Wheelchair use, Poly (standard) room, MK view

[Trekkie]

OK, I'm taking my Mom for what's turning into a roughly monthly trip to Disney.

We've been staying in a standard room, tower, MK view, at Contemporary. And that seems to work pretty well for Mom. But a) There don't seem to be any dates where we could fit a trip in July, and b) I'm wondering if maybe it isn't as magical for Mom as it used to be.

I'm considering trying to take her to Poly, instead.

Now, Mom uses a wheelchair. If I help her a lot, then she can stand up (well, she can kind of stand), pivot, and sit down. So I can get her from a bed to a wheel chair and from a wheel chair to a toilet, for example.

But walking, even just a few steps, would be agony for her.

I'm trying to figure out how easy/hard it would be to get a loaded wheel chair from the bed to the toilet, in a standard room at Poly. (It will have to be MK view. But I assume that they all have the same dimensions.)

At Contemporary, I have to take the wheel chair through a door to get from the hallway into the first part of the bathroom. (The part that has the sinks and the bath tub.) And then through a second door to get to the room with the toilet. Mom's wheel chair will fit through the first door (just barely), but not through the second. But that's good enough, because when the wheel chair is partially through the second door, then it's right at the toilet, anyway. Mom can do her "stand, pivot, sit", and she's on the toilet.

The thought has occurred to me, though, that if that first door was any narrower, in fact, if it had a hinged door rather than a sliding one, then Mom's wheel chair wouldn't fit through the first door. Every trip to the toilet would require her to walk 10 feet or so, which would be completely unacceptable.

What I'm trying to figure out is: Will a standard room at Poly work for us?

 

[dhcalva]

The Poly does have rooms with a roll in shower. We used one year before last for my father. There are also ones with tubs with lower sides on them.


You might want to take a look at this page. http://www.tikimanpages.com/tiki/amenities-quick/quick-mobility

 

[Piper]

It sounds as though she could benefit from the accessible rooms--they have wider doors and are configured slightly differently so that it is easier to use a WC.

 

[dclfun]

The accessible rooms are in Rapa Nui- no MK view, and it sounds like that's the only view you want.---Kathy

 

[dhcalva]

There is a pair of accessable rooms in Tahti. One of them is a roll in shower and the other is the tub with seat. I believe the one with the shower is theme park view.

There are also the club rooms at the Hawaii building. Though I don't think the accessable rooms are park view, you do have access to the club lounge that is, and it even has the music from the fireworks playing during them.

 

[Trekkie]

It's a bit hard to tell, but I've been studying pictures people have posted of other rooms at Poly, and it looks to me like a standard room will do.

As near as I can tell, there is no door to get into the tub/sink part of the bathroom, it's simply located opposite the "bar". (The small shelf between the two closets. I assume that's where the fridge is, since that's where it is at Contemporary.)

And from looking at the pictures, it looks like a straight shot from there to the toilet. (Some of the pictures, you can see the toilet from there.)

It's OK with me if the wheelchair can't fit through there, since it looks like Mom can make it from there even if the wheelchair doesn't fit through the opening.

(I wish there was a place where I could actually see a floor plan, though.)

Mom really doesn't care about tub/shower, since she won't use them, anyway. The only thing I'm worried about is some tight passage whereby I can't get the wheelchair CLOSE to the toilet.

 

[Capt. Barbosa]

We stayed in a HC room MK view in Tahiti blgd room 1017 with a roll in shower. DW has MS and can also stand and pivot to get in and out of bed and onto the toilet. This room worked very well for us (2 ADULTS 2 CH 10 AND 8) the door into the room had a button that opened the door automatically so you didn't have to hold it open coming in and out of the room.

 

[dhcalva]

It's a bit hard to tell, but I've been studying pictures people have posted of other rooms at Poly, and it looks to me like a standard room will do.

As near as I can tell, there is no door to get into the tub/sink part of the bathroom, it's simply located opposite the "bar". (The small shelf between the two closets. I assume that's where the fridge is, since that's where it is at Contemporary.)

And from looking at the pictures, it looks like a straight shot from there to the toilet. (Some of the pictures, you can see the toilet from there.)

It's OK with me if the wheelchair can't fit through there, since it looks like Mom can make it from there even if the wheelchair doesn't fit through the opening.

(I wish there was a place where I could actually see a floor plan, though.)

Mom really doesn't care about tub/shower, since she won't use them, anyway. The only thing I'm worried about is some tight passage whereby I can't get the wheelchair CLOSE to the toilet.

For floorplans, here are the standard rooms. The HA rooms have a bit larger bathroom and a bit smaller sleeping area.

http://www.tikimanpages.com/tiki/planning-quick/quick-what-are-the-rooms-like

http://allears.net/acc/g_poly_acc.htm is also a good reference.

We had no problems getting my father through the hallway, and he had a large sized wheelchair.

The HA room does have a door into the bathroom, but it is a sliding door (the little metal handle in the pictures) that slides into the wall.

 

[KPeveler]

One thing to be aware of is sometimes standard bathrooms do not have room fr two people to stand side by side - how much help does she need to stand and pivot? Do you think there will be enough room for you to get in there as well to help? Also, I am not sure about handrail locations in regular restrooms - will she need handrails to do this kind of transfer?

 

[Trekkie]

Thanks a lot for the information. I think I've got a plan. (It's probably overly complicated and expensive, but I think it will work for us.)

 

[Trekkie]

One thing to be aware of is sometimes standard bathrooms do not have room fr two people to stand side by side - how much help does she need to stand and pivot? Do you think there will be enough room for you to get in there as well to help? Also, I am not sure about handrail locations in regular restrooms - will she need handrails to do this kind of transfer?

Nah, actually handrails are actually a disadvantage with Mom. (She tries to help and actually makes things harder.)

(Just like I've decided, when we stay at Contemporary, that the fact that the bathroom's marble floors are really slick is also an advantage, dealing with Mom.)

One potential thing I am wondering about is how hard it will be for me to change from being behind her wheelchair, to being in front.

But I think I'm pretty adaptive.