Fitting scooters in the newly remodeled POP Century rooms seems hard.

[FortForever]

FortForever, in this picture I don't see a seat for the roll-in shower. I've probably been to Pop Century 15 times over the years and stay there because I know it'll be accessible for my needs. If they've removed the seat or replaced it with a portable seat that would be a problem for me. Is there an attached large seat?

There is a fold down bench seat on the right. I think it the surface of it was rubber, but I didn't actually use it so can't be 100% sure. I wish I would have taken the time to get better photos, with it down. So sorry that I didn't. The top of it can barely be seen in the photo.

 

[BillSears]

Thanks. I was hoping they would still have a bench. I don't think I want to fly down with mine, it doesn't pack well.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Of all the DVC rooms we’ve stayed in, I’ve never had a room that’s easy to get one ECV around in with beds out

Never stayed at OKW, huh?

 

[GranJan1]

Never stayed at OKW, huh?

Not yet. We had planned a no park stay there next spring but after our bad room experience on our recent trip I’m not too excited about traveling. We own enough points for a studio there so maybe when the 11 mo window opens I’ll feel differently. If I knew I’d get a bathroom like the one pictured here, I’d be ready to go back. Someone in charge of DVC needs to be shown these pictures to see what a HA bathroom should be like. It’s a shame that value resorts are nicer. Maybe after the OKW refurb, they’ll be this nice. BWV was recently refurbished too but apparently the roll in showers were not touched.

 

[Tammy W]

@FortForever thank you so much!!

 

[PurplePeopleMover]

Those pictures make the room look huge. We could barely move with our stroller in the room!

 

[PurplePeopleMover]

It does seem fine to have two scooters. Thanks again for the pictures.

I believe there are some rooms were the doors is at an angle. In that case it does seem to look a little more awkward.

Ours had an angled doorway. Maybe that's why it was so cramped?

 

[BillSears]

I'm at Pop Century today in one of the renovated roll-in shower rooms. This one has a king sized bed and no Murphy bed. It's a pretty good design but I'm not happy with the shower seat. It's a mesh seat at 17 1/2 inches high. Just pushing down on the seat brings it down to 16 inches, I'm sure it goes lower when I put 200 lbs of me on the seat. Transfer on are fine since that's going down. My wheelchair seat is 22 inches and all transfers are done by arm power only so transfers back up into the chair are pretty hard. I bring a yoga block with me so I can put one hand on that and get a little extra lift. I'm worried about how these benches will be 5 years from now. I can see the mesh stretching out and causing issues. Overall I prefer the solid wooden bench that was here before.

Bed is 21 1/2 inches high.
Toilet seat is 18 1/2 inches high.
The Shower Bench is 17/12 inches high with no one on it but drops lower when occupied. It's 35 inches wide and 14 inches deep.

 

[mamabunny]

Thanks for the picture, @BillSears!

I'm with you - I have a strong feeling that in short order, those mesh slings will begin to deform, and will stretch out.

My guess is they did this for ?hygiene reasons? Maybe they can remove the slings and wash them after every Guest?

The legs and folding mech don't look very sturdy either...

Bill, since you are there now, maybe reach out to the Special Needs team at 407-939-7807 and leave them some feedback about these shower seats. If we don't let them know *why* those seats are bad, they have no reason not to put them at all the Resorts...

 

[Selket]

We had a newly renovated 2 queen regular room for our trip a few weeks ago. With the murphy bed up no problem getting the scooter in and parked but I couldn't do it unless the bed was up (especially if it was just me and no one there to hold the door). Maybe I could have backed the scooter in had someone been there to hold the door for me but my son was always out of the room - lol! I tried getting the scooter over to where the door is for the connecting rooms - there's some space there. Seems like the scooter was too big to fit in that area - it was a standard scooter. One scooter fit fine next to the window but I can't imagine fitting 2 in there if you need to have the murphy bed down. LOVED the room though!

 

[Bete]

We had a newly renovated 2 queen regular room for our trip a few weeks ago. With the murphy bed up no problem getting the scooter in and parked but I couldn't do it unless the bed was up (especially if it was just me and no one there to hold the door). Maybe I could have backed the scooter in had someone been there to hold the door for me but my son was always out of the room - lol! I tried getting the scooter over to where the door is for the connecting rooms - there's some space there. Seems like the scooter was too big to fit in that area - it was a standard scooter. One scooter fit fine next to the window but I can't imagine fitting 2 in there if you need to have the murphy bed down. LOVED the room though!

