I need to vent about ECV's not a regular rant.

[Sarahraegraham]

Agreed. This trip I plan on constantly utilizing the horn when in crowds. A few beeps to catch people's attention can help.

 

[Toffeewoffy]

I've given way to strollers because there was a wheel preventing me from just ploughing forward. The stroller pusher never thanks me for my consideration, and usually once one has gone, several more try and push the advantage as well. Sorry, but why should I have to sit there in heavy footfall and just let everyone go past me? We're all trying to get out of the park, after all.

And don't get me started on people who insist on all walking abreast either side of a stroller and basically blocking the entire walkway, and also going really really slowly. And they call US selfish?!

 

[BabyFu18]

This post makes me scared to do Disney in my wheelchair.. I'm wondering if I need to add lights and a horn to my wheelchair or people won't even see I'm there!

 

[Toffeewoffy]

People who stand around on the dropped kerbs and prevent wheelchairs and ECVs crossing the road really annoy me, too. While I'm actually quite embarrassed to use my horn (not that they usually hear it, anyway, over the incredible background noise in the park), DD has no such compunction and quite often shouts "Beep beep, scooter coming through!!" LOL

 

[gap2368]

People who stand around on the dropped kerbs and prevent wheelchairs and ECVs crossing the road really annoy me, too. While I'm actually quite embarrassed to use my horn (not that they usually hear it, anyway, over the incredible background noise in the park), DD has no such compunction and quite often shouts "Beep beep, scooter coming through!!" LOL

My friend ( who use an ECV) and I were walking out of the MK on Main Street ( the left had side when you are going out) we were on the side walk leaving and got to the point of the curb ending and there was a KTTK tour going on they stoped right in the middle of the cut out and had the whole group standing there while the guide was talking. my friend just stoped for a second and I final said to the group excuse us and the tour guide stoped and had people move and said that she was sorry.

The next time we went to Disney the tour group was standing across that little side road, and a few feet over so the cut out for wheel chair could be used.

 

[eileenjez]

I have two stories about EVC's. The first one was when a woman who must not have used one often kept ramming it into the wall trying to get it on the elevator. We just stood back and let her have room to play. The other one is the person who darn near ran my husband over getting on the elevator. Didn't know how to stop the thing. Both of these people really needed to take lessons before they started using these in public. Most of the people I see using the scooters have been very considerate and concerned about others. It just frosts me when other people cannot give them the room that they need to maneuver an EVC.

 

[sparky68]

Agreed. This trip I plan on constantly utilizing the horn when in crowds. A few beeps to catch people's attention can help.

no, it doesn't help. I had the experience of a woman in a scooter using a literal horn to get people out of her way. We were in line to go through security for a cruise. Placing our items in the x ray bins the woman honked her horn at us. Guess we were not putting our things in fast enough for her so she and her daughter pushed past us to go through the security area. Her daughter looked at us and said "they told us to use the horn so it isn't rude" I responded that it was, and I doubted she would be very popular after a week of honking at people who she wanted out her way.
Horns are annoying, they only serve to ratchet up the stress level of people. Think about people who honk their car horns at others in traffic? Does it help? Does it only serve to further annoy people and increase the stress level of all involved.

 

[sparky68]

People who stand around on the dropped kerbs and prevent wheelchairs and ECVs crossing the road really annoy me, too. While I'm actually quite embarrassed to use my horn (not that they usually hear it, anyway, over the incredible background noise in the park), DD has no such compunction and quite often shouts "Beep beep, scooter coming through!!" LOL

not helpful either. Try excuse me, can you imagine a person walking shouting at others BEEP BEEP Walking person coming through.

