Originally Posted By flyfishnevada I’d asked for some advice on renting a scooter here so I thought I’d let everyone know what my experience was like. I have a herniated disc and a slipped vertebra above that. I am ambulatory and day to day life is generally not affected. However, walking long distances or standing for long periods of time cause great pain in my right leg. The Disneyland Resort is nothing but standing and walking so I rented scooter and I’m so glad I did. We visited the resort for my oldest son’s graduation. We did five days, a real marathon. In the past since my back problem has emerged, two days was my limit. Day three was usually painful or spent in the hotel. This time, I was going strong right up until the end of day 5. Really made the trip enjoyable instead of a constant battle with the pain. I felt self-conscious at first but I got over it and the cast members were all helpful and friendly about it. I even got a few people asking me where I rented the scooter and telling me they wish they had one for this medical issue or that. So first off, I went with Apple Scooter instead of Deckard’s. They had a website and I reserved online. I called to verify a couple of days before and everything was in order. The scooter was delivered to the Grand Californian on Sunday as requested all charged and ready to go. I used it every day and plugged it in when back at the room. The battery meter never budged, even after hours of use. The price, about $120, for six days was reasonable and the scooter never failed us. I dropped it off at the bell desk when we left. Easy peasy. I recommend them. Now the resort is really a tale of two parks. Disneyland, most of which is decades old if not over half a century, is more cramped and not as scooter or wheelchair friendly as California Adventure. I never took my scooter into a queue in DL or used the handicap entrance. You can’t take a scooter into most queues in DL anyway. We made effective use of early mornings, wait time apps and Fastpasses, as well as my ability to stand in line for short time, up to 30 minutes. I refused to use the handicapped entrance since I didn’t need them and I didn’t want to clog them up for the people that did. That is an option if you aren’t ambulatory. California Adventure is another story. The park is all fairly new. Most queues are accessible and the park itself is just easier to navigate. I took the scooter into Monster’s Inc., Toy Story Mania, Radiator Springs Racers and the Fun Wheel. All were easy to navigate and they had means to serve scooter and wheelchair bound guests in the main queue, usually having me park my scooter or doing for me while I was on the ride. I could have done others rides but the lines were short or we had Fastpasses. In fact, some of the Cast Members were almost militant (in a good way) about it insisting I come in with my scooter (Monsters, Inc.) or offering alternate queues (Tower of Terror with not stairs). I took the stairs anyway because I’m stubborn and I’m able. Mostly, I just parked my scooter near a ride amongst the sea of strollers and walked into the ride but in CA, I wouldn’t hesitate to take my scooter in if the line was long. I would only warn that on some rides, like Toy Story Mania, if you can do the stairs at the exit and get in and out of your scooter easily, insist they allow you to use the normal entrance. I got sent to the handicap entrance and we waited a long time for the handicap car to arrive. Luckily, we were the only one’s there so I wasn’t clogging up the works. If you need that, however, us it. I tried not to and it worked well. On some rides, however, like Radiator Springs Racers, you must use the handicap area. That’s how it was designed and it worked rather well. I didn’t use the Disability Access Service card. I never needed it. Your mileage may vary but according to the rules that I’ve read, a wheelchair or scooter will allow you to get a single use pass to use the handicap entrance on a given ride (mostly necessary in Disneyland) and with some planning, waits can be kept short if you are ambulatory. You can always stop by Town Hall and ask if you’re not sure if you need/want one or not. That’s what they are there for. I can only add that you shouldn’t let your pride get in the way of renting a scooter. They are easy to use and you won’t be alone. The new Disability Access Service cards seem to have cut down on abuse. I didn’t see packs of perfectly able teenagers with a scooter or wheelchair using them to avoid lines like I have in the past. Almost to a person all the scooter users were either obviously disabled or “old people” like me with bad knees and backs. Still, there weren’t as many as I remember in the past. I was very anxious about five days in the parks but the scooter made them fun instead of a grind. The resort is very receptive to handicapped, apparent or not so apparent (like me), and the Cast Members are all helpful and friendly. If you need a scooter, or ever just want one due to some minor health issue, (bad knee or back, out of shape, injury, advance age, etc.) get one. I will in the future.
Originally Posted By darcy-becker Thanks for the report. I'm going in September with a friend who will use a scooter because she gets short of breath easily. This will be very helpful.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip Your experience reminds me of the experience I had when taking my mother to WDW. She was in her 70's at the time and had heart problems and a pacemaker. She could walk short distances and stand in line, but when people saw her in a wheelchair (she was afraid to drive a scooter) they often insisted she use the handicap entrance even though she did not request it or have a disability card. Got us all front of the auditorium seating in a few places like Country Bears. On the other hand, it left us back in the absolute last row in Captain EO at Epcot, which I didn't mind so much because I hate the show anyway. ;-) I thought I would use a scooter at WDW this fall because of my COPD/Emphysema. But after being hospitalized four days in February for Respiratory Failure and attending three months of Pulmonary Rehab (plus I stopped smoking) I don't think I'll need it. But if find myself short of breath I won't hesitate.
Originally Posted By iamsally Great report. I love your attitude. When my son blew out his knee and was awaiting surgery; we rented a wheelchair. I told the boys that it was just to save his knee and we would NOT be using it to cut in line. (This was in 1997, before abuse got so bad.) Well, as soon as a CM would see us we would be ushered through special doors and up elevators in spite of protests that he could walk. We did get pretty spoiled. OT: RoadTrip, I am so happy you quit smoking.
Originally Posted By flyfishnevada There's no reason not to use a scooter if you need one to make the experience better. Whether you live in SoCal or you're on vacation at DLR, it's supposed to be fun. Nobody wants to feel handicapped or helpless but even worse is the feeling that others are judging you, assuming you're just faking or that you're lazy. I never got that. Well, maybe once or twice I wondered if someone was judging me, especially when I wheeled up to a ride and hopped out of the scooter as if I was totally fine, but for the most part I just blended in. That's the nature of some health issues. They aren't readily apparent and not totally debilitating. After a while, however, you just stop caring. You're having too much fun to worry about what other people might think. I was worried about driving the scooter too. I'm not skittish about such things but I was worried about navigating through crowds. The speed knob made it easy. I'd just dial it down and crawl along without fear of running over people. The scooters are easy to steer and they stop very quickly, and automatically, when you let off the throttle. I averted potential collisions by simply letting off the throttle. And even if you're not sure you'll need it or use that often (I thought I'd only use it at night or later in the week but after a while I figured why not just use it all the time and I'm glad I did), they are cheap. For about $20 a day, maybe more for shorter rental periods, why not? You spend more than that on a couple of turkey legs and drinks.
