Originally posted by umworkerbee
If I rent a vacation home, are any of them handicap accessible? Will the off-site vendors deliver to a rental home for scooters or wheelchairs? Should I go with the rental home or onsite? There is nothing like disney magic onsite. I want to make this as easy as possible on them while letting them experience the disney they love. All thoughts and advice are more than welcome. Thanks.
Yes, there are handicapped accessible vacation homes off site. There have been some DIS posters who have rented some of the accessible off-site homes.
The off-site equipment rental companies will deliver - whether or not they will deliver to a vacation home kind of depends on where it is. You'd probably be better off for that with Walker, Colonial or Care, which are full service medical equipment suppliers:
Care Medical:
http://www.caremedicalequipment.com/
Phone (407) 856-2273 Toll Free U.S and Canada (800) 741-2282
Walker Mobility:
1-888-726-6837
www.walkermobility.com
Colonial Medical
http://www.colonialmed.com/about_cms.html
(800)747-0246
One thing to think about with an on-site room is whether you would be all staying in the same room or need more than one room. Something to think about besides a GF or CR room would be renting a DVC villa. A one or two bedroom would give lots of space and a homey atmosphere since you would have a lving room and kitchen. A one bedroom would mean 2 people need to sleep on a sofa bed if there are 4 of you. A 2 bedroom would sleep 4 in actual beds and still have room for 2 on the living room sofa bed and 2 in the 2nd bedroom (either a queen bed or a sofa bed, depending on the room layout). An economical way to do DVC is to rent points from a member. There's a DVC rental board that can help you out. There are fully wheelchair accessible DVC villas at each site.
Between when I started typing this and when I finally posted, I notice that cupcake had the same idea about DVC. We are members of DVC at OKW and especially enjoy the extra room there, the ability to park right outside your door and the large roofed balcony with table and chairs. It's very relaxing. Another thing to think about is stimulation. While some people like the extra activity that goes along with being in a hotel, for some people with dementia, it's too mcuh stimulation. Having a quiet place to get back to without having to get to the car and take a drive might be very benficial. If you choose DVC and don't want to stay at OKW, my second choice would be BCV. You still have the long hallways to get to your room, but it seems less busy at that resort than at BW. At BC, you would be walking/wheelchair driving distance to Epcot and the Studios or can take the boats there. Bus transportation goes to MK and AK. (although the busses are shared and can be busy).