Does this sound right? HA room ressie?

[tigger2on]

Ok
We are a family of 4.... DH, ME, DD 9 (Diasabled) and DD1
I called to book a room @ CB where we stayed in 2004 and loved. WE had a HA roomwith a king bed and they gave us a rollaway but it wasn't accessible @all. We had to fold the bed up before we could move her chair around the room and even get her into it was difficult.
So I called to inquire and they said that they have HA rooms with 2 doubles now.
Has anyone stayed in one of these? Is there enough room?
Thanks

 

[SueM in MN]

Ok
We are a family of 4.... DH, ME, DD 9 (Diasabled) and DD1
I called to book a room @ CB where we stayed in 2004 and loved. WE had a HA roomwith a king bed and they gave us a rollaway but it wasn't accessible @all. We had to fold the bed up before we could move her chair around the room and even get her into it was difficult.
So I called to inquire and they said that they have HA rooms with 2 doubles now.
Has anyone stayed in one of these? Is there enough room?
Thanks

The Handicapped Accessible rooms have to have at least a 30 inch wide "path" in areas around the room for wheelchair access. We are members of DVC at OKW, so we don't stay in the regular resorts that much, but up until DD (who uses a wheelchair) was about 8, we stayed in a regular room with 2 beds. We didn't really have much difficulty getting her around in the room. Caribbean Beach has the largest rooms of all the Moderates.

 

[joanchris]

I imagine you would have to have a porta crib or pack n play for the 1 yr old....you may want to ask if the room would still be considered accessible with that in place.

 

[dclfun]

I've heard that the resorts are replacing the one king bed in the h/a rooms with two doubles. Partially it's a case of people abusing the knowledge of the ADA requirements for a party of 4 with the connecting room being comped just to get an additional room, without need. People without disabilities read these boards and many people are quite willing to lie (as Sue mentioned, if people are purchasing Make a Wish buttons on Ebay to get through the lines quicker and are willing to lie about having a child with a life threatening illness, they'll lie about anything). Still, it's also about equal access being the only requirement to be provided. The h/a rooms at some of the DVC resorts are smaller in the interior to accomodate the extra space needed for the bathroom, but they have the wider doorway and they sleep the appropriate amount of guests the same as the non h/a rooms. If I can't fit in there with my SD and all my medical equipment, I have no justification to ask for any other accomodation as Disney feels I have been accomodated by those modifications. This would be the same thing as having an infant in a pack and play. If the bedding sleeps four plus an infant in a pack and play and also has the wider doorway and roll in shower, if necessary, then no other accomodations have to be provided. ---Kathy

 

[joanchris]

This would be the same thing as having an infant in a pack and play. If the bedding sleeps four plus an infant in a pack and play and also has the wider doorway and roll in shower, if necessary, then no other accomodations have to be provided. ---Kathy

I wasn't suggesting that the OP request different accessibility accomodations, just that if it were the case that there would not be enough room with the pack and play, then maybe an alternate resort, with larger rooms to start might have to be looked into, or purchasing a 2nd room if they didn't feel they would have enough room.
In re-reading my original post it wasn't worded as well as it might have been.

 

[dclfun]

Joan- it was worded just fine. I just know what they'll say to her about extra space being needed for a pack and play plus accessibility and space to maneuver a chair. Once I was told we'd have to have two rollaway beds in a room at the Swan. Of course with the two beds down I'd have been literally trapped once in bed with no way to exit in case of an emergency, or no way to get to the bathroom either! My favorite though was the year they had no roll in shower and I was told I could shower in the fitness center! Hrrmph. ---Kathy

 

[joanchris]

Joan- it was worded just fine. I just know what they'll say to her about extra space being needed for a pack and play plus accessibility and space to maneuver a chair. Once I was told we'd have to have two rollaway beds in a room at the Swan. Of course with the two beds down I'd have been literally trapped once in bed with no way to exit in case of an emergency, or no way to get to the bathroom either! My favorite though was the year they had no roll in shower and I was told I could shower in the fitness center! Hrrmph. ---Kathy

May as well save some $$ and go stay at the YMCA! DD10 is getting bigger and I am not looking forward to having to deal with the BS with accessible accomodations

 

[pugdog]

What BS? We have been going for almost 20 years of dealing with handicapped rooms and have never had any problems. We have many more problems with non WDW hotels. WDW has got their stuff down. part of the problem is that people are trying to screw the system to get what they think is a bigger room and then it screws those of us that need that room.

 

[tigger2on]

we have decided to buy into DVC and forget about the regular resorts. WE liked CBR because there are sooo many quiet pools and they are nicely situated all over the resort.
We have stayed at OKW, BCV, BWV and after pricing the CBR in June for $1400. We decided to bite the bullet and buy into DVC.
We are waiting on ROFR now... bid on a resale of 300 points with 150 due in 2007 (feb)
We rented before and it ended up being a better price for a bit more $.. but a kitchen and great locale helps.

