Sue, have you had that problem in the past? The last two times we have reserved a rollin shower villa at BCV, we ended up being assigned to a inaccessible villa. Both times they did find an accessible villa in the end. I wonder if this is a relatively new problem as it never happened at the "regular" resorts. I hope someone fixes the issue soon.
Yes.
I has happened our last 3 trips (Oct 2007, April 2008 and Oct 2008). I all cases, the reservation was made with the MS CM calling Special Needs to verify that an accessible room was available for the dates we needed. The room was blocked for us by Special Services, our confirmation sheet said "Accessible Villa Guaranteed" (or something very similar) and when I called Special Needs to check, they verified that it was in their computer that way.
When we went to check in, they said there was nothing in our record about any special needs.
For our last trip, DH said we had reserved an accessible room; the CM said it didn't say anything. My DH asked if there was anyplace else to check or whether they could call Special Needs. At that point, the CM got a supervisor who said maybe they should check the 'other computer' backstage and they were able to find the room.
The CM tol my DH that there are 2 different computer systems which can't 'talk' to each other. The
DVC computer at the check in desk was not capable of looking into the other system which has accessibilty information. My question in that case was why they could not have a note on the DVC part that tells the CM assigning rooms to look on the other computer.
I think it varies. The 2 bedroom villas at BCV have walkin showers in both the master and studio portion. Club level AKV has the rollin only in the master. And it sounds like OKW has rollins in both studio and master?
All the accessible 2 bedroom OKW villas have been lock off units with roll in showers in both the Master Bedroom and the Studio. I don't know if there are dedicated accessible units at OKW or whether those might have a roll in shower in just one part.
Disneyhappy, one other disadvantage of some rollin showers is that the adjustable showerhead does not always attach well. It can be perched on the top of the pole easily but if you need to lower it, the showerhead can not be fastened tightly in some of the rooms we've had. One maintenance guy told my DH that the part that fits is not made anymore. He found a replacement for ours at one of the other resorts. That may not be as much of an issue for your mother though if she could use it as a handheld shower. Our DD is unable to do that.
We've had the same problem.
Dean, we use to borrow a resort wheelchair for our daughter. I remember one time when she was probably 8 or so. The only chair they had was for a poohsized adult. They did get a child size one for her by the next day.
Other people have posted similar experiences. When there was not an appropriate wheelchair, some people have posted it took anywhere from hours to days to get a more appropriate one. People have also posted a number of times in the past year that the wheelchair available at the resort was not in good condition; in one case, the 'replacement' from another resort was also a problem (size).
So, if someone would not be able to get from the resort to a park without a wheelchair, I would suggest renting from one of the off-site companies. In a case like that, if the resort wheelchair won't work for the guest, it may mean that they can't go anywhere that day.
If the guest could get to the park without a wheelchair, getting one at the resort is less of a 'gamble'. If they can't get one there, they could wait a day and still get to the park, where one could be rented.
At the very least, I would suggest taking along the name and phone number for one or more of the off-site companies.
