Why do they give out handicapped rooms to...

[LisaS]

I don't think jerry557 was trying make it sound like an imposition. I think he was just stating the likely facts. We have once accepted a HA room. We didn't know there wouldn't be a bathtub. By the end of our stay DW and I agreed we would have enjoyed our room much more had we had a tub. We rarely use the tub at home and it is part of the luxury of being on vacation for us.

We got a HA studio on our last stay at BWV and really missed having a tub. It's one of those vacation luxuries for me too and a great way to soothe those tired muscles after a day at WDW.

To Pennyguy23: DH and I are over twice your age so I don't think that is a factor. As others have said, everyone will get a HA room once in a while and I figure we just have to take our turn. But if I got one twice in a row, I would probably ask to be moved.

 

[diesel]

The last couple of times that we've gotten an HA room was when we were staying at a resort for just one night. It doesn't bother me for one night but I would ask to be moved if it was for longer than one night. I find the walk in showers very annoying. The shower curtain attacks me and sticks to me while I'm showering and there are alwasys puddles on the bathroom floor after I shower. Also I'm short so the raised toilets tend to be a little difficult.

 

[Wigit12]

We were given a HC room on our honeymoon at BCV. I didn't complain because I really liked being close to the elevator (hallways and lobby were subzero in September). But thank God we were only there a few nights before moving to GF. You really start to realize what you're missing a little more each day.

Hated the closets too. We had several really nice outfits and the bar in the closet was too low.

If that's all they have, I'll take it. It is a necessity to some so I can't see complaining, but I would ask to be moved it possible. Especially if we're there all week.

 

[eyeheartgoofy]

For us it's mainly the matter of needing a tub for bathing the younger kids.

Same here. I didn't even give a thought to our HA studio at VWL until it was bath time. Our 4 year old loved the shower. However, our 18 mo old was terrorized by the whole shower ordeal - screaming, crying, shaking. A tub is definately a priority for us now.

 

[crisi]

Same here. I didn't even give a thought to our HA studio at VWL until it was bath time. Our 4 year old loved the shower. However, our 18 mo old was terrorized by the whole shower ordeal - screaming, crying, shaking. A tub is definately a priority for us now.

We are probably the exception - our kids spend so much time in the pool at Disney that unless their hair needs to be washed, they are "clean 'nuff" and we don't bother with baths. Generally speaking, no one gets "dirty" at WDW and we all just need a good rinse - though the grownups should do it with soap because our sweat glands are mature (i.e. grown ups stink more than little kids). Since when they were little hair didn't need to be washed more than once a week, we could usually make it through a Disney vacation without a bath (or shower).

 

[Simba's Mom]

Simba's Mom-not sure what you meant by age. Are you talking about having kids, or something else?

My comment about age was just meant as a response to Pennyguy23 in Post #3, who suggested that the reason they were given a HA room may have had something to do with them being a couple who were 23 and 21. I just meant that the reason probably doesn't have to do with their age, since we're a very different age from them and we got HA rooms also.

 

[crisi]

If it's a trip without the little ones I can live with the HA room. I figure that I have to take one for the team once and awhile! There's so many people out there that need a shower or need a tub that I don't mind getting what's left over. But I guess it's all personal preference.

I agree, I don't mind "taking one for the team" and the HA is inconvient, but not unacceptable to me. They are there, they aren't always booked by people requiring them, the resorts run at near capacity - meaning someone is going to end up there that doesn't need it. What is less acceptable to me is when I end up with the "less desireable" rooms year after year because other people don't think they should ever need to accept anything other than "the most ideal room available." i.e. if I thought the rooms were being distributed evenly, and once in a while everyone ended up with the dumpster view or a HA room. And I think that's what causes the contention with this topic.

 

[Pennyguy23]

Perhaps you should be THANKFUL that those rooms will be there when you get older and NEED them.


Yes I HAVE had accessible rooms more then once and I have never called to complain or asked to move. I don't consider them inferior just different.

Thats your choice. I am not going to spend a week in a room I am uncomforable in. Why should I? If I ever need one then I will use it. As you all know, disney cost alot of money. I'm not going to be uncomfortable in my room that we paid to be in.

 

[BroganMc]

I'm just wondering exactly how they do these room assignments. Like I reported on my recent trip this month, though I specifically requested (and blocked) a HA-room with roll-in shower at 11 months out (and checked it on two occasions), they assigned me a room with a tub. SSR staff were able to correct the problem (by giving me the only room available with a shower in the entire 800+ room resort!), but I learned from BWV staff the week before the same situation happened with another guest and they couldn't give him a room. He was transferred to another resort away from his extended gathering of blocked rooms. (I'm sure that went over like a lead balloon.)

The Front Desk staff can make changes but they were adamant that it is Member Services that does the room assignments. So if they read a screen wrong, they'll royally mess things up. Or sometimes the issue is the entire resort is booked when I call, (or a room is assigned wrong) and special services shows there are no accessible rooms when I call to book.

Don't even get me started on the Automatic Wait List thing. I can't use it now. In the past my wait list would come through but no one bothered to check my needs first. I run the very real risk of losing my accessible room ressie for a completely unusable wait list room.

