ECV rental - recommendations?

I think we have ruled out Walker due to the thumb issue. We will likely use Buena Vista. But what does everyone do if it rains? Do you take plastic to cover it? Do you need to cover the whole thing or just the controls? I also read someplace that suggested charging it while going in for dinner but are there charging stations at WDW? Has anyone tried Apple Scooters or Scooterbug? Sorry for all the questions but this is the first time with renting an ECV.
 
Regarding charging your ECV, all you need is the charger that comes with it and a regular wall outlet. We tend to overlook outlets when we're out and about, but there's a good chance you will be able to find a place near an outlet to park your ECV (if you can transfer). If you must stay in your ECV when eating, just ask at the check-in stand if there is a table available near an outlet.

If it rains you should cover the controls with something to keep them from getting wet. Here are a few threads with ideas:

Would someone post a picture of a shower cap on a scooter on the tiller for rain purposes, please.
Scooter in the rain tips needed!
Rain with an ECV
ECV & rain
ECVs in the rain
 
I think we have ruled out Walker due to the thumb issue. We will likely use Buena Vista. But what does everyone do if it rains? Do you take plastic to cover it? Do you need to cover the whole thing or just the controls? I also read someplace that suggested charging it while going in for dinner but are there charging stations at WDW? Has anyone tried Apple Scooters or Scooterbug? Sorry for all the questions but this is the first time with renting an ECV.

If you practice good "battery hygiene" you shouldn't need to worry about charging during the day. What that means is things like this:
- If you are stopped for more than a few seconds in a line? Turn off the ECV.
- If you are stopped to watch a performance, or consult a map, or take a break? Turn off the ECV.
- If you are stopped to watch a parade, fireworks, or FOR ANY REASON? Turn off the ECV.
So really - just turn it off when you won't be moving for - let's just say 10 seconds. It doesn't pull any extra voltage from the battery to turn it on and off because of the kind of motors that ECVs use, so there is no harm - and a significant benefit in terms of battery life to be gained - from just turning it off whenever you aren't moving.

You *will* need to charge the ECV overnight, every night, in your room. Make sure that it is fully charged before you begin your day, and you mostly likely won't have any problems.

If you are concerned, for the first day or so, take along the charger. Ask your rental company how long the battery should last, and if you find that the battery doesn't last nearly that long, then call them (hopefully during regular business hours, but be sure to keep their after-hours/emergency phone number in your smartphone's contacts) and ask them to bring out a replacement battery or complete scooter.

And rain...

When it rains, you will most likely use the little cover that the rental company gives you for the "tiller" which is where the electronics are most exposed for the scooter. Many of us here have learned (thanks to one of our more intrepid members - I can't remember who it was?) that we take the back flap of our rain poncho, and drape it over the seat back, and down the back of the scooter, to help keep not only your back dry, but also the seat back that you lean against. With the front flap of our rain poncho, we drape it over the controls, so that it goes down over the front of the scooter. Not only does that protect the controls on the tiller, but it also helps keep your hands dry while you drive in the rain.

If your seat back folds down, then when you get off the ECV, fold it down, and then drape your poncho over the ECV to help keep your seat bottom dry as well as the rest of the scooter.

You get *real* creative about finding places to park when it's raining! ;)

Some folks will try to use an umbrella, but it can be difficult to drive one-handed at WDW for a lot of reasons, and fighting to keep the umbrella from blowing away, or poking the eyes of your companions, or dumping water down your back takes it's toll really quickly. Ponchos are the way to go - and you will be participating in a long-held Disney tradition of paying too much for a plastic poncho with a picture of Mickey on it! LOL
 
All these positive comments for Walker are making me so nervous! I've always rented from Walker, and yes, they've been wonderful. However, their scooters have levers that need your thumb to make them go. My thumb was getting very sore,

Switch thumbs from time to time. Use your left thumb by placing the front of your thumb on the backside of the throttle. Then push your thumb backwards. Yes it can be awkward at first but I got use to it and would never use it for long. Just enough to give the right thumb a break. I have been using Walker scooters for 20 years.
 
