Recent Room Renovation Bad for Amputees?

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cobright

DIS Veteran
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Jan 6, 2013
Some of the recent room renovations have featured hard surface flooring, plastic floors that look like wood. I just got back from a stay at CSR and the flooring in particular rubbed me the wrong way.

One issue I had in particular was that I got thinking about a friend of mine who uses a prosthetic leg. On one of his prosthetics he has a series of rubber nubs(?) on the base of the 'foot' which seem like they would grip the plastic flooring well enough when dry but because they have much less surface area than an actual foot might be more inclined to slip when wet vs. a flesh foot. His other leg has a foot that is hard molded plastic that's intended to dress easily in regular clothes, so I assume it would slide easily on such a smooth floor.

So I've been talking with this particular friend about it a bit today and he's not a Disney fan exactly and doesn't have 1st hand experience of the resorts from this past decade or so, but he said that hard surface floors like tile and even wood flooring can be a real problem. Even his utilitarian leg is more prone to slipping on the tile at his gym than a regular foot would be, despite being made of material designed to grip when wet. It's one of those things he just has to deal with.

For a bathroom, or kitchen, locker room, or laundry having a sealed hard surface is a necessity. But the new rooms at CSR and Pop Century and probably others coming, have put this kind of flooring throughout the room, and I'm concerned.

Anyone else thinking about this? Anyone have first hand experience with the new flooring and a medical or mobility device?
 
You raise a valid point. Though I don't know that there can be a truly universal solution that will suit all needs. People with allergies have definitely commented on preferring the flooring vs carpet. We have removed some carpeting here at home and it has helped lessen my family's airborne allergies.
 
Carpets harbor all sorts of disgusting things. I can see the decision to phase them out to minimize allergies, dirt and whatnot. Pre hip replacement I had issues with instability on many smooth surfaces. Especially wearing just socks. You just learn to walk care
 
I was on 5 medication to prevent me from having asthma attacks due to my allergee we took the carpit out of just my room and I got ride of 4 of them with in 6 weeks and the last one a few weeks later. I know when I stay some where that carpit I can tell the next day. as the PP said you can not plese everyone all the time. Could your friend wear the skid proff socks to help him no slip as easy
 
Yea, as a wheelchair user I noticed my wheels slipped a bit on the new flooring. When my chair was next to the bed and I was making a transfer into the bed my wheelchair slid on the smooth surface. I'm planning on bringing a non-slip mat on my next trip so I can place my wheelchair wheels on the mat when I'm transferring. It's terrible when you place one hand on the bed, one on the wheelchair and lift. If/when the wheelchair slides away you just end up on the floor.
 
Some of the recent room renovations have featured hard surface flooring, plastic floors that look like wood. I just got back from a stay at CSR and the flooring in particular rubbed me the wrong way.

One issue I had in particular was that I got thinking about a friend of mine who uses a prosthetic leg. On one of his prosthetics he has a series of rubber nubs(?) on the base of the 'foot' which seem like they would grip the plastic flooring well enough when dry but because they have much less surface area than an actual foot might be more inclined to slip when wet vs. a flesh foot. His other leg has a foot that is hard molded plastic that's intended to dress easily in regular clothes, so I assume it would slide easily on such a smooth floor.

So I've been talking with this particular friend about it a bit today and he's not a Disney fan exactly and doesn't have 1st hand experience of the resorts from this past decade or so, but he said that hard surface floors like tile and even wood flooring can be a real problem. Even his utilitarian leg is more prone to slipping on the tile at his gym than a regular foot would be, despite being made of material designed to grip when wet. It's one of those things he just has to deal with.

For a bathroom, or kitchen, locker room, or laundry having a sealed hard surface is a necessity. But the new rooms at CSR and Pop Century and probably others coming, have put this kind of flooring throughout the room, and I'm concerned.

Anyone else thinking about this? Anyone have first hand experience with the new flooring and a medical or mobility device?

It sounds like your friend should see about getting something else for the bottom of his prosthetics, in that case. There are tile floors in just about every public building I can think of - how does he handle that?

Yea, as a wheelchair user I noticed my wheels slipped a bit on the new flooring. When my chair was next to the bed and I was making a transfer into the bed my wheelchair slid on the smooth surface. I'm planning on bringing a non-slip mat on my next trip so I can place my wheelchair wheels on the mat when I'm transferring. It's terrible when you place one hand on the bed, one on the wheelchair and lift. If/when the wheelchair slides away you just end up on the floor.