Now if all the rooms just had a small stepless shower and a bed that wasn't 15 feet off the ground, I could use any old room. (The doors are already wide enough to fit standard wheelchairs and scooters.) There's a way to make housing universally accessible without it being a full blown HA room. Even my house isn't a fully-accessible place, most homes of the disabled aren't. My pet peeve is that so many things in this world could be built to accommodate all manner of folks but aren't because we're lazy or just ignorant. I really haven't noted an accessible adaption that made life harder for folks, but lack of accessibility does exclude a bunch. Just think of all those nice automatic sliding doors we see in stores, malls, etc. Or the legion of moms & kids, people with extra baggage, etc. who flock to the one wide handicapped stall in a bathroom.

If the floor plans for AKV are as the models then Disney will have settled my biggest problem in the 1bedrooms. You get both a spa tub and stepless shower (with built-in seat/shelf). If only the bed didn't require a ladder to get into...

Oh don't mind me. I just want to go Genie on the world, bulldoze it and rebuild it in more user-friendly terms. Ever have a day like that?

 

[Dean]

This creates a delimma for me. I am VERY glad we don't need them but they truly are an imposition to us. We'd rather not go to DVC or WDW than have a HC unit largely because of the shower/tub issues. OTOH, I do know that there are more HC units currently than needed and someone has to get them and I'm very attuned to working with in the system realizing that things will be better some visits and units than others. The problem with unit assignments is so many front desk staff just play dumb. This happens with both HC and smoking units unfortunately, hopefully the latter is a non issue going forward.

On a related note, we were at SSR last Dec. We had a 2 BR exchange unit and a 1 BR points unit. Our requests were that they be close together and hopefully in CP. They were close and in CP. Both were first floor units but the exchange unit was facing DD and the points unit the corner one by the parking lot with no view at all to speak of. It didn't bother us at all that we the members paying for both units had the poor view and our guests had the better view, we actually thought is was somewhat funny.

 

[DVCconvert]

We have gotten handicapped rooms the past two visits. We aren't handicapped and I was just wondering why.

For the same reason that non-smoking rooms have in the past been assigned to those members/guests requesting otherwise, or smoking members/guests requesting smoking rooms.........$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

 

[tjkraz]

Sorry, but I can't buy the possibility that they don't know. What if a guest checked in who needed a HA room? They'd better know which ones are! And to have the front desk CM lie to you and tell you that "No, it's not HA" that's inexcusable. I had that happen to me at BWV, where the CM told me it wasn't HA, and yet when I got to my room it was.

Obviously a CM lying is inexcusable.

But I'm not convinced that a CM would necessarily know the HA / NHA status of a room when trying to place a guest standing at the front desk. Requests based upon medical necessity should (emphasis on *should*) be granted first. Therefore it stands to reason that anyone requesting HA accommodations will have their room pre-assigned.

Once that's done, resorts often drop to the Room Ready system where rooms are given to guests as they arrive. So it becomes a question of whether a CM looking at the list of open rooms on his/her computer screen can tell whether they are accessible or not.

I know that one time we checked into SSR and wanted a DTD view, the CM had to pull out a 3-ring binder with floorplans of each building. She showed us where each vacant room was located (we had 3 to choose from) and notes beside each room on the map indicated the specs of the room.

So, it could simply be an "ignorance is bliss" situation for the CM. If he/she doesn't look to see whether the room is HA or not, then it isn't even addressed with the guest.

That said, I think it's more common for CMs to simply sidestep the issue. Let's be honest here. If a front desk CM warned us in advance that we were assigned to a HA room and explained the differences, 99% of us (who don't have a medical need for the room, of course) would ask for something different. Instead, I'm guessing that CMs choose not to mention it and cross their fingers that they won't see the guest come storming back to the front desk. After all, if the guest does return, it could lead to an unplesant confrontation AND, more importantly, they need to shift another guest to the HA room and potentially repeat the process again in a few hours.

We were given some sort of accessible room last week at SSR. Honestly it took me a full day to even realize. As we returned to the room (probably for the third time), I noticed the second peep hold at waist height. The room (a Studio) did have a tub, but it also had rails all over the bathroom, a low clothesline, and so on. In our case nothing about the room bothered us. Hopefully that will give us good karma for the next trip.

 

[JimC]

...But I'm not convinced that a CM would necessarily know the HA / NHA status of a room when trying to place a guest standing at the front desk. Requests based upon medical necessity should (emphasis on *should*) be granted first. Therefore it stands to reason that anyone requesting HA accommodations will have their room pre-assigned....

We have booked a number of HA rooms at Disney. Each time we have had a specific accommodation the CM has asked about our needs then called the resort to verify that room's availability. I have been told, and assume it to be true, that the room is then assigned. This has been at the 11 month and 7 month windows.

At Marriott they have an ADA compliance officer who contacts you to make sure they understand special needs, then confirm with the resort to ensure that your needs are met.

When the need is simply a stair restriction or wheelchair/walker accommodation with no special needs it seems the reservation can be confirmed without the call.

So as a sometimes HA user out of necessity the system seems to work.

