New policy at DVC- frustrating!

[dclfun]

I found online this morning that a 2 bedroom villa at OKW had opened up for our weekend trip in March whereas two weeks ago all that was available was SSR. When I called to modify the resort I told the agent that I did not require a roll in shower but that a first floor or elevator-access room was a must as I use a power w/c. I was told that they NO LONGER guarantee a first floor room for medical reasons due to "system enhancements". I was lucky that there was ONE h/a lock off 2 bedroom villa that could be reserved BUT I didn't want it- I just wanted gtd first floor access and in fact I did not want a lock-off. Nope. I could be placed anywhere in the resort including 2nd and 3rd floor according to the agent and the ONLY way to get the first floor gtd was to take the accessible room. So, now that I have blocked that room, someone who really does require it will no longer be able to get it. Moving into the future I see much more trouble getting an accessible room at OKW or CBR ( no elevators) as everyone who needs first floor ( bad knees, ECV, other issues) will be forced to book an accessible room. Here's to system enhancements! Oh...and I couldn't even waitlist a dedicated 2-bedroom villa because they were available, just no accessible rooms.

 

[shoes99]

We booked a standard room at Coronado Springs in Dec 2011. Our only request was ground floor, close to handicapp parking. We did not need an accessible room, but we did get one at check-in without even asking. It was ground floor, king bed, accessible roll-in shower. It was way in the back in bldg 7, but we had a rental car so DH had no problems walking to the car parked very close to our room. I too felt uncomortable thinking we took a roll in shower from a guest that really needed one.

 

[loadsapixiedust]

That is frustrating the 'enhancements' don't seem to have made things any easier for those who need accommodations for special needs - quite the opposite. I'm still disappointed that you can't even search availability, reserve or request an accessible room online.

In the words of Walt 'so much for progress'. We can only hope that the next round of system enhancements are better.

 

[jmartinez1895]

I know that you must be frustrated. I would think that "enhancements" would help them book rooms in certain ways
Maybe one day they will be able to work this out.

 

[bookwormde]

dclfun,
I am going to pm you the number of the manager for disabilities at WDW.
Please call and respectfully explain what is happening and how it is going to diminish WDW's ability to accommodate individuals with disabilities.
Please do not share the number since they are a very small group and cannot handle a large number of unfiltered calls.
I have always found the team to be very applicative and responsive (although I have talked more with the national manager who is located in CA).

And yes DVC is in technical violation of ADA for not allowing indviduals with disabilites equivelent opprtunites to book reservations, but since it is a work in progress I am giving reasonable time for the upgrades to be made to fix the issue

Bookwormde

 

[Twende]

We had a similar problems in December 2011.

We were to stay at OKW were there are only a few elevator buildings. We have family members in wheelchairs so an elevator is a must but we also need an upper floor where escape from a ground floor patio is not so easy. I had a adult family member (with dementia) come in the hallway door at BCV with me, and in the time it took me to check out the bathroom and open the adjoining room door, my family member had opened the patio door and was nearing the boat docks.

This member loves to sit out on the patio and enjoy the view and the sun but when we are on a ground floor, the escape route is just too easy and leaves me exhausted from keeping constant tabs on them.

I had called ahead and had a 2nd floor, 2 bedroom with an elevator and accessible bathroom. It was there when I reserved and when we checked in they had no such room. The only room available was on the first floor.

I was not a happy camper and had them check over and over to see if they could get us what we had reserved. Nope, nothing. So reluctantly we took the villa. The patio had a slight railing but I knew it would only deter and not really stop and escape.

Well as it turned out the room had a real rodent problem. We found mouse turds all over the bedspreads. I called the desk and they sent someone over very quickly to check it out. They were very apologetic.

They ended up sending us to anther resort since they had no villas left at OKW. I was disappointed because I love staying at OKW.

I also wish there was an easier way to book special needs rooms!

