What area should I request at OKW....mom has mobility issues

[KAT4DISNEY]

Wow... I'm feeling somewhat attacked simply for sharing *my parents* reaction to being in scooters on the bus. (I hope I misread...) I am not wishing bad luck on anyone (or myself) nor am I criticizing anyone for having a scooter on the bus. For *my parents* it has proven more comfortable to just stay at a closer resort where bus transport can be avoided altogether. The OP will certainly know her mom well enough to judge which option will be the most comfortable choice. I always feel that more viewpoints are better than less when weighing options, so I shared our experience.

I don't feel anyone was attacking you. Mobility issues do require a thick skin and probably more understanding of rights than concern about what other people think. Sad but true b/c there will always be those looks and it's far more important to worry less about those and to use what aids are available to help a person who needs them. I've seen a lot over the years from having a sister that needed a wheelchair since she was 20 to a mother who resisted for a long time due to pride. And wow - once she got over that she was able to do things and go places rather than be stuck within the radius of her home.

The post above commenting about ECV's not being available in the parks has a very important point and is why it is usually recommended to rent off site if you have difficulty walking. Take advantage of the transportation options that WDW provides if you need too b/c they are not commonly found.

Pardon my confusion, How do you find out the "booking categories"? I can't see anywhere in my member guide that says "near HH" is a separate category. I do see the different views for Boardwalk, being separate, but not any at OKW regarding HH. Is this something that insiders know from experience?

Good question! lol It's a booking category that was added just a few years ago b/c so many people were requesting it I've heard. There isn't any point difference so that may be why there's nothing in the planner. It looks like BWV does a better job of explaing boardwalk view and preferred view although there isn't a point difference there either.

 

[RobDoc]

Pardon my confusion, How do you find out the "booking categories"? I can't see anywhere in my member guide that says "near HH" is a separate category. I do see the different views for Boardwalk, being separate, but not any at OKW regarding HH. Is this something that insiders know from experience?

If you are reserving at OKW and ask for a villa "near" the Hospitality House, you will either get that area as a guarantee or be told it is not available. There is no difference in points, but if not available you can still make a request for a villa in Buildings 15-18, 27-29 or 62-64 which are all close to HH (just not part of the guaranteed reservation list).

Enjoy!

 

[wood8176]

Thanks for the tip! I guess this is one of the exceptions that DVC makes with guaranteeing requests.

 

[ford91exploder]

Quick note most of the HC rooms are around the HH area.

Also if your parents need Scooters I recommend Walker Mobility they deliver right to the resort with Bell Services and if there is a problem they replace them 24x7.

We've never needed a Scooter but DMIL needs wheelchair assistance and Walker has always served us well and if there have been problems they repaired or replaced the Wheelchair within a couple of hours.

Their stuff is MUCH better maintained than the Disney scooters or WC's and you can use at the resort as well not simply in the parks.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Quick note most of the HC rooms are around the HH area.

Also if your parents need Scooters I recommend Walker Mobility they deliver right to the resort with Bell Services and if there is a problem they replace them 24x7.

We've never needed a Scooter but DMIL needs wheelchair assistance and Walker has always served us well and if there have been problems they repaired or replaced the Wheelchair within a couple of hours.

Their stuff is MUCH better maintained than the Disney scooters or WC's and you can use at the resort as well not simply in the parks.

That is one of the off site companies that will bring the scooter to the resort, but there are quite a few companies that do the same thing. We have used CARE the times we needed a scooter, and they were wonderful when ours broke down. They brought a new one right away and even brought it directly to our unit and exchanged it for the broken down one.

 

[mickey&minniealways]

Wasn't trying to flame you. But you do need a thick skin. Both DS24 and DD15 apre special needs. DD looks to be about 18 and is basically a permanent 16 to 17 yr old. Heaven help me. DD is an extremley pretty 15 yr old who happens to be mild to moderate MR with global diffeciencies, current buzz word is cognitively impaired I just have not gotten used to using it yet. She get more than her share of attention. But when she has a meltdown because she is tired and things are just to overwhelming we get plenty of stares along with rude comments and questions. Add to that the nasty comments as to our parenting abilities. If you want more info on what to do go over to disABILITIES. You can get lots of good advice over there. I spend alot of time lurking there when I get frustrated. Add that to the fact that I will probably alway be parenting teenagers.

 

[roadtripper]

I second the advice to rent ECVs off site and use the busses, but I understand your parents' frustration/embarrassment. DS 14 uses a wheelchair exclusively, and sometimes it takes FOREVER to load him onto the bus (some bus drivers are faster than others, some busses are older than others, etc). As a result, we rent a minivan--I can't stand the evil eye stares from people trying to make extra magic and "blaming" DS for holding up the bus.

 

[LouisianaDisneyFan]

As a result, we rent a minivan--I can't stand the evil eye stares from people trying to make extra magic and "blaming" DS for holding up the bus.

Exactly! With just one ECV, a minivan is quite workable. But, no matter how we have tried, we could not get two ECVs into the back of a minivan with passengers. We could fold down the seats and then load both ECVs, and then come back for a second trip with passengers... but my parents didn't want to inconvenience anyone. My mom, in particular, is such a sensitive person. She always puts others before herself and goes out of her way not to inconvenience anyone, to the point of not doing things she wants in order to facilitate the wants of others. I also honestly think that some folks do not understand how hurtful their stares can be.

 

[bumbershoot]

They might just want to ignore anything and everyone outside of their own family circle. I developed that ability, to get really tunnel-visioned, when I still nursed my son in public (I nursed him for years, bu only in public for the first year, because the kid got strong enough to "flash" me and I didn't much like that). I might have had hundreds of people smiling at me with goo-goo "yay for you" eyes, but I didn't know because I just focused on myself and my kid. Wasn't worth it to look around me just in case I got an evil eye.

Plus, I know absolutely that sometimes a stare isn't what it appears to be.

Using the nursing example again, my hubby LOVES seeing babies that are nursed. And he wants to give the mom a big smile for it. But his smile comes out weird, because it's an "awww" and a "yay" and a "I want more babies" feeling, and it just comes out all wrong. The people receiving his "yay you" look, before I made him stop it, probably thought all sorts of weird things about him!

And my face is naturally stern, I'm sad to say, so people are ALWAYS mis-reading my facial expressions. So if I'm looking at your mom, she might completely mis-read my facial expression as a negative one, when I am probably not even looking at her, and if I am I'm thinking "what a nice family" or "I'm so glad they are using wheels, I wish my dad and aunt would so that they could enjoy themselves and not hurt themselves", or "I wonder what the square root of 15 million is"...or any number of things.

Now, the family I traveled with in December, despite having an aunt who really REALLY should use a scooter (she is in such pain using her cane, and it's so unnecessary), they WILL think bad thoughts, because they've had one, count 'em ONE, bad experience with a scooter-person running over a foot. But...they get their own share of weird looks, because my cousin and her two kids all have congenital cataracts and therefore have VERY thick glasses...so they really shouldn't be giving anyone bad looks to begin with.

So I'm not saying that no one gives bad looks (and I had a negative thought about the DRIVER one evening, who couldn't seem to communicate *at all* what was going on while loading a scooter and driver and family, but that's not the family's fault), it's just...there are so many people who are probably NOT giving bad looks, that it just behooves your family to start ignoring it all.