Renting wheelchairs

[JennyAnne]

How easy (difficult?) is it to rent a wheelchair at the parks on a day-by-day basis? My mom is very resistant to getting one, but I think she's going to find she needs it once she gets there. On days out of the parks (DD, swimming, eating at a resort) she'll likely be fine. It's the hot days of trudging through the parks that is going to be difficult for her (knee and ankle surgery). Do the parks generally run out of wheelchairs? I don't want to get there and be stuck. We're going in early June 2015, if that makes a difference.

TIA!

[faline]

Do you want a wheelchair or a scooter? I would recommend a scooter - pushing a wheelchair around can get quite tiring. When we were at Disney last month, I did note there were no more scooters available the day we arrived -- all chairs and scooters are on a first come, first served basis.

[faline]

And as one who might also need one:
If you rent your chairs for length-of-stay from the resort, do you get to take them to the parks?

Resorts have some wheelchairs available on a first come first served basis which you can take to the parks with you. If you need one, I'd suggest renting a scooter for an off-site location which you can keep with you for the length of your stay.

[JennyAnne]

With the scooters, I'm concerned about it taking up a large amount of space in the hotel room. We're staying at a mod. Will they be tripping over it every night? Also worried about transportation...we'll be using the buses.

[dlpmikki]

As someone who pushes a wheelchair around I don't usually find it much of a problem. We have our own now but have in the past borrowed from a resort (variable quality) and rented from a place at crossroads. Not rented in the park. Scooters are more pricy but there may be a slightly more fun element - and feeling less of a bother. No use for us as the person needing transport is blind so a scooter would be very dangerous for everyone else! Oh - buses treat scooters and wheelchairs the same.

[Mrs Bus Driver]

To the OP it would be a good idea to have the number of a local rental place. They will deliver to your resort and pick it up there. If you go with a scooter use one of the Disney approved company s, if you have a breakdown in a park they can come into to the park to fix/replace it. Speaking for myself, because I now use a walker I am going to try the parks with it. Its a nice walker and has a seat if I need it. However I plan on having the number of one or two places to rent from just in case. If I need to I will rent a scooter. This is as much for myself as the people traveling with me. Independence is important to me but so is doing as much as I can while having a good time.

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

We've done all three options at some point in the last couple of trips.

Renting from the parks day-by-day was fine. There are A LOT of wheelchairs, and we've never had an issue being able to get one. We did find that some pushed more easily than others, so if we got a "difficult" one, we just swapped it for another one.

Renting from off-site was fine too. It was nice having it around the resort, and for an off-site day too. Taking it on the bus was easy, as was folding it into the car. It was nice to just "have it", and it was cheaper than renting in the park.

Finally, we used a resort wheelchair once. It wasn't a very good experience. The CM at the front desk didn't want to give us one, and when she finally did it was in horrible shape. There was no way I could have taken it to the parks at all. I know these may be available, but I really recommend relying on this option.

[ChipDale2708]

With the scooters, I'm concerned about it taking up a large amount of space in the hotel room. We're staying at a mod. Will they be tripping over it every night? Also worried about transportation...we'll be using the buses.

We just rented a scooter from an off-site vendor in May. We stayed at the Yacht Club and when we arrived we noticed other guests left their scooters in the hallway outside of their room. At first we thought it was maybe just during the day if they were back for a break, but no they left them charging in the halls at night as well. We left ours out there for the whole week and never had a problem. Not sure if it's possible to do that at a moderate.

[TheDuckRocks]

With the scooters, I'm concerned about it taking up a large amount of space in the hotel room. We're staying at a mod. Will they be tripping over it every night? Also worried about transportation...we'll be using the buses.

At which mod will you be staying?
I have used a scooter and stayed at POFQ and POR. With a slight adjustment to the table I have always been able to get the scooter inside for charging at night. If you are at POR and in Alligator Bayou you need to get a first floor room as they only have stairs to the second floor. I think all buildings at Caribbean Beach you are dealing with stairs for upper floors also. I don't know about Coronado Springs but you should check.
Oh, wait a minute this is Intercot, someone will probably be along with an answer before you blink an eye.

[PETE FROM NYC]

DW and I are both scooter users, and have been for a number of years. She has owned hers for over 10 yrs, I got my own 2 yrs ago, and had to buy a new truck to transport both of them. We have stayed at POP and had both scooters in the room with no problems.
If you rent from an off-site source, I strongly recommend Apple Scooters, they give you the most bang for your buck.

[Mrs Bus Driver]

After reading through this thread I realized you should book a handicap room. That way you will either be on the 1st floor or near an elevator.

[JennyAnne]

Thank you so much for your responses, everyone! My mom doesn't want to use either one, but I'm going to show her this thread. Honestly, she would probably be fine to walk around for a couple hours in the evenings, or on a day out of the parks, or for some shopping and lunch at DD. It's that morning/early afternoon, heat-of-the-day portion at the parks that has me worried. The trek from the gates to the WS, etc. That's the only reason I was thinking wheelchair...sporadic use. We are staying at CBR and I did request a 1st floor room for my parents through the TA, noting mobility issues and the use of a wheelchair. I appreciate everyone weighing in. It's nice to know the buses won't consider this an issue (my mom would be mortified to know she was holding up throngs of irritated people trying to get back to the resort).

[PETE FROM NYC]

The guy that owns Apple come from not too far from me here in Queens. They deliver to you WDW resort, are great handling problems, and give you free insurance.
Before anyone accuse me of promoting a friend/relative business, I never heard of them before I rented from them in 2009.
My family has used them 3-4 times so far, and will be using them again this September.