Using an ECV at RD, is it a disavantage?

JenLovesMM

Mouseketeer
Joined
Dec 30, 2016
Hi! I broke my ankle in the worse way possible 18 years ago and I have had 4 major surgeries since. I am able to walk but am limited on how much each day so for our next WDW visit this year, I will need an ECV. Have never used one in the parks before. I am hoping that at times during the day, I'll be able to park it and walk around for small periods of time.

Now I am wondering, at RD, if we want to hury to a ride (FOP is one example), will be a disavantage trying to get there using an ECV? thanks!
 
If you're good at watching the crowd and maneuvering you will be fine.

Make sure you practice with the scooter some before attempting RD for FOP.
 
An ECV can go in most lines so with FOP you can take your ECV in the line( up to just after the merge point the CM will let you know what you can do then) I would take things slow and not hit anyone but you should be fine I do not think it will make your wait much if any longer.
 
The best way to drive an ECV through crowds is to have someone walking in front of you and stay directly behind them. It takes close concentration, as people will come to a dead stop, out of nowhere, for no apparent reason. But, practice driving one and you will be fine.

The biggest problem with using ECV, in my opinion, are what I call "Disney Drift Walkers." People can't see you in their peripheral vision due to being low. They will "drift walk" right in front of you, sometimes giving you only inches to keep from hitting them. Having a member of your party directly in front of you, in a crowd, is very helpful.
 
Hi! I broke my ankle in the worse way possible 18 years ago and I have had 4 major surgeries since. I am able to walk but am limited on how much each day so for our next WDW visit this year, I will need an ECV. Have never used one in the parks before. I am hoping that at times during the day, I'll be able to park it and walk around for small periods of time.

Now I am wondering, at RD, if we want to hury to a ride (FOP is one example), will be a disavantage trying to get there using an ECV? thanks!

Rental ECVs are notoriously slow. Maybe other people have a different experience than me but most claim somewhere between 3.5mph and 5mph when in reality they clip along at a brisk walk at best (about 3mph). Sure, speeding through a crowd is not a great idea, not advocating for that. But most people game it up to a fair race-walkers speed when they find a bit of open asphalt to cover without getting the cast member attention and that's not a speed your rental is going to match. In a perfect world, this is one where you park the ecv and get pushed to that first ride in a manual wheelchair.
 
Rental ECVs are notoriously slow. Maybe other people have a different experience than me but most claim somewhere between 3.5mph and 5mph when in reality they clip along at a brisk walk at best (about 3mph). Sure, speeding through a crowd is not a great idea, not advocating for that. But most people game it up to a fair race-walkers speed when they find a bit of open asphalt to cover without getting the cast member attention and that's not a speed your rental is going to match. In a perfect world, this is one where you park the ecv and get pushed to that first ride in a manual wheelchair.

I respectfully disagree. I have my own ECV now, but have rented from Apple (yes, I know they don't have good reviews but only 100% positive experience for me, so I continued to use them) for many years and every single ECV I've ever had can go as fast as a person running. Way faster than any fast walking.

The only slow ECVs I've ever experienced are ones intended for in-store use, like Walmart and Target.
 


I respectfully disagree. I have my own ECV now, but have rented from Apple (yes, I know they don't have good reviews but only 100% positive experience for me, so I continued to use them) for many years and every single ECV I've ever had can go as fast as a person running. Way faster than any fast walking.
Fair enough. My 1st hand experience is limited to less than a dozen rentals. Not even first hand as they were used by a friend. But at best they maxed out at their model specified 5mph. To be fair, 5mph is a healthy jog. Most seemed to hit a programed limit of about 3mph.

The power chair I've been building for my friend over the last 5 years or so will outrun me. It defaults to a courtesy mode limit of 6mph but if something serious occurs I think it's ableist to limit the speed at which a disabled person can travel. Most human beings can sprint 10+ mph in an emergency. We don't chain their feet together to prevent it whenever they enter an amusement park.
 
Fair enough. My 1st hand experience is limited to less than a dozen rentals. Not even first hand as they were used by a friend. But at best they maxed out at their model specified 5mph. To be fair, 5mph is a healthy jog. Most seemed to hit a programed limit of about 3mph.

The power chair I've been building for my friend over the last 5 years or so will outrun me. It defaults to a courtesy mode limit of 6mph but if something serious occurs I think it's ableist to limit the speed at which a disabled person can travel. Most human beings can sprint 10+ mph in an emergency. We don't chain their feet together to prevent it whenever they enter an amusement park.

You, my friend, are a well-known speed demon LOL

I agree with you in principle; just as humans don't "beep" when they walk backwards, neither should an ECV need to "beep" (I find this to be SO ANNOYING), and placing a stringent governor on mobility devices limits the ability of the user in an emergency to make a timely egress. I have long told my family that if anything ever happens, they MUST run ahead - because I won't be able to go fast enough to keep up with them - and I will try to find them as soon as I can get to where they are. After Las Vegas, I am painfully aware that I would be an excellent slow moving target; my only chance at survival would be to fling myself to the ground and pray.

My personal scooters both have a top end of 8 MPH - not that I would ever use that speed at RD, or anywhere at WDW; it's not safe. But, the rentals (aside from the WDW in park rentals, which I do believe are a bit more sluggish than those from outside vendors) are all reasonably responsive; if you have a unit with a slow or glitchy throttle, that's typically a maintenance issue on the part of the vendor.
 
