Polynesian with disabilities?

[Tikiman]

I am just looking for any information that would be helpful to someone going to the Polynesian with a disability. If any of you have experience with being there with a disability or someone who does, what things were important to you? Also did you have a accessible room? Do you have photos or the location of it?

Any info I can add to my web page for the Polynesian would be appreciated.

Aloha

Steve

 

[SueM in MN]

We haven't stayed there, so I can't add anything real helpful. There are some fairly frequent visitors to this board who can probably help you out.
I just wanted to say "Thank You" for adding this type of info to your website.

 

[jbird327]

Steve, I was at the Polynesian this past January with my longtime friend who had been diagnosed with ALS 4 months prior. At the time of planning the trip he was still able to walk on his own, however we were not able to determine what would be at the time of the trip. I chose the Polynesian based on my past stay and compared it to the Contemporary, where I had also previously stayed. The major factor with the Polynesian was the ability to stay on ground level with easy access and the close proximity of various transportation. I did not request a special room in advance. The Polynesian worked out very well - we were in Tahiti, ground level, LV. Out the glass doors and we were on the beach or walkway. The monorail or boat to the MK was great and the short walk to the TTC was perfect. My friend was able to get around without a wheel chair during the trip and he was very comfortable knowing that it was not a major effort to get to the parks. The most important thing was the ease of getting around - we spent most of the days at either MK or Epcot (I had my car so trips to MGM or AK did not rely on Disney transportation). Hope this is useful information. Jay

 

[dclfun]

I too have ALS and will be staying at the Poly in an accessible room in December. I'll be glad to take photos and send them to you. The only thing I don't like about all the resorts laid out like the Poly is having to go outside to get to your building/room. If it's raining, those of us in power chairs have a major ordeal ahead. This is why I prefer AKLodge, where everything is "indoors" or the walkways are covered. ----Kathy

 

[Tikiman]

SueM in MN,

I have tried to add information for those staying at the Polynesian with disabilities (or I see it more as challenges) and I wanted to see if I can add more. Since I don’t have any experience with that aspect of the resort myself I figured someone must have experienced the Polynesian from that point of view.

Jay,

Thanks for the info. I would think the Polynesian would be a good choice because of the transportation options. How did you feel it was better than the Contemporary? Because of the access to the TTC?

Kathy,

I would love to have photos of the room, especially the things added to help make the room more user friendly. I was inside one of the rooms in Rapa Nui while the new design was being done and I saw one that had a different bathroom where the toilet was right at the door and it had more floor space with a different sink area (only one sink) and handles in many locations. I know there are also rooms with roll in showers but I have no photos of that. If you do get some photos email them to me at Polynesian@tikiman2001.net

I agree that it would have been nice to be covered like the AKL but the pathways and plants are a big part of what makes the Polynesian special. I learn to go through other longhouses when it is raining. Coming from the GCH you can go through many of the longhouses to get to other longhouses without getting very wet.

I think one thing I see as a bonus about the Polynesian is the longhouse that has the H/A rooms has its own (hardly used) parking lot right next to the building with easy access to your car (if you have one there). It is also closest to the TTC that has all transportation (boat, bus, monorail to MK and Epcot). I was told all the H/A rooms face into the garden areas and do not face the parking lot. I was in a room once in Rapa Nui facing the garden area and the view was very nice and it was quiet over there.

Aloha

Steve

 

[RaySharpton]

I am just looking for any information that would be helpful to someone going to the Polynesian with a disability. If any of you have experience with being there with a disability or someone who does, what things were important to you? Also did you have a accessible room? Do you have photos or the location of it?

Any info I can add to my web page for the Polynesian would be appreciated.

Aloha

Steve

Hi, Steve. I haven't seen your website in awhile, but it sure is neat. You have put a lot of work into it.

I wish I knew how to start one of those websites for myself, but I am just so computer illiterate that I stick with my WebTV at home.

I always go to the Poly every single WDW visit to get my Tonga Toast fix...lol.

But I have never stayed at the Poly.

When I go back this December, I'll try to get some info and photos for you.

I do know that even though the Poly parking lot is very close to the front entrance, it is kind of steep to get up that slope from the parking lot to the front entrance.

I remember trying to drive my scooter up that ramp type device. At least I thought it was a ramp. It might have been a very wide drainage device. It was pretty narrow to drive the scooter up and through.

I usually park further to the entrance side and just drive my scooter up the main road to the Poly entrance.