Is it slipping with the brakes on? Or do you not set the brakes when transferring?

The floors are still pretty new - give them time and the glossy coat will be coming off, I'm sure.
 
It sounds like your friend should see about getting something else for the bottom of his prosthetics, in that case. There are tile floors in just about every public building I can think of - how does he handle that?

Presumably, he is wearing shoes when out in a public building. More likely to be barefoot in a hotel room.
 


Is it slipping with the brakes on? Or do you not set the brakes when transferring?

The floors are still pretty new - give them time and the glossy coat will be coming off, I'm sure.

In April at POP my chair was slipping with the brakes on. The wheels either get wet after the shower or pick up dust while out and about. With carpeting there was no issue but these new floors are so smooth my wheels would slide even with the brakes on. I'm a T6 complete paraplegic who cannot feel/move anything below my rib cage. So for me I place one hand on the bed and one on my chair to make a transfer. All of my weight is carried by my arms and when I push down/off of the chair it needs to have a good grip on the floor or else it slides.

I understand the move to a laminate floor and am not saying they should all remain carpeting. Instead I'm learning to adapt to the new flooring by bringing my own non-slip mat.
 
In April at POP my chair was slipping with the brakes on. The wheels either get wet after the shower or pick up dust while out and about. With carpeting there was no issue but these new floors are so smooth my wheels would slide even with the brakes on. I'm a T6 complete paraplegic who cannot feel/move anything below my rib cage. So for me I place one hand on the bed and one on my chair to make a transfer. All of my weight is carried by my arms and when I push down/off of the chair it needs to have a good grip on the floor or else it slides.

I understand the move to a laminate floor and am not saying they should all remain carpeting. Instead I'm learning to adapt to the new flooring by bringing my own non-slip mat.
I am more then wondering more then anything so if this would not work i am sorry ( it might make things worst) but could you use a towel and put this on the ground and wheel over it. ( I know it could move but whould it with your chair on it) Also have you let Disney know about this they might be able to get some of those none skid mats that go under the carpit that you could ask for when you check in. just a thought.
 
In April at POP my chair was slipping with the brakes on. The wheels either get wet after the shower or pick up dust while out and about. With carpeting there was no issue but these new floors are so smooth my wheels would slide even with the brakes on. I'm a T6 complete paraplegic who cannot feel/move anything below my rib cage. So for me I place one hand on the bed and one on my chair to make a transfer. All of my weight is carried by my arms and when I push down/off of the chair it needs to have a good grip on the floor or else it slides.

I understand the move to a laminate floor and am not saying they should all remain carpeting. Instead I'm learning to adapt to the new flooring by bringing my own non-slip mat.

How about the lining you put under rugs that rolls up? That would be an easy fix, perhaps? I'm thinking a mat may be hard to bring with you, unless you drive? The lining stuff is cheap, and you could just chuck it in the trash after the trip instead of trying to bring it home. Although, I guess you could leave the mat behind too!
 
It sounds like your friend should see about getting something else for the bottom of his prosthetics, in that case. There are tile floors in just about every public building I can think of - how does he handle that?
Well normally I suspect he would have shoes on. Or be using a prosthetic foot with tread designed for traction on surfaces including hard surfaces.

The impression I got was that there is a bit of extra care that must go in to walking on hard surfaces, especially so on those that may be wet, and especially when using a hard plastic foot without shoes on.

To whatever extent this is an issue for someone, Disney just took the portion of the resort room where one must be especially careful from 10% to 100% by replacing carpet with hard plastic flooring.
Well, then wouldn't it make sense to wear shoes in the room if the floor was too slippery?
Wouldn't it make sense to have a bedroom you can get around in without shoes on?

ea, as a wheelchair user I noticed my wheels slipped a bit on the new flooring. When my chair was next to the bed and I was making a transfer into the bed my wheelchair slid on the smooth surface.
This! This is what I immediately thought when my feet hit this plastic. I was hoping that perhaps they had used a kind of plastic flooring that maybe performed better when wet or something. I don't know, but maybe like the earpieces on my Oakleys are a kind of rubber plastic that actually grips better when wet.

