Past DVCOwner looking at coming back/Need opinions

[ahutton]

We sold our contract in 2020 at BWV and are considering buying back in. Probably resale as direct does not have enough for the extra $ per point at this point. I need input on where to buy. Life changes and now I rely on a wheelchair as I'm paralyzed on one side from a stroke. We rented points and stayed at Saratoga. It was awful. The assigned room was a 2 bedroom and only the second bedroom had any accessible features. Sydney at the front desk had me in tears, and then laughed in my face, there were zero grab rails in the main room's bathroom and they would not consider adding any. I could not go through the bedroom or bathroom door in my wheelchair. They indicated they could not relocate us as there was no availability anywhere on property. They offered to refund the points - not a help to me when that means I'm sleeping in my car. Could not say so as the rental is a secret. I can't risk having a room where I'm not safe, nor do I want to be left stranded.

We love OKW for the theme, and tranquility plus square footage. BWV was convenient to parks but that is not a focus for future trips and tranquil is not synonymous with BWV. I can't see us going back to Saratoga after this experience. I asked about accessible room counts and the DVC rep was unable to offer any facts. I need you experts to weigh in.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

My mind immediately went to OKW - as you said, the rooms are bigger, the tranquility.... I expect you're aware, but the biggest flaw they had at OKW was not including elevators in the original buildings. There are a couple newer buildings that have them. On the other hand, approximately 1/3rd of all the rooms are on the first floor, and they have many accessible rooms - just need to make sure they get you one of those, and I expect they would. Then the ability to park right outside your room, roll up to the door, and have room inside - sounds like a good recommendation. I'm sure other posters will have more recommendations - hope you find something you'd like to get you back to DVC! Good luck.

 

[intamin]

My mind immediately went to OKW - as you said, the rooms are bigger, the tranquility.... I expect you're aware, but the biggest flaw they had at OKW was not including elevators in the original buildings. There are a couple newer buildings that have them. On the other hand, approximately 1/3rd of all the rooms are on the first floor, and they have many accessible rooms - just need to make sure they get you one of those, and I expect they would. Then the ability to park right outside your room, roll up to the door, and have room inside - sounds like a good recommendation. I'm sure other posters will have more recommendations - hope you find something you'd like to get you back to DVC! Good luck.

This was my thought too. OKW they're pretty good about putting you on the first floor if you actually need a wheelchair/scooter but only 3 of the buildings have an elevator IIRC. The other downside is if you actually wanted to go to somewhere the buses can get full especially in the morning and you will watch 2-3 buses go by because they've already filled their capacity of 2 scooters/wheelchairs if you're staying in one of the later stops. My dad dealt with this on a recent trip and he has pretty bad knee pain from walking but in the end he decided to put the scooter back in the room just so he could get on a bus but was miserable for the entire day.

Idk, personally I'd consider a resort that isn't as far spread out and not as close to the heart of the action like maybe a CCV or Riviera? *points to sig* I am somewhat biased but that's just my personal taste.

 

[AstroBlasters]

We sold our contract in 2020 at BWV and are considering buying back in. Probably resale as direct does not have enough for the extra $ per point at this point. I need input on where to buy. Life changes and now I rely on a wheelchair as I'm paralyzed on one side from a stroke. We rented points and stayed at Saratoga. It was awful. The assigned room was a 2 bedroom and only the second bedroom had any accessible features. Sydney at the front desk had me in tears, and then laughed in my face, there were zero grab rails in the main room's bathroom and they would not consider adding any. I could not go through the bedroom or bathroom door in my wheelchair. They indicated they could not relocate us as there was no availability anywhere on property. They offered to refund the points - not a help to me when that means I'm sleeping in my car. Could not say so as the rental is a secret. I can't risk having a room where I'm not safe, nor do I want to be left stranded.

We love OKW for the theme, and tranquility plus square footage. BWV was convenient to parks but that is not a focus for future trips and tranquil is not synonymous with BWV. I can't see us going back to Saratoga after this experience. I asked about accessible room counts and the DVC rep was unable to offer any facts. I need you experts to weigh in.

I don’t know you, but your story just broke my heart and made me mad at the same time. I’m sorry you had to experience that.

I would think the newer resorts are more likely to be ADA friendly. Of course, it might be a real pain to have to take a boat or a bus if you ever want to go to a park.

