Bringing electric scooter

[dsnymom2003]

My 9 year nephew will be joining us for our trip. He has an travel ecv that he has to use whenever he has to walk more than a few minutes. My question is-will we be allowed to take his scooter into the parks since he is so young? He is very experienced with the scooter since he has to use it everyday for school and just life. Thanks for your help!

 

[lanejudy]

Yes! Since it is his own personal scooter he most certainly will be allowed to use it. WDW and most of the off-site rental agencies will not rent an ECV to a child, most likely due to liability issues. But his own is fine since he is used to it and knows how to use it.

Enjoy your vacation!

 

[dsnymom2003]

Thank you! I was so worried! He is so excited about the trip but, he does not like to pushed in a wheelchair! Independent little guy!!

 

[rock_doctor]

Thank you! I was so worried! He is so excited about the trip but, he does not like to pushed in a wheelchair! Independent little guy!!

Good for you also, you would be surprised how hilly the parks are... Just make sure you have enough battery for something like 15 miles. They say the average person walks 13 miles on park days. Batteries can be had from any of the ecv rental companies in a pinch. Have a great trip.

 

[WheeledTraveler]

If he brings his charger with him (I'm assuming that it's fairly portable like most scooter chargers), there are places in the park he can charge if needed. It's not great to do because "topping up" (what it's called when you don't fully recharge at once) can reduce the battery life if done often, but I don't think it should do that much damage if he's only doing it at WDW. Most adults don't need to charge their scooters/ECVs during the day at WDW, but I have no idea what the battery range is for a pediatric scooter.

 

[stitchlovestink]

Good for you also, you would be surprised how hilly the parks are... Just make sure you have enough battery for something like 15 miles. They say the average person walks 13 miles on park days. Batteries can be had from any of the ecv rental companies in a pinch. Have a great trip.

bolding is mine...
Actually, this was not my experience back in January '13 when I had serious battery problems. Walker said they could order one for me but it would take about a week to get it (so that wasn't really any help). Buena Vista scooters suggested I try Apple Scooters. And Apple was blatantly rude and told me they weren't in the 'battery business' they were in the business of renting scooters. Did I want to rent one from them or not? [
Colonial Medical sells batteries but they are PRICEY!! They wanted $140 for 2 that I was able to buy from Royal Battery in Kissimmee for $37.71ea. And Colonial Medical wanted $50 to install them and Royal installed them for free and made sure that I had a complete running electrical circuit. I didn't have to take my whole scooter to them just the battery pack! And they were fully charged! I can't say enough great things about Royal Battery! They were totally awesome!!

 

[travelitis]

I wouldn't top off that battery. My son's scooter battery was $150 to replace. He started out with a Go-Go when he was a freshman in high school, and we had rented for him when he was in jr high. He's in a power chair now. Anyway, the service repairman said never to charge for less than 8 hours, and given the cost of batteries, even if you can get it for less, I'd follow his advice. Charge every night at Disney for at least 8 hours.

 

[kaytieeldr]

bolding is mine...
Actually, this was not my experience back in January '13 when I had serious battery problems. Walker said they could order one for me but it would take about a week to get it (so that wasn't really any help). Buena Vista scooters suggested I try Apple Scooters. And Apple was blatantly rude and told me they weren't in the 'battery business' they were in the business of renting scooters. Did I want to rent one from them or not? [
Colonial Medical sells batteries but they are PRICEY!! They wanted $140 for 2 that I was able to buy from Royal Battery in Kissimmee for $37.71ea. And Colonial Medical wanted $50 to install them and Royal installed them for free and made sure that I had a complete running electrical circuit. I didn't have to take my whole scooter to them just the battery pack! And they were fully charged! I can't say enough great things about Royal Battery! They were totally awesome!!

It sounds like every company was 100% correct. We can't assess the tone of the conversation with Apple, but yeah - their business is renting medical equipment, not providing batteries. Buena Vista's response surprises me, given that they do repairs/business on-site.

