Electric Carts and wheelchairs

My husband's mother, partner and aunt are planning to visit us in
Tampa in mid-December. We would like to make a two day trip to the
World with them. His mother can walk fine but her partner and his aunt
have serious health issues and while they can walk they can't walk far
at all. To and from the car and a quick trip around a store is OK,
anymore than that and it gets painful for them. So I have a few
questions:

Obviously for the parks we need to get two of them wheelchairs or
those electric carts, any suggestions as to which would be better?

Also I have read that both types have limited avaiability and
reservations are not accepted. Anyone have any experience getting them
at the parks? Mid-Dec is a slower time of year so how difficult will
it be to get them?

I want them to enjoy the trip and make it as hassle free as I can so
any advice/suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Gretchyn

On Jun 21, 9:05 am, Gretch <Gretc...@> wrote:
> My husband's mother, partner and aunt are planning to visit us in
> Tampa in mid-December. We would like to make a two day trip to the
> World with them. His mother can walk fine but her partner and his aunt
> have serious health issues and while they can walk they can't walk far
> at all. To and from the car and a quick trip around a store is OK,
> anymore than that and it gets painful for them. So I have a few
> questions:
>
> Obviously for the parks we need to get two of them wheelchairs or
> those electric carts, any suggestions as to which would be better?
>
> Also I have read that both types have limited avaiability and
> reservations are not accepted. Anyone have any experience getting them
> at the parks? Mid-Dec is a slower time of year so how difficult will
> it be to get them?
>
> I want them to enjoy the trip and make it as hassle free as I can so
> any advice/suggestions would be appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
> Gretchyn

Standard wheelchairs are usually no problem, but the ECVs usually run
out fairly quickly in the morning. Since you are not staying on
property, it would be difficult to rent ECVs from an offsite company
because you would have to load and unload them from your vehicle each
time.

If you really want the ECVs for them, get to the parks at opening. I
know from Tampa, that makes it awfully early in the morning, but well
worth it.

Carol

Gretch wrote: Obviously for the parks we need to get two of them wheelchairs
or
> those electric carts, any suggestions as to which would be better?



Get there early like Carol said and get the electric scooters.
WDW will tire out anyone just walking.
Pushing an adult in a wheelchair would be a disaster.
I assume you are not staying at WDW and will be driving back and forth.

If there is no way you can get there early you might get a room for 1 day at
the Allstars.
Then CARE, or one of the other rental places, would deliver scooters to the
Allstars check-in building for you.
You could stop there when you get to WDW, pick up the scooters and head off
to wherever you want.
Then when you are ready to leave at night, take the scooters to the room and
plug them in so they will be all charged up for the next day.
Then you just leave them at the Allstars check-in building when you leave.

--
JerryD(upstateNY)

On Jun 21, 9:05 am, Gretch <Gretc...@> wrote:
> My husband's mother, partner and aunt are planning to visit us in
> Tampa in mid-December. We would like to make a two day trip to the
> World with them. His mother can walk fine but her partner and his aunt
> have serious health issues and while they can walk they can't walk far
> at all. To and from the car and a quick trip around a store is OK,
> anymore than that and it gets painful for them. So I have a few
> questions:
>
> Obviously for the parks we need to get two of them wheelchairs or
> those electric carts, any suggestions as to which would be better?
>
> Also I have read that both types have limited avaiability and
> reservations are not accepted. Anyone have any experience getting them
> at the parks? Mid-Dec is a slower time of year so how difficult will
> it be to get them?
>
> I want them to enjoy the trip and make it as hassle free as I can so
> any advice/suggestions would be appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
> Gretchyn

My dad used an ECV in early June. He had no problem getting one even
though he used one at one park in the morning and had to get another
at a differ park in the afternoon. The only day he had trouble was on
a Friday at MK.

If you need one outside the park do a google search for ECV rentals in
Tampa/Orlando. They deliver and pick up and some even have vans you
can rent to get to and fromthe parks.

My dad decided to rent from wDW though. also, if you choose a wheel
chair instead, which he did one trip...the "pusher" gets very tired.
You may want to go with the ECV to save the others in your party from
having to push you around.

Gretch wrote: So now for part two: we will stay on property, but where would
you suggesst?

The Wilderness Lodge is a good place.
You can take a boat to MK and then use the monorail to EPCOT, go out the
back of EPCOT, to the boardwalk and take the path to MGM.
The Poly has a path to the ticket and transportation Center where you can
get the monorails.
The only problem with the scooters we have seen is taking them on the buses.
The bus driver has to get out of the seat, lower the ramp, load 1 scooter,
secure it on the bus, lower the ramp again and do the same thing with the
second scooter.
It's not really a problem but I just feel bad for the people waiting for us.

--
JerryD(upstateNY)

"JerryD(upstateNY)" <jerryd@wherever.com> wrote in message
news:4681aa71$0$3186$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
> Gretch wrote: So now for part two: we will stay on property, but where
> would you suggesst?
> The only problem with the scooters we have seen is taking them on the
> buses.
> The bus driver has to get out of the seat, lower the ramp, load 1 scooter,
> secure it on the bus, lower the ramp again and do the same thing with the
> second scooter.
> It's not really a problem but I just feel bad for the people waiting for
> us.
>
> --
> JerryD(upstateNY)

Keep in mind that if you have to use a Bus, if it is shared with another
resort there may already be someone in a ECV on board so you may have to
split-up or wait for a bus that has both spots open. So, you may want to
decide on where you will be spending your two days... are you going to try
to do all four parks or just stick with two? Then I would pick the Resort
with the best transportation choices to these parks.

-
Keith
Only 79d:4h:29m:24s until our 12:30PM departure for Disneyworld on
09/14/2007.

On Jun 26, 7:29 am, Gretch <Gretc...@> wrote:
> Thanks everyone fro your help!
>
> I think after reading all this we will stay one night on property and
> rent ECVs. It seem the best way to make sure we have them and to tell
> the truth we had considered not driving to and from Tampa each day
> anyhow.
>
> So now for part two: we will stay on property, but where would you
> suggesst?
>
> While my husband and I go often enought these folks will probably go
> just this once so we want to give them the Disney experience. My
> first thougth is Wilderness Lodge - they are outdoorsy types and would
> just flip over the themeing. However, I have read the EPCOT resorts
> are better for ECVs in terms of getting around easily. So how
> difficult is it to get on and off Disney transportation with the ECVs?
>
> Gretchyn

When I checked for my dad the minimum rental for offsite rentals was 3
days to avoid drop off and pick up fees. I recommend the poly, contemp
or grand floridian if you can afford it. monorail is the way to go
with wheel chairs

It is a pain to get the scooter on and off the buses. I would decide
which parks you want to go to, and stay at the hotel that has the boat
or monorail options. The swolphin was an absolute pleasure to get to
Epcot and MGM with a scooter. If you are going to MK and Epcot mostly,
I would stay at the Poly, since it has monorail to both epcot and MK,
and a bus to the MK. Or, another one of the monorail hotels. I would
choose the swolphin or another hotel on the boardwalk if my main parks
were going to be Epcot and MGM.