Disney Changes ECV Outside Rental Delivery Policy Effective Nov 1 - Page 3 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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I switched from Walker to Apple because I want the convenience. Walker was wonderful when we used them in the spring. However, when I called about my reservation for the end of the month I heard of the new policy and the fact they were no longer carrying the scooter I ordered. Go Go light. Apple does. Alex from Apple told me it took a whole year to get approved. Their price was no more than my original reservation with Walker.
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We have traveled to Disney World since 1976
Next trip May 2013
I Love Disney! Sharon
I still like Walker and new policy or not, once we go back to Disney, I still plan on using them because we just has such a positive experience with them. With all the planning I do, I don't forsee it being a problem to schedule a specific time. It's almost no different then giving the rental car company a time for pick up and drop off. Besides, between now and the time we go, that list from Disney could change or grow.
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I agree Walker is great. we used them last Spring and our scooters were current and in excellent condition. We would not have switched my reservation with the exception that they no longer carry my preferred scooter. They did offer to upgrade me to another scooter at a reduced price however we decided to go with the company that offered what we were looking for. We have only a short trip this time and prefer the convenience of the Disney pick up. We normally stay a week and I don't think it would be that bad to meet the vendor I also would know my scooter was returned with no damage.
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We have traveled to Disney World since 1976
Next trip May 2013
I Love Disney! Sharon
I've started travelling with my own scooter lately, but if I needed to rent would still go with Walker. I know they'd be very prompt with delivery and pickup and I'd have no problem giving them a quick call when I arrive at the resort. I'm sure the other companies are fine, but I have a long history with Walker and have always just loved the quality of their service.
Perhaps Randy's has changed their policies to conform to Disney's new limitations, but their agent suggested we leave DH's scooter at bell services when we rented from them in 2010 because they were swamped that morning and couldn't schedule a time to meet us before we had to get on the DME. We had a fairly early departure, and there had been a mixup on the time we were given to board the DME that had to be corrected. Consequently, we didn't have adequate time to notify Randy's exactly when we'd be able to meet their agent to return the scooter.
Now, I don't know if that was a rare exception and they ordinarily wouldn't do that, but it does rather concern me that the option apparently won't be available for those of us using companies not on the Disney-approved list. Not that what happened to us is likely ever to happen again, but you never know.
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“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.” —Winnie-the-Pooh
Perhaps Randy's has changed their policies to conform to Disney's new limitations, but their agent suggested we leave DH's scooter at bell services when we rented from them in 2010 because they were swamped that morning and couldn't schedule a time to meet us before we had to get on the DME. We had a fairly early departure, and there had been a mixup on the time we were given to board the DME that had to be corrected. Consequently, we didn't have adequate time to notify Randy's exactly when we'd be able to meet their agent to return the scooter.
Now, I don't know if that was a rare exception and they ordinarily wouldn't do that, but it does rather concern me that the option apparently won't be available for those of us using companies not on the Disney-approved list. Not that what happened to us is likely ever to happen again, but you never know.
Randy's usual procedure was to deliver and pick up directly from the guest, so what happened to you was an exception to the way they usually do things
Randy's usual procedure was to deliver and pick up directly from the guest, so what happened to you was an exception to the way they usually do things
So I figured as careful as their agents have been in the two times we've used them to explain how the scooter operates and check DH out on his understanding of the whats and wherefores.
Thanks for confirming that we did indeed get special treatment, Sue.
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“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.” —Winnie-the-Pooh
We have rented from Walker once and Buena Vista three times. With Walker's, for some reason our cc did not go through the first time and they had to call us back about it. Then Bell Services insisted that there was no scooter there for us. The rep from Walker's was quite exasperated when I called her to ask what time it had been delivered; not their fault that the bell staff didn't read my husband's name correctly, but I felt she thought I was a doofus. The scooter itself ran fine and my husband particularly enjoyed the cupholder.
With Buena Vista, our scooter was waiting as planned at Bell Services the first year. The second year, because I called in the morning, they weren't able to deliver right away. Lesson learned: reserve at least two days in advance. One of the scooters we rented from them had obviously been well used; it ran fine but a side piece that was attached with a screw (not original!) fell off. A little duct tape and we were good to go for the balance of the reservation. I understand that they are located near the Boardwalk, so that makes it pretty easy for them to deliver.
Both Walker's and Buena Vista have websites, so you can view and reserve equipment online. So far as giving instructions, Randy's is the only company I knew of that required you to meet with their rep to go over the operation and care of the scooter. Otherwise, just like the ones you borrow in the grocery, it's learn as you go. They're mostly pretty easy to understand, and Walker's came with an information card in the pocket. I am now a total whiz at dismantling and stowing a scoot in a Camry trunk!
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Update: we used Apple for our recent trip and were very pleased. The scooter was obviously new or close to it and in excellent condition. Pickup from Bell Services went smoothly. We were able to get a smaller and lighter scooter this time than the ones we had been renting from Buena Vista and Walkers. My husband loved how easily he could manouver it, and it was much lighter when it came time to break it down and put it in our car trunk. We'll probably use Apple again if we haven't purchased one ourselves.
Update: we used Apple for our recent trip and were very pleased. The scooter was obviously new or close to it and in excellent condition. Pickup from Bell Services went smoothly. We were able to get a smaller and lighter scooter this time than the ones we had been renting from Buena Vista and Walkers. My husband loved how easily he could manouver it, and it was much lighter when it came time to break it down and put it in our car trunk. We'll probably use Apple again if we haven't purchased one ourselves.
If I ever have to rent again I'll probably use Apple also. The smaller scooters are so much easier in every way!
Good to know, thanks. I'll give this info to my Mom!
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Tanya
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I used Apple for the ECV back in October and had no problems. I forgot to charge it overnight once and went all day the next day with no problems. I will go with Apple again.
We used Apple on our most recent trip. We had 2 ECVs for the duration of our trip and we managed to fit them both in our room at POFQ without having to have any other furniture removed, we just moved the table out of the way.
Somehow my reservation got deleted when my mom rented hers so there was only one when we arrived. I called and Apple delivered a second one the same day. Also, on the first full day of using the ECVs, my battery started dying while we were at extra magic hours at the Studios. Placed a call to Apple and within half an hour I had a new battery. They delivered it to the Studios and replaced it while I was still on the scooter.
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