Question About Electric Wheelchair Rental

[Princess_Aurora]

We're taking a big family trip in October and my mom has really bad knees. She doesn't have a wheelchair of her own or anything, but she is considered officially handicapped. She has absolutely no cartlage (sp?) in either one of her knees, so it would be very hard for her to walk around the parks all day. I was reading about the electronic wheelchairs and they say you can get them in the parks for $30/day but that you can only use them in the park that you rent them from. But I also read that some resorts have them available to rent. If you rent them from a resort, can you take them to any park without having to turn it back in before leaving? Anyone know which resorts have them available and for how much per day???

 

[Figaro]

Electric wheelchairs are different than ECV's, which are the three or four wheeled vehicles that I think most people are talking about. As far as I know, only someone who owns their own electric wheelchair would be able to rent one from a medical supply place because they have to be programmed for the individual user. You can rent both manual wheelchairs and ECV's from off-site providers and at the Disney parks.

I have never heard of the resorts having ECV's for free or available to rent at the resorts, only the parks have ECV's as far as I know. The onsite Disney resorts do have a limited number of manual wheelchairs available on a first come, first serve basis. These are the sturdy, heavy type and you can keep them for your entire stay.

ECV's can be rented at the parks, although most of the people here recommend renting one from an off-site provider because they are usually much better machines and you have them at the resort and take them with you everywhere.

If you scan down the threads and look for "ECV" or "wheelchair" in a thread title there should be a list of off-site rental providers.

Hope this helps!

 

[SueM in MN]

Figaro is right.
Electric (power) wheelchairs are very differnt than ecvs. What your mom wants is an ecv, which you can rent from the parks or from one of the off-site rental places.
Manual (push) wheelchairs and ecvs can be rented from the parks, but they are first come, first serve and they can sometimes run out. They are unlikely to run out of wheelchairs unless you go during a really busy time, but people have posted getting to a park a few hours after opening and finding all the ecvs were already rented out. The wheelchairs and ecvs are not allowed to leave the park they were rented from. There is no guarantee that one will be available at a second park if you park hop.
The resorts have a limited number of manual wheelchairs to loan, but they don't have ecvs. Some people have reported good expereinces with getting a wheelchair from their resort. Others have found the available wheelchair was not in good condition or not a size they needed. People have reported it took from minutes to days to get a more appropriate one. So, eve if you plan to get one from the resort, it's a good idea to take the rental info along.
Here's a list of off-site places that DIS posters report renting from:
Care Medical:
http://www.caremedicalequipment.com/
Phone (407) 856-2273 • Toll Free U.S and Canada (800) 741-2282

Walker Mobility:
1-888-726-6837
www.walkermobility.com

RANDY'S Mobility is in Kissimmee 407-892-4777
http://randysmobility.com/

Colonial Medical
http://www.colonialmed.com/about_cms.html
(800)747-0246

http://www.scootaround.com/ Not much feedback. Several people who reported they had no problems.
All of them have had good reports and will deliver to your resort. Randy's requires that you be there when they deliver (which might be an advantage fro someone who has questions or needs a demonstration). The others will deliver and pick up from bell services.
When we inquired into renting a power wheelchair for DD because we didn't want to bring hers from home on the airplane, we were told we would have to provide measurements (although they could not necessarily provide a wheelchair of the exact size) and all the settings to program the controller. It's not something you can rent unless you already have one.

 

[missydisney]

I have little cartlidge in one knee. I always use an ecv from Walker. The service is great. We had a problem and they brought a replacement right to the park.