Question about renting ECV in park

[BYC]

My husband can walk, but has issues. He will not be able to walk all day. And, when he does walk, he is SLOW! We want to rent in park, as we do not need one at the resort, and do not want the hassle of transporting on a bus. Here are my questions:

1) I know it is first come-first serve-----Do they often run out? We are going Oct. 18-26. How early should we get there to be sure to get one?

2) If he wanted to park it and walk into/onto an attraction, where would he leave it?? Do they have "parking", or is it expected that you will bring the ECV into the ride/attraction?

3) Can they go all day without a recharge??

4) Are the places to rent them in each park inside the park, or outside? If inside, will we be let in before the park actually opens to rent one?

I know I will have more questions, but I appreciate any help and advice we can get! Thank you!

 

[dayvewc]

My husband can walk, but has issues. He will not be able to walk all day. And, when he does walk, he is SLOW! We want to rent in park, as we do not need one at the resort, and do not want the hassle of transporting on a bus. Here are my questions:

1) I know it is first come-first serve-----Do they often run out? We are going Oct. 18-26. How early should we get there to be sure to get one?

Don't know about that time of year, but Christmas week a couple of years ago, I rented some for my parents about 10 am, and they still had them.

2) If he wanted to park it and walk into/onto an attraction, where would he leave it?? Do they have "parking", or is it expected that you will bring the ECV into the ride/attraction?

Most attractions have a nearby place where they can be parked, look for the stroller parking areas - that is where the CM's will direct you.

3) Can they go all day without a recharge??

4) Are the places to rent them in each park inside the park, or outside? If inside, will we be let in before the park actually opens to rent one?

I know I will have more questions, but I appreciate any help and advice we can get! Thank you!

I've only rented from Disney a couple of times. One day the charge lasted all day, one day it didn't. Luck of the draw.

All of the places that I know of to rent from in the parks are actually inside the parks. I was not allowed in early to rent one. Once the "rope drops" just go straight there. It takes about 5 minutes to rent and pay for one.

Hope this helps.

 

[BYC]

Yes...very helpful! Thanks!!

 

[Guatemommy]

Depending on how many days you are going to be in the parks, you should really consider renting from outside the park. It is $50 a day in the park and you can often get one for $150 a whole week that is delivered to your hotel.

I have a bad foot from 3 breaks and need the ECV for the parks but would be able to handle the walking at the resort. We still get the ECV to the hotel - the buses accommodate pretty easily and we never waited that long - a few times there were other ECVs ahead of us and we had to wait for the next bus but most times not.

Also, by having your ECV in your room, you can charge it up every night and know it will last all day for sure.

 

[ppony]

Depending on how many days you are going to be in the parks, you should really consider renting from outside the park. It is $50 a day in the park and you can often get one for $150 a whole week that is delivered to your hotel.

I have a bad foot from 3 breaks and need the ECV for the parks but would be able to handle the walking at the resort. We still get the ECV to the hotel - the buses accommodate pretty easily and we never waited that long - a few times there were other ECVs ahead of us and we had to wait for the next bus but most times not.

Also, by having your ECV in your room, you can charge it up every night and know it will last all day for sure.

^^^ This. Renting from the parks each day is bukoo bucks!

I just got back from a short WDW visit where I rented a ECV and used the busses. We always rent a car usually but since it was just me and the oldest kiddo for 3 days, I skipped that.



Here's my additional advice:
Let me first start out by saying HATED THE BUS. Had terrible experiences w/ guests on them. But all of Walker Rentals scooters disassemble for transport. I didn't see any others that had that feature. Or at least encouraged it like they did. I think it said the heaviest part was 39 pounds. With my hubby along, that will do nicely. So you may want to consider them OP. They aren't the Disney "approved" ones so you have to meet them for pick up and drop off, but it's worth it in my eyes. I rented from Scooterbug for last weekend and they were fine. Scooter was great, but I will NOT do the buses again. No way, no how.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

the park rentals are inside the gate and you will not repeat not be allowed in early. also at the end of day or night you have to leave it before you get to the gate to exit with crowd of people plus you have to walk to transportation with out aid. something to think about when considering where to rent. off site you have with you outside the gate and usually cost a lot less to rent. plus you are not allowed to send someone in to rent at park and bring out to someone waiting outside the gate

 

[StirlingSilver83]

When we went in April we rented an ecv from disney bc I have a bad ankle so I only rented from then the days we went to Epcot and ak. That was $100 for just those 2 days! And walking up the ramp to get to the monorail from magic kingdom killed my ankle. My ankle has since gotten worse so when we go again in April we are renting 1 off site. We are staying at the contemporary and are mainly doing Epcot and magic kingdom with 1 day at Hollywood studios. I can deal with the bus for 1 day lol. Anyways to rent outside disney it's costing me 150 for the week where as to rent in disney it was 100 for 2 days. Huge difference in price.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

We were just there in September. I rented one in the parks for two days. $100.