I don't think that the boat launch can carry the scooter, unless it is a big one like the ones that go to WL.

I'll try driving around the resort next time, too.

Thank you very much for asking.

Deb Wills' new book, PassPorter's Walt Disney World for Your Special Needs: The Take-Along Travel Guide and Planner says on page 149,

..."Most of the wheelchair-accessible rooms are in the Rapa Nui, and all of the rooms with a roll-in shower are here. This building is next door to the Transportation and Ticket Center, making it a fair distance from the Great Cremonial House services. ...and the pool has a zero-entry access...

 

[Tikiman]

Aloha Ray,

You are right that from the main parking lot to the lobby there are ramps and they can be a little steep but they should be wide enough. They drive the golf carts through them but I think your suggestion of going to the other end of the parking lot and heading down the sidewalk is a good one.

The parking lot I was referring to is off to the side between the TTC and Rapa Nui to the right of the guard booth (shown in this photo below)

You can park even closer and be right at the entrance of Rapa Nui longhouse (where the H/A rooms are).

Also you are correct about the motor launch boat over past the pool but right next to Tahiti longhouse is the launch for the big boat over to the MK and I believe you can roll right on to that one. This boat is even bigger than the ones that go to the WL.

I think with Rapa Nui being next to the parking lot, the bus stop and the TTC it makes it a nice location. Also walking from Rapa Nui to the GCH, pool or beach is less than 5 minutes so I don’t see it as very far unless it is raining. If it were raining I would go right through Rarotonga to get back to Rapa Nui. The end of Rarotonga is closer to the end of Rapa Nui (just on the other side of the building with the arcade. Might still get wet but not as bad.

I would love any information you find out when you return.

Aloha

Steve

 

[spiceycat]

mother needs a wheelchair for her visit.

the doors are bigger in the Rapa Nui.

the room itself was bigger.

mother loved all the handles in the room.

we were told to go through Rarotonga - the bell person even showed us that way.

love the little carts that they take you to your room.

 

[jbird327]

Jay,

Thanks for the info. I would think the Polynesian would be a good choice because of the transportation options. How did you feel it was better than the Contemporary? Because of the access to the TTC?

I think one thing I see as a bonus about the Polynesian is the longhouse that has the H/A rooms has its own (hardly used) parking lot right next to the building with easy access to your car (if you have one there). It is also closest to the TTC that has all transportation (boat, bus, monorail to MK and Epcot). I was told all the H/A rooms face into the garden areas and do not face the parking lot. I was in a room once in Rapa Nui facing the garden area and the view was very nice and it was quiet over there.

Aloha

Steve

Steve, I was in the Contemporary in the early 80s in the tower. I found that it required alot of travel to get outside - elevator/escalator/steps...waits for the elevator, ect. although once outside, the walk to MK was not bad. On the plus side would be the number of restaurants and shops within the building.
On this past trip we parked in the lot on the right and it was a short walk to Tahiti. It really was very convienient to get to MK or EPCOT. During a day of rain, we used the various buildings to get around without getting too wet. Our main concern was to be able to get back to the room as quickly as possible from the parks if my friend began to feel tired.

 

[Tikiman]

Steve, I was in the Contemporary in the early 80s in the tower. I found that it required alot of travel to get outside - elevator/escalator/steps...waits for the elevator, ect. although once outside, the walk to MK was not bad. On the plus side would be the number of restaurants and shops within the building.
On this past trip we parked in the lot on the right and it was a short walk to Tahiti. It really was very convienient to get to MK or EPCOT. During a day of rain, we used the various buildings to get around without getting too wet. Our main concern was to be able to get back to the room as quickly as possible from the parks if my friend began to feel tired.

You know when you mention all the shops and restaurants at the Contemporary it reminds me that one of the bonuses of staying at any of the monorail resorts is that the shops and restaurants at them all are easily accessed by hopping on the monorail. We find that when we stay at the Polynesian we shoot over to the other resorts for food or shopping all the time. One day when it was raining hard we rode the monorail around and visited the GF and Contemporary. I guess the Boardwalk area is similar with the resorts around there but the difference is you have to walk to get to each resort and if it were raining you would be soaked

 

[Juliah]

Hi Steve,

We have two daughters who use wheelchairs. We have stayed at the Polynesian 6 or 7 times over the years. It is perfect for us.

We always stay in Rapa Nui. The best thing about the rooms there is that they are bigger than any room we've stayed in--at Disney or elsewhere. It's so much easier for the girls to move around.

