WWYD? Copper Creek or Beach Club with 10yo CP nephew in wheelchair?

Etron

Earning My Ears
Joined
May 6, 2020
I am looking for some advice - In January 2021 I will take my 10-year-old nephew with cerebral palsy to Disney for the first time. I am DVC member and am trying to decide which resort to book. We will be four people and he mentioned that he is especially interested in an "Adventure Hotel", so I was thinking about Copper Creek. With him being in a wheelchair, I am also considering the proximity to the parks so I was also thinking about Beach Club Villas as an alternative. What would you do? Any other advice, for example about boat rides with a wheelchair?
 
Thank you. That was my first thought too but he is not into animals and transportation is a topic. He only knows Magic Kingdom so far but has been 6 years old the last time he was there. I expect him to be much more open to the other parks now. So I am debating between Copper Creek and Beach Club Villas now.

On another note, does anyone have experience with taking the boats with a wheelchair? Can we just go on the boat with him in the wheelchair or will we have to take him out?
 
If your trip is more than 8 days,I would suggest a split stay. we used to do 2 to 3 days at a MK resort then 5 to 6 at a Epcot resort For even longer stays we did double splits and ended at AKV.

We did it mostly to stamina issues rather than mobility but being able to easily return the the resort villa is a big plus
 
Thank you. That was my first thought too but he is not into animals and transportation is a topic. He only knows Magic Kingdom so far but has been 6 years old the last time he was there. I expect him to be much more open to the other parks now. So I am debating between Copper Creek and Beach Club Villas now.

On another note, does anyone have experience with taking the boats with a wheelchair? Can we just go on the boat with him in the wheelchair or will we have to take him out?
A wheelchair or EXC can fit on all boat but the very small ones ( there are two different kinds that goes from the hotel to the park) one is wheelchair/ ECV accessible the other is not. Disney dose a very good job at getting gust to where they need to go you might have to wait a little longer or you may get not.
 
Does he want to use a pool? Does he like a sandy bottom to the pool? I'd pick Beach Club for Stormalong Bay.
 


For easy transportation, I would probably go with BC if you think you might spend more time at DHS or Epcot. Epcot is such an easy walk from BC and it is not too horrible of a walk to DHS. Plus, you can use the boat or Skyliner to DHS as part of an adventure. The WL, does offer a bus to MK in addition to the boat, but you still have to bus every where else.

I might suggest staying at BC and then maybe planning a visit to WL to eat so he can still explore the resort.
 
If he is super into Disney Transportation, I would say start by planning a whole day of riding every kind of Disney Transportation you can find, and you won't need a Park ticket for any of them.

Buses - They go to and from the Parks, obvs :) But, you can also go to and from Disney Springs and other Resorts, and you can use the Parks & DS as "hubs" to get between them.
Boats - there are many different kinds, as you well know - Off the top of my head, I can think of 3 types that don't even require a theme park ticket! From the water taxis at Disney Springs (and you could even travel down the Sassagoula and have a meal at Olivia's at OKW) to the Friendship boats that run at/between Epcot and HS, and what I think of as the "old school" launches that make the run from WL to MK (the smaller boats that run from WL to CR & Poly to MK have a step down and would require a transfer as well as his chair being folded and carried on board, down 2 steps, not recommended)
Skyliner - It is fully accessible, and quite the ride. Ride it both at night and in the daytime to get the full effect.
Monorail - an Oldie but a Goodie! Of course, a CM will deploy a ramp for the chair, no biggie, and (to me) it's every bit as cool as it was when I rode it for the first time back in the 1970s!
Golf Cart - OK, this sounds weird, but you can rent a golf cart out at FW, and go exploring all over FW in the cart! Its most cool and amazing at Halloween and Christmas, when everyone decorates their campsites, but any time of year it's so pretty out there, and everyone is just so nice.
Balloon ride at DS - go up in a (tethered) balloon - provided he's OK with heights. (I'll be over there, taking pictures from the ground, thanks! LOL)

Don't forget that POR may have the horse-drawn carriage rides, and FW may have hay rides by then also; BW has the rental pedal-carriage-bike thingys, too.

And as for the Resort, well... he's not into animals, but if he is into watching boats go by, y'all could eat every meal at WL down at Geyser Point, and sit by the lake. The lighted water parade still runs every night, too, and they stop by WL. I love BC, it's so pretty, but I have always felt like WL/Copper Creek has a more laid-back relaxed vibe that might be better for a kiddo. If you really want adventure, you could always stay at the Treehouses - that's on my bucket list for sure! I would love to be able to stay in one of the units by the river, and watch the boats come and go; we love to ride the boats at WDW, so it would be right up my alley! I also think that it would be amazing to stay at Poly in one of the over-water units, but you while you could see the boats (and the fireworks from MK) you wouldn't be able to ride them.

I would say focus on what your plans outside the hotel will be first, and that might help inform your decision about where to stay!

Let us know what you decide! :)
 
On another note, does anyone have experience with taking the boats with a wheelchair? Can we just go on the boat with him in the wheelchair or will we have to take him out?

Only in the “Big Boat” from WL-MK. The other boats have a step down into the boat and is not wheelchair-friendly. I wish that Disney would have the boats that go from Epcot/MGM to those hotels as an option for the MK resorts so that A.) You’re not waiting for the Big Boat all the time and clogging up the line. and B.) If the Big Boat ain’t running and you don’t find out until you’re in the line, you’re not fighting through the line trying to get out.
 
