OKW grand villa help

[nisiemouse]

I am going to try and reserve a grand villa at OKW starting tomorrow day by day. My mil will need 1st floor. If I state medical reasons do I need a note from her doctor?Does anyone know how many grand villas there are with 1st floor access? Thanks. I have never had to request a 1st floor for medical reasons. We don't need handicapped.

 

[Candace]

Your situation is just like mine - I need my friend to be able to roll into the unit on her ECV (she only uses one at WDW), but we do not need an accessible unit. These are extremely limited, and last week when I did my day by day ressies for the week leading up to Christmas, I asked for one of them. Guess what? I am on a waiting list. If I remember correctly, pretty much all the GV are up one flight of outside stairs, and then there are those in the elevator buildings which are 63-65. So make your request day by day along with your ressie.

 

[nisiemouse]

I figured they were very limited. Were you able to get a grand villa reserved though? Did they just wait list you for the 1st floor or elevator? Thanks.

 

[rigsby25]

I reserved one last May for my SIL who is wheel chair bound. She definitely needed a HA. They sent me a guaranteed reservation, but someone made a mistake along the way and we were moved to SSR 3 days before we left. Good Luck!

 

[RobDoc]

There is only one GV with a ground floor access - it is in Building 48 and is HCA.

There are also 2 GVs in Building 63 with elevator access - one of those is HCA. The HCA GVs still do not have access to the 2nd floor of the villa - so the HCA bedroom is the master bedroom.

I'd just explain to MS what you are needing and let them advise. I think they use WDW Special Services to reserve the HCA villas.

Good luck!

 

[nisiemouse]

Thanks Doc. I didn't realize there were only 3. We will also try to reevaluate and see if she may be able to do the stairs. There may be others in wheelchairs who need it more. She doesn't move around very well due to a bad back and this is her first trip to disney in 20 years so we were just trying to make it as easy on her as possible. I will feel fortunate just to be able to get through at 9:00 and get the reservation.

 

[dianeschlicht]

You might want to do SSR instead, because all the GVs are stair free there on both levels.

 

[nisiemouse]

Good thought. Maybe I will reserve at OKW and try to switch at 7 months.

 

[Tink64]

You might want to do SSR instead, because all the GVs are stair free there on both levels.

The GV we stayed at in SSR was not stair free...It was on the 2nd floor and it was a 2 story GV and it was the HC GV....that was after I booked a HC GV at OKW and they had given it to someone else when I checked in...the SSR GV was the only GV left on the property at the time.

 

[dianeschlicht]

The GV we stayed at in SSR was not stair free...It was on the 2nd floor and it was a 2 story GV and it was the HC GV....that was after I booked a HC GV at OKW and they had given it to someone else when I checked in...the SSR GV was the only GV left on the property at the time.

Oh yes, it does have stairs, but it also has elevator access to both levels, and OKW does not have that.

 

[nisiemouse]

I got my first day of 3 booked. The CM I talked to did not seem to know anything about booking a 1st floor GV. He said he could only request it. I will talk to dh. MIL could probably do the stairs if she takes it slow. I will try to see if the CM tomorrow is more knowledgable. I appreciate all the help.

 

[RobDoc]

I got my first day of 3 booked. The CM I talked to did not seem to know anything about booking a 1st floor GV. He said he could only request it. I will talk to dh. MIL could probably do the stairs if she takes it slow. I will try to see if the CM tomorrow is more knowledgable. I appreciate all the help.

Unless you specifically request a HCA GV, it is only a request. If you need the HCA they will connect you to WDW Special Services so they can make the HCA reservation. If the ground floor GV has not been reserved thru Special Services and is available when you check in, your request is likely to come thru but it is definitely a request only at this point unless reserved thru Special Services.

I would also suggest trying a SSR GV. They do have stairs to the 2nd floor inside the GV, but the 2nd floor also has it's own exterior entrance (the only DVC resort with that configuration for the GV) and there is an elevator in each building for each floor - so she could get to her bedroom without any stairs at all. There are 36 GVs at SSR.

Good luck!

 

[nisiemouse]

Unless you specifically request a HCA GV, it is only a request. If you need the HCA they will connect you to WDW Special Services so they can make the HCA reservation. If the ground floor GV has not been reserved thru Special Services and is available when you check in, your request is likely to come thru but it is definitely a request only at this point unless reserved thru Special Services.

I would also suggest trying a SSR GV. They do have stairs to the 2nd floor inside the GV, but the 2nd floor also has it's own exterior entrance (the only DVC resort with that configuration for the GV) and there is an elevator in each building for each floor - so she could get to her bedroom without any stairs at all. There are 36 GVs at SSR.

Good luck!

Thanks for letting me know the procedure for a HCA. The CM I was talking to did not seem to have any informatin and was not willing to check (other than typing in the request which I knew was not the way to do it). I was at work today so I couldn't call back. I will be off tomorrow which will make getting the next day easier. I told dh to talk to MIL tonight to see what she thought about the stairs.
I will definately check and see if SSR has anything available at 7 months. Thanks for the numbers. I wasn't sure how many they had and didn't know there was an exterior entrance to the second floor.

 

[nisiemouse]

Good news. The CM I talked to today called special services and they are able to put us in the building with the elevator. We talked to MIL last night and dh could tell she was very nervous about making it up the stairs. I don't mind letting her have the master bedroom if needed. From what I understood it should be guaranteed if set up with special services. Thanks so much for letting me know the process with setting this up and the availability.

 

[nisiemouse]

See above update.