experience with AKL pool?

[autumnblue]

I wondering if anyone has any experience with the AKL pool. DO they have whhelchairs to get into the water?


Autumn

 

[HugsForEeyore]

This was a hot topic for me!

I believe AKL has the waterproof wheelchair by now. But they did not always have one. Me and my two friends went to AKL last May about a month after it opened. One of my friends uses a power wheelchair and has not been swimming in years. One reason we picked AKL was for the "zero entry pool" which is a gently sloping ramp into the pool. When we got there, Guest Services told us they did not have a waterproof wheelchair yet, but we could use a "normal" one in the pool, as long as we dry it off afterwards so it won't rust. So we tried that and it worked fine, and my friend got to swim. But the lifeguards came over and told us we can't use an Animal Kingdom Lodge wheelchair in the pool - regardless of what Guest Services said. We politely argued but they insisted we could not use it. So instead we had to use the "medical stairs" which are these stone strairs that we basically had to bump and drag my friend up and down to get into the pool. The wheelchair worked far better than the stairs!

When we got home, my friend got a call from a manager at Animal Kingdom Lodge saying they were going to get the waterproof wheelchair shortly. This was May, so I assume they got it by now! I was going to check last week when I was at WDW but ran out of time. But AKL was new back then, so hopefully they got their act together by now about this issue!

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[Andrew Bichard]

Autumnblue

I was at AKL mid October, and they dfinitely had their own pool accessible wheelchair then.

It is a bit like a sun-lounger with wheels. The seat is a fraction lower than a regular wheelchair but side transfer from a regular chair should be no problem. It isn't self propelled, so you will need someone to wheel you in and out of the pool.

The Polynesian also has a zero depth pool and wheelchair, and their wheelchair is a more conventional design. The AKL pool CMs might even borrow the one from the Polynesian if you ask them nicely.

While I was at Polynesian checking out their pool, I asked a CM about 'Pool Hopping' over from resorts without zero depth pools. Although pool hopping is not normally allowed unless you are a DVC member he said that management would almost certainly make an exception for guests with special needs, but I should phone first to double check before coming over.

HugsForEeyore

I am not surprised they would not let you use a regular chair. Setting aside the potential problem of the chair rusting, I suspect a more serious problem would be oil leaking out of the chair's wheel hubs and contaminating the water in the pool.

Andrew

 

[autumnblue]

I'm glad they have one now. The zero entry is really important to me sicne it is really hard for my husband to lift me up those steps.

Autumn

 

[HugsForEeyore]

Hi, Andrew Bichard --

You were very fortunate to have the waterproof wheelchair at AKL! Actually, the lifeguards told us if we had our own manual chair to use in the pool, that would be OK. They just did not want us using one of their wheelchairs. But it's not like my friend brings a spare wheelchair everytime she travels! So we used those medical stairs .... basically dragged my poor friend up and down, and it took two of us to do it.

Autumblue -

So glad to hear AKL has the new chair now! Those stairs were very difficult to use!!

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