 

[joanchris]

My favorite though was the year they had no roll in shower and I was told I could shower in the fitness center! Hrrmph. ---Kathy

The BS I referred to was situations like the above, and other situations I've heard of (not necessarily at WDW) where the accomodations have been somewhat less than accessible, or the accessible room was not available etc.
Add to that the inability to secure reservations on-line, as I like to do, (correct me if someone has done so, I recently tried for a 2 day trip and could not find a way to reserve HA accomodations online directly--didn't really need a HA room---yet---another year or two til DD is too big to get in a tub---just tried to find out if it could be done that way.)

 

[pugdog]

That is a problem that is slowly being resolved. As chaines get sued under the ADA about not being able to book online they are changing. It really makes no sense that they wait to be sued when the president has already been set. The BS problems are really starting to get less though. Atleast with the big chains. Atleast with the ADA the guessing games are a little less as far as what you might see. We stay at about 12 different hotels during the year and it's not much of a crap shoot any more.

 

[SueM in MN]

That is a problem that is slowly being resolved. As chaines get sued under the ADA about not being able to book online they are changing. It really makes no sense that they wait to be sued when the president has already been set. The BS problems are really starting to get less though. Atleast with the big chains. Atleast with the ADA the guessing games are a little less as far as what you might see. We stay at about 12 different hotels during the year and it's not much of a crap shoot any more.

Now, what would be nice when they do get around to adding the ability to book an accessible room on line would be for them to add pictures, video room tours and floor plans with measurements. I was just online this weekend to book a room for a convention this summer and a lot of the sites I looked at had that for their regular rooms (where it might be interesting and a selling point, but didn't really matter as far as me being able to use the room).

 

[pugdog]

Now, what would be nice when they do get around to adding the ability to book an accessible room on line would be for them to add pictures, video room tours and floor plans with measurements. I was just online this weekend to book a room for a convention this summer and a lot of the sites I looked at had that for their regular rooms (where it might be interesting and a selling point, but didn't really matter as far as me being able to use the room).

That would be nice. We only book rollin shower rooms but they vary ALOT. They all meet ADA requirement but are not nessasarly something that we could use. And a pic of that would make it easier to figure out.
An example is the studios at BWV would never work for us but the one bedrooms do. They both meet what is laid out in the ADA but not for us.

 

[dclfun]

Sue- I too wish there was a way to know more about the rooms beforehand. I agree with Pugdog...while some of the rooms meet the ADA they are not accessible to me. I've had to be moved from one resort to another several times, and each time the resort manager comes up to the room and agrees with me that there's no way the room is appropriate. The last time was at the YC. They told me the h/a rooms at BC and BW are all the same, so now I know I can never stay at those resorts. We are also DVC owners- OKW works best for us and I appreciate being able to park nearby. Even parking is a concern at some resorts. BW/BWV for example has parking down a steep hill. For those of us with adapted vans, valet parking is not an option. BC/BCV and WL/WLV also has long-distance parking. CBR does not have accessible pushplate doors into their foodcourt/shopping area. It seems like there's alot of information that when presented in advance, could be helpful to the disabled.---Kathy

 

[samkj]

I am a travel agent specializing in accessible family travel. There are resources to help wit hyour vacation planning. Two excellent websites are http://www.sath.org/index.html?pageID=2203 and http://www.disabledtravelers.com/ If you have any specific questions PM me and I'll see what I can do to help.

 

[BillSears]

Samkj,

Thanks for those links! I'm a paraplegic and am planning a solo cross country trip in a couple of years. Those links will help out alot with my planning stage.

 

[SueOKW]

we have decided to buy into DVC and forget about the regular resorts. WE liked CBR because there are sooo many quiet pools and they are nicely situated all over the resort.
We have stayed at OKW, BCV, BWV and after pricing the CBR in June for $1400. We decided to bite the bullet and buy into DVC.
We are waiting on ROFR now... bid on a resale of 300 points with 150 due in 2007 (feb)
We rented before and it ended up being a better price for a bit more $.. but a kitchen and great locale helps.

Good choice! WDW is such a great vacation destination for us - my DS just LOVES it there - and it is so very handi-friendly (is that a word?) .... anyway - we love the kitchen and extra space.

One year we decided to stay off site for a few days over by Universal - and having his chair (and all his supplies etc...) made the room feel so crowded.

I LOVE MY DVC!

 

[Harvestmooner]

This January my Parents came down to WDW to surprise my kids. My Mom lives with MS and is in a wheelchair and my Dad was using an electric scooter to get around so my sister decided to come with them to help with medical issues.
They booked POFQ where we were staying. They asked for HA room for 3 adults. They were given a HA room with a king size bed and they had to ask where my sister was supposed to sleep-they were then provided with a roll-away cot. But once you got the cot up you couldn't get out the door if there was an emergency-it was a pain!
So we are definitely looking for a HA room with 2 doulble beds-it would make the vacation alot easier!! I am sure we are not the only ones this affects!!!