I respectfully disagree. I have my own ECV now, but have rented from Apple (yes, I know they don't have good reviews but only 100% positive experience for me, so I continued to use them) for many years and every single ECV I've ever had can go as fast as a person running. Way faster than any fast walking.

Funny you should say this... I rented from Apple for years and man could I make that thing fly :moped:

I remember rope dropping HS one morning and was near the front... I let that throttle out as soon as we got the green light to high tail it over to TSS. I can still remember passing these two young teenage boys who said "man, look at that thing go!" LOL
 
You, my friend, are a well-known speed demon LOL

I agree with you in principle; just as humans don't "beep" when they walk backwards, neither should an ECV need to "beep" (I find this to be SO ANNOYING), and placing a stringent governor on mobility devices limits the ability of the user in an emergency to make a timely egress. I have long told my family that if anything ever happens, they MUST run ahead - because I won't be able to go fast enough to keep up with them - and I will try to find them as soon as I can get to where they are.

After Las Vegas, I am painfully aware that I would be an excellent slow moving target; my only chance at survival would be to fling myself to the ground and pray.

I once built up an ECV that would do 30mph. I've seen mobility scooter builds on youtube that pull 60, but these are just stunts and not meant to be practical. The one I made was for a man who traveled 5 miles down a dirt road every day to work and couldn't drive a car. Laws were pretty vague in his state about ECVs on the road so he gets there on a fast electric.

Up until 8 or 9 years ago I never thought more than 2 minutes on handicap accessibility. Once you start noticing things though it's hard to turn it off. It bothers me how much poor design gets put into mobility tech. We can make the disabled just as fast as their legged fellows. Just as agile. We can make them less likely than abled walkers to bump into things and people. We can make an ECV or powerchair that rights itself if tipped over. A few notable exceptions, but most 'improvements' come in the form of making them cheaper to produce (and sometimes cheaper to buy).
 
The best way to drive an ECV through crowds is to have someone walking in front of you and stay directly behind them. It takes close concentration, as people will come to a dead stop, out of nowhere, for no apparent reason. But, practice driving one and you will be fine.

The biggest problem with using ECV, in my opinion, are what I call "Disney Drift Walkers." People can't see you in their peripheral vision due to being low. They will "drift walk" right in front of you, sometimes giving you only inches to keep from hitting them. Having a member of your party directly in front of you, in a crowd, is very helpful.
Double, and triple like.

Yes, that is the biggest problem for me. Those people that walk right in front of you, sideways. They just drift into your path.

(My scooter goes about 5mph, and does not beep when I back up.)
 
Double, and triple like.

Yes, that is the biggest problem for me. Those people that walk right in front of you, sideways. They just drift into your path.

(My scooter goes about 5mph, and does not beep when I back up.)

Mine doesn't beep when backing either. Neither did any I rented from Apple. Thank God! It's so obnoxious!

We stay at Fort Wilderness often, so I have used an ECV as a method of transportation on roads. They go fast. Definitely every bit as fast as a slow moving car. Not much chance to try them out at full speed at other resorts, but Fort Wilderness let's you open 'er up and see what they're made of. :tongue:

Yeah, drift walkers are awful to deal with. The majority of people do it. Whenever we are in a crowd, like rope drop, I always have my husband walk in front of me. I've only hit him a couple of times. :o
 
Oh, and on the point of using the ECV at rope drop.

It can be very stressful. People are not watching for you. As bad as it can be during the day, rope drop is easily the worst you will see at the parks. Coming in a close second is after the fireworks at park close.

I will do rope drop. And have many times. But I would not do it for FoP at Animal Kingdom. Those people run, literally run. Sure, I could keep up with them. But I wouldn't want to be part of that.
 
I remember one time I was in the crowd waiting for rope drop at the Magic Kingdom in an ECV, and this woman carrying a three or four year old girl ended up next to me. While she was talking to another adult, the little girl started swinging her legs, and kicking me in the back/side of my head with every swing. When I could tell she wasn't going to stop on her own anytime soon, I tapped the mother on the arm to get her attention.

I said, “Hi! I wonder if you'd mind turning just a bit? When the little girl swings her legs she ends up kicking me in the head. I'd move myself, but it's kind of hard to do in this crowd.”

She looked at me as if I had three heads, each speaking a different foreign language. Finally, she scowled, said, “She's not doing it on purpose!” and went back to her conversation. (Oh, well, it only hurts if it's on purpose, right?)

I ended up having to put my head down on the ECV’s tiller until the crowd moved again. But that was my only negative experience at rope drop for the whole trip, and it happened purely through the bad luck of who I ended up next to.
 
I will do rope drop. And have many times. But I would not do it for FoP at Animal Kingdom. Those people run, literally run. Sure, I could keep up with them. But I wouldn't want to be part of that.

Don't the CMs move the rope along to keep people at a certain pace? That's what they have done at RD at other parks.

I've never done RD at AK, so can't speak from experience there. We got FP for FoP, and then were lucky enough to have Dinosaur break down and were given an FP that we could use at Navi River. Got really lucky, as we had planned RD for Navi later in our trip, but didn't have to.
 
Don't the CMs move the rope along to keep people at a certain pace? That's what they have done at RD at other parks.

I've never done RD at AK, so can't speak from experience there. We got FP for FoP, and then were lucky enough to have Dinosaur break down and were given an FP that we could use at Navi River. Got really lucky, as we had planned RD for Navi later in our trip, but didn't have to.
If they do, they must have been running ahead of the pack.

Another cast member saw us watching the pack running and laughed along with us. He called it, "the running of the fools."
 

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