 

[SueM in MN]

I have some other information that may explain some of this.
Part of it is from some changes to the ADA, part from the Manager of OKW in person, part from Special Needs Reservations at OKW and part from emails back and forth to WDW, starting back a number of years ago on several trips when we did not get our reserved roll in shower rooms at OKW.

WDW Special Needs Department did take care of Special Needs requests at OKW, but their computer system has not always ‘talked’ to the DVC computer system. This meant that a room might be reserved by Special Needs, but DVC might not know about it if they did not see the note referring them to look in the Special Needs files.

First floor was never actually a guarantee unless you also had an accessible room - either with a roll in shower or tub with grab bars and/or raised seat toilet. If it was stated for medical reasons, those rooms have in the past always been assigned first when rooms were assigned. So, it usually was close to a guarantee. I don’t know how they currently assign rooms - whether it is by person or by computer.
I do know that whatever was listed as your first request was considered your most important one.
Special Needs typically only got involved in the accessible rooms because they are in limited supply and need to be reserved individually to make sure they don’t reserve more rooms than they have. It’s possible that CMs taking reservations said first floor was guaranteed, but from the information I have, they never actually have been.

Keep in mind that OKW buildings are mostly 2 floors, so even if nothing is done, you have close to a 50/50 chance of being assigned a first floor room even without a guarantee. And, many people request higher floors because of better views, so there are often not many requests for first floor rooms.
When you check in, verify that you got first floor assigned and if you did not, you should be able to change it.

There is a new provision of the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) that will be effective beginning March 15, 2012.
It will require hotels/resorts to:

• allow accessible rooms to be booked in the same ways for people with disabilities(phone, internet) as for people without disabilities
• have access to information available about those rooms that are descriptive enough for the person to decide whether the room will meet their needs (including photos or other images)
• include information about which features which rooms have, including which are accessible with roll in showers and which have tubs with grab bars
• reserve and hold a specific room for that specific guest with a disability. Those specific rooms must be actually removed from the reservation system (to avoid double booking and ensure that when the guest arrives the room they needed was available for them)
• hold accessible rooms back for reservation by people with disabilities until all non-accessible rooms of that type/class have been rented.

Here’s a link to a really good summary of the new changes:
http://www.adahospitality.org/conten...g-Reservations

I don’t think there is any requirement for reserving a certain location, such as first floor unless there are other disability needs. The reason for that (and why they never actually reserved/guaranteed those rooms) was that there are few rooms that have been adapted for different disabilities, but there are many room that could be used to fit the first floor request.

My guess is that to reserve and be guaranteed a first floor room, you will need to reserve a room with a tub with grab bars if you don’t need a roll in shower. This would be consistent with what the new rules say and would take a room with a tub with grab bars out of circulation, rather than one of the very few rooms with roll in showers.

Disney had dealt with this before through their Special Reservations Department, which was why guests requiring accessible rooms would be put on hold while Special Needs was contacted. This often added 30 minutes or more to our phone time for a reservation.
The new rules mean they will be required to deal with it on internet and “Mainstream” telephone bookings. So, there are a lot of changes coming in a short time.

I do know they are making changes in their request system and First floor may be a request at some resorts.
In the last few week, I have seen a thread on the DVC resorts board about new reservation request codes on the internet. The thread started out as codes that no one knew what they meant and those codes apparently have been updated in the last few days to plain English. The codes I saw did include higher floors, but the resorts people had seen on line did not include OKW or lower floors.

I know there has been a lot of confusion among CMs before regarding what constituted an accessible room. When we have asked for an accessible room with a roll in shower, we have been told things like all the first floor rooms are and would meet out needs (which we know is not true).
Hopefully, the CMs will be educated so they actually know what they are talking about and guests with disabilities won’t be holding their breaths from the time they make their reservation until they get into their room.

Since this question involves DVC, I’d suggest contacting Member Services with concerns, especially for complicated needs.

