Scooter Rental Review:
I have rented scooters at the Walt Disney World parks for several years because I have trouble walking even short distances. These scooters, called E.C.V.'s or Electrical Convenience Vehecles, are all heavy duty scooters that can carry pooh size people. But the E.C.V's can only be used, and rented inside the WDW parks, and cannot be taken outside or from park to park.
The WDW E.C.V.'s are first come, first serve, and they do rent all of them out sometimes. Except for the backup E.C.V.'s for those that lose their battery charge and need to be replaced. They charge you $40.00 for the day, but they also return $10.00 after you return the key, so it costs essentially $30.00 per day.
Update, on 7/5/05 WDW charge you $40.00 for the day, but they also return $5.00 after you return the key, so it costs essentially $35.00 per day or a $5.00 increase.
If you save your receipt and card, you can use it to obtain another E.C.V. at another park by showing your receipt and giving WDW the $10.00 for the key. But this is only for the same day. That is if another E.C.V is available when you arrive. You could spend the day at Animal Kingdom, and then go to Epcot and watch the Illuminations fireworks.
I was finding it harder and harder to walk from the resort room to the bus to the park, and then to another park, and to the bus, and back to my resort room. And then renting a WDW E.C.V., if it was available when I arrived.
I finally broke down, and swallowed my pride, and started to check on the possibility of
renting a scooter from an outside vendor that I could use everywhere inside the WDW campus from the resort room, to the various WDW bus and WDW boat transportation systems since I was staying on the WDW property.
I began my research by reading mobility articles and F.A.Q.'s on the AllEarsNet website, and on the DIS Disability forums. I found a lot of information and advice about who to call and rent from. I'll list the names of the scooter rental companies that I researched below.
So after writing down all the websites of the different scooter rental companies, I started to look them up. I was more interested in reading information from their websites, or sending email inquiries than talking to a live person. I guess that I just wanted to see everything in writing so that I could save the information.
I discovered that most companies rented scooters in two price ranges. One standard size scooter for piglet size people that weigh less than 300-lbs., and those large pooh people, like myself that weigh greater than 300 pounds and require a heavy duty scooter.
Then I looked for the best price. Most of the piglet size scooters cost about the same per day or week, but the pooh size scooter cost more to rent because they are bigger.
I researched for a "Pooh" size, heavy duty scooter. I based my prices on the WDW scooters of $30.00/day for a total of $210.00/week. But remember you can't take the WDW scooters outside the parks. The outside scooter rental agency scooters can be taken anywhere, including inside the WDW parks, etc..
I found that Randy's Mobility rented the scooter that I needed for $200.00 per week and if I stayed another week, they would only charge an additional $100.00. I didn't check how much they charge per day, but the website said to email them for daily prices. Also, Randy's Mobility required that the renter be present to receive the scooter, and receive personal instructions and return their scooter while the other rental companies just leave the scooter at the resort or bell services with detailed instructions on how to use the scooter.
Randy's Mobility was the only rental company that required the renter to actually be present to accept the scooter. All of the other companies left the scooter at the resort's lobby or bell services. Most people that I heard from liked the idea of having the scooter already at their resort waiting for them in the lobby or the bell services.
Alan, the representative from Randy's Mobility said that many newbies never used a scooter and did not know how to recharge the unit or how to turn the seat around, or even take a scooter apart and put it back together if that particular kind of scooter was rented to transport in a car.
I didn't really care about waiting for the scooter versus having it already at the resort, because I was looking a the lower cost. I also wasn't interested in
renting a scooter to take apart and transport in my car.
The scooter was called Amigo, heavy duty, three wheel scooter. It had a basket on the front to put my collapsable walking cane, water bottle, a small umbrella, a $.99 disposable rain poncho, a $1.99 disposable rain tarp to cover the scooter in a heavy rain, and one of those weird Glad Saran Wrap thingies that have a elastic band around them (they were supposed to be used to stretch over bowls easily because of the elastic band). The seat was a very wide 22 inches, with fold up arm rests, and fold down seat back. The seat also had a fabric covering instead of a plastic covering. I'm sure the plastic covering would hold up better in rain, but the fabric seat was much more comfortable. That is why I had a plastic tarp to place over the fabric seat if I thought that it was going to rain while I was inside a restaurant. Oh, and the Glad Saran wrap thingie fits really good over the electrical part of the steering tiller in case of rain. There was a retractable electrical cord buildin to the back of the scooter which made it easy to recharge in my room or at any restaurant, parade, or fireworks, or show. Yes they had electrical outlets everywhere. Since this was my first time using a scooter outside the parks, I walked everywhere from sun rise to after midnight. So sometimes I would recharge once a day.
Most of the fully charged scooters could travel 10 to 20 miles without a recharge in between. But increased weight, frequent hills, running the scooter all day will decrease the actual milage. Most of the time, I did not have to recharge during the day, I just did it because I was cautious.
