Adult son in manual chair, Port Orleans or Old Key West?

[PatR1213]

Son will be using a manual chair, which I will be pushing. Considering between two resorts, Port Orleans Riverside or Old Key West. I very much like the idea of the kitchenette and balcony at Old Key West but have read, due to the size of the resort, transportation can be problematic. Have read where it's recommended to have a car. We won't have a car with us. Anyone have experience with those? thanks again.

 

[50surgeries2012]

Old Key West has a series of buildings where the rooms are that's pretty far from the main building. The Disney buses do run between each building to drop off/pick up passengers. I've stayed there a couple times with my friend, and my significant other. If the building where your room is, is at the last stop (or next to last stop) before the bus makes its rounds back to wherever park it's going to next. You'd have quite a bit of a wait. Or, walk if you choose to do so.

 

[SueM in MN]

I've stayed at both.
Depending on where your room actually is, either can be a rather long walk from the building your room is in to the main area.

The total size of each resort is not really that different. This map shows OKW at the bottom and Port Orleans Riverside at the top. Port Orleans New Orleans is the smaller area between the 2.

OKW has 5 bus stops and every bus stops last at Hospitality House, plus an internal bus for travel between the different parts POR has 4 bus stops and shares buses with PO New Orleans except at peak hours.

OKW has bigger rooms and the studios have a kitchenette with refrigerator, sink and microwave. They are easy to get around in a wheelchair.
POR has a refrigerator.

OKW has a snack bar and a full service restaurant.
POR has a food court.

Either one is very nice resort and can be managed without a car.

 

[mamabunny]

If you have questions about POR, there is a Port Orleans fan site that is run by a DISBoards member that is a great resource: PortOrleans.org

He recently reported that POFQ and POR now share even fewer buses - which is great news for everyone! You could always consider POFQ as an alternative; it's much more compact than POR, and Andre' has maps that show the location of every room type on his website, so you can see exactly where the HA rooms are.

POR has both TS & QS dining: Boatwrights for TS and Riverside Mill for QS. POFQ has only QS at Sassagoula Floatworks, BUT from August to October, the former Bonfamille's TS location at POFQ will be open again; currently unknown if it will carry the "Scat Cat's Cafe" name as it did last December during the temporary opening, or if it will carry the original Bonfamille's name.

We love POFQ - I have so many happy memories there, and although we typically stay at Wilderness Lodge now, we try to stay at POFQ at least once a year! Our next trip will be POFQ because it's going to be all about Disney Springs, and we really enjoy the boat ride back and forth from the Resort to DS!

I hope y'all have a great trip!

 

[chelynnah]

I decided against OKW as there are few buildings with elevators and we would need to request a ground floor for the ECV, but those are apparently hard to come by and not guaranteed. If you are using a manual wheelchair I think unless you could get a guarantee of getting one of the buildings with an elevator and close to the main building, then it could be more hassle than it's worth.

Keep in mind I've not been. I loved the look of the resort, but upon researching decided that I couldn't risk not getting a ground floor or lift.

 

[SueM in MN]

I decided against OKW as there are few buildings with elevators and we would need to request a ground floor for the ECV, but those are apparently hard to come by and not guaranteed. If you are using a manual wheelchair I think unless you could get a guarantee of getting one of the buildings with an elevator and close to the main building, then it could be more hassle than it's worth.

Keep in mind I've not been. I loved the look of the resort, but upon researching decided that I couldn't risk not getting a ground floor or lift.

We stay at OKW all the time with someone in a wheelchair.
Getting ground floor is really not an issue, as long as you make it your first request or specify that it is a medical request. Even if you don't request anything at all, most of the buildings are only 2 floors high, so you have pretty much a 50:50 chance of getting ground floor.
Adding to that, many people request 2nd floor because they like being higher for the view - all OKW rooms have entrance from the parking lot area, and have a private balcony at the back which overlooks golf course, water or landscaped area.

Being close to the main building is a specific booking request ('close to Hospitality House'). We actually prefer the farther away area in building 20 or 21. That is close to one of the 'quiet' pools and is about a 10-12 minute walk to Hospitality House.

 

[chelynnah]

We stay at OKW all the time with someone in a wheelchair.
Getting ground floor is really not an issue, as long as you make it your first request or specify that it is a medical request. Even if you don't request anything at all, most of the buildings are only 2 floors high, so you have pretty much a 50:50 chance of getting ground floor.
Adding to that, many people request 2nd floor because they like being higher for the view - all OKW rooms have entrance from the parking lot area, and have a private balcony at the back which overlooks golf course, water or landscaped area.

Being close to the main building is a specific booking request ('close to Hospitality House'). We actually prefer the farther away area in building 20 or 21. That is close to one of the 'quiet' pools and is about a 10-12 minute walk to Hospitality House.

Thanks for that. I may have to start considering it again. I was led to believe getting the ground floor would be difficult.

 

[SueM in MN]

Thanks for that. I may have to start considering it again. I was led to believe getting the ground floor would be difficult.

also, if he needs a room with a roll in shower, those are all first floor or in one of the elevator buildings.

There are 3 buildings with elevators - 62, 63 and 64.
Those can be hard to get because they are in high demand. Besides that, each building only has a few units in it - between 8 and 13

 

[blondietink]

We stayed in French

 

[blondietink]

y son in a wheelchair and the walk to the bus was not bad at all. we have also stayed at Key West and depending on where you stay at that resort, it could be along wait for a bus and if you are near the end of the bus loop, there might not be room for your son and wheelchair. We always have a car so it wasn't and issue for us except when we went to MK.