OKW and WheelChair accessible Units

[goudaman40]

Hello All!

As you can see from my ticker, my husband & I are going with my MIL to Disney for a celebration in Septemeber. I booked a one bedroom unit at OKW that is Wheelchair accessible (I asked for a room that has a rool in shower, and the handrails around the toliet).

My question is . . . how are these rooms? This is the first time that we have traveled to Disney with special needs/requests. My MIL has no use of her right arm & her only rt. leg movement is from the hip. She is doing so well considering the surgery she had and all of the "she will never do this again" talk the doctor's gave us.

Also, I know this is a little OT . . . but how are the companion restrooms in the parks? I have requested the WDW guide for guest with Disablities, but the CM didn't know if it addressed these questions or not.

Thanks again for all of your useful answers!

Tifany

 

[SueM in MN]

I'm not exactly sure what you want to know about the wheelchair accessible OKW rooms, so if theis doesn't answer your questions, just ask more.
OKW has the largest rooms of all the WDW resorts. Even without being a wheelchair accessible unit, the rooms are large enough to have plenty of space for a wheelchair to gedt arround without moving things around.
The one bedroom units have a large master bedroom with a king size bed with night tables on each side. There is a TV in an armoire in the bedroom. Attached to the master bedroom, there is a large bathroom with a closet, sink and a whirlpool tub. The whirlpool tub is still there in the wheelchair accessible unit, but the whirlpool is not accessible. There is also a bathroom with a sink, toilet, and shower (which is roll in for the wheelchair accessible unit).
There is a laundry room with a washer and dryer.
The kitchen is in a "great room" arrangement with a dining area and living room. All roomy so wheelchair access is easy. The kitchen has a full size stove, microwave, dishwasher and refrigerator with an ice maker (the other DVC resorts have smaller, apartment size appliances and no ice maker).
The dining room has a nice table and 4 chairs. A wheelchair (at least my DD's) does fit under the table. There is a large covered porch with a ceiling fan (even on the first floor) and there are 4 chairs and a table on the porch. Even with all that, a wheelchair still fits easily on the porch.

The resort is large, but very accessible. Be sure to take the boat to DD When you go to the dock, it at first looks in-accessible because all you can see is stairs. Go toward the swimming pool, past the stairs and you will find a ramp on your right. The boat is wheelchair accessible and it's a nice trip to DD. You can also rent pontoon boats. My DD's wheelchair is narrow, so we can roll it right on. We enjoy renting a pontoon boat for a leisurely trip down the river to look at PO, SSR and DD, then back to OKW. That's about a 1 hour round trip.

Re: the Guidebooks for Guest with Disabilities, you can access them on line from this link. They do list the locations of the Companion restrooms for each park, but no further information.
MK and Epcot have the least and we have had the most problem using them - people use them as "Family Restrooms" a lot at those parks. Since MK and Epcot are older parks, most of the handicapped stalls in the regular restroom are not big enough to get a wheelchair into the stall and close the door. Some of the Companion restrooms are sort of small, because they added them in where they had space. First Aid at each does have accessible restrooms you can use.
AK and the Studio have much better regular restrooms. Many of the ladies rooms have a set up where there is a large room with a toilet and a sink in the room. The Companion Restrooms at those parks are also larger and better set up (plus, it seems like less people are using them as Family Restrooms).
If your MIL has specific needs for the way the room is set up in order to be able to transfer, some of the rooms won't meet her needs. I'd suggest keeping track of the ones that meet/don't meet her needs better so that when you are in that area again, you know where to head to (or not to head to).