Now when we do not need the HA room, or I am traveling on business, there have been assignments to HA rooms. Usually, but not always, the front desk person tells me it is HA. So I suspect that the technology commonly used provides that information to anyone who has the ability to assign or change a room.

 

[JimC]

...Oh don't mind me. I just want to go Genie on the world, bulldoze it and rebuild it in more user-friendly terms. Ever have a day like that?

Quite a few. I have noticed in newer resorts/hotels and in recently renovated properties a prevalence of accessible design features being added. More of the rooms now have step-less showers, shower seats, grab/safety bars and the like. I am hopeful that some of these make their way into the UBC and possibly into the residential segment as well.

 

[littlestar]

Handicapped studios pretty much ruin our trip if it's more than one night. My husband is 6' 7" and it's awful for him. Plus, I never take showers, always a bath. And I don't care for the water that gets all over the bathroom floor. I'm constantly trying to not fall down. There's no place for makeup, etc., It really seems like somebody could design a better handicapped room (for storage).

We did get a handicapped room in a Hampton Inn one time and it had a tub in it (with handrails) and it was actually a nice setup. It had storage for toiletries, too.

 

[lizziepooh]

I also can't figure out why they can't put some storage in the handicap bathrooms. We were in a handicap studio at BCV and there was one tiny narrow shelf above the sink just about wide enough for a toothbrush. That was it for storage. Where are you supposed to set stuff? They also did not tell us at the front desk that it was a handicap accessible room. We made do for one night, but I would not have wanted to spend much more than that due to the bathroom storage issue. Everything else we could deal with ok. I do wish they would leave more bathmats to soak up the water that runs all over the floor from the shower.

 

[Beca]

I also can't figure out why they can't put some storage in the handicap bathrooms. We were in a handicap studio at BCV and there was one tiny narrow shelf above the sink just about wide enough for a toothbrush. That was it for storage. Where are you supposed to set stuff? They also did not tell us at the front desk that it was a handicap accessible room. We made do for one night, but I would not have wanted to spend much more than that due to the bathroom storage issue. Everything else we could deal with ok. I do wish they would leave more bathmats to soak up the water that runs all over the floor from the shower.

On our last trip to BCV, we were given an HC studio. Interesting thing (and, our saving grace with our dd) was it was an HC studio with a tub. We took our coffee table, and placed it kind of "under and beside" our bathroom sink to use for toiletries (this was actually a help because we needed our sleeper sofa and space was tight in the main room). So, that part wasn't bad at all. It was nice to have french doors in the room instead of sliding ones....it made for great views from the balcony.

The things I didn't like about the room were 1) the lack of closet space...the armoire just did not cut it, and 2) the lack of the "entryway" space...this is where we usually store our stroller and other items that we do not need in the room. Also, the kitchenette set-up was awkward.

I do not mind "taking one for the team" every once in awhile, but I hope I am not constantly being assigned one. Like others here, the CM told us it was not HC when we checked in. I absolutely believe they lie. But, what really bugs me is that these rooms were designed so poorly. A lot of what we complain about could've been avoided if these rooms had "perks" which would balance out their quirkiness. I think if the HC rooms were 30% larger, had larger balconies, a tub AND a separate shower in all rooms (even studios), and had REAL closets which were large enough to accomodate wheelchairs...snagging an HC room would be considered a GREAT thing. I hope WDW thinks about this when they build future resorts.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Our last DVC stay, at VWL, was in a HA studio. I agree that there wasn't enough place to put things. However, we managed for the short trip. Neither DH nor I use the bathtub except as a shower stall...the possibility of slipping in the bathroom on the wet floor was a real worry for me, but it didn't happen

DVC could/should do better.

Bobbi

 

[fishermouse]

Generally I'm not very stuborn but DW and I flat out refuse to accept an HA room. Realizing we can't always get the perfect room we don't gripe about much but HA rooms just don't feel right. Knowing how rooms are assigned I expect the best room available when I hit the counter. I understand I can only have what is there but why should someone come in 5 minuts later and get a better room? I also think that there should be an advantage to making reservations 11 months ahead. The way the system is set up the last minute planner has a good a chance at the prime room as some one who plans well in advance. To me this does not seem fair, of course as I often say who says life is fair!

 

[BCV23]

We need an accessible 2BR when our DD is with us. Until our trip earlier this month, we had always received one.

The process is that first there must be availability in the resort for the size villa you want. In fact, at BCV there must be availablity for a 2 BR lockout. Then MS calls Special Services to determine availablitiy of an accessible villa. Then the villa is supposed to be blocked off. In the past, the resort supposedly could not touch that reservation.

But I think something is broken. This month, we were assigned a 2BR that was not accessible at all. Luckily, there was still an accessible 2Br available and we were switched.

Perhaps it is a glitch with a new system. But I hope it is fixed quickly.

I agree that there is not enough shelf space in the studio. There are not enough hooks either.

I also think it is unfair that there must be a 2BR lockoff available in general availability before we clear the hurdle to get to Special Services. Since any other guest would be able to grab a 2BR whether it be lockoff or not, why must we only be able to reserve if there are still lockoffs?