People with allergies have definitely commented on preferring the flooring vs carpet. We have removed some carpeting here at home and it has helped lessen my family's airborne allergies.
Asthma and allergies are far more common than the sort of mobility issues that might be adversely affected by the hard flooring. From a pure Jeremy Bentham perspective it makes sense. It's also cheaper over its lifespan and faster to clean. So it's probably what we all have to look forward to everywhere. To me it seems like what the end result would be if a committee were formed to come up with a plan to make slip and falls as common everywhere in your hotel room as they are in the bathroom.
 
I am more then wondering more then anything so if this would not work i am sorry ( it might make things worst) but could you use a towel and put this on the ground and wheel over it. ( I know it could move but whould it with your chair on it) Also have you let Disney know about this they might be able to get some of those none skid mats that go under the carpit that you could ask for when you check in. just a thought.

For this first trip I'm trying out non-slip shelf liner. It's thin, light, and cheap. I'll cut a couple of 3 foot lengths and bring them along. At the end of the trip I'll decide if it's worth taking them home.

I do use a towel on the floor of the roll-in shower. Because the floor is wet there the towel sticks fairly well to the floor. But I think the dry smooth floor in the room might make the dry
towel not work.
 
My other complaint on the flooring is a less direct one. While most of my trips to Disney are with my wife (with or without the kids) I will also visit the mouse with a (platonic) lady friend. She's had a rough go with cancer and is coming out the other side pretty battered. Whenever possible we take a king bed room and share it (platonically) because the rooms are usually less cluttered than with 2 beds. Even so, on some trips she has more pain issues than others and on some trips I roll and kick in the night more than others; On these occasions I have always happily shifted my kit to the floor for the night. The thought of doing so on these plastic floors is cringe worthy.
 
In April at POP my chair was slipping with the brakes on. The wheels either get wet after the shower or pick up dust while out and about. With carpeting there was no issue but these new floors are so smooth my wheels would slide even with the brakes on. I'm a T6 complete paraplegic who cannot feel/move anything below my rib cage. So for me I place one hand on the bed and one on my chair to make a transfer. All of my weight is carried by my arms and when I push down/off of the chair it needs to have a good grip on the floor or else it slides.

I understand the move to a laminate floor and am not saying they should all remain carpeting. Instead I'm learning to adapt to the new flooring by bringing my own non-slip mat.

I encourage you to contact Disney and let them know about this. It is quite possible that their designers are not disabled themselves and have no idea the problems their updated rooms are causing some people. While they may not change the rooms, they may make non-slip mats available upon request or even standard in the accessible rooms so you won't have to bring your own.
 
But it's a hotel room, not your own private bedroom. I never go barefoot in a hotel room, ew!

Not everyone has a problem with going barefoot in a hotel room. Some people won't touch anything and disinfect every surface before they let their family in the room while others just move in. Neither is right or wrong but an individual preference. A disabled person that is slipping on the new flooring is a liability to Disney. It is an issue that Disney should address but they need their guests to share their experiences so that they are aware of the problem.
 
For this first trip I'm trying out non-slip shelf liner. It's thin, light, and cheap. I'll cut a couple of 3 foot lengths and bring them along. At the end of the trip I'll decide if it's worth taking them home.

I do use a towel on the floor of the roll-in shower. Because the floor is wet there the towel sticks fairly well to the floor. But I think the dry smooth floor in the room might make the dry
towel not work.
so if the floor is really slippery then wetting a towel some and useing this so the chair will not slip could help ( just as long as you do not get the towel to wet,

I think we are thinking of the samething, they are very cheep and very small so backing them would not take up much room, the question about the towel was more of an iforgot and need something type of question ( i have a friend that uses a wheelchair she can walk but sometimes so is too weak to walk to her chair)
 
so if the floor is really slippery then wetting a towel some and useing this so the chair will not slip could help ( just as long as you do not get the towel to wet,

I think we are thinking of the samething, they are very cheep and very small so backing them would not take up much room, the question about the towel was more of an iforgot and need something type of question ( i have a friend that uses a wheelchair she can walk but sometimes so is too weak to walk to her chair)

I'd guess she'd be fine even without the towel. Since she can stand she won't be putting much sideways force on her wheelchair when she transfers. I do a major push off of my chair because all of my weight is on my arms.
 
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