Changes Coming to Third-Party Stroller/Mobility Aid Rentals
Okay, readers — want the good news or the bad news first?
The good news is that you still can have strollers and mobility aids (such as wheelchairs and ECVs) brought to your resort by a third-party vendor of your choice.
The bad news is that it will be less convenient to do so, thanks to some new rules going into effect on October 1, 2019.
As being reported by several local vendors, Disney has now changed their policy such that third-party vendors for items like strollers, wheelchairs, and ECVs can no longer be dropped off at bell services prior to your arrival, and they cannot be left by you at bell services to be picked up by the vendor at the end of your trip.
What this means is that you’ll need to contact your third-party vendor to arrange for a time to personally accept delivery and pickup of your item.
As of right now (3 PM on Friday, September 27), third-party grocery vendors are stating that they have asked if this impacts their deliveries and have been told that it does not — that grocery orders will still be accepted at bell services. That said, this is certainly an ever-evolving situation. We’ll keep our eyes and ears open to let you know of any additional changes to Disney’s policies.
Update: 5:00 PM, 9/27/19
Some companies have issued statements with different information, so if you have a rental coming up, the best thing to do is contact the company.
From Kingdom Strollers:
Disney has changed their policy for service providers starting October 1st. All orders PLACED after October 1st will need to meet with a representative for the delivery and return pick up of their rented item.
Orders placed before October 1st will still be allowed to be delivered and picked up through the resorts luggage desks.
So any order for Oct, Nov, Dec, etc that was placed before Oct 1st will continue to go through the luggage desks.
Any future orders placed after Oct 1st will need to meet with us for delivery and pick up.
From Orlando Stroller Rental:
Walt Disney World has changed their policy for their stroller rental vendors. If you placed your reservation prior to November 2nd for travel before OR after November 2nd, your stroller will be waiting for you in your Walt Disney World Resort’s luggage room. You may also return your stroller to the luggage room on your last day without meeting us. No change is needed.
Starting in October, we are very excited to say that our customers will be able to pick up and return their strollers to and from the Orlando International Airport. The pick up and return counter will be on level B1 of the airport which is the same level as Disney’s Magical Express. Therefore, customers will have a few options where we can best meet their stroller needs. They will be able to choose:
•Orlando International Airport (MCO) more details soon
•Orlando Stroller Rentals store, located at 3232 Rolling Oaks Blvd in Kissimmee just minutes away from Animal Kingdom
•Delivery to and pick up from your Walt Disney World Resort’s luggage room. (Then starting November 2 any new orders placed for future travel will need to be a meet and greet at your hotel if you do not select one of the first two options)
From Buena Vista Scooter and Stroller Rentals:
As many of you may have heard, through the rumor mill, there have been some developments, over the past few days, regarding the “preferred provider” program @ Walt Disney world.
We can confirm that the rumors are in fact correct.
Disney HAS eliminated the preferred provider program, which means Buena Vista will eventually be converting to a “meet and Greet” operation.
However, ALL reservations that are placed prior to October 1st will be grandfathered in and will not be effected by these changes.
If you are in need of a rental and DO NOT want to be affected, it is very important that you book before 10/1, regardless of when your rental is set to begin.
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I just read that scooterbug is now the only preferred provider sounds like Disney is trying to put all the potters out of business
Typical of the new diseu
If Walt, himself, were alive, this would not be happening.
This is going to put a burden on those that need ecv just another for shaft the guest all they go eliminate empolyees we’d has no care for the guest
this is just another way of WDW gauging the people. There rentals are much higher than the off site rental places. So in other words WDW will have a monopoly on the scooter and stroller rental and will be able to charge what they want. Shame on them.
Disney should just rent the scooters themselves but they don’t want to do so they are making it super difficult. It is almost discriminatory against disabled visitors.
I’m surprised they don’t put a coin slot on the phone charging stations.
I think you just gave them an idea.
This is going to be a major inconvenience for guests who need ecv the meet and greet is going to be a pain the meet time wouldeffet guests departure time a day merry of vendors this policy changes proves no longer disneycstes about there guests comeDisneyget real
It seems to me there is not a change in the scooter rental policy. It depends on what they consider 3rd party vendors. Several years ago they made the change and had a list of preferred providers. These 3 or 4 companies could still drop the scooters ahead of time but all others had to meet their vendors. It seems that the preferred providers are not “third party” providers. I’m guessing strollers and mobility aid items have now been lumped under the same policy and the “changes” fall on strollers.
The preferred providers have started posting statements saying that they are included in this new policy, in that Disney is getting rid of “preferred provider” status — here’s an excerpt from the post on Buena Vista Scooter’s Facebook page:
As many of you may have heard, through the rumor mill, there have been some developments, over the past few days, regarding the “preferred provider” program @ Walt Disney world.
We can confirm that the rumors are in fact correct.
Disney HAS eliminated the preferred provider program, which means Buena Vista will eventually be converting to a “meet and Greet” operation.
However, ALL reservations that are placed prior to October 1st will be grandfathered in and will not be effected by these changes.