I also love having the automatic doors into the longhouse. They slide open when you get close--no pushing a button. This allows the girls more independence to get around the grounds than they have in most of the real world. I did notice on our trip in Oct. 04 that they were locking these doors some nights, and we had to swipe a room key through a reader to get in. The front door and the door to the monorail platform in the GCH also slide open. You've no idea how wonderful this is until you've tried to wrestle two wheelchairs through a door while holding it open or repeatedly pressing a button.

We always stay in a room with a roll-in shower. I have pictures, but they're from before the remodel, so I don't know if you would want them. Roll-in showers are often sloped wrong and allow a lot of water to flow out into the room. The ones at the Polynesian are sloped better and don't usually leak much. You can request a transfer bench.

Yes, the accessible rooms on the first floor in Rapa Nui all face the garden. Some have roll-in showers, and others have tubs. All the rooms we've been in have had a door connecting to the next room, which would be nice if someone was travelling with a caregiver.

I am anxious to see the new rooms, as I am concerned about there no longer being a table. The girls have to have a surface to go up to to eat or take their medicine. I've heard there's some kind of pull-out table under the desk, but if it's lower than a standard table, it won't work for the girls. Also, while I'm glad there's a built-in fridge now, I'm disappointed there's no freezer in it. I have always requested a refrigerator when I make the reservation and gotten one with a small freezer which I use it to freeze cold packs to put behind my daughter's back in her wheelchair because she is heat intolerant. One thing I've heard that is great if true--there's now a power strip in the area of the new desk. With two wheelchair chargers, in addition to the usual assortment of electronics (laptop, battery chargers, etc.) and at times a nebulizer,that will be a big help.

The location of Rapa Nui is perfect, as you pointed out--close to the TTC and not far from the GCH. The location of the Polynesian is likewise perfect for us. Easy transportation is very important. It is so easy to use the monorails. Cast members keep a small portable ramp at each station to facilitate boarding. To get to the monorail at the GHC, you have to take an elevator, which is a little small for two wheelchairs. The ramp up to the monorail platform at the TTC is rather steep, which is not a problem with our power chairs, but might be with a manual.

The pool with zero entry is wonderful. They have a water wheelchair by the lifeguard post that you can use to roll someone into the pool. Only problem we've had is that the chair was already showing a lot of wear and tear when it was only about a year old, making it hard to push. Hope they've replaced it by now. Also, it was an adult chair, so the pvc pipes hit the girls in all the wrong places, making it fairly uncomfortable.

The new location for the bus stop puts it closer to Rapa Nui than it used to be. The buses are easy to use, but we sometimes take our van to AK and D-MGM instead because of the time it takes to load two wheelchairs onto a bus. We do like to use the ferry boat from the TTC. It's so nice just to roll on, although the ramp is a little steep and might be a problem for someone in a manual chair

The parking lot you spoke of is nice, but there are only two accessible spaces near the door. There are others that run along the length of the lot, but even those are sometimes full. It is very convenient to drop someone off at the front of Rapa Nui.

That's all I can think of right now. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[SueM in MN]

The pool with zero entry is wonderful. They have a water wheelchair by the lifeguard post that you can use to roll someone into the pool. Only problem we've had is that the chair was already showing a lot of wear and tear when it was only about a year old, making it hard to push. Hope they've replaced it by now. Also, it was an adult chair, so the pvc pipes hit the girls in all the wrong places, making it fairly uncomfortable.

I have a question about the zero entry pool. Do you have an idea of how deep the pool is?
DH and I stayed at SSR, which has a zero entry pool. We didn't have our DD (our wheelchair user) with us, so we didn't test out their water chair. I thought the pool would not work well for her though because at the deepest part it is only 3 feet 6 inches. That would work OK for someone who was planning to stay in the water chair. When we go into other pools, I usually bring her into the 4 to 5 foot deep water with me. That way, we can move around without her hitting her feet on the bottom. She's about 5 feet tall, so needs at least that depth to avoid me having to bend over her and hurt my back.

 

[Juliah]

Hi Sue,

I don't know the exact depth of the pool at the Polynesian, but it definitely gets deeper than what you are describing at SSR. My girls are about the same height as your DD, and we had no problem with their feet dragging. We wheeled each of the girls in to the point that the chair starting floating, then floated them out of the chair. In other words, you couldn't roll around the whole pool if you wanted to because it's deep enough to make the chair float. Also, the last time we were there, we were told we had to get the girls out of the chair and roll the chair back out of the pool while they were in. Don't know if this is policy or just the one lifeguard. Fortunately, there were five of us--two to hold the girls in the pool while the fifth pushed the chair back out. I would hope if I had been alone with one of my DDs the lifeguard would have moved the chair for us.

