Just back- unhappy with Disney.

[Figment's friends]

I had booked my mother and a 14 y o girl we were taking (oh and myself of course!) an 18 day stay at POP with an accessible room. My mother has a neuro muscular disease and I am recovering from knee surgery. We arrived on the 7th of Sept. and were promptly given room 7443 - forth floor around corners and NOT an accessible room.
The woman at the front desk told me this room would be better for us as you can't hear the footsteps from people upstairs. (because you are on top) The thing is if there was a fire the elevators would shut off, my mom couldn't use her scooter and she CAN'T do stairs.
We lasted until the 9th and then my mom couldn't take it any longer, the bumps and bruises we were all getting were awful and I am afraid of heights and was having problems with the rooms facing outside. I SHOULD have demanded a new room right away but a days worth of travelling does funny things to you.

 

[phillybeth]

I don't understand why you were getting bruised? That is not clear in your post. POP only has exterior doors, so if that is an issue for you then perhaps this was not the best resort choice. It's also unclear if you requested a first floor room for medical reasons.

 

[disneyobessed]

next time as soon as you check it make sure you have an accessible room. Thats what I have done in the past and have never been denied it. Disney as always been VERY ACCOMIDATION for us.. My son is in a wheelchair/stroller and we always request first floor so its easier for my husband to carry him to the pool.. never been denied.

 

[dclfun]

I also was wondering if you requested an accessible room in advance? What was the reason you were getting bumped and bruised? When you went to the front desk were you moved to an appropriate type room? ---Kathy

 

[Figment's friends]

Yes we had requested an accessible room on the first floor. It was right on our confirmation. We were switched on the tenth. The bumps and bruises resulted from trying to manuver the scooter around the corner and into the room- it was an akward angle and made getting in and out VERY difficult. I'm sorry this post is a little unclear- we had SEVERAL problems on this trip which I was alarmed by. We book through Dreams Unlimited, I used this board as well as TGM and had our general itinerary all worked through. (As I mentioned our reservations that were mailed to us directly from Disney did state our room needs.
The rest of our problems revolved around our keys to the kingdom. I will get to that as soon as possible, Unfortunatly my father had been feeling poorly for some time and one day after my return he was hospitalized, yesterday we moved him back home for his final resting place. This has happened very fast and we are still shell shocked.
The reason I am writing about this is because it happened. I know now that I should have requested a new room right away. The thing is that I was shocked that it happened at a Disney resort, and no one was the least bit concerned. IT was only after my mother couldn't take it anymore and broke down in tears that the matter was even acknowledged with anything more than a condescending tone. I will write up more of our experiences as soon as I can. Thanks, Tabitha

 

[dclfun]

Tabitha- sorry to hear about the troubles and also for your father's recent condition. Were you given an accessible room on the upper floor or were both requests not given ( both accessible room and first floor). It is virtually impossible to get around a regular room in a chair/ecv and if someone cannot walk a few steps would be totally impossible without the accessible room layout. ---Kathy

 

[Whenuwish]

Tabitha - I'm also very sorry to learn of the disappointing visit you had and that your father is not well. Obviously the way the CM addressed your concerns when you brought it to their attention is unacceptble. However, please know that when you book through a third party such as Dreams Unlimited, your confirmation is printed up by them - not WDW. It is possible that your room location requests fell through the cracks somewhere between your TA, Dreams and WDW.

 

[Figment's friends]

I mean the confirmation that came in the clear plastic envelope, along with all of those planet hollywood coupons. Is that one printed up by Dreams Unlimited?
No neither request was honoured, my mother can walk a few steps but is unsteady on her feet. I am a Support worker but with recent ACL surgery not able to assist much. I realize mistakes can happen my eventual outrage came when problem after problem 'shrugged off' when each time it only would have taken a little effort to correct the situation. Thanks about my dad, it is a very sad and unexpected situation- he is not in any pain though.

 

[SueM in MN]

Sorry to hear about your situation.

If you requested a wheelchair accessible room, that should have gone thru Special Services. An accessible room should have actually been reserved for you at the time of the reservation. It sounds like you ended up with a request rather than a guarantee; which way was your confirmation written? (that may seem nit-picky, but will be important to figuring out what happened and what to do to prevent it in the future.

If the confirmation sheet says that the accessible room was guaranteed (reserved or confirmed), then the problem occurred (probably) in the Special Services or room assignment area.
If the confirmation sheet says only that an accessible room was requested, then the problem probably was that the DU travel agent or the Disney reservation person did not understand that you really needed the accessible room.
In any case, I'd suggest contacting Disney and also the DU agent and let them both know what happened. For future, I agree with the others that the best time to deal with a situation is when you are checking in. Ask as many questions as you need to make sure you have a room that will work. The resort has more incentive at checkin because you are right there in the lobby and they know they won't get 'rid' of you until they come up with a situation that is agreeable to you. Once you are in the room, you have much less leverage and they know that many people will just 'put up' with what they are given rather than pack up and move.