Marionnette
Children see magic because they look for it
- Joined
- Sep 26, 2009
We just got back from our stay in a BWV GV and we were assigned the HA unit. I first realized that we were going to be staying in that villa when I logged into MDE 2 days prior to our arrival and it was specified in the room description. I did a lot of searches but couldn't finding anything concrete about this GV, so I wanted to report back to the disboards with my experience. I'll start by pointing out that no one in our party needed a HA unit, so I'm not attuned to the needs of someone who might be wheelchair-bound. So, my apologies if I didn't take notice of anything that might be of importance.
Pictures will follow but here's my take:
The GV is on the 3rd floor, above the Screen Door. The balconies span the entire pink section of the building facing the boardwalk and also includes a small balcony with blue striped awning facing the Village Green. That small balcony and another one are accessed from the Master bedroom. Each of the other bedrooms also had its own private balcony facing the boardwalk. There are two balconies which are accessible from the living area: one long, narrow balcony accessible thru 2 doors located near the dining room and the first sitting area and a smaller but deeper balcony located off of the living room area closest to the entertainment unit. IMO, it would be very difficult to maneuver a wheelchair on the first balcony. There was barely room for the tables and chairs and if a chair was occupied, another adult could not pass between them and the railing to get to another chair. The second balcony and those which were accessible from the bedrooms were more suitable, but the one off of the living room would have required moving some of the living room furniture out of the way in order to gain access to the door. Also, notable was that all of these doors swing outward instead of sliding side to side. I believe that this made the threshold lower and easier to wheel over than the tracks of a sliding door would be. However, it also would have made it challenging (but not impossible) to maneuver a wheelchair far enough beyond the door to be able to close it behind you.
There are two HA showers in this villa. The first is in the Master Bedroom and the other is located in the bedroom which is farthest down the hallway. Both of those showers have a rubber threshold that gave way easily under my foot, so I imagine that it would not impede a wheelchair. There is a chair in each shower which can be folded up if not needed. The shower head is a handheld wand which would need to be removed from the holder and handed to the person wishing to use it if they could not stand. There is a button on the wand to turn off the water flow instead of having to turn it off at the spigot. Our party included only adults but I can see a family with small children being upset with being assigned a unit that only has one bathtub and one soaking tub. I have a soaking tub at home and I never found it convenient for bathing the kids.
The bedroom doors were 3 feet wide instead of the standard 2.5 feet wide (this from my BIL, who is a contractor and has an eye for these things). The doors have the lever-type doorknobs instead of the standard round doorknobs, which make it easier for those who have difficulty gripping.
Wall switches throughout the villa were at a lower height than standard. And there were a lot of light switches. However, the thermostats were at standard height and the hooks that you would use to hang a towel or bathrobe on the back of a bathroom door were a lot higher that someone in a wheelchair could reach. The sink next to the shower in the Master Suite had space for a wheelchair to roll up to it and the mirror was set at a lower height than you would find in a standard bathroom. There is an outlet to the right of the sink if you want to dry your hair or use an electric razor. The toilet was standard height and there were grab bars on the right side, just below the towel bar and behind it. The sink in the other side of the master bath, where the soaking tub is located, has a standard vanity with a single bowl. The mirror is of standard height and there is one outlet to the right of the sink.
The HA bathroom in the other bedroom has a sliding door instead of a swinging door. The lone sink has no storage and can be rolled up to. The toilet is of standard height and has grab bars surrounding it.
The kitchen is modified for accessibility. The counter with seating is lower and the chairs set next to it are of regular height instead of the bar stool height you would usually see. The refrigerator has the freezer on the top but the whole fridge is shorter than a standard freezer-on-top unit. The dishwasher is of standard size and you can see where the counter had to be raised over it so that it could be fit in. The microwave sits on that counter top instead of over the range. The range is not as tall as standard ranges and the controls for it are on the front instead of the back. It's something else that families with small children might want to be aware of if they are assigned this villa. It would be easy for a kid to reach these controls and turn on a burner or the oven. I didn't check to see if there is a way to "lock" the controls. The sink is also lower and has no cabinets beneath it so that a wheelchair can be wheeled up to it. The upper cabinets are the standard distance above the counters.
Overall, I have to say that the GV is so impressive that the HA modifications were not a problem for us. By the end of the week, I did miss that rain-shower shower head that I have at home and I would have preferred a regular shower head to the shower wand. But other than that, it was a wonderful stay and I would not be upset to be assigned to it again.