Switch thumbs from time to time. Use your left thumb by placing the front of your thumb on the backside of the throttle. Then push your thumb backwards. Yes it can be awkward at first but I got use to it and would never use it for long. Just enough to give the right thumb a break. I have been using Walker scooters for 20 years.
That can work for a while. But for some of us, the pain is just too much. In addition, when my thumb starts to hurt, it doesn't stop hurting with a little break. And it will simply give up, which causes me to stop dead in the middle of the walkway.

Now, if you aren't at the parks long or don't have problems with your thumbs, I would go with Walker, every single time.

But when looking for a scooter to purchase, my husband and I made sure we got one that was gentle on my hands.
 
I used Buena Vista on a my trip in April. It was great to be able to pick-up and drop off from bell services. About my 2nd day of the trip, I had problems with the battery suddenly dropping to the "red zone". I had charged it overnight. I called them (had their number in my phone) and explained what was happening. I was in Hollywood Studios at the time and had only been using the scooter for maybe 3 hours. They asked what part of the park I was in and within the hour, they brought me a new scooter to use. They transferred the accessories (cane holder and drink holder) and away I went with my day. No problems with the replacement scooter and I was doing open-to-close most park days.

Another tip, if you can put a beach towel over the seat, that will help if you are wearing shorts.

Buena Vista included a poncho/raincover. It was in the basket.

I plan on using Buena Vista again on my next Disney trip.
 
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Our last trip in May we used Apple Scooter for my husband and I got one from Buena Vista. TBH, the one from Apple was 100 times better and faster than the BV one. I know people aren't fond of Apple here, but I'm just stating my experience. I thought at first it was my weight, but when I got on my hubby's I was zipping around again. At Animal Kingdom when we were leaving I had to push it up the hill going out. Maybe I just had a bad one. I think for my trip in December we are going to go with BV.

Also, I see people talking about charging in your room. At Wilderness Lodge, we were told to leave it in the hallway and charge it out there. We did that for all 4 nights with no problem. I couldn't imagine 2 scooters in those small rooms.
 


Our last trip in May we used Apple Scooter for my husband and I got one from Buena Vista. TBH, the one from Apple was 100 times better and faster than the BV one. I know people aren't fond of Apple here, but I'm just stating my experience. I thought at first it was my weight, but when I got on my hubby's I was zipping around again. At Animal Kingdom when we were leaving I had to push it up the hill going out. Maybe I just had a bad one. I think for my trip in December we are going to go with BV.

Also, I see people talking about charging in your room. At Wilderness Lodge, we were told to leave it in the hallway and charge it out there. We did that for all 4 nights with no problem. I couldn't imagine 2 scooters in those small rooms.

Any time you have a rental scooter that does not perform as it should, call the vendor and tell them to bring out another unit.

Two scooters will fit in WL rooms, even bunk bed rooms. My feelings on leaving scooters in hallways are well-known around here; suffice it to say that leaving devices unattended is never a good idea for multiple reasons.
 
I used Buena Vista on a my trip in April. It was great to be able to pick-up and drop off from bell services. About my 2nd day of the trip, I had problems with the battery suddenly dropping to the "red zone". I had charged it overnight. I called them (had them number in my phone) and explained what was happening. I was in Hollywood Studios at the time and had only been using the scooter for maybe 3 hours. They asked what part of the park I was in and within the hour, they brought me a new scooter to use. They transferred the accessories (can holder and drink holder) and away I went with my day. No problems with the replacement scooter and I was doing open-to-close most park days.

Another tip, if you can put a beach towel over the seat, that will help if you are wearing shorts.

Buena Vista included a poncho/raincover. It was in the basket.

I plan on using Buena Vista again on my next Disney trip.
It appears BV is $35 more over the 5 day trip period than Scooterbug. Would you say picking up and dropping off at bell services outweighs the savings?
 
