OKW discriminates to Handicap ?????

[JudithM]

I have a knee condition & am not supposed to do steps much (doctor said). I have requested first floor at OKW for medical reasons since I was diagnosed with this condition. I explain to the CM in Member Services that I do not need a handicapped room. I have always gotten the first floor room. Plus usually the CM asks me if I will need a wheelchair - I think that is nice of the CM to ask & to help me think ahead. At this time I do not need a wheelchair, & I would not want to take one away from someone who needs it.

As a side note I would consider the second floor in an elevator building if I might only have to go down the stairs once in an emergency.

I have found CMs at MS & OKW to be very helpful to my needs & concerns.

 

[drusba]

OK, now that we are getting into an area that I understand, the ADA, I have to say that the views expressed above are, to put it mildly, far from correct. You have basically provided rules applicable to structures that existed before 1993, and thus applicable to whether alterations must be made to those structures, and not regulations applicable to structures for which a permit was first approved after Jan 1, 1992 and for which construction began on or after after January 1, 1993, to which the ADA's "new" construction rules apply. First those elevators are there because they are required to be there under the ADA "new" construction regulations. Moreover, for hotels or similar accomadations, those regulations require that all floors and rooms be accessible to the handicap. As to rooms having special facilities (bathrooms, etc.) for use by the handicap, such new structures must have a minimum number of such rooms within the entire structure or group of new structures and must also have equal size accomadations available; i.e., if grand villas, 1BR's and studios are offered then there must be a minimum number of grand villas, 1BR's and studios available for use by the handicap. In other words you cannot exclude the handicap from grand villas by making them all non-handicap ready. The minimum number of handicapped-altered rooms ranges from 1 for a hotel with 25 rooms to 2% for a hotel with 500 or more. You cannot just put all such rooms on the first floor -- although if your minimum required is low, like 2 rooms, you may get away with that--because such rooms must be evenly dispersed throughout the facility and its floors. Moreover, you cannot exclude a handicap person from a regular room without handicap facilities if they want one. And you definitely cannot do it on the basis of claiming the elevators would shut down if there is a fire. (If that were a legitimate basis, you could effectively do away with the regulations under the ADA and could also prohibit, if you wished, allowing babies and old people on upper floors).Moreover, one of the suggestions above about concern for liability in the event of fire or insurance rates are also not legitimate reasons under the ADA for exclusion to rooms in upper floors (again if they allowed that, companies could effectively eliminate the purpose of the regulations concerning new construction which is expressly to permit "equal" access to all floors in a newly constructed hotel). In other words, as I suggested above, I would raise the issue with DVC management and probably suggest to such management that they seek legal advice if they believe they can exclude the handicap from rooms on the higher floors in the new buildings.

 

[BillM]

Drusba
Many thanks for your lesson in ADA. My whole point in this thread was does OKW give equal treatment to the handicap(WC and ECV) for the second floor and above units in the new buildings?? The replys I got from check-in desk and CM"s on the ressie phone indicated that they do not allow these handicap on the floors serviced by the elevator when at HH you have no choice but to use the elevator. Also at BWV it is routine to be in a villa on the upper floors. In addition there is no access to GV's at HH fair to the DVC members who have mobility problems. They built a ramp to the General Store but there are no other ramps on the premises.
Again I will state that DVC does a great job overall for the mobility impaired but I find them lagging in the instances above.

 

[SueM in MN]

We stayed on the second floor in one of the newer OKW buildings with elevators in March 2001. They knew we had a person in a wheelchair because it was printed on our reservation confirmation. In addition to DD in her wheelchair, we had my FIL, who has trouble with stairs because of bad hips and knees.
What drusba posted is pretty much what we were told by CMs while the new buildings were under construction. It was "Disneyfied" a little, "We are putting elevators in those buildings so that our guests in wheelchairs and with disabilities can have the ability to stay on more than the first floor."
There are people who need first floor rooms that would have problems using a fully handicapped accessible room. For example, when we first started going to WDW with DD and her wheelchair, she was only 3 years old. We tried a wheelchair room, but with the raised height toilet, it was dangerous for her to use that bathroom. She's 16 now and is just about 5 feet tall if we stretch her. That type of toilet is too high for her to use still. It's enough stain on us to have to use them in the parks restrooms. By the time we get back to our room, I don't want to have to worry about her falling off.
To answer a few questions that were brought up earlier, we have been told that:
1) If someone requests a fully handicapped accessible room, it is guaranteed. The assumption is that person would not be able to use another type of room. I have heard of people being moved to a handicapped accessible room in another resort if all at their original resort were filled.

2) Requests for first floor for medical reasons are filled before other first floor requests. They are not guaranteed, but are almost always filled. If you need first floor, check your confirmation sheet. If first floor is listed, but not the medical need, call back and get the medical need added. One time we ended up on 2nd floor when we didn't have medical needs on the confirmation. We came in after midnight and were told that was all available. We carried DD upstairs that night (she was only about 8 years old) and the next day they got us a first floor room without charging the room change fee.

3) Requests for medical or handicapped accessibility made through WDW RESORTS/SPECIAL RESERVATIONS at (407) 939-7807 [voice] or
(407) 939-7670 [TTY] are guaranteed (from what I'm told). You can deal with them for all the resorts, although we have been told that DVC Member Services will provide the same service.

 

[Firefighter Mickey]

Thanks for the update SueM. That helped quite a bit with my current stress level. We're leaving for Orlando in a few hours, and checking in to OKW on the 20th. Here's to hoping my dad and I aren't hauling my mom and her wheelchair up and down a couple of flights of steps 4 or 6 times a day.

 

[LindaDVC]

Since DH has a power wheelchair and is non-ambulatory it takes a few extra minutes to book a vacation. We are always put on hold and they confirm with the DVC resort that they have a w/c accessible room available. At that point they block a room to prevent having more w/c rooms booked than available. We've never had a problem when we arrive having an appropriate room.

I think Disney does a great job! We have been in so many non-Disney hotels that we could not maneuver in! I won't list all our nightmares however we really appreciate Disney and feel they do a great job.

Once at HH the elevator broke and they let us know that the repairman was in route and should have it fixed soon. However they said if an inconvenience they would carry Dan down if we wanted to get going! We weren't in a hurry to get to the beach so in less than an hour it was repaired and we were on our way.

Linda

 

[Dean]

LIndaDVC, that was my assumption, that they actually booked the handicapped rooms specifically for those with Medical Need.