Pop Century - Can this be true?

[kimsuenew]

I want everything to be perfect for our upcoming trip as we know it will not only will it be our last WDW vacation for awhile, it will be the last vacation we probably can take for 3 years (until I am out of school and both knees have been replaced).

Anyway... today I called to speak with the "special needs" reservation and had a very nice CM.

He was unable to assist with my needs at Pop Century. I was requesting a restroom with grab bars and hopefully a raised toilet. He stated that PC only has those in the rooms with "roll-in" showers.

Now I have no desire to take a roll-n shower away from anyone else that needs it... I do not (thankfully) have a need for it at this time. I do however need the safety and security of the grab bars to safely get in and out of the shower.

Could he have been mistaken or are the only "handicap equipped" rooms at PC those with roll-in showers? I had figured that rooms would be available with grab bars to assist.

We are staying for 13 nights/14 days at PC (Preferred) and upgrading to a more expensive Resort is not an option (but that may or may not help anyways).

TIA for your input, I appreciate it!

 

[SueM in MN]

No.
All resorts/hotels are required to have both types of rooms.
In some resorts, all the tubs have grab bars and that might be what he was referring to. They may not all have raised seat toilets. If the room you get in doesn't have one, housekeeping would be able to provide you with a portable toilet raiser.

 

[Schmeck]

I'm thinking that the request for the raised toilet is what made it tricky - aren't all the rooms with raised toilets also the ones with the roll-in showers? We've been in a room with just the bars in the tub, and the toilet was regular height. The room my inlaws had with the roll-in shower had the raised toilet.

Could you call back and see if you could just have the room with the bars, if you don't need the toilet raised, or as SueMN stated, get the portable seat.

 

[Talking Hands]

Pop doesn't have both types of accessible rooms. Trust me on this as I found it out when I reserved an accessible room with tub that had grab bars sourrounding the tub. Ended up in a room with only a grab bar at the back of the tub which is usless for me. Refused the room and all they could offer was a roll-in shower. It took until 1 am in the morning for them to get me a room.

 

[I Love Pluto]

I just spent the last 5 months recovering from several foot & ankle surgeries. We bought a raised toilet seat at Walgreens for around $20. Maybe you could benefit by one of these for your knees.

If you're driving, just bring the raised seat with you. If you're flying - then you still have the problem unless you take the HC room. You really wouldn't be taking it away from anyone because you really need it also.

I hope your knees feel better, and they don't give you too much trouble at WDW. Enjoy your vacation!

 

[kimsuenew]

I'm thinking that the request for the raised toilet is what made it tricky - aren't all the rooms with raised toilets also the ones with the roll-in showers? We've been in a room with just the bars in the tub, and the toilet was regular height. The room my inlaws had with the roll-in shower had the raised toilet.

Could you call back and see if you could just have the room with the bars, if you don't need the toilet raised, or as SueMN stated, get the portable seat.

Hi! Actually, the toilet request was mentioned after he had already told me that they did not have both types of rooms at PC. The toilet issue, while it would be painful and hard to get off/on a shorter toilet, was not my main concern... the grab bars were/are. I tried to re-explain what I needed (by description), adding the toilet in the second of our conversation but again, he told me that PC did not have two types of accessible rooms, only the roll-in shower type of room. I am going to call back tommorrow or Monday to see if another CM might have a different answer.

 

[kimsuenew]

Thank you ALL for your replies, I truly appreciate everyone taking time to answer and offering their insight/advice... the Disboards are truly an awesome place!

 

[MagiKitty]

kimsuenew...I had the same question last week! I too have had conflicting reports about what's where at Pop. I asked my travel agent to find out for me, this after asking here on the boards and talking to a CM. Looking forward to what you find out and maybe we can get a definitive answer! Good luck!

 

[kimsuenew]

kimsuenew...I had the same question last week! I too have had conflicting reports about what's where at Pop. I asked my travel agent to find out for me, this after asking here on the boards and talking to a CM. Looking forward to what you find out and maybe we can get a definitive answer! Good luck!

I will let you know what I find out and if you hear anything from your TA, please post!

 

[kaytieeldr]

There are, I think, about 300 handicap-accessible rooms at Pop Century. If a room with a roll-in shower is accessible for/acceptable to you, I would just take that.

 

[kimsuenew]

There are, I think, about 300 handicap-accessible rooms at Pop Century. If a room with a roll-in shower is accessible for/acceptable to you, I would just take that.

I may have to, but don't really want to, simply because:

A. I don't need it (roll-in shower), and others truly do/may.

B. I think those rooms only offer a King Bed, and we need two beds.

C. My husband likes to take bath's, ecspecially soaking in the tub after a looooong trip (we drive from Ohio) or a loooooong day (as does our son). The roll-in shower would squash that.

I may not have a choice, and if that type of HA room is the only option at PC than I will have to take one for safety reasons. I just walked in and have not had a chance to call yet. My trip is a ways off, I was just trying to "get all my ducks in a row" so that the only thing i had left to do was wait!

