Have a few questions :) - **UPDATE!!** 3/6

[Mermaid_Ariel]

Good morning! I read the sticky at the top about resorts and the different kinds of rooms they offer. But, I still have a few questions if you don't mind me asking.

I'm getting married in Disney World in December. One of my Bridesmaids uses a powerchair (she has cerebral palsy) and cannot walk. I want to make everything as comfortable and hassle-free for her as possible because I love her dearly. I know Disney is great about helping out between buses and monorail so bear with me.

1) She wants to have a room where she could have a roll-in shower. The rooms with the tub and bar handle just won't do it for her since she'll be staying by herself. My question is - How do I made the reservations specifically for that kind of room and will she be guarenteed to have that room? What happens if it's unavailable? She's very very worried about this.

2) I think she will be staying at one of the value resorts, are there any that are better than others in terms of accessibility? How about Caribbean Beach Resort (Moderate)? I know that's more expensive, but that's where our immediate family is staying so I may kick in the extra money for her to stay there so she'll be closer to everyone else.

3) How does transportation work with Disney's Magical Express? Will they know beforehand that she'll need a powerchair lift? Is there a special department that handles this within Disney?

4) I asked our Disney Wedding Planner about having personal transportation for her powerchair on the day of the wedding since we'll be able to transfer her to the limousine with assistance, but her powerchair would need to be transported. She still hasn't gotten back to me with exact information on a van I could rent for the day - but does anyone have experience with this?

Thank you all for reading. I hope everyone is having a magical Friday!!!

 

[SueM in MN]

1) She wants to have a room where she could have a roll-in shower. The rooms with the tub and bar handle just won't do it for her since she'll be staying by herself. My question is - How do I made the reservations specifically for that kind of room and will she be guarenteed to have that room? What happens if it's unavailable? She's very very worried about this.

Yes, when you make the reservation, you tell them what she needs. The reservation CM will contact the Special Needs Department to make sure that they actually have a room available for that time period in the resort you want. Special Needs actually reserves that room and blocks it so that it is saved for her. After making the reservation, you can call the Special Reservations number that is listed in the disABILITIES FAQs thread to check that it is actually in the computer and blocked for her.

2) I think she will be staying at one of the value resorts, are there any that are better than others in terms of accessibility? How about Caribbean Beach Resort (Moderate)? I know that's more expensive, but that's where our immediate family is staying so I may kick in the extra money for her to stay there so she'll be closer to everyone else.

Caribbean Beach has the largest rooms. Some people who have used the Value resorts felt they were better set up for their needs, being newer. We have not stayed at any of the values, but CBR was fine for our DD's needs (manual wheelchair, can't walk).
If it were me, I would not want to be the only member of your party staying at a resort. I would rather be at the same resort as other members of the party.
When you make the reservations, you can ask that the different reservations be linked together so that they would try to assign them to rooms in the same general area.

3) How does transportation work with Disney's Magical Express? Will they know beforehand that she'll need a powerchair lift? Is there a special department that handles this within Disney?

Not all of the DME buses are wheelchair accessible, so she will probably have a shorter wait if she/you let them know ahead of time that she needs one with a lift. You just let the DME people know; no special department.

It's not a problem not letting them know; it just means that when you arrive, the dispatcher needs to locate a bus with a lift and route it to pick her up.
Here is a picture of the bus lift in its highest position. I also have pictures of the tiedown system, but it's basically no different than on any other bus.

4) I asked our Disney Wedding Planner about having personal transportation for her powerchair on the day of the wedding since we'll be able to transfer her to the limousine with assistance, but her powerchair would need to be transported. She still hasn't gotten back to me with exact information on a van I could rent for the day - but does anyone have experience with this?

Thank you all for reading. I hope everyone is having a magical Friday!!!

WDW does have some wheelchair accessible small transport buses/vans. That might be what she is checking on for you. If transportation for the rest of the wedding party is part of the service that you are getting, they should also transport the wheelchair at no extra cost; this would be considered 'equal treatment' under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). It could be considered discrimination if they are providing transportation for every one else, but not for her because she uses a power wheelchair.
If you look in the disABILITIES FAQs thread, there is information about renting wheelchair accessible vans in the post about renting wheelchairs. I don't thin k you should need to use that info, but at least there are some companies listed.

Good luck on your upcoming wedding.

 

[Mermaid_Ariel]

WDW does have some wheelchair accessible small transport buses/vans. That might be what she is checking on for you. If transportation for the rest of the wedding party is part of the service that you are getting, they should also transport the wheelchair at no extra cost; this would be considered 'equal treatment' under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). It could be considered discrimination if they are providing transportation for every one else, but not for her because she uses a power wheelchair.

