Please tell me about....

[mykidsintow]

OKW accessible 2 bedroom unit? I just booked for Feb.

I am also wondering about peanut allergy. We will be traveling with a friend. Her son has an anaphilactic peanut allergy. Is there anything we should tell them about the room? Can they extra-clean it so we know its safe for him? How should we handle this? My son has food allergies, nothing quite as serious.


Thanks for any information!

 

[SueM in MN]

They are huge and you can drive a wheelchair practically anywhere in the unit without moving any furniture!
I've got pictures, but the only ones I have on the internet right now are bathrooms.
This is the roll in shower in the studio portion:

This is the rest of the studio bathroom:

There is still a whirlpool tub in the Master bedroom (in addition to the roll in shower there).

Here's a picture of the wheelchair accessible boat you can take to Downtown Disney:

I'll try to post more pictures tomorrow. OKW is our DC home resort, so we have been there many times.

 

[OneLittleSpark]

I'm afraid I can't post about the accessible rooms (but it looks like Sue has covered just about every angle already), as I can get about the room without my chair (no need to take up one of the few accessible rooms if I'm OK without!), but I can post a bit about the resort. So here goes:

It's a lovely resort to stay in! OK, that's me done.

No, but seriously, it is a very pretty hotel, easy to wheel about (though fairly large and spread out) and the CMs are all lovely (when are they not?!). The bit of the hotel with check-in, restaurant, shop etc is pretty easy to get about. Nice and flat, easy paving to wheel on and push buttons on most of the doors.

When we stayed there, we were in building 19, which was nice and quiet, but it was still easy to get to wherever we wanted to go (see the OKW map for details). Our studio was right next to the bus stop, and just behind one of the quiet pools, which was very convenient for us (early morning swims are one of the few advantages of jet lag).

One slight draw-back we found with OKW, is that it doesn't have a Counter Service restaurant, just a TS and a take out place. However, my mother and I, being the resourceful (or awkward ) people that we are, found an alternative! It is possible (or at least was in September) to get from OKW to POFQ fairly quickly. The path is a little bumpy, but is doable in a chair, and for us in building 19, it was actually quicker to get there than Hospitality House! Here are detailed instructions on how to get there. You can also walk to SS along the riverside, but that would be a longer walk.

The store in the main building has a fairly good range of foods for its size, but if you're planning to self cater most of the time, you might want to go to a supermarket or get groceries delivered. For us it wasn't an issue, as we had toast for breakfast in the room, then ate most other meals in the parks.

We had no problems at all with transport, and very rarely had to wait for a second bus. When we did, it was more often because of lift problems, than lack of space. We did go in September, though, and the resort was pretty quiet. We usually managed to get almost everyone at the stop on the first bus, even at park closing (a lot of the other resorts were busier than OKW, because of free dining)! The boats to DTD are frequent, and ridiculously easy to use with a chair (if the water level is right, you may not even need the ramp put down!).

As for the peanut allergy, you can ask for the room to be given a 'deep clean'. They will do this for people with severe asthma etc, so I'm sure they'd be happy to do so for your party as well. It might be best if you explained why you needed the deep clean, so they will pay particular attention to the kitchen area, as well as the soft furnishings.

Hope this helps!

 

[mykidsintow]

My soon-to-be-5 yr old is the one in the power wheelchair. I told MS that we did not *really* need an accessible room. However they told us at OKW that is the *ONLY* way to be sure and get a main level room and otherwise we could likely be stuck with steps. Actually my not-so-helpful MS person was a bit rude. "Why don't you just carry the chair up the steps? Its not a big deal with a 5 yr old." I said "How about you take your time off and come carry that 300 lb chair for us that week? Although I must say I am not sure making comments like that you will still have a job at Disney in Feb." Suddenly she got *nice*. I plan to wait until closer and call the resort directly to speak to the room assigner. If they will just give us a main level room we don't need to waste the accessible room. However, I CANNOT carry a 300 lb power chair up steps. Its not like a push chair for a child, ya kno?

The boats are nice we used them at SSR and at POFQ in the past. I think she only needed the ramp once.... Which was suprising to the captains as we would go right on, but very nice.