How are you thinking about balancing the two?

Bay Lake is a great value right now, and an easy trip to the Magic Kingdom and Monorail… but no resort charm to speak of.

Copper Creek is a great value, incredible resort, but you have to take a bus or a boat to get anywhere.

You could probably put Animal Kingdom in a similar spot to Copper Creek, but you really don’t need the home advantage to book here and have higher dues. Of course, the restaurants are very highly rated and you can always enjoy the Savannah.

This might be a good conversation to have with a resale agent who use to be a DVC guide and knows more details about the properties and the level of ADA accommodations.

 

[pianomanzano]

This was my thought too. OKW they're pretty good about putting you on the first floor if you actually need a wheelchair/scooter but only 3 of the buildings have an elevator IIRC. The other downside is if you actually wanted to go to somewhere the buses can get full especially in the morning and you will watch 2-3 buses go by because they've already filled their capacity of 2 scooters/wheelchairs if you're staying in one of the later stops.

Yea, the three buildings with elevators are closest to the last stop in the internal bus route, so I imagine (RE: buses at capacity) that happens fairly frequently.

 

[TCRAIG]

I’m not sure about the accessibility of the rooms - I use an ECV but can walk - but as far as relaxing or resort features - I’d go with VGF. Monorail or use the path to MK and love VGF’s and GF lobby…OKW is great too but there’s still busses to contend with. Either way - I think you’d need to book an accessible room to guarantee handrails, wide doors, roll-in showers etc.

 

[intamin]

I don’t know you, but your story just broke my heart and made me mad at the same time. I’m sorry you had to experience that.

I would think the newer resorts are more likely to be ADA friendly. Of course, it might be a real pain to have to take a boat or a bus if you ever want to go to a park.

How are you thinking about balancing the two?

Bay Lake is a great value right now, and an easy trip to the Magic Kingdom and Monorail… but no resort charm to speak of.

Copper Creek is a great value, incredible resort, but you have to take a bus or a boat to get anywhere.

You could probably put Animal Kingdom in a similar spot to Copper Creek, but you really don’t need the home advantage to book here and have higher dues. Of course, the restaurants are very highly rated and you can always enjoy the Savannah.

This might be a good conversation to have with a resale agent who use to be a DVC guide and knows more details about the properties and the level of ADA accommodations.

The good thing with CCV and AKV is at least they only have one bus stop, I suppose 2 for AKV if you count Kidani. OKW you have to take a boat or bus regardless and there are 5 bus stops. I would put either above OKW

 

[NVDISFamily]

I would think the newer resorts are more likely to be ADA friendly

I'd really consider this. Seems like they are better with having more ADA options on the new builds. Perhaps I'm biased on what I see at VGC and VDH. I'd hope the Poly 2 tower will have good options.

The other wildcard would be the new FW Cabins. Would it help more to have direct dive up access to the room/cabin? I wonder how they will be designed and how that will help people with ADA needs.

The one thing is that coming up we will have a lot of new inventory for sale and the chance at a good price per point at the Poly Tower, Riviera, or the cabins is high. I could see another sub 170s price per point in the future.

Best of luck to you.

 

[🍀TwinsMom]

My husband uses an ECV, and so far we have done Beach Club (studio one night,) Saratoga two-bedroom, OKW one-bedroom, Grand Floridian one-bedroom, and a studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom at Riviera multiple times.

While Riviera is our home resort, I honestly can say it has absolutely the best laid-out rooms, in our experiences and opinions for ECVs and getting around.

Beach Club studio WAS a handicap accessible room, and we really liked it! It was RIGHT next to the quiet pool, ground floor, and massive bathroom. My husband doesn't need the handrails, etc., so I can't speak to the functionality of the room for accessibility being totally wheelchair bound, but the bathroom space WAS impressive, and the location near the pool was amazing.

OKW, we loved, but bus-only, few truly accessible rooms, etc., we only stay there for R&R trips when we're not doing parks.

Hated SS, full stop. That pie-shape entry layout and weird bathroom access with doors everywhere and small nook kitchen -- just no.

GF was beautiful but surprisingly cramped in the foyer and hard to get around once the Murphy bed was down and folks were unpacked.

Riviera wins hands down for us. The foyer is huge, plenty of room for maneuverability. We really like the galley-alley-style kitchen with the wide center boulevard, and there's enough room to transition into the bedroom from the living room and into the bathroom.

