We are taking my amazing aunt on our upcoming trip and she will be using an ECV. She can walk short distances on her own, but not Disney distances. This is our first time travelling with an ECV, so please give me all the information/tops and tricks.
We will have a rental car. Staying at BWV and AKL Kidani. We will also have a double stroller. And possibly a second ECV depending on the condition of my husband’s back.
Thank you!
I’ll be following along with this one. We will need one for my dad in July. We did get one last time (three years ago), and it went well. That’s when Buena Vista could deliver and leave it for you at the resort. This time, we are going with Gold Mobility. I have it on my list to rent it tomorrow.
I reserved it months ago through Kingdom Strollers. Fortunately, at that time, they were offering airport pick up.
Well, I hope I’m not too late to get one! It was up in the air if this trip was happening, so I kept waiting on the scooter.
Follow my trip report. Both myself and my DH are using one. Please feel free to ask me anything! Just don’t ask me how to drive one safely lol I need to wrapped in bubble wrap according to @Julianne_fki 
!
Thanks for the tips!
Don’t really have any tips (as I haven’t travel with anyone that needed one), but with those 2 resorts, it’s a good thing you rented one…those hallways are loooong. AKL everyone leaves their ECVs in the hallway to charge (this might be the norm everywhere- just really noticed it at AKL).
Maybe get glow sticks and some sort of ribbon to tie onto the ECV(s) to distinguish them in the ECV parking areas? Same with stroller. And if your Amazing Aunt (yay for awesome Aunts), hasn’t used an ECV before, maybe have her practice at the local grocery store or Target, so she can practice turning and dodging children and oblivious adults before taking her scooter game to the pros (Disney).
We have used them in the past and will in the future. We have had 2 and stayed at the All Stars. We kept them in the room with us and still had plenty of room to move around.
I have the option of choosing a free canopy sunshade or rear basket holder. Do either of those get in the way of driving it around or getting it on the bus? I’m thinking maybe it’s better not to add anything to it. Thoughts?
Rear basket can be helpful to hold things. The canopies seem to mostly get in the way and you can’t adjust them. We got uv protection umbrellas which also double as rain umbrellas lol I’ll try to find the link for them.
I just want to say that it’s great you’re thinking ahead on this. We were completely blindsighted on our last trip when DS10 (now older) developed severe foot pain after a few days. It turned out he needed custom orthotics for arches that were already starting to fall. I really wish we’d have stopped what we were doing and gotten something, b/c it seemed like it would get better the next day and the next but it really didn’t. He was fine at home, just not doing “Disney distances.”
totes Automatic Open Close… https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01I79BD24?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
Totes has 3 sizes we got one each of the smaller two. They are great. They do make it feel cooler and the uv protection is always good. Plus you can hold them at any angle as needed and put away if in a tight space or in crowds.
ECVs you rent aren’t anything like the ones at grocery stores where they have a set speed of tortoise slow. Practicing turning corners is helpful, though.
I’ve mentioned this before, but driving ECVs in WDW is stressful; some guests don’t pay attention to them at all. ECVs do not stop on a dime, and I have had multiple people walk right in front of me and stop or slow down, or kids running right across in front of me. Trying to pass through a bunch of people to get to another route is frustrating, too. Some people are great about stopping and letting you through; others are oblivious. This is all to say that your aunt and husband need to mentally prepare themselves for that, and maybe come up with ways to work around the issue.
I recommend parking ECVs and walking into stores rather than trying to ride one inside.
All good points. If she can stand and shop, then leaving them outside is a good suggestion. However, if she is like me and has trouble standing without pain then just be very careful. So far on trip we are currently on people seem to be pretty aware of us and mostly considerate but that may be because of less people. Kids are the ones you need to watch for because many parents don’t watch them.
some rear baskets make the ECV to large to ride on the bus. You have to remove them before they let you.
Thanks. I did order it without the shade or canopy. I figured that might be the case and want to make it as easy as possible.
I’m so happy to have logged on for the first time in a long time and stumbled on this thread. I’m doing my first ECV trip as well in a couple of weeks. My older teens/young adults squad will be with me so I might make them walk in a V-formation ahead of me to clear my way LOL “Make a hole!” Seriously, I am nervous about running into folks. Those kiddies do scamper.
We had to remove the rear basket on DM’s ECV last week to get on the bus. We loved having it in the park to hold our small cooler, but it ended up being a big inconvenience for us!