New to Forum

[Poofy]

I have visiting this forum for the past few weeks and have gotten many great ideas and tips !! I'm not sure I am posting in the right board, but I have a question about special attention given to people at WDW. Let me tell you about me situation (briefly), my mother has been diagnosed with primary liver cancer that is inoperable. Although she is doing wonderfully right now, there is really nothing that can be done for her. So I am taking her to WDW in less than 2 weeks so she can experience WDW and we can make some memories together !! Needless to say she is very excited. The question that I have is, that I would like to make it really special for her. I have heard that there are special buttons for like birthdays or "VIP's" to where in the parks that the CM's recognize to make that person stand out. Any suggestions you could give would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks so much.

 

[SueM in MN]

Welcome to disABILITIES.
Glad to hear you have gotten some good info already.
Sorry to hear about your mom. I hope she has the same good fortune with her liver cancer as the mother of someone I once worked with. They spent the first 6 months after her diagnosis expecting her to beccome very ill, but when I left that job 5 years later, she was still doing remarkedly well.

I have received a birthday button, so I know those exist. You get them from Guest Services, so I guess if there are any other "I'm Special" buttons, that would be the place to get them too. There is a Guest Services in each park; they are usually close to the entrance and they are well marked on the park maps.
Another thing some people have gotten is "Guest of Honor" nametags. Those are something that you can buy in the gift shops at all the parks. They are similar to the nametags that CMs wear and come pre-engraved with more common names. A lot of people have mentioned that CMs called them by name when they wore these. You could probably get more info about these on the Theme Parks Board.
The other thing I'd suggest is mentioning when you check in to your resort that this is a special trip (usually the special trips people mention are for anniversaries, weddings, etc, but if you can figure out a nice way to explain your situation, go for it).

If your mom has stamina concenrs, I'd suggest renting an ecv (or wheelchair, if she doesn't want to drive). That would help conserve her energy so she's not using so much energy just getting around, but can save it for the more fun things.
Here's a
page with some helpful hints . I found a few errors on it, but it's generally very good. The errors have to do with renting ecvs (they are not the same as motorized wheelcahirs) in the parks and parking. It says if you rent an ecv in one park, you can bring it to another park and that is not true as far as I know. It also says that the resort staff can help you get a handicapped parking hangtag if you bring documentation that you need one. That is not true as far as I know. If you don't have a wheelchair or ecv, you are actually better off using the regular parking in most cases if you drive, since the regular parking has trams to take you to the park antrance and the handicapped parking doesn't.

 

[kathyk2]

I'm new here as well. Which hotels have the best access? I use crutches and would bring my own manual wheelchair. Do the bus drivers get out of the vehicle to assist disabled passengers? I can't drive so I would need to rely on Disney transportation. I haven't booked a trip yet but I'd love to go during the holidays.

 

[SueM in MN]

Welcome to you, kathy.
Almost 100% of the buses are equipped with either lifts (the older buses) or ramps (the newer buses) for loading wheelchairs or ecvs. Just position yourself at the bus stop where the driver will see you (near where the back door of the bus will be when it stops). Then indicate by waving, nodding your head or other signal that you want to get on the bus (shake your head when a bus comes that is not for the destination you want). The driver will come to the back door of the bus and direct you how to get on. The driver will also use tiedown belts to secure your wheelchair in the bus and also a seatbelt for you.
If you regularly use your manual wheelchair for long distances, you are probably in shape for WDW, but if not, you might want to look into renting an ecv (power scooter). Most people don't realize until they are there, just how far you will be traveling. Estimates are the average WDW visitor goes between 5 and 7 miles per day in the parks.

As for most accessible resort, that depends on what you are looking for. All the resorts have wheelchair accessible rooms available. I'm sure you will get some suggestions and here's the phone number for WDW Resort Special Reservations:
(407) 939-7807
(407) 939-7670 [TTY]
They are the department tht deals with special needs and would be able to answer questons about facilities and help you make a reservation that fits your needs.

I'm assuming the holidays you mean are Christmas and New Years. The parks and resorts are vey busy then, making it hard to manouver with a wheelchair. If you can go in early December rather than actually during the holidays, you will still be able to see all the holiday decorations and shows, but avoid the crowds.

 

[Poofy]

Sue -

Thanks so much for your suggestions. They will all come in handy.

 

[kathyk2]

Thanks for the welcome. I'd like to plan my trip for late November, ealy December if possible. The agency I work for is closed the day after Thanksgiving so I think that would work out well for me. I don't like the heat so summer is out of the question. I know that all hotels have accessible rooms but do you get better access at a Deluxe hotel versus a Moderate or at a Moderate vs a Value. I'd be paying for this trip myself so cost is a big issue.

 

[SueM in MN]

I have not been to WDW right after Thanksgiving, but I think Thanksgiving weekend is one of the busy times.

We are members of DVC at OKW, so have not stayed anywhere but there with my youngest DD (our family's wheelchair user). You can either search this board for "accessible rooms" or start a new thread.
I do know that some of the people who need roll in showers find that the room arrangement is better forr them personally at resorts other than the deluxe.
If you are looking for ease of getting to the parks, the Polynesian, GF and Contemporary are on the monorail line, so it is easy to get to MK and Epcot from them. The Boardwalk, BC and YC are all within rolling distance of the Studio and Epcot or you can take a boat there. For the moderates, you will be using the bus for transportation to all the parks.