Family rental vehicle + vacation help

[DWeav]

I know this is not the typical kind of question here, but I need help. My wife and I, and kids, have done Disney a few times and once years ago with my parents. Since then, my mom had a stroke and needs to ride an electric scooter. Which she owns.

We are all coming down next year, from PA, flying to Orlando. There will be my parents, me and my wife and 2 kids. Staying off site, about 1/2 hour away from WDW.

My dad is not an early riser and we like to rope drop.

I'm finding to difficult to figure out how to handle rental vehicles.

We could get separate vehicles, would help us rope drop while they can decide when to hit and leave the park. But are also willing to do one vehicle and sacrifice rope dropping since we've been to WDW multiple times.

Rental vehicles just seem expensive with their taxes and such. Just not sure what to do.

We'll have my dad and mom and her scooter. Myself and my wife. My 6 year old girl and will be a 1 year old boy, at the time of trip.

Obviously, it would need to be a large vehicle. Any tips appreciated!

 

[MAYNARDS99]

Looking at the national accessible van rental agency in Orlando, it appears that some could hold a total of six. I imagine the rental rate is quite high for such a specialized vehicle.

 

[sam_gordon]

Are you going to other parks (Seaworld, Universal, Legoland, etc)? I get the cost and size factor of staying off site, but if you're going to stay focused on Disney, you might want to look again at staying on property. Then using Disney transportation, those who want to rope drop can, and those who want to go later can.

 

[MAYNARDS99]

Sam makes an excellent point. All of Disney's transport is scooter friendly, including Magical Express.

 

[Wild4Walt]

If you're set on staying offsite - can both parties modify their schedules, a bit? Meaning, some days you all do rope drop together and then some days you all get a later start together.

 

[ForMyBoys]

We have a family of 5 but I have issues fitting all our stuff in so we always rent a mini-van. Even with one of the larger mini-vans I think you will have an issue because the scooter will take up quite a bit of room. I'm not certain a min-van could hold 6, plus a scooter, plus luggage. And with a 1 year old I assume you also have a stroller. With all that gear it will be hard to get from the airport to where ever you are staying. If you'd really like to go this route I would recommend renting both the stroller and scooter, that way you have room for luggage to your destination and after you drop the luggage off you can pick up the scooter and double stroller. Or better yet they can be delivered to you. We rented both these items from a company some years back (maybe 5 years ago?) and it worked out quite nicely. It was a much nicer double stroller then we own so I was glad to have it in the parks. We didn't intend to rent an electric scooter but in our first day in the parks I took a really bad fall and screwed up my knee so my dh called the same place and they rented us a scooter which I used the rest of the trip so as not to ruin the vacation.

However, with all that said I would still recommend two cars. I think in the end you'll be glad to have the freedom to do things at different times. The kids may want to do one thing while your parents may want to do another. Or who knows, maybe the parents and kids will get tired and go and you and your wife could enjoy a date night. And renting two cars may not be that much different in price then renting a mini-van as I find those are always fairly more expensive then a simple rental car.

 

[monorailsilver]

I would get 2 small rentals. This way everyone can come and go as they please and no one has to feel bad about ruining the others way of vacationing.

 

[dreiwhit]

OP, this is a tough one. A large van big enough to hold your mom's scooter is going to be expensive, if you can find one. You may also have difficulty getting your mom's scooter in the van. The folks that I know that have scooters use either a movable outside rack that attaches to the trailer hitch, or a specially modified vehicle with a lift.

You may want to ask this question on the disabilities forum to see what other folks do when they are going to WDW.

Regarding your Dad, could you talk to him and see if he would give a little and get up early for this trip? My wife and daughter are definitely not early risers, but they make an exception, since Disney is a special trip and its only 5 days.

When my in-laws and my family went to WDW in Feb/Mar 2016, we had seperate vehicles. My inlaws could come and go as they please, and it worked out great for everyone - especially since they were not early risers. Also, my wife's step mother just rented a scooter while in MK.