 

[Sarahraegraham]

no, it doesn't help. I had the experience of a woman in a scooter using a literal horn to get people out of her way. We were in line to go through security for a cruise. Placing our items in the x ray bins the woman honked her horn at us. Guess we were not putting our things in fast enough for her so she and her daughter pushed past us to go through the security area. Her daughter looked at us and said "they told us to use the horn so it isn't rude" I responded that it was, and I doubted she would be very popular after a week of honking at people who she wanted out her way.
Horns are annoying, they only serve to ratchet up the stress level of people. Think about people who honk their car horns at others in traffic? Does it help? Does it only serve to further annoy people and increase the stress level of all involved.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. When the people around you treat you like you're invisible, it's 100% appropriate to use the means you have to make them see you. Most people don't know how that feels, Now that I've had to use an ECV and felt that way, I understand

 

[jo-jo]

We had a different problem with DH using a wheelchair. The big wheel spinning seems to be a magnet to little boys. I had to shy away little hands several times who just wanted to run their hands along the rim. Has anyone else seen this?

 

[North of Mouse]

I was watching where I was going as a "gentleman" gradually veered toward me in WS in Epcot. I was also drifting left to try and avoid him. His wife was yelling at him to watch out where he was going. I stopped. He stopped, looked me straight in the face and stated "I will just knock her over".
Luckily DH did not hear him because it would have been ugly

Sounds exactly like something my dh would say if he was distracted and almost ran into someone! Trust me, it would not have been intentional, and he would have said it as he was smiling and apologizing profusely. Doubt seriously that this man had harmful intent.

We all need to loosen up and not take everything so literal. Lots of things are 'truly accidents'. People are so excited and thinking their own thoughts, and in crowds of this magnitude, things happen.

It happens to 'all' of us, no matter our conveyance, and we would all do well to remember where we are, and cut others some slack. When others bump into me (or I, them), both walkers, we 'both' usually say 'sorry' and move on, no matter who did the bumping - happens all the time. I've 'never' seen anything intentional (not saying it hasn't happened - bad people out there sometime) but mostly good people!!

 

[Hopefully]

Sounds exactly like something my dh would say if he was distracted and almost ran into someone! Trust me, it would not have been intentional, and he would have said it as he was smiling and apologizing profusely. Doubt seriously that this man had harmful intent.

We all need to loosen up and not take everything so literal. Lots of things are 'truly accidents'. People are so excited and thinking their own thoughts, and in crowds of this magnitude, things happen.

It happens to 'all' of us, no matter our conveyance, and we would all do well to remember where we are, and cut others some slack. When others bump into me (or I, them), both walkers, we 'both' usually say 'sorry' and move on, no matter who did the bumping - happens all the time. I've 'never' seen anything intentional (not saying it hasn't happened - bad people out there sometime) but mostly good people!!

I both agree with many of your points, and disagree as well. I am very forgiving of folks bumping into me, cutting me off, stopping short in front of me. As it should be. This particular person had "harmful intent". Maybe you needed to be there.

 

[cobright]

no, it doesn't help. [...] Horns are annoying, they only serve to ratchet up the stress level of people. Think about people who honk their car horns at others in traffic? Does it help? Does it only serve to further annoy people and increase the stress level of all involved.

Back in the golden age of automotive design, which I'm taking a chance and putting it at early 1960s France, a common feature on autos was a town & country horn. While driving through town, when needed, one used the town horn and it was such a polite and unobtrusive sound. Like, "meep meep, ahem, excuse me please". The country horn was used outside the city for scaring cows off the road or letting trains know you were there.

There is a technology called 'audio spotlight' that allowed hyper focused acoustics for music or whatever. I think it would be interesting to pair this with a collision avoidance system so that it identifies people who may run into you and sends them a focused alert.

The thing is, between people, it is far more a matter of posture and body language than letting them hear you that gets people's attention. With most ecv and power chairs you are settled into a particular shape and height, even eye contact doesn't happen naturally. I don't mean to give able pedestrians a free pass, but 70,000 years of evolution has programed our 'pattern recognition' and all of a sudden some people just do not fit this pattern. There's plenty of learned behavior and pure selfishness too, but so much of what we do is governed by software in our heads we aren't even consciously aware of. Watch someone get distracted by a squirrel or start at a spider in their peripheral vision. Certain things we see and react to well before a decision on the matter is made.