For me it was. When my scooter broke down, they came to where I was. I didn't have to figure out how to get it to the front of the park, like some companies require. I'm not sure how Scooterbug handles breakdowns as their website was a bit vague. Plus, BV had more accessories to choose from.
 
It appears BV is $35 more over the 5 day trip period than Scooterbug. Would you say picking up and dropping off at bell services outweighs the savings?

Scooterbug does drop off at Bell Services. I ended up booking with them for next week. Hopefully all goes well.
 
Scooterbug does drop off at Bell Services. I ended up booking with them for next week. Hopefully all goes well.
Oh great, if you have the opportunity to provide your opinion afterwards that would be much appreciated. The reason I like the idea of staying with Scooterbug is they also offer the stand up scooter. I'm not sure the regular sit-down version is the best choice for my husband. I'm hoping if the sit-down doesn't workout we could upgrade to the stand-up without having to payoff the resv for the sit-down (hopefully I explained that in a way that makes sense). I didn't see where any of the other WDW approved vendors offers the stand-up.? Hope you have a great time!
 
It appears BV is $35 more over the 5 day trip period than Scooterbug. Would you say picking up and dropping off at bell services outweighs the savings?

That's a very subjective question. For me, personally, I would pay the $35 because (A) BV is "on property" and can respond quickly if you have any problems with your rental and (more importantly) (B) the freedom of being able to pick up/drop off at Bell Services might be worth the money; I don't want to spend time waiting for a delivery truck at either end of my vacation.
 
Oh great, if you have the opportunity to provide your opinion afterwards that would be much appreciated. The reason I like the idea of staying with Scooterbug is they also offer the stand up scooter. I'm not sure the regular sit-down version is the best choice for my husband. I'm hoping if the sit-down doesn't workout we could upgrade to the stand-up without having to payoff the resv for the sit-down (hopefully I explained that in a way that makes sense). I didn't see where any of the other WDW approved vendors offers the stand-up.? Hope you have a great time!

Will do. It's my first time renting a scooter so I don't have much to compare to but happy to provide feedback. I believe they are the only ones that offer the stand-up version.
 
Oh great, if you have the opportunity to provide your opinion afterwards that would be much appreciated. The reason I like the idea of staying with Scooterbug is they also offer the stand up scooter. I'm not sure the regular sit-down version is the best choice for my husband. I'm hoping if the sit-down doesn't workout we could upgrade to the stand-up without having to payoff the resv for the sit-down (hopefully I explained that in a way that makes sense). I didn't see where any of the other WDW approved vendors offers the stand-up.? Hope you have a great time!

I'm concerned that WDW might not allow him to use the stand-up rental; for a time, WDW actually rented standing ECVs, but I'm not sure that they still are. Our family has not actually seen one at the Parks "in the wild" for more than a year now.

Generally speaking, they do not allow many devices outside the typical manual wheelchair/powered wheelchair/ECV (with a seat & four wheels) family - although you can still use a WDW-supplied Segway during the Wilderness Back Trail Adventure.

I found this at the Disney World website, under "Park Rules".

prohibited items.jpg

And, even if you could bring the standing ECV into the Parks, you might not want to.

If you think ECV riders in general are unpopular, wait until you see how unhappy your fellow Guests are when there is a person - who is now taller than normal - standing in front of them, blocking their view. It's nearly unavoidable; if he is riding a standing ECV, and you all stop to watch the Castle show, or a parade, or street performers... it won't matter where he is, unless his back is literally to the wall, there will be someone who can't see around him, and will be unhappy about it. And they likely won't be silent about it either.

You certainly can rent one, show up to the Parks, and see what happens; you may be able to take it right on it, and no problems, and everyone is happy. I foresee trouble simply because I have been a (seated) ECV user long enough now to know how the average Guest responds to *those*, and it's not pretty. I don't want your trip to be ruined unnecessarily.

An good option for someone who needs the ability to rest, but wants or needs to be standing for much of the day is a Rollator. They offer the support of a walker, with a built-in seat for resting when stopped. They are able to be rented, although they are also inexpensive, and just like all other medical equipment, fly for no additional cost when gate-checked.
 
