BCV or BWV for wheelchair

[brownsoup]

Hi all - myself and my family are planning a Disney Trip with my Brother and his family. My Bro has MS....needs a roll in shower and a fully accesable handicap villa.

My Brother is a DVC member and is talking about possibly renting a grand villa. He has always stayed at OKW which he loves. He says that OKW has a great handicap room, roll in, etc.

Knowing Disney - I figure that each of the DVC properties has an equally nice handicap av room.

Any experience with staying at BCV or BWV in a chair? I was figuring that BCV or BWV woul give my Bro alot of "roll out" options (two parks w/ no bus, the Boardwalk, Stormalong (if BCV))

Any input would help alot. - Steve

 

[Andrew Bichard]

Although I have only ever stayed at Bordwalk Villas, I understand that Beach Club Villas (and Villas at Wilderness Lodge) all use basically the same room design. I always stay in a one bedroom villa with roll-in shower which works great.

Access to MGM & Epcot is great by boat and by path by wheelchair/ECV.

Both resorts have what I call 'bump' steps that allow wheelchair users to bump themselves out of the water on their backsides to transfer to a wheelchair. At Beach Club these steps are located right on Stormalong bay. At the Boardwalk, the only such steps are at the quiet pool.

Andrew

 

[brownsoup]

Thanks for the feedback. - Steve

 

[SueM in MN]

There are no Grand Villas at BCV. They only have Studios, One and 2 Bedrooms at BCV. So, his choices for a GV are either BWV or OKW.
OKW is our home resort and we have stayed in a regular one bedroom at BCV and a 2 bedroom at VWL. The plans for BCV, BWV and VWL are all very similar. I don't know if the DVC fully wheelchair accessible rooms at BC, BW and WL are any bigger than the regular rooms, but we found them to be rather tight after being used to OKW. If you don't have anyone sleeping on the hide a bed in the living room, it would probably not be a problem, but with the couch open, we found it to be pretty tight. The size difference in the studio is not that much, but it adds up in the one and 2 bedroom.
Here's a size comparison:
OKW
Studio: 390 sq. ft.
1 BR: 1005 sq. ft.
2 BR: 1410 sq. ft.
GV: 2375 sq. ft.

BWV
Studio: 359 sq. ft.
1 BR: 712 sq. ft.
2 BR: 1071 sq. ft.
GV: 2142 sq. ft.

It was very nice to be able to just "follow the path" or take the boat to Epcot and MGM from BCV.