It just seems like the most sensible location to buy any type of battery is a battery store. All the other places you contacted rent and sell durable medical equipment - the entire device. If they have 'spare' batteries, those would be for business use. Doesn't even sound like that's the case. Sounds more like most companies take the unit out of rotation until a new battery arrives.

 

[stitchlovestink]

It sounds like every company was 100% correct. We can't assess the tone of the conversation with Apple, but yeah - their business is renting medical equipment, not providing batteries. Buena Vista's response surprises me, given that they do repairs/business on-site.

It just seems like the most sensible location to buy any type of battery is a battery store. All the other places you contacted rent and sell durable medical equipment - the entire device. If they have 'spare' batteries, those would be for business use. Doesn't even sound like that's the case. Sounds more like most companies take the unit out of rotation until a new battery arrives.

Well someone else reported getting a replacement battery from Apple previously... I guess they were lucky and got someone helpful there! That was not the case for me. After getting talked to so incredibly rudely, there is NO way I would do business with them!! Nor would I ever recommend them. I understand their point but the phone conversation could have been handled so much better on their end. There was NO excuse for BLATANT rudeness. It's just not good customer service IMO. But as I stated above I found a GREAT company and solved the issue. So all was well. Thank you for your comment that I shouldn't expect rental companies to sell parts. I just figured that maybe they could point me in the direction of where they buy their batteries from since I wasn't familiar with the area.

 

[SueM in MN]

People have posted that they got batteries and repairs done by Buena Vista and also by Care.
Care is a full service medical equipment company (as opposed to others who just rent ECVs), so they would be a better option.
But, things change and there may be other factors involved, like the brand of scooter, the type of repairs involved. So, it may be that someone was able to get repairs in the past that are not available now.

Getting things thru a medical equipment company is usually more expensive, so a store that specializes in batteries is going to be a better bargain.

I would suggest that anyone bringing powered equipment get the battery checked out at home before traveling so you are starting with a good battery.

I wouldn't top off that battery. My son's scooter battery was $150 to replace. He started out with a Go-Go when he was a freshman in high school, and we had rented for him when he was in jr high. He's in a power chair now. Anyway, the service repairman said never to charge for less than 8 hours, and given the cost of batteries, even if you can get it for less, I'd follow his advice. Charge every night at Disney for at least 8 hours.

Probably once or twice topping off won't make that much difference, but it's best not to get into the habit of it. We only charge DD's power wheelchair when it gets down to 1 and 1/2 to 2 bars. And, then we charge it for a full charge.

It's also important to know how long a full charge takes for your equipment. For some scooters, it can be as long as 12 hours. If you are out late, using the scooter and then up early using it, the scooter may not be totally charged in the morning.

My DD is on her second power wheelchair and both had their original batteries. We never had to replace one.
The first was replaced when it was about 6 years old because of problems with one of the motors. When they were checking it to see what was wrong, they assumed her loss of power issue was probably the batteries since they were the original ones. The batteries were fine and actually could still be charged to full capacity. Same with her current power chair, which is about 5 years old.

We were told batteries typically need to be replaced every 1 to 2 years, so following the advice above worked well for us.

 

[SueM in MN]

To expand a little on the answers given by others -

A 9 yr old with his own scooter will be allowed to bring it into the parks. Denying him that access with an ECV would be a violation of the ADA since he is using it for mobility because of a disability. This is not just at WDW, but wherever he goes.

Most of the rental companies would not rent for use by someone under 18 though.
The biggest reason is probably liability.
The second reason, especially for a preteen, is that their equipment is made for use by adults and probably can't be adjusted down for use by someone as small as a typical 9 yr old.

 

[cheezNE1]

Do they allow those electrci scooter 2 or 3 wheels with one of those bicycle like seats? I have an elder coming with me and will prbly be renting an EVC, but just wondring if i can just bring one of those scooters since it has a seat on it anyway.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Any vehicle for disabled use at Disney must have at least three wheels and be electrically powered and have a seat.