Oh great, if you have the opportunity to provide your opinion afterwards that would be much appreciated. The reason I like the idea of staying with Scooterbug is they also offer the stand up scooter. I'm not sure the regular sit-down version is the best choice for my husband. I'm hoping if the sit-down doesn't workout we could upgrade to the stand-up without having to payoff the resv for the sit-down (hopefully I explained that in a way that makes sense). I didn't see where any of the other WDW approved vendors offers the stand-up.? Hope you have a great time!

We checked in yesterday. Scooter was waiting for me and the Bell Services CM at Saratoga was so nice and gave me a quick demo. He really set me at ease about it. This is my first time using a scooter and I need it because of a recent heart issue. I've been very self conscious about it because I'm young and can obviously walk without any problem but of course it's the stamina that's the issue. The Scooter seems to be in good condition although I don't have much to compare it too. Buses have not been as great. It's only the first day but both going to the park and leaving the park the driver overlooked me and my DH had to go and tell him so I had to be loaded onto an already crowded bus with everyone grumbling about having to move their seat. Once I got to the park everything was fine and hey, I haven't even almost run anyone over yet lol.
 
It's only the first day but both going to the park and leaving the park the driver overlooked me and my DH had to go and tell him so I had to be loaded onto an already crowded bus with everyone grumbling about having to move their seat. Once I got to the park everything was fine and hey, I haven't even almost run anyone over yet lol.

And in the parks people seem to try so hard to get you to run into them, that's a huge accomplishment. I swear, there should be a law against walking and looking at your cell phone. As it is, so many people do that, then when they walk into me, they give ME a dirty look like it was my fault! And as far as bus drivers overlooking you, that's my biggest fear, but in 3 scooter-trips, it hasn't happened to me yet. Hopefully, you've just been unlucky and it will stop happening to you.
 
And in the parks people seem to try so hard to get you to run into them, that's a huge accomplishment. I swear, there should be a law against walking and looking at your cell phone. As it is, so many people do that, then when they walk into me, they give ME a dirty look like it was my fault! And as far as bus drivers overlooking you, that's my biggest fear, but in 3 scooter-trips, it hasn't happened to me yet. Hopefully, you've just been unlucky and it will stop happening to you.
Thank you! It was definitely a win in my book lol. People really do pay no attention and just stop, cut you off and then stop. It's really frustrating I hope so with the buses, it made DH more angry I think. Since it's my first time and of course I look fine I feel even more self conscious. And I've been on the other side and I know it stinks to be seated and have to get up but at least I had grace enough to move and not loudly grumble about it.
 
@pezaddict231 NOT sticking up for the drivers, but I have had times when I rolled up after they had already started boarding everyone else, and in those cases, I let the bus go, and wait for the next one. Since I would (technically) have been at the end of the line to board that bus, it only seems fair to me.

Having said that, remember that your DH is possibly upset because he can't "fix" what is wrong - you have to have an ECV, and so he can't change that... but he can get you on that bus. It's hard for spouses when we suddenly have a very visible reminder of our disability; there is no more pretending that everything is ok.

Hang in there; just like with everything else in the world, there's a learning curve to doing Disney differently.
 
@mamabunny for the most part the bus drivers were great. This particular driver didn't switch his sign until the last minute and then a herd descended on the bus so I'm sure he didn't see me but he was also clearly not paying attention when he approached the stop either. We had been at the bus stop before everyone else and I was sitting in that white box the entire time. The only reason I was behind everyone was because I didn't run anyone over lol. There were other times when it was full that I said I'd wait for the next one. We did have one grumpy driver that yelled at everyone, but most were courteous and helpful.

It was a great trip but different and hard for everyone to get used to. Although zipping around Epcot and Animal kingdom was not so bad :). I can say for the first time I was not exhausted leaving Epcot lol.

And thank you for all your tips on this thread and others. Reading your posts are what made me feel more comfortable about renting a scooter to begin with and helped me in using it. :)
 
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