Oh, thank you SO much for all of this!!!! I will call my friend at lunch and tell her everything that you so thoughtfully wrote for me. Thank you, thank you, thank you so much! And you're absolutely right, I'll need to get her at Caribbean Beach Resort along with everyone else, I'll just pay the difference. Hopefully they can all stay in the same area, I'd feel so much better knowing that. I'm assuming CBR has roll-in showers as well?

What I quoted above is what I eluded to when I e-mailed my wedding planner - Our "Intimate Wedding Package" includes 4 hours of consecutive limousine service. I basically tried to say it without saying it that we only need transportation for her power chair and not for her.

She said she'll get "prices" for me but when she does eventually come up with them, I'm going to say that I think it's discriminatory. I think she was trying to push the fact that we could "use" the van anyway for 8 other guests, but we only have 14 guests and we're using our limousine for everybody to make 2 trips. We don't need the extra transportion for people, just for the chair to be taken to the restaurant along with everyone else. I just don't see why we have to pay extra for a van. I will if I have to but I just think it's discriminatory. I guess we'll see what happens.

 

[OneLittleSpark]

What I quoted above is what I eluded to when I e-mailed my wedding planner - Our "Intimate Wedding Package" includes 4 hours of consecutive limousine service. I basically tried to say it without saying it that we only need transportation for her power chair and not for her.

She said she'll get "prices" for me but when she does eventually come up with them, I'm going to say that I think it's discriminatory. I think she was trying to push the fact that we could "use" the van anyway for 8 other guests, but we only have 14 guests and we're using our limousine for everybody to make 2 trips. We don't need the extra transportion for people, just for the chair to be taken to the restaurant along with everyone else. I just don't see why we have to pay extra for a van. I will if I have to but I just think it's discriminatory. I guess we'll see what happens.

Hmmm... that sounds a bit dubious, make sure you keep on top of this. It is not equal access to make a wheelchair user ride in a van instead of a limo (as long as she is able transfer), nor is it to charge you more. Disney are normally great about accommodations, so hopefully will sort this out.

When you make the reservations, you can ask that the different reservations be linked together so that they would try to assign them to rooms in the same general area.

We were once travelling with friends, and asked for this to be marked on our reservation. When we went to check in, the CM looked at our reservation and burst out laughing. We asked why and she showed us the screen. It said "These people are fiends". Apparently Disney has something against us!!

 

[Mermaid_Ariel]

Hmmm... that sounds a bit dubious, make sure you keep on top of this. It is not equal access to make a wheelchair user ride in a van instead of a limo (as long as she is able transfer), nor is it to charge you more. Disney are normally great about accommodations, so hopefully will sort this out.

I'll definitely keep you guys updated because you're totally right. I had been thinking that too but I wasn't sure I was justified in thinking so. She's able to transfer to the limo with our help and I really can't wait until we can all ride together.

We were once travelling with friends, and asked for this to be marked on our reservation. When we went to check in, the CM looked at our reservation and burst out laughing. We asked why and she showed us the screen. It said "These people are fiends". Apparently Disney has something against us!!

That's hysterical!

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I would suggest asking your Wedding Coordinator to call Disney Transport and talk to a manager to find out the actual policies. I think you will find she will be able to get her chair transported at no charge.

 

[dclfun]

I agree about the transportation. Due to many issues with busses one evening we were given personal transportation in a Disney lift van by a Disney CM to one of the parks which was dispatched to the resort for us. They can certainly tie down her chair and follow the limo as long as their liability laws allow them to transport a chair without a person. I don't know why not. One thing about travelling solo is the entrance door to the room itself. There is a spring loaded mechanism that makes it difficult to open. If she's not able to independently open the door then maintenance can remove that mechanism. I travel with a service dog that uses her specially designed strap to open and close doors but if your friend can use a strap around the doorknob and pull it herself this may help her if she's not already independent with that kind of task. Congratulations on your wedding!---Kathy

 

[Mermaid_Ariel]

Okay, I just first wanted to say thank you everybody for giving me input on this situation. It was very helpful!

I spoke with my Wedding Planner - and they will be providing an accessible van for us at no charge! The only thing is since I want my Bridesmaid to be transferred to the limousine to ride with us that one of the guests will have to ride with the power chair in the van to be "responsible" for it. I'm just so glad this worked out for us!

 

[SueM in MN]

Okay, I just first wanted to say thank you everybody for giving me input on this situation. It was very helpful!

I spoke with my Wedding Planner - and they will be providing an accessible van for us at no charge! The only thing is since I want my Bridesmaid to be transferred to the limousine to ride with us that one of the guests will have to ride with the power chair in the van to be "responsible" for it. I'm just so glad this worked out for us!

Thanks for giving us the update and glad everything is working out for you.

Hope you have a wonderful, magical wedding.

 

[OneLittleSpark]

Yay! So glad to hear that they've sorted everything in a way that leaves everyone happy!

Have a truly magical wedding!