 

[dclfun]

They can also place a shower bench in a room with a tub, so that someone can sit on the bench and slide over into the tub- although this might not be acceptable for someone with a knee problem as you'd still have to somehow get your legs over into the tub. The other option is to switch from Pop to either ASMusic or Sports. ASMusic is probably our favorite value resort now that they have the new pillowtop beds, the larger TV and gorgeous furnishings. Those rooms seem to be much more "luxurious" than the rooms at Pop, the bus situation is better plus they have the fun family activities ( poolside movies, bingo, wii tournaments, etc). So if Pop isn't an option due to the room type, there's other choices that would be just as nice, if not better depending on what you're looking for.---Kathy

 

[Talking Hands]

I agree with Kathy on the All Star Music. And they do have the rooms with full grab rails around the tub. All Star Music is probably my favorite resort to stay at.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

I believe the rooms at Pop do have both options, because I had to make sure they put down that my mom needs the roll-in shower. No one ever stated that was all that was avail at Pop. Maybe they just aren't avail for your dates.

As Sue said, the resort are required to have both types of rooms.

Suzanne

 

[kimsuenew]

I believe the rooms at Pop do have both options, because I had to make sure they put down that my mom needs the roll-in shower. No one ever stated that was all that was avail at Pop. Maybe they just aren't avail for your dates.

As Sue said, the resort are required to have both types of rooms.

Suzanne

Pop doesn't have both types of accessible rooms. Trust me on this as I found it out when I reserved an accessible room with tub that had grab bars sourrounding the tub. Ended up in a room with only a grab bar at the back of the tub which is usless for me. Refused the room and all they could offer was a roll-in shower. It took until 1 am in the morning for them to get me a room.

Talking Hands |,,|/ DEAF Disney Lover

I thought they had to as well, however, the young man in the SNR Department said they do not (at that point he did not even have my reservation number or dates of stay).

Another poster (see bold above) said they do not have them either.

I sent a letter to Disney, inquiring about this, I will post what I do find out!

We may have to end up switching resorts, which is sad because: A. We have had this ressie since September and were so excited about PC. B. It was our DS first choice (actually only choice in a Value after visiting them last September). C. We know it is our last vacation for several years, plus it is an early graduation present for DS, (he had a choice of Myrtle Beach, HHI, (both after his June graduation) or WDW (early in his senior year) and he chose not only WDW, but Pop!

But... I will take whatever will allow us to be in WDW and for me to do it safely (oh yeah... and give us two beds, DS really doesn't want to camp out on the floor/cot for a couple of weeks)!

THANKS to ALL of you that replied, I appreciate it!

 

[kaytieeldr]

Okay, this http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=7137030&postcount=19 post has a diagram of the floor layout of the Pop buildings. As near as I can figure:
. . . Five of the ten buildings have handicap-accessible rooms.
. . . Each floor in each of those buildings has four rooms with two double beds and six rooms with one king bed each.
. . . That means 16 double-bed rooms and 24 king-bed rooms in each building.
. . . The king bed rooms probably, but not definitely, all have the larger bathrooms with the roll-in showers.
. . . The double-bed rooms seemingly can't have that design (because of the floor space needed for the beds vs. the floor space needed for a fully wheelchair-accessible room).

Therefore: There SHOULD be 80 rooms that do meet your needs/requests, despite what Special Services says; and 120 rooms that are accessible but are not what you are seeking.

You can try telling them you know that rooms 5, 19, 26, and 47 in buildings 1, 3, 5, 7, and 10 DO meet your needs - but they'll probably (a) want to know how you know and (b) may tell you they can't block a specific room for you.

I'm not sure I'd believe that if they say it. I apparently have a room in one of the elevator buildings at Old Key West in September, because I need an accessible room not so much for the roll-in shower but because I know from experience that the beds in the standard units are too high for me to get into.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

I beg to differ and have photos to prove it. Courtesy of Allearsnet

Notice in the first photo there is a HA TUB

http://allearsnet.com/acc/popcent98.jpg


http://allearsnet.com/acc/popcent99.jpg

Rooms with this kind of accessibility usually have 2 beds

Suzanne

 

[Talking Hands]

It is a HA toilet not tub. Sorry but a HA tub has grab bars surrounding the tub and not just on the back wall. It is not handicapped accessible.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Now, calm down. You don't have to beg to do anything

My post is based SOLELY on my interpretation of the building layout and the accompanying text. It's not scientific, it's not physically researched, it's not even necessarily (or apparently) accurate - note my emphasis of the word "should".

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

It is a HA toilet not tub. Sorry but a HA tub has grab bars surrounding the tub and not just on the back wall. It is not handicapped accessible.

There are hand rails on the wall of the tub, and that is considered a handicapped room, not fully accessible, but HA. It is similar to the room we had a CR and AKL that had the bars on the wall of the tub and rails on the wall by the toilet. They provided us with a tub seat. Now the shower head at CR and AKL was a regular shower head, not the adjustable one in the above photo.


Suzanne