Electric Wheelchair and mears

[isyne4u]

I'm not sure if this belongs on the transporation board or here so I will start here.

My best friend is in an electric wheelchair now and will be going to WDW in November with us. My question is does she need to arrange with Mears ahead of time so that they have an appropriate mode of transportation for her or can she just let them know when she gets there?

(BTW...I asked about flying a few months ago and got some great responses and she now knows what she needs to do for getting her chair on and off a plane!! thanks!)

Also if there is anything else we should know I would love to hear about it!!

thanks,
tara

 

[pugdog]

It is best to let them know ahead of time if you can. Just go to their website and check the wheelchair need in the reservation form and they should have one waiting for you. You might have to wait a little bit sometimes since there are only about 8 vans that have lifts. but if you don't let them know it could be a longer wait.

 

[SueM in MN]

We have not used Mears accessible bus, but did look into it.
as pugdog said, if you call and arrange it beforehand, it should be waiting for you (or at least a minimal wait). If you don't, they may have to send for one from somewhere else, so your wait might be longer.

 

[isyne4u]

Thanks Sue and pugdog. I tried the website earlier and it wasn't responding so I will try it again later. But i will also pass that on to her so that she can make her arrangements!!

thanks a bunch!!

tara

 

[pumpkinboy]

We have a manual wheelchair and have used Mears the past two times we have gone down. We called them to make the reservation, and explained our needs and they sent the special van to meet us at the airport. Essentially they simply sent a van for our party of 4 and chauffered us directly to our destination, which was fine by us. In the end, those of us on the wheelchair vans got much better and more personal service than the rest of Mears' clientele.

For three of the four legs of our trips we had great experiences. Now that other time, we were arriving at MCO having prearranged everything well in advance and confirming two days before; when we arrived at the Mears counter we were waited and waited for an accessible van to come - as mentioned above, there are a limited number of these vans. Mears ended up sending a Wheelchair accessible Orlando cab, which was fine too, just a bit of a tight squeeze.

Still and all, I would recommend it for a small party with one wheelchair-bound passenger. Furthermore, I have a whole bunch of discount coupons for Mears available. If you want to email or PM me your address I'd be happy to send a couple your way, if you'd like.

 

[isyne4u]

pumpkinboy...thanks for the information. I'm forwarding your email to my girlfriend so that she has the info. (she's not a disney freak like me so she doesn't haunt the boards!! hehe)

I will also pm you my address because she didn't get any coupons for Mears in her ressie confirmation.

Thanks!!!

tara

 

[clkelley]

Just a warning, I tried prereserving on the website a few weeks ago for a December trip with hubby's ECV.

They now state they are billing your credit card at the time of reservation. So you can't use the Disney $3 coupon when you reserve ahead of time online.

They may refund the $3 when you arrive if you ask, but I don't know.

As it turns out, I didn't book, cause I changed my plans, but if I had, my CC would have been charged right then.

Carol