Can I request room close to transportation?

[Sreidy911]

My family and I will be staying at Saratoga Springs in two weeks. My father will be renting a scooter at all of the parks. Is there any way I can request a room at the resort that will be close to the pool/restaurant/bus transportation? That resort is huge, and he would have a hard time walking to the bus, if we get a room far away.
Would they honor my request? Should I call before we get there? We don't need a handicap room, just something close to the action, which is what I'm sure everyone wants. Thanks for your help!

 

[peemagg]

I would suggest that instead of renting a scooter from the parks, to rent one from a off site company so that he could have it at the resort to get around too.

Also with having one at the resort, it is cheaper to rent from an off-site company like Apple Scooters or All-Star scooters than to rent from the parks. With the scooters at the park there is no guarantee to there being one there for you when you get there. You can not reserve them at the parks. It is first come, first serve basis.

Without a scooter at the resort, there is no real way at that resort to be close to everything.

 

[Disneykidsdad]

My family and I will be staying at Saratoga Springs in two weeks. My father will be renting a scooter at all of the parks. Is there any way I can request a room at the resort that will be close to the pool/restaurant/bus transportation? That resort is huge, and he would have a hard time walking to the bus, if we get a room far away.
Would they honor my request? Should I call before we get there? We don't need a handicap room, just something close to the action, which is what I'm sure everyone wants. Thanks for your help!

The other poster is correct about renting the scooter. They will deliver it to the resort and all you do is leave it there when you check out. This way he will have it 24 hours a day and not have to worry about getting one at the parks. You can't take one out of the park you rent it in.
As for requesting a room location. You can try calling the room assigner about 3 days before your check-in. Explain your situation and tell them you would like a room in the building across the road from the main pool.

 

[Debbie Jean]

The other poster is correct about renting the scooter. They will deliver it to the resort and all you do is leave it there when you check out. This way he will have it 24 hours a day and not have to worry about getting one at the parks. You can't take one out of the park you rent it in.

This.

SSR is a wonderful resort but very large and spread out... being near one thing, for example a bus stop, may mean being far from another...

One of the things I enjoy most is the lovely lush landscape... so relaxing and tranquil Having a scooter for the entire stay is for me the critical difference in fully enjoying my stay..

 

[jdb in AZ]

In case you're wondering, yes, your dad can take the rental scooter on all the Disney buses. 8^)

 

[jmartinez1895]

If you call and tell them why you need a room near transportation they will make a note on your reservation, but there is no way to guarantee that you will get a room that is near.

 

[momof1+1+2]

We requested a room close to transportation and when checking in, they told us where we were and it wasn't close nor was it the building we requested. I explained to the clerk what we would have prefered and with a couple clicks he changed our room to exactly what we wanted. So, if you don't get it, be sure to ask nicely and if they have it, they will accomodate you.

 

[rrbar]

Someone has mentioned there is a disabilities number you can call for help with your room reservation. Does anyone know in what situation you would call that number?

 

[daisyduck123]

During one trip with my FIL, he was renting a scooter daily at the parks. One time, we got to MK & the scooters were all rented out. FIL walked, but would've fared much better with a scooter. After that, we have always rented from offsite & had the scooter for the week.

 

[SueM in MN]

Someone has mentioned there is a disabilities number you can call for help with your room reservation. Does anyone know in what situation you would call that number?

The Special Reservations number is listed in the disABILITIES FAQs thread, which is located near the top of this board or you can follow the link in my signature. Post 1 of that thread is an index that tells which post contains which information - so you look there to find information about resorts/reservations.

Room location is not something Special Reservations gets involved in. They are typically involved in situations where a reservation for a specific room needs to be guaranteed because there are limited numbers of those rooms (example would be rooms that are fully accessible with roll in shower or have permanent features for guests with hearing disabilities). They may also get involved in situations where something needs to be done to the room before the guest arrives ( things like special cleaning or setting up temporary features for someone with a hearing disability. )

Those types of rooms are scattered around he resorts, so even working through Special Reservations, the special features needed by a person with a disability are guaranteed, but location is only a request that may or may not be met.

Location requests should be made using the same number as was used to make the reservation. When rooms are assigned, it is assumed that the request listed first is the most important, so keep that in mind when making the requests.

As has already been pointed out, SSR is a very large resort and being close to one thing may put you farther away from something else. Also, the buildings are very large, so even if you are in the closest building to a bus stop, there may be quite a walk to get there if you are in the side that is farther away.

Last thing to keep in mind if you go to the restaurant area is that it is a fairly ling walk up from the street level, past the main pool to get to the restaurant area - it feels like nearly a block and is up a fairly steep hill for anyone with mobility or stamina concerns. the restaurant area overlooks the pool from above.

I agree with the other posters that your best bet would be to get a wheelchair or ECV. There is information in post 2 of the disABILITIES FAQs thread and there is also bus information in another post on that thread.

 

[KPeveler]

I stayed at Coronado Springs, which is also very large, and I was very close to transportation (about 1/4 mile away - that is close at a large resort!) But I was 1 mile roundtrip from the pool and 1/2 mile round trip from the food! And I had the most centrally located building!

You should count on him still walking about 2 miles a day even if he rents in the parks. It is quite a schlep to the rental counters in a lot of the parks (I think the farthest bus from the AK rental place is 1/2-3/4 a mile, and Epcot is even farther!)

Also you cannot rent until after rope drop and they will not hold the ECV for you if you leave the park. This means that it is quite likely that there will not be a scooter in the afternoon (sometimes there is, but a lot of the time there is not).

I strongly suggest renting off-site if he requires a scooter to enjoy the parks.