If anyone has any questions, I will try to answer to the best of my ability. I'm sure that there are things that I would have be more aware of if someone in our party had a need for it or if it was lacking.
(pictures to follow once I have an opportunity to download them)
Pictures will follow but here's my take:
The GV is on the 3rd floor, above the Screen Door. The balconies span the entire pink section of the building facing the boardwalk and also includes a small balcony with blue striped awning facing the Village Green. That small balcony and another one are accessed from the Master bedroom. Each of the other bedrooms also had its own private balcony facing the boardwalk. There are two balconies which are accessible from the living area: one long, narrow balcony accessible thru 2 doors located near the dining room and the first sitting area and a smaller but deeper balcony located off of the living room area closest to the entertainment unit. IMO, it would be very difficult to maneuver a wheelchair on the first balcony. There was barely room for the tables and chairs and if a chair was occupied, another adult could not pass between them and the railing to get to another chair. The second balcony and those which were accessible from the bedrooms were more suitable, but the one off of the living room would have required moving some of the living room furniture out of the way in order to gain access to the door. Also, notable was that all of these doors swing outward instead of sliding side to side. I believe that this made the threshold lower and easier to wheel over than the tracks of a sliding door would be. However, it also would have made it challenging (but not impossible) to maneuver a wheelchair far enough beyond the door to be able to close it behind you.
There are two HA showers in this villa. The first is in the Master Bedroom and the other is located in the bedroom which is farthest down the hallway. Both of those showers have a rubber threshold that gave way easily under my foot, so I imagine that it would not impede a wheelchair. There is a chair in each shower which can be folded up if not needed. The shower head is a handheld wand which would need to be removed from the holder and handed to the person wishing to use it if they could not stand. There is a button on the wand to turn off the water flow instead of having to turn it off at the spigot. Our party included only adults but I can see a family with small children being upset with being assigned a unit that only has one bathtub and one soaking tub. I have a soaking tub at home and I never found it convenient for bathing the kids.
The bedroom doors were 3 feet wide instead of the standard 2.5 feet wide (this from my BIL, who is a contractor and has an eye for these things). The doors have the lever-type doorknobs instead of the standard round doorknobs, which make it easier for those who have difficulty gripping.
Wall switches throughout the villa were at a lower height than standard. And there were a lot of light switches. However, the thermostats were at standard height and the hooks that you would use to hang a towel or bathrobe on the back of a bathroom door were a lot higher that someone in a wheelchair could reach. The sink next to the shower in the Master Suite had space for a wheelchair to roll up to it and the mirror was set at a lower height than you would find in a standard bathroom. There is an outlet to the right of the sink if you want to dry your hair or use an electric razor. The toilet was standard height and there were grab bars on the right side, just below the towel bar and behind it. The sink in the other side of the master bath, where the soaking tub is located, has a standard vanity with a single bowl. The mirror is of standard height and there is one outlet to the right of the sink.
The HA bathroom in the other bedroom has a sliding door instead of a swinging door. The lone sink has no storage and can be rolled up to. The toilet is of standard height and has grab bars surrounding it.
The kitchen is modified for accessibility. The counter with seating is lower and the chairs set next to it are of regular height instead of the bar stool height you would usually see. The refrigerator has the freezer on the top but the whole fridge is shorter than a standard freezer-on-top unit. The dishwasher is of standard size and you can see where the counter had to be raised over it so that it could be fit in. The microwave sits on that counter top instead of over the range. The range is not as tall as standard ranges and the controls for it are on the front instead of the back. It's something else that families with small children might want to be aware of if they are assigned this villa. It would be easy for a kid to reach these controls and turn on a burner or the oven. I didn't check to see if there is a way to "lock" the controls. The sink is also lower and has no cabinets beneath it so that a wheelchair can be wheeled up to it. The upper cabinets are the standard distance above the counters.
Overall, I have to say that the GV is so impressive that the HA modifications were not a problem for us. By the end of the week, I did miss that rain-shower shower head that I have at home and I would have preferred a regular shower head to the shower wand. But other than that, it was a wonderful stay and I would not be upset to be assigned to it again.
If anyone has any questions, I will try to answer to the best of my ability. I'm sure that there are things that I would have be more aware of if someone in our party had a need for it or if it was lacking.
(pictures to follow once I have an opportunity to download them)