If you are in need of a rental and DO NOT want to be affected, it is very important that you book before 10/1, regardless of when your rental is set to begin.
I feel for the DME drivers who will soon be loading those strollers. Especially late flights with luggage too. Be kind and tip as appropriate.
So, you get to MCO walk in pain to magical express.
Must rent the scooter at MCO and then have to find a bus that doesn’t have other scooters on it…and then spend about 10 mins extra boarding the increasingly not so magical express. Get it tied down and go to the resort. Spend another bit of time unloading and go to the room, repeat in reverse when leaving.
Okay….not all people are completely tied to scooters. They can make it to the bus..and to the guest services at the resorts. Get off the ME…grab the scooter from bell services..roll to the room. Ta Da.
Now consider you’re staying at the Boardwalk…how can you be sure your scooter will be waiting for you? Airline on time…Magical express on time? Well, you’re stuck at the entry point waiting for your UBERSCOOTER to arrive on time. And if you’ve ever had to walk the Beach Club to a room at the end of the building…even I wanted a scooter.
It’s being needlessly complicated for a system that currently works and has worked for Guests.
It’s just another level of Disney dumbassary making it more complicated and less magical for Guests, in favor of saving a nickle or dime for the corporation. (less bell services responsibility…paperwork etc)
You see, that stuff should be kinda ‘hidden’ and not ‘screw you guests’ with Guest Hostility instead of guest services.
Strollers are picked up at airport not scooters.
Seems pretty petty of WDW. Especially since their EVC rentals cost $$$, they are huge and only in park. And their strollers look so uncomfortable, and again only for park use.
These companies provide use of the product for length of stay for probably half the cost.
Disney is making it harder and harder for people to justify spending their vacay dollars there.
I called ScooterBug right after I read about this. They had no knowledge of this change. I’m wondering if it affects preferred vendors.
I read this morning that this ban will also include mail and parcel deliveries including groceries. Is there any news on this? We are coming from Australia in November and have a parcel being sent to us at the resort, if this can’t happen now it will be a major inconvenience as we will need to see if it can be sent to a post office for us to retrieve. I understand the crack down to a degree but this may be going a bit too far. Maybe disney need a parcel locker system on site for guests mail.
They updated that it will not effect grocery or parcel deliveries.
I rented a stroller from Main Street Strollers back in Feb 2019, and they had me meet them for both pick up and drop off (they were fantastic, btw). I had never rented a stroller, so I don’t know any different. They were accurately on time for both pick up and drop off, so it was no issue at all.
Curious if this effects all vendors, even preferred ones like Buena Vista and Gold Mobility? This kinda sux. Although not a complete surprise the way House of Mouse is changing things.
If this only affects non-featured providers, isn’t that the way things currently work? I thought customers currently had to meet them when the ECV/etc. is delivered.
If this affects featured providers as well as other third-party vendors, it reduces (eliminates?) the advantage of being a featured provider.
We have an umpcoming stroller rental with Orlando Strollers, one of the three providers Disney listed on their site as eligible for handling by bell services. While existing rentals will be honored, ones booked after 10/1 need to be picked up and returned at the airport, their store, or meeting the driver.
Given that they were able to announce today that they’ll be setting up near Magical Express at MCO, vendors must have been aware changes were in the works. I hear there will be an exclusive provider, Disney probably put that out to bid or something.
Outside ECV vendors for WDW were either:
–“Preferred” status with WDW. They had access inside the parks/resorts for exchanges with guests. They cost slightly more but they could come right into the parks/resorts to swap out an ECV with battery trouble, etc.
–Non-preferred needed to meet with guests in the parking lot.
How much advantage is left in paying more for “WDW Preferred”? If an ECV kicked the bucket at BOG in MK, will the company still be able to go in or will the guest need to push the ECV 2 miles out to the Ticket and Transportation Center?
I can see the logic here. If you are renting mobility aids or ordering groceries from outside vendors, then you are not renting Disney’s ECVs or using Disney’s food courts and gift shops. I’d have to assume that the next step will be to bar these vendors from Disney premises altogether. It is a tough break for guests already struggling to deal with the constant upward spiral of Disney’s ticket, parking and restaurant prices. But, business is business.
Disney does not offer strollers and ECV’s outside the parks to my knowledge. That is why these vendors are in business, they fill the void that Disney does not.
Exactly right Kevin. Plus at each park, there are a limited number of ECV’s available for use.
I do hope this does not impact groceries.
On our trip, we had a stroller rental, ECV rental and grocery delivery. The Stroller and groceries were delivered to bell services and we met the ECV rental company at the entrance of Bay Lake Tower. Honestly, the rental company we used was soooooo good about timing the drop off and pickup that it was more convenient than the stroller that was dropped off at Bell Services.
We had a villa with plenty of open floor space for the ECV, but if you are staying in a smaller studio room, not being able to leave the ECV at bell services could be a huge deal. Do you know if charging an ECV at Bell Services overnight is also impacted by this?