Wheelchair use at SSR or OKW

[cccory]

I am trying to decide which resort would be better for a wheelchair. I have 5 kids, 13, 11, 9, 7 and 20months. The 7yr. old is in a wheelchair. Which resort is easier to get to the parks? I really don't want to be swithing buses to get to the park, especially MK. Do they all have elevators to get up to the rooms? I think I would like to be up alittle so I don't have to worry about the 20 month old. Will the wheelchair fit through the door of a regular room? We do need a tub for him since he cannot stand.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Daggett]

Both resorts have HCA rooms. And all the buses are HCA equiped.

Both resorts have tubs. I can only speak for the HCA rooms at OKW, but they have the roll in shower access.

If you want a room on a higher floor, you will probably be better off at SRS, since all the buildings there have elevators.

Hope this helps.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Both resorts will have HA rooms, and both will have no bus changes to get to each park as noted above. As for SSR over OKW, the HA accessible rooms will all be either ground floor or in an elevator building, so now worries at either resort there either. BTW, bus access for wheelchairs and ECV's is excellent at WDW! We have had occation to need the handicapped bus services, and they are the best! All bus drivers are very adept at loading and unloading them as well, and wheelchairs are loaded before ambulatory guests are allowed to enter the bus.

 

[cccory]

Thank you very much. It did help alot. My biggest concern was transferring buses. Good to know that we can get to the parks one just one bus. We don't really need a handicap room, only if the wheelchair doesn't fit in the door. Even then, I guess we could take apart the wheelchair and bring it into the room.

Which pool would be better for a 13, 11, 9 and 2 year old. The youngest will be 2 when we go.

 

[walkena]

Hi there,

My son also uses a wheelchair (he is 9) and I would suggest that Boardwalk or Beachclub would be great for you. The fact that we could walk to Epcot and MGM was fantastic (saves lots of bus trips). Another benefit - we were always able to liesurely walk out of Epcot back to Boardwalk after Illuminations (without being crushed )

Have a great trip.

 

[cccory]

Thank you! I never even considered the Boardwalk or Beach Club. I will check into those. It helps to hear from someone who has been there before. In more than one way.

 

[Poohs Pal]

I stayed at SSR with my adult son who is in a wheelchair. The pool there is very H/C friendly. It is a zero entry pool and they will provide a water wheelchair at the pool for free, just ask. If you stay in a 1br or larger and request a H/C room you will fit through the door and you will have a shower and a tub. Shower and seperate tub come with all 1br and larger.We needed the shower for DS. SSR is very H/C friendly. We had no problems with the bus and everyone was very considerate having to wait on us for the tye down. Next time we go I will probably try for BWV because we spend more time at Epcot and MGM and DS can't handle a whole day at once so it would be less travel time. Susan

 

[walkena]

CCORY, do not worry about fitting into a regular room with the wheelchair - we have always stayed in a studio (just three of us) and we have never requested an accessible room (my little guy is only 9 and still small enough to manage without an accessible bathroom etc). The doorways are way big enough for our manual chair - we have plenty of room. We love Disney because it is so easy to vacation with a wheelchair . We are going to try doing a split stay this May - Wilderness Lodge (we plan on taking the boat to Magic Kingdom) will be great transportation wise for us, and we will spend the rest of our stay at Beachclub (walk to MGM and Epcot)- we should only need to use a bus for our Animal Kingdom and Downtown Disney trips. The busses are great, it is just that it is even easier being able to walk or take the boat (no need to tie down the chair etc as on the bus).

Have a great trip.

 

[spiceycat]

the handicapped rooms are different - the stuff under the sink is gone - so the wheelchair fits.

but I can understand not wanting one with the other children.

that say when you make the reservation make sure that MS understands that you have a child in a wheelchair at OKW. SSR has elevators - so this won't be a problem there.

most of the building at OKW don't have an elevator - although your little one will be safe. -- there is no way she can go through the rails and get out. so first floor will work okay here.

the only building with elevators are 62, 63 & 64 at OKW.

at SSR the patio are open - so yes you might have a problem with a first floor here.

 

[shovan]

BTW, just wanted you to be aware that BC does not have a zero entry pool or pool lift. The only pool access is transfer steps. (Concrete steps near the edge of the pool.) This does not work for my DH with MD at all. We have sent letters to everyone (BC manangement, WDW guest relations & DVC guest relations). That was over two months ago & still have not even received a reply from any of them.

We were very disappointed about this. We were told before our purchase at BC that the pool was accessible.

If you can help your son access the pool, it is a great pool! The walk from BCV is a very short distance into WS in Epcot & a short boat ride to MGM. Other than DH not being able to use the pool, we really loved the BC.