For Twende, I don’t think that OKW actually has any 2 bedroom villas with roll in showers on the 2nd floor. I actually walked thru all the outside hallways in the OKW elevator buildings on our last trip, checking to see if any of the doors had the lower peephole that is present in the accessible rooms.
THe only ones with the peepholes were ones that I think were the accessible Grand Villa.
One of the times there was a mess up with our room we were assigned what we were told would be an accessible roll in shower room in one of the elevator buildings. It wasn’t.
(We had a large gathering and had two 2 bedrooms and a studio). We were placed in a 2 bedroom with a roll in shower in building like 52 or something and when we checked on our other rooms, they were in building 31 and 22, even though we had linked them and been told they were all together.

The new ADA changes should solve this problem and your problem because you will know at the time you book what is available and what is in the particular room.

 

[dclfun]

Sue- thanks for the updated info on the ADA changes. I know in the past that my reservations have listed "first floor guaranteed for medical reasons" so there was a way that they held them back. When I made this reservation I was told that all they have for accessible rooms are those with roll-in showers, "due to system enhancements". There was no mention of a room with tub/rails that I could choose and reserve on the first floor. I plan for us to get to the resort early and ask if there are any first floor 2 bedroom dedicated villas , which is what I want. Of course, that doesn't help anyone who needed the 2-bedroom roll in shower lock off villa and could not get it because I took it. For this trip, location and room type are important to me. Usually I really don't care, but I don't want the trash and traffic view or a room way in the back of the resort- we are only there for the weekend and I will be spending time on the porch when I get tired in the parks,or in bed, so I want a nice view. I also did not want to reserve the hospitality house category as the parking in that area can be problematic. Been there, done that. I should probably call MS again and ask for a supervisor. Mainly I'm disgusted that I couldn't waitlist a dedicated 2-bedroom villa as they are actually available, just not the accessible ones which of course, I don't need.

 

[roadtripper]

We've had the same issue at OKW (our home resort which we LOVE). DS uses a w/c, and we often travel with another family and reserve a 2BR lockoff. Because we request the first floor for medical reasons or the elevator bldgs, we often get a H/C studio with roll in shower where the other family is staying, which they don't want or need. We don't need or want a roll in shower since DS needs the bathtub with full assistance. We travel at busy times, and I often wonder if we are taking a spot from another family who needs the H/C unit. When we request one of the elevator bldgs by number we always get it, so maybe that's the solution? Other solutions welcome!

 

[SueM in MN]

We've had the same issue at OKW (our home resort which we LOVE). DS uses a w/c, and we often travel with another family and reserve a 2BR lockoff. Because we request the first floor for medical reasons or the elevator bldgs, we often get a H/C studio with roll in shower where the other family is staying, which they don't want or need. We don't need or want a roll in shower since DS needs the bathtub with full assistance. We travel at busy times, and I often wonder if we are taking a spot from another family who needs the H/C unit. When we request one of the elevator bldgs by number we always get it, so maybe that's the solution? Other solutions welcome!

In general, I would not recommend requesting a building by number, especially at OKW where there are relatively few rooms per building (it's our home resort too).
If that building is full, they won't know why you requested it and may not assign an appropriate substitute. I would continue to request "first floor or elevator building for medical reasons."
From what I have found nosing around the Internet, it appears that there is probably a free text comments field where the request could be typed in. But all CMs might not look there.
Another possibility at th time of check in is to ask before they print up your keys and everything whether it is a room with a roll in shower or not. With the new rules, they will probably need to know that, even if they don't know it now. Since there are lots of first floor rooms, chances are good that you would be able to switch if you find out you have been assigned one with a roll in shower at check in.

I'd also suggest to Member Services that they add a category for "First Floor for medical reasons" ( or for Twende, "higher floor for medical reasons") so people who need those things can request them.


Don't worry about taking a roll in shower room from someone else. Anyone who needs one will have reserved that type. The new rules will require a room to be assigned and blocked for them at the time of the reservation.