 

[SueM in MN]

Thanks. That was what I was looking for. The SSR is great for someone who can walk in, but not use steps (as long as they don't need much support from rails). It's also great for people with small children, but I found it quite shallow to swim in for me. It sounds like the Polynesian's pool would work though.

 

[BCV23]

I haven't been visiting this forum too often lately but our family is fans of Rapa Nui too. Our daughter uses a power chair. We stayed in accessible rooms with tubs in RN when she was younger. Now we stay in rooms with rollin showers. I don't think we have any pictures of the bathrooms though. Supposedly, three rooms in Hawaii were also going to become accessible. However, I asked if it was possible to see one when we were there a couple of weeks ago (sans daughter) and the couple of CMs I talked to said no one had told them which rooms were made accessible. We're hoping to stay in one next trip.

The new table is not very big in surface area, Julia. It is not quite as high as a regular table and is on wheels.

Ray, I know those ramps/drainage ditches you are talking about. Very steep. The bus used to stop right by one and it was very difficult to use. There is a winding path that is not so steep on the right hand side of the GCH as you face it.

Julia, I think we've met that lifeguard although we have not used the pool chair.

The doors to RN do seem to be locked earlier than the other longhouses during our last few stays there. Maybe by six or so.

 

[Tikiman]

I would love any photos you have of the rooms and the roll in showers. I believe the automatic doors are going in all the longhouses at some point if they are not already. There is a table you can put over where the old table was. I have photos of it on my web page. The best part is that the new table rolls around so you can move it to them. The new refrigerators do not have a freezer but they are much bigger than the old ones. There is a power strip at the desk area now.

Thank you for the information and your impressions of staying at the Polynesian from a different point of view. All this information is what I am looking for.

If you think of anything else let me know.

Aloha

Steve

Can someone tell me how the loading part of the pool works. I know there is a platform with a railing that goes into the pool and I believe it is for loading and unloading someone from a wheelchair. Anyone know what I am talking about?

 

[BCV23]

Those accessible entries work by transferring from a chair to the top and then bumping down step by step. They are useless for someone like my daughter who doesn't have the arm strength to use them. I think they are primarily useful for those who are paraplegics with good arm strength.

 

[Tikiman]

Those accessible entries work by transferring from a chair to the top and then bumping down step by step. They are useless for someone like my daughter who doesn't have the arm strength to use them. I think they are primarily useful for those who are paraplegics with good arm strength.

Thanks for the info.

Aloha

Steve

 

[SueM in MN]

Those accessible entries work by transferring from a chair to the top and then bumping down step by step. They are useless for someone like my daughter who doesn't have the arm strength to use them. I think they are primarily useful for those who are paraplegics with good arm strength.

Same for our DD.
She has cerebral palsy. Even though she has good arm strength, she can't use those steps because she needs her feet stabalized (like strapped to her wheelchair footrests or held in place by someone) in order to push with here arms.
They are useful for paraplegics or someone with a leg injury/disability who has good use of their arms. You also need good upper body strength. I don't think I would be strong enough to use just my arm strength to move my body from step to step.

 

[SueM in MN]

You know when you mention all the shops and restaurants at the Contemporary it reminds me that one of the bonuses of staying at any of the monorail resorts is that the shops and restaurants at them all are easily accessed by hopping on the monorail. We find that when we stay at the Polynesian we shoot over to the other resorts for food or shopping all the time. One day when it was raining hard we rode the monorail around and visited the GF and Contemporary. I guess the Boardwalk area is similar with the resorts around there but the difference is you have to walk to get to each resort and if it were raining you would be soaked

Being able to get around from resort to resort by monorail is a big plus. You can go all over without ever being "outside", where you have to worry about rain, but also cold/damp weather or hot/humid weather. We have taken the monorail from MK to visit the various monorail resorts and found it very easy and pleasant. And, there is a lot of variety in what you can find.

We have stayed in the Epcot area resorts a number of times. While there is a lot to see and do, all of it involves going outside. In the heat and humidity, that can be very "draining" for some people who are sensitive to that. If it is raining, you will get soaked.