For ease of transportation, I would do BCV. You can walk right into EP, take the Skyliner or boat to DHS and bus to both AK and MK. At WL, you will have a bus the whole time unless you take the boat which, as Groot, mentioned, will have its challenges. I believe the rooms at BCV are bigger than the ones at WL as well.
 
For ease of transportation, I would do BCV. You can walk right into EP, take the Skyliner or boat to DHS and bus to both AK and MK. At WL, you will have a bus the whole time unless you take the boat which, as Groot, mentioned, will have its challenges. I believe the rooms at BCV are bigger than the ones at WL as well.

WL does have the smallest room footprint of any of the Deluxes; not sure about the Copper Creek side of the house, however. That should be available on the DVC website?
 
WL does have the smallest room footprint of any of the Deluxes; not sure about the Copper Creek side of the house, however. That should be available on the DVC website?

The Copper Creek rooms are converted WL rooms, so the studios are the same size as WL rooms.

SW
 
The Copper Creek rooms are converted WL rooms, so the studios are the same size as WL rooms.

SW

I wasn't 100% sure if they had reconfigured anything for CC that might have affected total square footage (like narrower hallways to put more square footage into the rooms) and I had seen a floor plan for one of the floors (4? I think?) that showed an odd kind of L-shaped room on the courtyard side as well, so I thought maybe all bets were off! LOL
 
I wasn't 100% sure if they had reconfigured anything for CC that might have affected total square footage (like narrower hallways to put more square footage into the rooms) and I had seen a floor plan for one of the floors (4? I think?) that showed an odd kind of L-shaped room on the courtyard side as well, so I thought maybe all bets were off! LOL

They did not, just gutted the rooms and made new rooms. So they had to work within the existing room "footprints" as it were.

The L shaped studio rooms are a legacy of some of the weird shaped rooms that WL has. They are not a separate bookable category, just luck of the draw for CCV.

SW
 
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You probably already decided, but just in case. The boats being sometimes wheelchair accessible and sometimes not wheelchair accessible didn't work for us. Daughter is 7 and in a wheelchair full time. In the real world of course not everything is wheelchair accessible, but on vacation I just don't want to tell my kiddo we can't go to MK yet as we have to wait for the next boat. She was sad when it would happen, people look at her with empathy and they would be a little sad on her behalf, its just a scene we don't like. Plus, Beach Club is awesome. Its our favorite :)
 
You probably already decided, but just in case. The boats being sometimes wheelchair accessible and sometimes not wheelchair accessible didn't work for us. Daughter is 7 and in a wheelchair full time. In the real world of course not everything is wheelchair accessible, but on vacation I just don't want to tell my kiddo we can't go to MK yet as we have to wait for the next boat. She was sad when it would happen, people look at her with empathy and they would be a little sad on her behalf, its just a scene we don't like. Plus, Beach Club is awesome. Its our favorite :)

I get that; for me, when I'm not in the mood to play "Which boat is my boat" at WL or "No boats for you!" at Poly, I just take the bus at WL, or the Monorail at Poly. That's just me - I love both of those Resorts so much that a bit of inconvenience and/or a transportation-mode change is not a big deal to me. (although I will *always* take the boats at Disney if given the chance - I'm just weird like that! LOL)

Ironically, our family has never been comfortable at Yacht/Beach; I don't know why, because on the surface, it should be our favorite; we love the theming, love the location, everything about it is great - on paper - but every time we are there, it's just been... uncomfortable for us. Thankfully, Disney has a Resort hotel that is the right style for just about everyone! 😉
 
I get that; for me, when I'm not in the mood to play "Which boat is my boat" at WL or "No boats for you!" at Poly, I just take the bus at WL, or the Monorail at Poly. That's just me - I love both of those Resorts so much that a bit of inconvenience and/or a transportation-mode change is not a big deal to me. (although I will *always* take the boats at Disney if given the chance - I'm just weird like that! LOL)

Ironically, our family has never been comfortable at Yacht/Beach; I don't know why, because on the surface, it should be our favorite; we love the theming, love the location, everything about it is great - on paper - but every time we are there, it's just been... uncomfortable for us. Thankfully, Disney has a Resort hotel that is the right style for just about everyone! 😉

This is what we did too with an ECV and going to MK from WL or reverse. If it was a day where I was ok with possibly having to wait for another boat [ie not in a rush jut chilling out] then we would do the boat, otherwise we did the bus -- which, btw is faster than the boat anyway !!. Returning to WL at night it was actually kind of nice sometimes to be waiting on the quiet and cool breeze of the dock for another boat vs with the masses in the bus lines [and there is a BENCH on the dock !!].

Also, with the WL boats, there is always the option of taking the boat to Contemporary and then "walking" or monorailing from Contemporary to MK. We have done that more than once as well. And that is how we get to Poly or GF from MK, too. Works well on legs or with an ECV/mobility device. The Contemporary/FW/WL boats are almost always the larger device-friendly ones.

We feel "at home" at WL. I don't know how else to describe it. And while we have stayed a couple times at Beach Club, it doesn't feel the same and I do not like its twisty disorienting hallways. I don't see us staying there again. WL/CCV, OTOH, we stay at every WDW visit, either as our only hotel or as part of a split stay.

Like you said, there is a hotel for just about everyone. What works for one doesn't work for others.

SW
 

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