I walked for the Studios. And that was a big mistake. It has been two weeks and I am still recovering. Blech.

We are going again in December. Staying at Beach Club.

Right now, I am trying to figure out who I will be contacting to rent from off site. I have about half a dozen tabs open on my computer comparing companies.

Unless I only needed it for one day, I will never rent from the parks again. It is just too expensive.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

1) I know it is first come-first serve-----Do they often run out? We are going Oct. 18-26. How early should we get there to be sure to get one?
. . . get there as early as possible
. . . no one knows how many folks will want one - even on "slow" days
. . . I would not get there after 10:00am, however

2) If he wanted to park it and walk into/onto an attraction, where would he leave it?? Do they have "parking", or is it expected that you will bring the ECV into the ride/attraction?
. . . in some cases, you can take them right up to the ride vehicle
. . . in other cases, leave them at the entrance
. . . there are parking areas outside of every attraction/eatery/store

3) Can they go all day without a recharge??
. . . usually

4) Are the places to rent them in each park inside the park, or outside? If inside, will we be let in before the park actually opens to rent one?
. . . immediately inside the park there are rental booths

 

[WheeledTraveler]

You might want to check out the disAbility FAQ sticky. The second post there is about mobility issues.

It's possible to park an ECV to wait for/go on rides. A few rides can fit wheelchairs in the queue, but not ECVs so for those he'd either have to walk or transfer a wheelchair (the ride should have one) to go through anyway. It may be worth bringing the ECV through some of the longer queues, such as the Safari and Soarin which are a 1/4 mile long. There is a chance that a CM would use the manual override to move the ECV if it's blocking an area they need clear, but if you aim to leave in stroller parking areas, it shouldn't be a problem. If you do leave it outside a queue, you may want to bring either a poncho to put over it or towels that can be used to wipe it down in case of rain. Personally, I'd bring something to tie onto the ECV somewhere that stands out so you can find it easily if it gets moved (or you just plain forget where you put it). The WDW rentals do put your name on the front, but if you're looking at a whole bunch, it's going to be easier to pick out if there's a bright colored bandana or similar.

If you scroll down, https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/ecv-rentals/ has maps of where the ECV rental locations are for each park. It's usually in the same general area as stroller rental.


As far as things specific to renting off-site, should you change your mind:

Personally, I found WDW buses to be very-doable with a mobility aid, but I use a wheelchair (manual or power) in my everyday life, anyway, including on public transportation. They're especially do-able if you go at off times. Since you sound flexible on what time you get to a park, that's worth keeping in consideration. Some (many/most?) drivers will offer to help you park an ECV.

If you were to rent a car, several of the companies people commonly mention here do rent ECVs that break down to fit in a car. I know for sure that Apple, Buena Vista, and Walker do. I think Yellow Scooters does. The Pride Go-Gos and Pride Revos all break down for transport. I think that at least one of the rental companies also has a slightly larger ECV that can break down for transport. In general, if a company advertises "travel scooters", they'll have something that breaks down. Many drivers will offer to help park it on the bus. If you were really nervous, you could bring it on, set it so that the motors are disengaged (this is a lot easier than it sounds), and move it into the spot manually. It would be harder/take longer to break an ECV down and carry it on a bus than just loading one normally.

You do need to make sure you're within the weight limit and will be even with "stuff" on the scooter. Apple's listed weight requirement have already subtracted the "stuff" weight so their weight limits as purely for the person (at least on the Go-Gos). The other companies list the factory supplied weight limit so you want to subtract 25-50lbs for the potential additional weight. And, of course, being below the limit means there's less strain on the battery so can make a difference on how long a full battery lasts. A full battery in good condition should last all day at WDW with a few precautions, but sometimes there are issues.