I am excited! OKW was our only option aside from SSR. Once at SSR was enough for me. I will avoid it in the future if possible. I am very excited about having space! We have never stayed anywhere buy studios

Thanks for the help so far! I am thrilled there is still a tub with the shower. We need the tub, not the roll-in. Maybe they need to set aside other rooms for those that *cannot* do steps and not waste accessible rooms... I am sure in the future we will *need* that accessible room, but for now we just need no steps.

Thanks again!

 

[SueM in MN]

We were in the same situation for many years - DD was small and we didn't need a room with a roll in shower. It also didn't work out well for us (small children and raised seat toilets, you know).
In all those years, we never had a problem with getting first floor. We made it our first request and it was on our confirmation sheet as "First Floor for Medical Reasons". They do fill the medical requests before requests for other reasons.

Consider that almost 1/2 of all the OKW 2 bedrooms are on the first floor, so even without requesting it, your chance is 50/50 that you will be on first floor. Also, a lot of people do request higher floors at OKW because they like to see over the landscaping. The stairs are pretty 'easy on the knees' so some people who might ask for first floor because of worry about climbing stairs find it's not a problem for them. When we were getting there early in the day, we just went with requesting first floor for medical reasons and not do the accessible room. I think twice in all the times, we ended up assigned a 2nd floor room. We made sure before we left the check out place that we had a first floor room and not a problem.

 

[OneLittleSpark]

Actually my not-so-helpful MS person was a bit rude. "Why don't you just carry the chair up the steps? Its not a big deal with a 5 yr old."

Goodness me! I loved your answer, though, very nicely put

When we went, we asked for our studio on the ground floor "for medical reasons", and there was no problem whatsoever. The person we were renting from was absolutely wonderful (we're not members... yet ), and got everything sorted out for us without a fuss. I just phoned a few days in advance to confirm that everything was still on the booking (I've had accessibility information 'fall off' bookings with other companies before), and checked again when we checked in. They also put us in a very convenient location, as I said above, and that may have been party because of the mobility issues (it may also have been because the resort was fairly empty).

We were staying in a regular studio room, and I reckon I could have got my wheelchair around most of it, had I wanted to, only the bathroom would have been 'interesting'. I don't know if you've seen this, but this website has floor plans of the rooms, so you can get an idea of the space and layout before you get there: http://www.kingdom-travel.com/Walt_Disney_World_Resorts/Disney_Old_Key_West_Resort.shtml

Hope you guys have a great trip!

 

[mykidsintow]

We have my daughters power chair on a lift on the back of our truck. If we were to get a 2nd floor we would have to leave he chair on the back of our truck with a tarp over it and just *pray* no one messed with it and the rain didn't leak. With a 30K power chair, we cannot take that chance. Her chair *MUST* be able to get into our room, period.

I will call and speak to the room assigner....

Thanks again,

Beth

 

[OneLittleSpark]

Don't worry, it's Disney! They'll make sure everything goes smoothly! Just make sure that "ground floor for medical reasons" is on your reservation, check it a few days before you arrive, and Robert is your proverbial uncle!

If you think it would be easier for you guys to have an accessible room, don't feel guilty about booking one; you have a genuine need, and that's what those rooms are there for. Just do whatever will make your holiday as fun, easy and stress-free as possible

 

[laughinplace199]

OKW accessible 2 bedroom unit? I just booked for Feb.

I am also wondering about peanut allergy. We will be traveling with a friend. Her son has an anaphilactic peanut allergy. Is there anything we should tell them about the room? Can they extra-clean it so we know its safe for him? How should we handle this? My son has food allergies, nothing quite as serious.


Thanks for any information!

My Dd has a severe peanut/tree nut allergy and we've stayed at OKW several times. We don't ask for any extra cleaning. When we get to our unit, I put all of the dishes, glasses, silverware, etc. in the dishwasher and run it. Then, I get out my supply of Clorox wipes and wipe down the tables, chairs, counters, etc.

 

[dclfun]

When I was first diagnosed but still ambulatory we never had a problem requesting "first floor for medical reasons" at OKW, which was our home resort. There are lots of people who struggle physically with stairs but don't need a roll in shower. I really think you'd be fine with that request, but please don't worry about taking a roll in shower room away from another guest who might need one as there seem to be plenty at that resort to meet the need, and you're not responsible for other guests either- only to insure that your own family is accommodated comfortably. You'll be surprised at all the space in a 1 bdr villa at OKW- they're my favorite accommodations out of all the DVC properties.---Kathy