Anyone have an Accessible room at POR?

[ShhhQ]

In Sept. DM and myself are staying at POR... it is a splurge for us to step up to a moderate, and probably the last time it will ever happen.. but WDW is turning 40 and so am I, so I wanted to celebrate.
When we planning the trip, I absolutely fell in love with the room pictures for the AB section of POR. So when I made the reservations with our TA, I requested the AB section, I also had to request an accessible room for DM... while she is not W/C bound she does need to use one to get around and has extreme difficulties stepping into a tub, so we requested the the roll-in shower.
The other day, I made sure the AB section was included as a request (good thing I did, because somehow it didn't get included). My TA added the request and got back with me stating

"Disney is advising that since the Alligator Bayou section doesn't have elevators, if they don't have any accessible rooms when you check in, you won't be in Alligator Bayou"

I have been trying to find out how many accessible rooms are available in AB... will this end up being an issue? I know requests are just that requests, but I really want to be in AB. I have heard of rooms being building 14... but since that is now a preferred building and I didn't have the money to upgrade, I doubt that will be an option.

Does anyone have experience with POR/AB/accessible rooms?

 

[minnie mum]

Lots of people really want to be in AB.

It is ONLY a request and is not guaranteed for anyone. It is also the only area of POR that can take families of 5. Because of this limitation, parties of 2 very seldom get this request. It can happen, but you can't count on it.

Sounds to me that your first priority has to be a HA room. Just be prepared to find yourself in the Mansions section. They can have HA rooms on all floors, since they have elevators.

And don't be upset if you don't get your request. The mansions are a really lovely area. We've been there twice and loved it.

ETA: I'm not sure why you need to know how many of the HA rooms are in AB vs Mansions. It really doesn't matter how many there are, it only matters if there is 1 available when you check in.

 

[ShhhQ]

Lots of people really want to be in AB.

It is ONLY a request and is not guaranteed for anyone. It is also the only area of POR that can take families of 5. Because of this limitation, parties of 2 very seldom get this request. It can happen, but you can't count on it.

Sounds to me that your first priority has to be a HA room. Just be prepared to find yourself in the Mansions section. They can have HA rooms on all floors, since they have elevators.

And don't be upset if you don't get your request. The mansions are a really lovely area. We've been there twice and loved it.

ETA: I'm not sure why you need to know how many of the HA rooms are in AB vs Mansions. It really doesn't matter how many there are, it only matters if there is 1 available when you check in.

As I stated in my original post... I know a request is just a request.... I just really don't want to be in the Mansion side, but will live with it if I get STUCK there. As they will be refurbishing at least one of the Mansions while we are there, I was hoping it would increase my chances of getting where I really want... AB!

The 1st year we visited, we stayed at Pop... we were on the 3rd floor, DM got her ECV stuck on the elevator and we had difficulty straightening her out... ever since we have requested 1st floor rooms... therefore just because the Mansions have Elevators does not mean it is better for us! (plus not a fan of the decor)

The Reason I asked how many HA rooms are in AB is so I can figure out my CHANCES of getting one... nothing else!

 

[SueM in MN]

One thing to check on with your Travel Agent -
when she made the reservation, did the reservation agent check with the Special Needs Department to block a roll in shower room for you?
When making a reservation for an accessible room, Special Reservations is contacted to make sure there actually is an accessible room that meets your needs for the dates. If there is, Special Reservations actually blocks a room for that reservation. They generally don’t tell you where it is, just in case of problems, like a room out of commission.
If the travel agent knows that happened, all is good and you do have an accessible room blocked for you.

When you changed your request to AB, unless Special Reservation was contacted, you may not have a room blocked on AB.

Another possibility is to request an accessible room, but not necessarily a roll in shower. There are rooms with a 36 inch wide ‘pathway’ thru the room and into the bathroom. If she could manage with that and a bath chair that would allow her to sit sideways on the bench in the tub and then swing her legs sideways over the side of the tub.
I don’t know if that would work for her, but it’s at least another option to think of if AB is so important to you.
You can request a tub bench from the resort.

