DVC & ADA-Update 8/24

[Cheshire Figment]

Update: Well, this is a different experience for sure. Special Needs said they have no access to DVC reserved with points and Member Services has to call them...so back to member services, but that person keeps saying it is by request only and does not seem to grasp it is special needs.

At this point the thing to do is politely ask for "a person with more authority" which is a nicer way of asking for a supervisor. Discuss the situation with the supervisor and (a) that person will handle it for you, and (b) they will probably also work to educate the person you talked to.

 

[dclfun]

I'd also be asking for a supervisor. These are not merely requests, they are medical necessities. Explaining what has been done to help you in the past would probably enlighten a supervisor too who can then be sure that your needs are met.

P.S...yes, Skye is an English black lab who happens to like wearing hats, esp. Mickey ears! She also likes Snow White ALOT- not the other princesses so much, but every time she sees Snow White her ears go forward and she wants to visit, lol.

 

[Minnie&Nana]

Thanks everyone.

Oh, yes, my friend does have a list and knows exactly what to say (thanks to special needs telling me for future reference exactly how to state/list request) she's done a wonderful job speaking with them...we just seemed to get a few CM's who do not understand this is not a general request.

Sue, according to special needs CM's, because my need for light is due to the MS, it does come under a medical need, just like bath rails,VIP cleaning etc. I don't really want to go into all my medical needs publically, but they are legitimate.

This is the only time I've ever encountered an issue since I've learned how to nicely explain to a CM that we need to call special needs - or I just make the reservation and call SN myself the next day.

Had not thought of asking to speak with a supervisor ("someone with more authority" is very nice way to approach it). If CM's need a bit more education in these matters, it will also help other guests who call.

Again, thanks so much to all! I appreciate every response. I am sure it will work our perfectly - always does.

p.s. Skye must be ever so clever - imagine preferring one princess over another and she likes to wear hats! Gives my heart a smile to know you have such a dear companion and SD. She's a keeper!

 

[Minnie&Nana]

Everything worked out perfectly! We reserved a studio ~ special needs put us in a one bedroom to be sure the bathroom had enough rails and space - it was perfect. There was some confusion at check-in ~ we were given the wrong room. After waiting for a few hours for the room to be ready, we went to the room, which did not meet any needs. One phone call and we learned we were put in the wrong room, but within 20 mins we were in the correct room. Next day a gift basket with an apology awaited us when we returned that afternoon. Not necessary, but very nice.

It's too bad Member Services could not have been understanding from the beginning that these were medical needs, not requests, but after several calls a supervisor did make sure the notes were corrrect and the information went to special needs/requests.

Due to the storm I stayed a couple of days longer and moved to POP - even with a last minute reservation (day of) special needs and the resort were wonderful. My room did need to be changed at check-in, but it was handled perfectly.

Special needs always comes through; when working with those wonderful CM's one never needs to have a concern.

Not sure I''ll be going the DVC route anytime soon after this experience though. Far less stress to know needs will be taken care of in advance, rather than not knowing until arrival.

Thank you to each of you for the suggestions and support.

 

[SueM in MN]

Thanks for the report.
There seem to have been some glitches lately with DVC reservations. When we arrived for our OKW stay in April, we had reserved and had blocked an accessible 2 bedroom with a roll in shower. When we arrived, we had a regular 2 bedroom, first floor, which the CM was trying to tell us was accessible. They ended up finding us one - the fold down shower bench in the master bedroom was broken. We reported it and got a portable shower chair, but I have a feeling that was the room originally assigned to us and probably taken out of commission because of the broken chair. The Engineering CM who came to look at it said the new fold down chair was already on order and could not be fixed while we were there (even if they had one) because it was a more than one day job.
Usually we have not run into any more problems with DVC special needs than any other resort.

 

[Nanajo1]

A few years ago I had a distressing episode at OKW. I had reserved a GV at 11 months. I told the CM I needed it to be accessible for my ECV, that I was very limited movility-wise. It was noted as a medical request. Lo and behold I arrived to find out I had beeen bumped from the accessible GV by a special needs request. I didn't even know what a special needs request was. We had to move a couple of times before we got the GV. I wrote to DVC Carli D'Agostino asking what I should do to avoid this situation in the future. She responded that the CMs would be educated to the special needs program. Sounds like a refresher ccourse is needed.

