Thanks for the great info. We knew this was going to be an issue, so I thought I would start early with suggestions, etc. My family member is in her early 40's and she just gets so frustrated with the whole issue, but it is what it is and I totally agree with getting an
ECV. The other issue is that she is Type A and never takes it easy.
We are going to go ME , use the buses and just meet them places
I was thinking about having them rent a car because that way her husband could drop her off and then park. That would be great for ADR's at hotel restaurants, but don't know if it would help with parking at the parks.
Also, do you think we should stick with OKW because you can park in front of your room? We were at BWV last year and it is a long walk from the bus stop to the lobby and then from the lobby to our room!
I would agree with the other posters - she needs to use a wheelchair or ECV. Anyone who is concerned about the distance to walk to get into the park will have a great deal of difficulty once they are actually inside the parks.
Not only will she be more comfortable using a wheelchair or ECV, but everyone else will too. We went for many years with my FIL, who had bad knees and hips. We watched him toddle from bench to bench as he took rests. He missed out on things in the park because the distance was too far to walk (and keep in mind that some of the queues are very long - even if you have a 10 minute or shorter wait, the queues in Pirates, Kilimanjari Safari, Bug's Like and Soarin' are more than 1/4 mile!).
We could see he was in pain, even though he tried to hide it, and it was hard for everyone to know that he was in pain. He left the park early every day and spent the evening with his legs up with ice on his knees. Not a nice way to finish the day.
The first time he rented an ECV at Ecpot, the difference was so great that he kept mentioning how wonderful it was to ahve one and how silly he felt to know he had 'wasted' so many trips not using one. Back at the resort, he said it was the first time in years that he had not ended the day in pain.
Driving vs Bus:
Dropping her off would work. Each park has a drop off point, just ask the CM at the entrance and then mention it to each CM directing you that you find. They will point you in the correct direction to drop off.
If she does not have a wheelchair or ECV, the shortest walk to would be to use the regular parking lot and the trams that get you from the parking lot to the front of the parks. In order to do that, she would need to be able to step up onto and down off the tram. The regular parking lot trams drop you off right in front of the entrance to each park, in front of the bag check. (That is actually what WDW recommends to people with mobility concerns who do not have a wheelchair or ECV. If she does rent from off-site, she will need to use the handicapped parking or be dropped off, as the trams don't hold wheelchairs or ECVs.)
There is no tram service for the handicapped parking areas and, depending on what part of the lot you park in, it can be a long walk. There are 'shuttle wheelchairs' that can be used to get from the handicapped parking lot to the park entrance wheelchair rental area, but there are not always wheelchairs in the 'shuttle wheelchair parking area', so you can't absolutely count on having one.
The best is the Studio - the handicapped parking there is in the same area as the bus drop off. That lot is small though and we have sometimes found it full. In that case, my DH dropped off my DD and I and then parked in the regular lot and met us inside.
Epcot's handicapped parking lot is close to the entrance, but if you are on the far end of the lot, it can be a ways to walk in. There is a drop off point in the front of the handicapped lot.
AK is a LONG way to walk from either the buses or the handicapped parking (long enough that they have benches along the way into the park - Enough said). At AK, if she doesn't have a wheelchair or ECV along, I would suggest using the regular lot and the trams.
Parking at MK's handicapped parking involves a walk to from the handicapped parking lot that many people describe as long. Anyone parking at MK has to go to the Ticket and Transportation Center (TTC) where they can catch a monorail or boat to get to MK. The boat is a farther walk, but the monorail involves walking up a very steep ramp to get to the 2nd floor monorail station and then back down a similar ramp at MK. There are not elevators at either TTC or MK.
So, for MK, I would suggest the bus. All the bus stops at OKW have benches and we have seldom had a situation where there was not space for at least one or 2 of our party to sit while waiting for the bus. There are bus stops scattered through the OKW resort so you can check them out and go to the one nearest your villa.
OKW vs WL:
OKW is our DVC home resort, but we have stayed at DVC at both Boardwalk and WL. The walk to the bus at WL would be fairly similar to the walk at BW. One other thing to keep in mind is that you may need to walk out of your way to get to the elevator in order to get down to the bus stop. When we were at WL, we could not use the steps (which we right in front of our room), but had to wind around a bit to get to the elevator. If you use the boat at WL to get to MK, that involves a walk through the whole WL lobby and down a not very steep, but long ramp to get past the restaurants to get to the boat dock.
OKW has individual entrances to each villa and there is parking right outside the doors, so parking there would probably be not more than 20-60 feet from your doorway.
to disABILITIES!
