Bringing a scooter from home About This Page:

[Disney Franatic]

My knee has been bothering me a lot lately and our WDW trip is coming up in 3 weeks. Scooters are so expensive to rent, so was thinking of bringing a scooter from home. I have a couple of questions. Is there a problem with transporting my scooter on DME? I know the regular buses are fine. Are there places at the parks to recharge my scooter if my battery is running low? It is sooo expensive to rent scooters at WDW especially for a 10-day trip. I had a shot of cortisone last week hoping that would alleviate the pain, but it's still bothering me. Pixies for me please that the recumbent bike I'm doing every day makes my knee better in time for our trip.

[Mystic]

Have you looked at renting from an authorized off-site supplier? They are considerably cheaper than renting from WDW each day of your stay plus you wouldn't have the hassle of trying to fly with your ECV and risk it getting damaged in transport. Plus if you have any issues with it, you simply call the supplier and they will come out an meet you and either fix it or bring you a new ECV. This happened to us. We were at Hollywood Studios and the ECV I had rented from Apple Scooters wasn't holding it's charge. It was evening and we'd hopped from Epcot earlier in the day. I'd already had the ECV for a day or two and it held the charge fine both days before with full park touring, not needing charging until we got back to the hotel but today, it was dying and we still had a few hours to go. I called Apple and they arranged a tech to come out and meet us outside the park gate. He swapped out the battery right there. Never had a problem after that.

I've used an ECV twice that I've rented from an authorized Disney dealer (once because my leg was in a air cast and once due to extreme exhaustion) and both times I've never had an issue with running out of battery power. Also, I know for a fact that those ones will fit on the Disney buses. If they don't fit in the white square at the loading area, they don't ride.

Also, to save battery power you can always take it into a certain land and park it somewhere - usually near the stroller parking, and then do a number of attractions in that area, and then head back and get it and move onto the next area. This is what we usually did.

[revral]

DME can transport your scooter but you do need to let them know that you'll have one. Not all of the DME buses are equipped with a lift and tie down area(s). There are outlets in the parks you can plug in to to charge your scooter and if you can't find one just ask a cast member and they'll show you where there's one.

[CinderAbby]

I too would say be careful about the plane. They have rules for what kind of batteries they can have - and they may have to be removed completely before the scooter is then loaded in with the luggage. If you use the scooter to get on the plane, chances are good you will be the first one let on but then you will be the absolutely last one off too (we witnessed this with someone in 2016). AFAIK, they also don't take responsibility for it if they damage it in any way shape or form. When it's out of your sight, you don't know what they touch or how.

I understand about cost to rent but knowing how much a scooter costs to own, (we just had to replace Lenny's) what we spend for a rental scooter brings a lot of peace of mind. We don't have to worry about anything. If the battery won't hold a charge, they company will bring new batteries or a new scooter. If you pay for the insurance (a small fee) and fall off a curb (Lenny did it once) and damage the scooter (it wasn't bad but enough we needed a new scooter), no worries as the insurance pays for that. One scooter we had kept blowing a fuse too - Lenny wasn't sure what was up with that but again, we were able to get it replaced and the only questions were to determine what was going on. If any of that happens to a personal scooter, there is no one to help. And that's not to mention, not only are you out of luck for vacation, once you get home you now have to scramble to get it fixed, replaced or whatever. Leaving our scooter at home we don't have to worry who's touched it, what they could have done, etc.

[revral]

Check with your airline about the scooter as there are rules about them. Before you call know the dimensions and what type of battery your scooter has (dry cell or wet cell) this might be in the owner's manual or you may have to contact the scooter manufacturer or a dealer that sells the type of scooter you have. I believe it's wet cell batteries that have to be removed, although I'm not positive. I do know that Alaska Airlines doesn't make me remove my scooter's batteries.

[His Drewness]

As a powerchair user, I can definitely say there are pros and cons to bringing your own to Disney.

Pros:

Familiarity - no one knows your mobility option better than you do. You know all its quirks and how far you can go without a recharge. You also know the turning radius and how much space you need around you to move safely especially with the “invisibility” factor inherent with crowds and little (and sometimes big) children around.

Expertise - you have used your own device plenty and know how fast you can go safely and stopping distances which can vary from device to device. You also have knowledge of how to maneuver your equipment into places like queues, restaurants, even other modes of transportation like busses, boats, or the monorail.

Cons:

Transportation to and from Disney. If you are going by plane, you have seen the other posts above about regulations and lack of airline responsibility. I took my manual wheelchair on a flight once and there was several hundred dollars worth of damage the airlines refused to pay for.

Mileage and wear and tear to your device. As if we need reminding, Disney World is huge, and the prettier the path, the more rough it seems to be. Knowing how much maintenance costs factor this in to the decision.

If you have handicapped plates or a placard, remember that valet parking is free at the resorts that provide that service, but tipping is usual.

Whatever you decide to do, have fun!