 

[arminnie]

I rented an ECV several times about 6 years ago. I now have my personal ECV. As I am retired I do try not to travel at peak attendance times.

But I have to say I have NEVER felt "invisible" because I was in an ECV. People have gone out of their way to be helpful.

The only time I've had a collision with someone was once when I reached to catch something and took my hands off the controls which made me stop immediately. The poor guy behind me ran into me. It was my fault not his. I didn't run into him - he ran into me - but only because I stopped so suddenly. But no one got mad or upset.

If someone is blocking my path I just ask them if I can get thru. Never had a problem. Once (at Mardi Gras not WDW) a couple and their two huge dogs were sitting on the curb cutout. I politely asked them if I could get thru, and they just did it without giving me any "attitude" at all. And Mardi Gras is known for far less "polite behavior" than WDW.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Agreed. This trip I plan on constantly utilizing the horn when in crowds. A few beeps to catch people's attention can help.

Just be aware that in Animal Kingdom, horns are frowned upon. On the ECVs that the park rents, the horns have been disabled (at least the CM told me that-I didn't test it to see if it was true). He said that the horns were upsetting to the animals. In other parks, I've never used the horn, but I can understand your frustration-sometimes I feel like yelling a loud "BEEP!"

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

If I see someone about to walk into me, while on their phone, I say "Look up, look up, look UP!"

 

[Toffeewoffy]

not helpful either. Try excuse me, can you imagine a person walking shouting at others BEEP BEEP Walking person coming through.

And when the polite 'excuse me' doesn't work, either because there's so much background noise going on or because there is a group of stationary people just chatting away in a circle and completely blocking all the walkways etc? Then what? Am I supposed to just sit there motionless because it would be rude to these clearly non-rude non-thoughtless people who are incapable of either standing and chatting somewhere else or have some sort of awareness of their surroundings?

Oh, and a 'walking person' would not need to shout "BEEP BEEP Walking Person coming through" because they are able to just walk through - or walk round at short notice. You try doing that with a wheelchair or scooter.

We should not be relinquishing all power to the able-bodied just because we're rude to try and get them out of the way. That's taking the 'cause' right back to the dark ages. Next you'll be suggesting we have no right to be in the parks at all because we're in the way! I bet no-one would dare suggest that to the hundreds of giant double strollers who are just barged everywhere by their parents using them as battering rams.

 

[grnflash]

And when the polite 'excuse me' doesn't work, either because there's so much background noise going on or because there is a group of stationary people just chatting away in a circle and completely blocking all the walkways etc? Then what? Am I supposed to just sit there motionless because it would be rude to these clearly non-rude non-thoughtless people who are incapable of either standing and chatting somewhere else or have some sort of awareness of their surroundings?

Oh, and a 'walking person' would not need to shout "BEEP BEEP Walking Person coming through" because they are able to just walk through - or walk round at short notice. You try doing that with a wheelchair or scooter.

We should not be relinquishing all power to the able-bodied just because we're rude to try and get them out of the way. That's taking the 'cause' right back to the dark ages. Next you'll be suggesting we have no right to be in the parks at all because we're in the way! I bet no-one would dare suggest that to the hundreds of giant double strollers who are just barged everywhere by their parents using them as battering rams.

Ya know what, at Disney parks people stand everywhere. They circle up everywhere. Things are blocked all the time. And people often don't move....cause it's crowded for everyone. Every single person gets blocked or impeded or whatnot.

Absolutely when I'm not with someone in a wheelchair chair it is easier to move around the blockage, and it can be frustrating with a wheelchair to pass through at times. But that has nothing to do with the blockers in general.

The blockers aren't even rude people, oblivious perhaps, but not wantonly rude. And everyone is invisible to them. It's Disney, people are excited and figuring stuff out, talking about the fun ride they just got off, deciding where to go next. Sometimes they stop where they stop because there's nowhere else to do so.

In my experience truly rude people come in equal proportions in regards to shape, size, mobility, etc, etc. The stroller bargers are definitely rude, as are the obnoxious horn honkers.