 

[dclfun]

We have an accessible GV booked ( our first time!) at OKW the second week of December this year. I'm so worried that when we get there it will have been given away or somehow there will be a problem. I do NOT want to start out our vacation in a combination of 2 bedroom/1 bedroom units or have to live with that arrangement. There are so few accessible GV's to start with. I guess I'll start calling a few weeks prior to check in and document my conversations- something I've never worried about doing before. For the OP, thanks for writing back and I'm glad everything worked out in the end.---Kathy

 

[Minnie&Nana]

How exciting, Kathy! Fingers crossed and loads of dust your way that the correct GV is blocked for you.

Getting a supervisor involved with MS definitely made the difference for us. It is a shame that not all MS CM's do not understand a special needs request clearly.

Take care and keep us posted!

 

[Nanajo1]

Kathy,
My problem was I wasn't assigned the GV by special needs so the GV wasn't blocked off for me. If you had special needs involved in the booking you should be fine. Your confirmation letter should say "Accessible Vacation Home Confirmed".
The GVs are awesome. I had the one down by Miller's. It is a two story so I could not see the two other bedrooms but the first floor worked fine for me.
Have a great trip.

 

[SueM in MN]

We have an accessible GV booked ( our first time!) at OKW the second week of December this year. I'm so worried that when we get there it will have been given away or somehow there will be a problem. I do NOT want to start out our vacation in a combination of 2 bedroom/1 bedroom units or have to live with that arrangement. There are so few accessible GV's to start with. I guess I'll start calling a few weeks prior to check in and document my conversations- something I've never worried about doing before. For the OP, thanks for writing back and I'm glad everything worked out in the end.---Kathy

There are only 2 fully wheelchair accessible GV at OKW that I know of.
One is in building 48 - we stayed there and I have lots of pictures.
The other is in one of the elevator buildings (I can never remember if it is 62 or 63). I think there is only one fully accessible one in the elevator buildings. I know there is at least one other GV in an elevator building that you don't need to climb stairs to get to. Except for building 48, all of the other OKW GVs are entered on 2nd floor, which is a problem at OKW since most buildings don't have elevators.

Usually requesting something for Medical Needs is not a problem. Those requests are filled before non-medical requests for the same thing. When there are lots of rooms that can fill that request, it's usually not a problem at all (for example, first floor studio, 1 or 2 bedroom OKW villas).
Medical Requests are not guaranteed, but they are close enough to guarantee that it would be very unusual to not get the request.

The problem comes if someone specifies they need a first floor or elevator GV for medical reasons, but don't get one of the wheelchair accessible ones blocked by Special Needs. Since those are the only ones where you need to climb steps to get to, if one guest has a reservation for an OKW GV as a "Medical Need" and someone else makes a reservation for a fully accessible OKW GV, the medical need will be bumped and not met.

I think the education problem that comes up for CMs is that OKW is the only DVC resort that has buildings without elevators (except for the buildings 62, 63 and 64). When they book a room in any of the other DVC resorts, there isn't a need in most cases for 1st floor to be a medical need because guests can use the elevators. (There would be a few exceptions, like possibly guest traveling with a child with autism).
Rather than relying on CMs memories, I think it would be good if they could have a message that pops up on the screen for the OKW GVs if a CM tried to put in a request for first floor. That would solve the problem.

 

[dclfun]

Thanks! I'm going to call and verify that everything's okay. The CM I spoke with did put me on hold to verify they had an accessible/roll-in shower GV before he even booked it for me. He was worried the whole time because there was only 1 GV left for one of the nights we needed but he had to verify the special need request first. I guess I worry that the room assigner will somehow overlook the "block" on that room. I've had other things happen that weren't so important, such as asking for any building EXCEPT Turtle Pond and then being placed in Turtle Pond as they misread my request to say I wanted to be there. I actually had my printed confirmation with me with the correct information- the CM apologized profusely but of course that was the only location left and they thought they'd fulfilled my request. Even though my request is noted that I need one of those few GV's, I guess I'm worried that it will be overlooked or mis-read, or it will be given to another guest who asks for it at check-in. Sigh....---Kathy