As I stated in my original post... I know a request is just a request.... I just really don't want to be in the Mansion side, but will live with it if I get STUCK there. As they will be refurbishing at least one of the Mansions while we are there, I was hoping it would increase my chances of getting where I really want... AB!

The 1st year we visited, we stayed at Pop... we were on the 3rd floor, DM got her ECV stuck on the elevator and we had difficulty straightening her out... ever since we have requested 1st floor rooms... therefore just because the Mansions have Elevators does not mean it is better for us! (plus not a fan of the decor)

The Reason I asked how many HA rooms are in AB is so I can figure out my CHANCES of getting one... nothing else!

I know for sure that there are accessible rooms in building 14 and I believe also in building 15 and 18 in AB. I also know there are some in the Mansions. All of these are because people have reported staying in accessible rooms in those areas.

The total of rooms with roll in showers in POR is probably between 12 and 16. I don’t know how many are in AB compared to the Mansions, but there probably are more in the Mansions.

This is the ‘math’ for figuring out the number of accessible rooms (so you can skip it if you don’t care where the number came from.)
The resort has a total of 2048 rooms at PO Riverside. I have read that there are a total of 22 handicapped accessible rooms.
POR was built in 1989 and I don’t know what guidelines it was built to, as far as the number of accessible rooms per 1,000 standard rooms (the ADA was not in effect yet).
The ADA Guidelines for numbers of accessible rooms in 2002 called for 20 handicapped accessible rooms for 1001 total rooms and over, plus 1 handicapped room for each 100 over 1000.
With 2048 total rooms, that would = 30

Since it was built in 1989, 22 might be correct and would have been fairly generous, since there was not a specific guideline when it was built.
The thing that is important though it that this is not the wheelchair accessible rooms with roll in showers. All these rooms need to provide is a 36 inch wide pathway thru the entire room and into the bathroom.

The requirement for rooms with roll in showers in the 2002 guidelines is 4 roll in shower rooms for hotels with 401 to 500 rooms, plus 1 for each additional 100 rooms over 400.
With 2028 total rooms, that would = 16
If 22 is the correct number of accessible rooms, I doubt that they would have 16 with roll in showers, but I would guess closer to 12.

 

[ShhhQ]

Thank you for your help... while I don't exactly understand 100% what you said, I think I understood enough...lol

I wish they would have a map to HA rooms like I have seen for Pop!

Guess I will just have to hope for the best and expect the worse...

 

[SueM in MN]

Thank you for your help... while I don't exactly understand 100% what you said, I think I understood enough...lol

I wish they would have a map to HA rooms like I have seen for Pop!

Guess I will just have to hope for the best and expect the worse...

Yeah - the ‘math’ part is kind of geeky, but wanted to show where I got my guesses from.

I did some internet searches to see if I could find a map, but was not successful. Still looking and will post if I find one.

 

[ls15]

We stayed in POR last year and we asked for an accessible room. They asked me if we needed a roll-in shower, and I said no, we just need the room itself to fit the wheelchair, and have things like bars in the bathroom. They said "all of our rooms are like this". They also said that not all the buildings have elevators and it would be easiest to find us a ground floor.

We got there 5 hours before official check-in but my mom was zonked (we were at the airport at 2am). I asked for a room, explaining her MS, and they gave us one, just as they promised - ground floor, near the bus for convenience with wheelchair, et cetera.

Unfortunately, there were no bars in the bathroom or shower, making it extremely difficult for my mom. If you need a roll-in, you'll be fine, but when they say "all rooms are accessible" I am not sure what that means.

Either way, we would make sure we get those bars somewhere on our next trip!

But, in the least, POR was extremely accommodating with finding a room right away, on the ground floor, and, kindly, near the bus.