The covered single bus stop is lovely and efficient so far on all our trips. The Skyliner is our favorite part of the resort, very easy to access, and all covered food options in AC/heat is huge for us.

Maybe Riviera resale?

 

[Cfabar1]

My vote would be WLCCV, but another option might be to wait for the cabins to come online. That might be your best bet yet potentially depending on how ADA compliant they are and if you come to WDW with a car.

 

[sndral]

We sold our contract in 2020 at BWV and are considering buying back in. Probably resale as direct does not have enough for the extra $ per point at this point. I need input on where to buy. Life changes and now I rely on a wheelchair as I'm paralyzed on one side from a stroke. We rented points and stayed at Saratoga. It was awful. The assigned room was a 2 bedroom and only the second bedroom had any accessible features. Sydney at the front desk had me in tears, and then laughed in my face, there were zero grab rails in the main room's bathroom and they would not consider adding any. I could not go through the bedroom or bathroom door in my wheelchair. They indicated they could not relocate us as there was no availability anywhere on property. They offered to refund the points - not a help to me when that means I'm sleeping in my car. Could not say so as the rental is a secret. I can't risk having a room where I'm not safe, nor do I want to be left stranded.

We love OKW for the theme, and tranquility plus square footage. BWV was convenient to parks but that is not a focus for future trips and tranquil is not synonymous with BWV. I can't see us going back to Saratoga after this experience. I asked about accessible room counts and the DVC rep was unable to offer any facts. I need you experts to weigh in.

Accessible rooms are a booking category w/ all DVC resorts, however there are several different types of accessible rooms that can be booked, I‘m wondering if the 2 br. at SSR was booked as an accessible villa & if so which type. It sounds like Sydney needs to find a job not dealing w/ the public. I’ve read calling housekeeping can be helpful w/ getting things like grab rails, although apparently not all surfaces work for them.
Here’s a thread with details about the H/A rooms/villas at all WDW resorts & it includes the DVC villas https://www.disboards.com/threads/w...ible-room-locations-and-measurements.1180437/ which might be helpful - especially the more recent posts.
OP you might also post your questions in the disABILITIES forum https://www.disboards.com/forums/disabilities.20/ in your situation I’d want to know how hard/easy it is to book a wheelchair accessible villa at the various DVC resorts since there are a limited number, I assume the bigger resorts would have more, how hard/easy transportation is at that resort, etc..
If you’re looking for tranquil, I’m not sure Riviera as suggested upthread is the answer, since the grounds are so compact & resale there is limited to booking there, the point charts are higher than what you’re used to w/ BWV so you’ll need to buy more points, & the MFs are among the highest of the WDW DVC resorts.
Good luck w/ your search & I hope you find the right resort for your visits going forward.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I'm sorry to hear of the life changes you've experienced as well as the poor experience at SSR. While reading it I also wondered if the room category was actually booked as the accessible option that you required? They are all booking categories now vs being requests as they were in the past or when you had to call into the special Disney accessibility assignor. It doesn't sound like the room booked was correct as we have had accessible rooms at SSR and the master is the one that has the features listed.

I guess a lot depends on what you're most focused on. Because the accessible rooms are now booking types that is not the issue it used to be and I'd say you should be fine at any resort as long as the options needed are the type of room booked. Some resorts do it better than others. Frankly Disney is fairly terrible at designing good accessible rooms though.
For studios the Poly has a nice feature of hallway door openers so you can get into your room with your wheelchair without assistance. That may be a feature that has gone into other resorts newer than it but it was the 1st afaik to get the auto door openers.
At OKW you'll also be fine as long as you book the HA room type required. Yes, not all buildings have elevators but the ones without do not have accessible rooms on the high floor, or maybe any floor. I think they are concentrated in the 3 buildings with elevators.
To maneuver about in the larger villa room (1 & 2BR's) in a wheelchair I'd look at those with more living space such as OKW, AKV (Kidani although the accessible in Jambo is set up to give enough maneuverability as I recall) and BLT. Others might be VGF and Riviera although I have not seen 1 & 2BR accessible rooms at either. The VGF accessible studio with tub was decently designed.
At BLT I believe the 2BR's all have accessible features in both bedrooms baths. They are all in the lakeview category but all on the north side with views towards the MK.