Thanks for your input.

We have been using a doorstop to hold the door open. Cost is about $8 for a good one.

 

[DisneyOma]

I'm at Pop Century today in one of the renovated roll-in shower rooms. This one has a king sized bed and no Murphy bed. It's a pretty good design but I'm not happy with the shower seat. It's a mesh seat at 17 1/2 inches high. Just pushing down on the seat brings it down to 16 inches, I'm sure it goes lower when I put 200 lbs of me on the seat. Transfer on are fine since that's going down. My wheelchair seat is 22 inches and all transfers are done by arm power only so transfers back up into the chair are pretty hard. I bring a yoga block with me so I can put one hand on that and get a little extra lift. I'm worried about how these benches will be 5 years from now. I can see the mesh stretching out and causing issues. Overall I prefer the solid wooden bench that was here before.

Bed is 21 1/2 inches high.
Toilet seat is 18 1/2 inches high.
The Shower Bench is 17/12 inches high with no one on it but drops lower when occupied. It's 35 inches wide and 14 inches deep.

View attachment 315607

Are you saying the metal frame bends when you sit on it, as I see a rectangular metal (or is it plastic?) frame all around the shower seat? I agree that's not a good thing - I'm thinking it would break pretty easily?

 

[BillSears]

There is no metal frame in the front and the back of the seat. The mesh is stretched between the 2 side frames with nothing to support the front and back. I think what you're seeing is the folding frame a few inches below that actual seat in the front. It's due to the angle that I took the picture. If you look to the right side of the bench you can see how the round bar is attached to the frame an inch or two below the mesh seat.

 

[BillSears]

Thanks for the picture, @BillSears!

I'm with you - I have a strong feeling that in short order, those mesh slings will begin to deform, and will stretch out.

My guess is they did this for ?hygiene reasons? Maybe they can remove the slings and wash them after every Guest?

The legs and folding mech don't look very sturdy either...

Bill, since you are there now, maybe reach out to the Special Needs team at 407-939-7807 and leave them some feedback about these shower seats. If we don't let them know *why* those seats are bad, they have no reason not to put them at all the Resorts...

I called them and they requested that I send an email to them about the issue. Here is what I sent. I will let you guys know if/when they get back to me.


Hi,

I just returned from a great stay at Walt Disney World and I stayed in one of your newly renovated Pop Century roll-in shower rooms with no Murphy bed, room 5103. I’m am a T6 complete paraplegic so I cannot feel or move anything below the bottom of my rib cage. To get in and out of bed, on and off of the toilet, on and off of the shower seat, and of course on and off the rides I use my arms to lift myself to and from my wheelchair. The room looks great and the bed height was fantastic for me. The table in the room was on wheels and a great height for me. The toilet worked fine. The sink was good. But I did have an issue with the new roll-in shower.

Your new roll-in shower has a mesh seat that is hung between 2 side frames with no frame to support it in the front or back. This seat does not provide a solid and steady surface to sit on. The mesh itself stretches out when I sit on it and when I place a hand on it to lift myself back into my wheelchair. So while in use the mesh seat is moving around underneath me making it very unsafe. The mesh seat is 17 1/2 inches high with no one in it, it drops down to 16 inches high when I just push down with my hand. I’m sure it goes lower than that when I place 200 pounds of me on the seat. This is just after the renovation, I can’t imagine how low and unsteady this mesh seat will be after a few years of use has stretched it out.

I’m hoping that you can replace these seats with a solid seat similar to the ones you used to have. Those seats were a nice height, a few inches higher than the 17 1/2 that the mesh is. Plus the solid seat is a nice sturdy seat that provides a steady safe surface to sit on and to transfer to and from. If replacement is not possible maybe you could provide a solid seat to attach over the mesh to provide the safe seat that some people require. Also please consider this issue in future renovations. Pop Century is my favorite value resort and I’ve probably stayed there 10 times. If this issue is not resolved I may have to change my future plans and I’d prefer that this issue isn’t spread to your other resorts.

Thank you for your attention to this issue. Please feel free to contact me to discuss this.

 

[arminnie]

Great letter. I can stand for about a minute while holding on to something, but it is very difficult for me to stand up. I have to use my arms to push up. There is no way that I could get up from a mesh seat like that. Thank you for your information.