I reserved my heavy duty scooter for one week, from Saturday to Saturday for $200.00 from Randy's Mobility. Some of the scooter rental companies charge for eight days instead of seven days. This added another $40.00. So I chose Randy's Mobility.
If you are curious about what your scooter will look like, ask the company that you rent from for three possible pieces of information. First for a "brand or maker name", second for a "model name", and if available a "model number". Use this information and perform a computer google search until you find a good web site for the "specifications" of the scooter. You don't have to do this, but I was just curious.
Here are the rental companies that I contacted and the prices that they charged for the daily, weekly use of a heavy duty, pooh size scooter. I didn't reseach for a piglet size scooter, but I included those prices from their website, too.
*Randy's Mobility at
http://randysmobility.com or 863-679-1550 and open Mon-Thu: 1000-1900, and Fri-Sat: 1000-2100, and Sun: 1200-1800.
A Pooh size, heavy duty scooter for 301-450-lbs. cost $200.00 for the first week which came out to $28.57 per day. (for the second week only $100.00.)
A Piglet size, standard duty scooter for less than 300-lbs. cost $175.00 per week which comes out to $25.00 per day. (for the second week only $100.00.)
They ask to call for daily rate.
They said that they rent
www.PrideMobility.com ,
www.Amigo.com ,
www.Pacesaver.com , and
www.Bruno.com brand scooters.
*Walker Medical & Mobility Products at
www.walkermobility.com or 888-726-6837 from Mon-Sat: 0800-1700, and Sun: 0800-1400.
A Pooh size, heavy duty scooter, 301-425-lbs.. No weekly charge. $39.00 per day which comes out to $273.00 per week. But they were going to charge me for eight days for Saturday to Saturday for $312.00.
A Piglet size, standard scooter, less than 300-lbs.. No weekly charge. $30.00 per day which comes out to $210.00 per week for seven days, not eight days.
*Scootarama at
www.scootarama.com or 877-736-8328 and open seven days from 0830-2100.
A Pooh size, heavy duty scooter for 301-450-lbs.. They did not have a weekly rate. They charged per day only. $40.00 per day which came out to $280.00 for a week.
A Piglet size, standard scooter for less than 300-lbs.. They did not have a weekly rate. They charged per day only. $25.00 per day which came out to $175.00 for a week.
They carry the some scooter that look really nice called the (
www.PrideMobility.com ) "Revo" and "Maxima" scooters. I really liked the look of the Maxima scooter.
*Care Medical Equipment at
www.caremedicalequipment.com or 407-856-2273 and open Mon-Fri: 0830-1700, and Sat-Sun: 0900-1600.
This company also rents and sales all sorts of durable medical equipment.
A Pooh size, heavy duty scooter, 301-450-lbs. for $270.00 per week and $40.00 per day.
A Piglet size, standard scooter, less than 300-lbs. for $200.00 per week or $30.00 per day (second week, $25.00 per day.)
*Colonial Medical has a poor website, no heavy duty scooters. You can email them for prices. I didn't bother.
*Scootaround Mobility Product Rentals at
www.scootaround.com or 888-441-7575.
A Pooh size, heavy duty scooter for $225.00 per week, and $285.00 for 8 to 10 days. This is not the same as Scootarama. I didn't research much after this.
So, go for it. Do some research yourself. This was all done in May, 2005, so prices or items might have changed, so double check yourself.
You can see why I chose Randy's Mobility for $200.00 per week for a Pooh size, heavy duty scooter.
Here are some web links to give you an idea of what to look for if you want to see more specific specifications of the particualar scooter that you want to rent or even buy. I'll use Pride company as an example. The rental company may say that they will rent you a Maxima scooter. Maxima is made by Pride. Do a google search after asking for the Brand name, model, and if possible a model number for the scooter you want to see more information on.
"Pride" brand, company is at
www.pridemobility.com website. Look for their product or scooter link on the front page, and look for the "Maxima" model link. There you will find a very good website with a manual, and brochure, and streaming video, and more importantly "pictures" of the Pride Maxima scooter and "specifications" showing the weight, parts, milage, if it can be taken apart and put in your car, etc..
If you can't find a website to the scooter that you are looking for, here are some websites that I found while I was thinking about buying a scooter that I could use and take apart and put in my car. It may not have the scooter that you are looking for, but it will help you get started in your research.
www.easymobilityco.com has great specifications of different scooters and even a streaming video.
www.mobilitytoys.com has a lot of specifications of scooters, but some of the models are older. That is why it is nice to have a proper or current model number for the brand name of the scooter. The scooter improve every model and every year. So don't get caught looking at an older model with the same brand and model name, but with a different, older model number.
www.usatechguide.org is a scooter review and description webpage that lets you read what a rider, or caregiver thinks of their scooter. I think that you can even leave a review of your own scooter that you own.
www.spinlife.com has some of the cheapest prices for scooters if you are thinking about buying one.
Please let me know if I made any mistakes or to update prices.
I am a novice at this, after all, but not for long.
Sincerely, Ray Sharpton