Anyone Have Experience with Wheelchair Access at the Caribe Royale?

[WheeledTraveler]

I'm hopefully going to Orlando in October for a conference being held at the Caribe Royale, which is just off Disney property on World Center Drive. Sadly, probably no Disney while, I'm there, but I'm excited for the conference anyway!

Does anyone here have any experience of the Caribe Royale as a wheelchair user? I'm going to call them to ask, but I suspect they won't understand some of my questions. I'm especially interested in how much of the interior is carpeted and how thick the carpeting is. I can't bring my powerchair and using my manual chair over carpet gets very painful and difficult very fast. I'm trying to figure out if I'll need to rent a powerchair. I'd rather not because all the places in the FAQ here are more than I can easily afford (when I priced out renting powerchairs in Europe for the last time this conference was held in May it was cheaper even), but I really don't like having to depend on others at the conference for a push to get around.

Thanks!

 

[POOHsie]

Have you considered renting a scooter. I believe they are less to rent than a power chair. Rental companies will deliver right to the lobby, which probably has tile flooring. You can arrange for it to be waiting for you in the lobby when you arrive.

I know what you are saying about the manual wheelchair and carpeting. Been there myself. My boss at a convention one time got so tired from pushing me around the thick carpeting, he rented a scooter for me, his treat (creative business write-off). That is how I learned about scooters. I have one of my own now. I keep it in my car with a lift so it's always available for me to use when I go out (I drive myself), and I use a wheelchair in the house.

I am sorry you probably won't make it to Disney. It is a wonderful, accessible place for wheel people.

 

[WheeledTraveler]

Scooters hurt me more than they help and as I can't easily transfer off one into a regular chair it wouldn't work with getting in and out of the rooms of the conference. I'm very sad there won't be Disney on this trip, although, one of my mates coming is planning on renting a car so maybe we'll try to go one night or the day before or day after things start/end.

In good news, I've discovered that Apple Scooters rents a powerchair that should be good enough for me for the week and for a good price. Since it seems like all the people here who've tried Apple have liked it, I'll probably rent from there and report back when I'm back on whether they're as good with their powerchairs as they are with their scooters. So that lowers some worry.

Now I just have to hear back on whether I've got sponsorship to the conference!

 

[POOHsie]

Good luck to you. I hope you get your sponsorship and maybe a short side-trip to WDW!