stop sharply - not easy in one of those things. And as for trying to move forward in a crowd, well - impossible!

But saying that, the Cast Members were wonderful & would go out of their way to help you. I also met a lot of lovely people, both able bodied & in wheelchairs, whilst sat waiting for parades & shows.

Using the Disney transport proved to be an adventure! Every Disney bus I came across was equipped with a wheelchair lift at the back of the bus. To get onto the lift you have to reverse (remember the speed control here!) & then reverse into a small space on the bus, there was definitely an art to this, which I seem to have mastered after a few times! The trick is once the lift has gone up reverse slowly then when the basket is in line with the door, pull a sharp right & hopefully you should be in the correct position, if not things start to get tricky! The bus drivers varied a lot, a couple made me get off the scooter & sit on a normal seat (not very comfortable!), some put every available strap round me, a couple just strapped either me or the scooter in, one didn't use any straps at all - although I felt completely secure the whole journey.

The boat proved to be the biggest problem. The water levels were very low whilst we were there, the boat doesn't have a ramp & space is very tight. The first time I used the boat to the Magic Kingdom, the CM had to bump the scooter down onto the boat, getting off at the MK didn't prove too much of a problem. However, coming back to the Lodge was a different matter. The water level wasn't too bad at the MK, I drove on no problem, it was back at the Lodge that the fun started! The scooter had been playing up all day, it took three turns of the key before it came on, & I was going to ring Care Med when we got back to the hotel. When the boat arrived at the WL dock, the water level was way too low, the 2 CMs on the boat were women, so they went to get a male CM who decided the only way was to lift the scooter off. But to do this I had to turn round, I got stuck & the scooter decided to stop working altogether! It had to be lifted off the boat & left at the dock. We went back to phone Care Medical, but being Thanksgiving there was nobody there, so I left a message on their answering machine. We went to reception to see what could be done about the scooter & they arranged for it to be brought back up to the hotel - not sure how they managed it! The next morning Care Med delivered a new scooter, a better one that should have cost $10 more a day, but I got it as a free upgrade. This scooter was great & I never had any further problems with it.

After the fiasco on the boat, we decided to use other transport to get to the Magic Kingdom, the only other option was buses. We worked out that some of the buses going to MGM & Animal Kingdom stopped first at the Polynesian and/or Grand Floridian, so if we got one of those, we could get the monorail to the MK from there. Although we did risk the boat a couple of times, because we were just too tired to get a bus & mono. The water level was always too low at the Lodge even if it was ok at the MK, the CMs had to lift the scooter off. The other time we tried, they said the level was far too low, so we couldn't use the boat!

For the parades I sat in one of the wheelchair sections, but still had to arrive early - 2hrs early for Spectromagic - because they filled up quickly, same for the shows. However the views were very good, especially at the shows, where the wheelchairs sit on the front row, with the exception of the Little Mermaid show, Hunchback show & Muppets 3D where you sit on the back row. At Fantasmic, you have the choice of sitting on the front row or the back row. To get to the front row you go down a very long winding ramp at the side. I sat on the front row & was the first wheelchair down there, so got a spot right in the middle, which was an excellent view, but be warned, there is a fine mist that comes off the water screens & by the end of the show you are quite wet. A nice lady CM gave me a large plastic bag which I put over the scooter during the show so that the water wouldn't do any damage.Most of the rides I went on had a separate entrance for wheelchair users, those that didn't I found the queue areas were hard to manoeuvre around, especially in a big scooter, the corners were very tight. To ride Big Thunder Mountain you enter via the exit & leave the scooter on a very narrow platform. When I got of the ride there wasn't room to turn the scooter round, so I very carefully reversed until I got to a wider part, then very slowly turned it around & got a round of applause from everyone queuing on the other side of the track!!

I found the table service restaurants to be a problem, had to leave the scooter at the entrances, not sure what would have happened if I hadn't have been able to get out of the scooter.

Had no problems charging scooter up, the battery lasted well & never ran out. We were never out from early morning until late night, so I charged scooter up when we returned for an afternoon break to hotel.

We got talking to a nice couple from England, she was in a wheelchair & told us that if you want to use a taxi, Mears have small van/people carrier type things that can fit a wheelchair or scooter in the back, just mention it when you book.

I couldn't have managed without the scooter, so getting it was definitely one of my better decisions!

If you have any questions or want any advice on using wheelchairs/scooters, just email me & I'll be happy to help.

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