 

[mamabunny]

I called them and they requested that I send an email to them about the issue. Here is what I sent. I will let you guys know if/when they get back to me.


Hi,

I just returned from a great stay at Walt Disney World and I stayed in one of your newly renovated Pop Century roll-in shower rooms with no Murphy bed, room 5103. I’m am a T6 complete paraplegic so I cannot feel or move anything below the bottom of my rib cage. To get in and out of bed, on and off of the toilet, on and off of the shower seat, and of course on and off the rides I use my arms to lift myself to and from my wheelchair. The room looks great and the bed height was fantastic for me. The table in the room was on wheels and a great height for me. The toilet worked fine. The sink was good. But I did have an issue with the new roll-in shower.

Your new roll-in shower has a mesh seat that is hung between 2 side frames with no frame to support it in the front or back. This seat does not provide a solid and steady surface to sit on. The mesh itself stretches out when I sit on it and when I place a hand on it to lift myself back into my wheelchair. So while in use the mesh seat is moving around underneath me making it very unsafe. The mesh seat is 17 1/2 inches high with no one in it, it drops down to 16 inches high when I just push down with my hand. I’m sure it goes lower than that when I place 200 pounds of me on the seat. This is just after the renovation, I can’t imagine how low and unsteady this mesh seat will be after a few years of use has stretched it out.

I’m hoping that you can replace these seats with a solid seat similar to the ones you used to have. Those seats were a nice height, a few inches higher than the 17 1/2 that the mesh is. Plus the solid seat is a nice sturdy seat that provides a steady safe surface to sit on and to transfer to and from. If replacement is not possible maybe you could provide a solid seat to attach over the mesh to provide the safe seat that some people require. Also please consider this issue in future renovations. Pop Century is my favorite value resort and I’ve probably stayed there 10 times. If this issue is not resolved I may have to change my future plans and I’d prefer that this issue isn’t spread to your other resorts.

Thank you for your attention to this issue. Please feel free to contact me to discuss this.

Thanks Bill - that's a great letter! I hope they take this issue seriously.

 

[DisneyOma]

There is no metal frame in the front and the back of the seat. The mesh is stretched between the 2 side frames with nothing to support the front and back. I think what you're seeing is the folding frame a few inches below that actual seat in the front. It's due to the angle that I took the picture. If you look to the right side of the bench you can see how the round bar is attached to the frame an inch or two below the mesh seat.

Oh, OK, I saw the front mesh part - it looks solid, like there's something in it, right up against the mesh (because you can see the solidness, no holes all the way through the edge of the mesh?) Anyways, it's good that you wrote them directly to address the issue. Hope it is resolved simply and quickly!

 

[BillSears]

I got an email reply today. It seems to just be a thank you for your feedback type of reply. There was no comment on actually fixing the issue or how they acknowledge that there is a problem. I guess they can't actually admit fault in case someone does get hurt.

"
Dear Bill,

Thank you for your passion for the Walt Disney World Resort. I appreciate the time you took to write to us to share your thoughts regarding our newly refurbished Guest Rooms at Disney's Pop Century Resort. Our Guests’ feedback is vital throughout our Resort in preserving the magical experience that we so strongly wish to deliver and to provide the services our Guests need to make their stay most enjoyable. Please know that I have shared your feedback with the appropriate Leadership team.

I am available Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. ET to 5:00 p.m. ET at 407-934-XXXX should you have any questions."

 

[BillSears]

I did call the number they provided and spoke to the CM. She's not in the decision making process of what might be done to address the issue. So she's forwarded it to the people who might or might not be able to make changes. She wasn't able to commit to actual changes to the current or future roll-in shower designs.

She did suggest I talk to the manager of Pop Century when I return in September and see what they can do to help correct the issue. They may have a shower chair they can place in the room that is sturdier than the mesh seat. Or they may have some other solution worked out.

 

[mamabunny]

I did call the number they provided and spoke to the CM. She's not in the decision making process of what might be done to address the issue. So she's forwarded it to the people who might or might not be able to make changes. She wasn't able to commit to actual changes to the current or future roll-in shower designs.

She did suggest I talk to the manager of Pop Century when I return in September and see what they can do to help correct the issue. They may have a shower chair they can place in the room that is sturdier than the mesh seat. Or they may have some other solution worked out.

Thanks, Bill! I know that I appreciate the update, and all of your efforts!