Supersized person and EVC

[Kristallc]

My best friend is a supersized person (400+lbs) and is meeting us in Disney. She had rented a EVC for her trip due to her doctor not wanting her to walk becasue of a large herina. I am worried about battery life, since she is so heavy. She rented a heavy duty scooter, and i wonder if it could be plugged in durring meals or something? Will it be harder to get it on buses becasue it is the heavy durty weight model? SHe has not ridden a scooter before (and hopes its like riding a 4 wheeler, ha ha). Any tips would be great

[disneymom15]

:welcome: to intercot!
I don't think she'll have any problems getting her scooter on the buses. Can't answer your other question. However, my mom and aunt both rented scooters last year and had plenty of battery life.

[Marilyn Michetti]

There are plenty of places to plug in throughout the parks. Restaurants, like CP have outlets, and outside most attractions, CM's can show you where these are.

My battery was low one time, and we were seated for Fantasmic in the HC section, and recharged for the length of the show.

Busses can cause anxiety, so just take it slow.:thumbsup:

[peemagg]

Since she has not used one before, I highly recommend that she gets used to it at the resort before heading into the parks. She needs to know the controls and get a feel for how fast it does or doesn't stop. Those things don't stop on a dime like a lot of people think. Depending on the speed that the ECV is in it will take longer to stop. The slower the speed, the faster she will stop.

[ElenitaB]

I can not emphasize the wisdom of Peemag's advice. Your friend needs to take some time at the resort to get used to the controls of the scooter, and I would even suggest that she practice parallel parking next to a bench or something (that is the trickiest maneuver on the bus).

Battery life should not be an issue if she has rented a scooter that is designed for her weight. I would, however, be sure to check on the overall length of the scooter model she's rented. The older busses do have size limits (and I also must mention that some have lifts that have ceased working and you may have to wait for one of the newer busses). See the information below, as quoted from the WDW site's page regarding mobility disabilities (http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/plain-text/mobility-disabilities/):

Many of the transportation systems at the Walt Disney World Resort are accessible to Guests with disabilities. All bus routes are serviced by buses which are equipped to accommodate various types of wheelchairs within the following guidelines: The wheelchair must fit the wheelchair lift without being forced (some motorized chairs and electric convenience vehicles (ECVs) are too wide or too long for the standard bus lift of 32" x 48"), and the wheelchair must be securely fastened in the wheelchair restraints.

Watercraft access varies depending on the type of watercraft and the existing water levels and conditions. Please contact a Disney Cast Member at the watercraft dock for information and assistance.

:pixie: for a great vacation!

[PETE FROM NYC]

I had the HD model I rented from Apple Scooters. I am a 300 lber.
Once I ran out of juice at the bus stop leaving the park.The driver pushed it on to the bus for me,and when we arrive at Pop, he pushed it into the lobby near an outlet. He told me that I should ask any cast member for the nearest outlet and there would be no problems. My wife is also a ECV user and we plugged in whenever we were at a CS restaurant.
On one bus, the lift was defective so I had to wait for the next bus which was ramp equipped,as all of the newer buses are.
If your friend has trouble parking on the bus, the driver will do it for her.
All of the bus drivers we dealt with were great, and extremely helpful.
BTW, I did a bunch of research on ECV rentals, and by far got the best deal from Apple Scooters. I heartily give them my full endorsement.

[ransam]

you can go to almost any grocery store and they have evc...have her go there and practice before you even get there. They aer not hard to drive. you just have to be careful at disneyworld, because even though they are easy to maneuver, it's not as easy as just walking and people who aer walking really don't pay attention to yu and it's easy to run into them.

i'm a very heavy person... (350). i use one everytime. have never ever had a problem w/ the bus. as far as the battery length. it's easy to plug it in when you eat. any resturant will do that for you....

there should be no worries.

[PETE FROM NYC]

Something else I thought of.
Especially for inexperienced ECV users.
When trying to maneuver through crowds, move at a crawl because too many people either do not see scooters or are completely oblivious to them, and this is both kids and adults.
I swear , that for next years trip, I am bringing an air horn.
I am not saying that we scooter folks have the right of way or anything like that , its just that so many people just seem to ignore us. I have had several instances where people walked right into me while I was not moving.

[ransam]

Something else I thought of.
Especially for inexperienced ECV users.
When trying to maneuver through crowds, move at a crawl because too many people either do not see scooters or are completely oblivious to them, and this is both kids and adults.
I swear , that for next years trip, I am bringing an air horn.
I am not saying that we scooter folks have the right of way or anything like that , its just that so many people just seem to ignore us. I have had several instances where people walked right into me while I was not moving.

i agree.
people can walk in all differnt directions and stop and move at a dime...a evc can not do that...and most people are usually looking up or strait ahead and dont' see us...then when they walk in front of you and you can't stop in dime....you're the one to blame...

[nicster]

Just something that I observed while on a bus when the bus driver was loading a person on a scooter. He told her that he could help her back it into place if she gave him verbal permission, otherwise he couldn't touch it... It is always nice to know what your part is in things.

[Renfairwedding]

Something else I thought of.
Especially for inexperienced ECV users.
When trying to maneuver through crowds, move at a crawl because too many people either do not see scooters or are completely oblivious to them, and this is both kids and adults.
I swear , that for next years trip, I am bringing an air horn.
I am not saying that we scooter folks have the right of way or anything like that , its just that so many people just seem to ignore us. I have had several instances where people walked right into me while I was not moving.

I use a Electric wheel chair and have had few people end up in my lap. :rolleyes:

[Dawn,DeniseandDiane]

Our oldest sister uses an ECV when she visits WDW. She found it to be really wonderful for her.
I just wanted to mention.... that there are many hard of hearing and deaf people at WDW. I have some hearing, and read lips extremely well, but CANNOT hear anything from behind. Even with my hearing aids I cannot always tell where sounds are coming from. I don't think an air horn will do much good in these instances. I had a woman ram into me on our last trip because she was trying to get through a tight space. She thought I was ignoring her pleas.It hurt and my 1st reaction was swinging my hands in sign language. You can amagine what I was trying to convey to her. (It wa a "knee jerk" reaction) Talk about awkward. We both apologized and went on our way.

Dawn,Denise&Diane:wave::wave::wave: