Room Request due to Medical Condition-How Do I handle this?

We just got back from the Yacht Club. We loved it, but our room was on the 4th floor. I had requested a lower level/ ground floor room due to my BPPV- vertigo. Mine is triggered by riding in elevators- it's been over a week, and I am still suffering vertigo spells. When we checked in, I specifically told the CM that I have vertigo and needed a lower level room. If it was just me, I would have taken the stairs every time- but I have 2 little kids and a stroller. Its a little ridiculous to expect me to take my kids and stroller up 4 flights of stairs multiple times a day.

We had a standard view room- and I didn't know this before booking, but apparently all of the standard view rooms are up higher. I realize that alot of people are looking for free upgrades, but I have a legit medical condition (I had to go to the Dr. last year after our stay and elevators again...she gave me medicine for it). The CM was just like "sorry" and didn't really make an effort to help me out.

At the time, I didn't really know how to respond or handle it. What would you have done? Should I have asked for a manager? I didn't have any specific documentation from a dr, and I really wasn't in the mood to argue with someone over it, but since we've been home, I really feel like my request should have at least been honored for medical reasons...I guess WDW has so many people trying to take advantage that unless its specifically documented, they can't honor it. And I know requests are not guaranteed to be honored. But still!

Anything I should do now after the fact- would you contact Guest Services or report the issue? I'm not looking for a handout, but it really put quite a damper on the trip, and return home!

Sorry this issue put a damper on your trip. Hopefully I will be able to shed some light on this process. I am a disabled vet, and have made- and received- many special room requests. All of the requests were made by telephone well in advance of the trip through the guest services department that handle these types of requests. Disney pretty much bends over backwards to accommodate you if they can- as long as the request is made through guest services in advance. There is an entire area on their website dedicated to guests with special needs. A phone call in advance would have taken care of it. A room assigner or front desk person is not responsible for handling these types of requests- the person with the special need is. For future reference, call (407) 939-1936 well in advance- and tell them what you need and why you need it- and it will be handled. If they need documentation, they will tell you what they need from you. In your situation, they would probably explain the location of the standard rooms and give you the option to upgrade, but doubt they would upgrade you for a medical condition. I have been there 28 times and have never received a better room due to my special requests. The only 'upgrade' I have ever gotten was a fridge a couple of times to store medications that needed to be kept cold. Other than that, I received a room that met my needs in the room category I paid for. Should you decide to report this, I would think the first question you will be asked is whether or not you contacted the special needs department of guest services to make your request. Since it sounds like you did not- I would think they are going to tell you the same things I just did.

Hindsight is always 20/20, but if a lower level room was a priority, I would've asked to be able to pay the difference to get a higher cost/more preferred garden view room on the first level. Now, reservations in WDW are definitely up, and they may very well not have had an available garden view upgrade on a lower level. If it's just not available, then they couldn't upgrade you to a more expensive room even if they wanted to. Resorts are pretty much at capacity... they don't need to offer upgrades despite the reason.

Also, without documentation, it's quite difficult to prove a medical need, and like you said, it's probably required or highly desired to prevent fraud.

Did you do the online check-in prior to arrival? You could've noted the medical necessity for a lower room there, or had your travel agent (if you used one) add that to your reservation. You could've also called WDW directly to discuss this issue prior to arrival.

I'm sorry this happened to you. It's never fun to feel sick or have health issues during or after your trip (I know... my DH developed his first symptoms of MS during an amazing WDW vacation in 2008). Yes, you probably should've asked to speak to a manager. I don't really know what Disney could/would do for you now that you're home.

At least you now know to investigate what rooms at a particular resort are the lower level rooms so you don't get these unpleasant surprises next time.

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Originally Posted by Happy_2_B

Sorry this issue put a damper on your trip. Hopefully I will be able to shed some light on this process. I am a disabled vet, and have made- and received- many special room requests. All of the requests were made by telephone well in advance of the trip through the guest services department that handle these types of requests. Disney pretty much bends over backwards to accommodate you if they can- as long as the request is made through guest services in advance. There is an entire area on their website dedicated to guests with special needs. A phone call in advance would have taken care of it. A room assigner or front desk person is not responsible for handling these types of requests- the person with the special need is. For future reference, call (407) 939-1936 well in advance- and tell them what you need and why you need it- and it will be handled. If they need documentation, they will tell you what they need from you. In your situation, they would probably explain the location of the standard rooms and give you the option to upgrade, but doubt they would upgrade you for a medical condition. I have been there 28 times and have never received a better room due to my special requests. The only 'upgrade' I have ever gotten was a fridge a couple of times to store medications that needed to be kept cold. Other than that, I received a room that met my needs in the room category I paid for. Should you decide to report this, I would think the first question you will be asked is whether or not you contacted the special needs department of guest services to make your request. Since it sounds like you did not- I would think they are going to tell you the same things I just did.

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Welcome to Intercot! And thank you for both your military service and for this very informative post. :thumbsup:

I am so sorry you didn't feel well. I wish there was a way to know about rooms, views and floors before you went. I never would have thought that standard view rooms were only higher up.

I hate elevators, the claustrophobia kicks in something horrible, yet I stayed at POFQ for years before I figured out that pool view rooms were only on the upper floors.

I hope the next trip is better!

Thanks everyone! Such great info. I've never really had issues before last year, and I don't have any medical documentation- I'm sure I could probably get some...still having vertigo spells. I didn't realize that it would be an issue- I should have researched the rooms better I guess- sheesh, I researched just about everything, but didn't think to research what floor the standard rooms are on! I assumed that the standard view rooms would be on the lower floor facing the parking lot- now I know! Next time I will definitely be making the phone call to request that. And I can't fault anyone for giving me what I paid for...and technically I could have taken 4 flights of stairs every time. I guess I am suffering the consequences now and wondering what I should have done. But, now I know what I need to do, and will probably avoid standard rooms at the Yacht Club from now on.

Thanks again for all of the great advice. So very helpful!

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Originally Posted by Happy_2_B

Sorry this issue put a damper on your trip. Hopefully I will be able to shed some light on this process. I am a disabled vet, and have made- and received- many special room requests. All of the requests were made by telephone well in advance of the trip through the guest services department that handle these types of requests. Disney pretty much bends over backwards to accommodate you if they can- as long as the request is made through guest services in advance. There is an entire area on their website dedicated to guests with special needs. A phone call in advance would have taken care of it. A room assigner or front desk person is not responsible for handling these types of requests- the person with the special need is. For future reference, call (407) 939-1936 well in advance- and tell them what you need and why you need it- and it will be handled. If they need documentation, they will tell you what they need from you. In your situation, they would probably explain the location of the standard rooms and give you the option to upgrade, but doubt they would upgrade you for a medical condition. I have been there 28 times and have never received a better room due to my special requests. The only 'upgrade' I have ever gotten was a fridge a couple of times to store medications that needed to be kept cold. Other than that, I received a room that met my needs in the room category I paid for. Should you decide to report this, I would think the first question you will be asked is whether or not you contacted the special needs department of guest services to make your request. Since it sounds like you did not- I would think they are going to tell you the same things I just did.

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Thank you so much for this info. I honestly had no idea this needed to be done. I will be using this info in the future! The vertigo is something relatively new for me- I've never had issues before last year. But after this trip, I think I have confirmed that it is definitely due to the elevators, and unfortunately I will have to start making special requests due to my condition. Thank you so much for sharing!

:welcome: Happy 2 B, welcome to INTERCOT!

1.Sorry you have vertigo trouble. That can be awful.
2. Thank to "Happy to B" for the insight.

I get vertigo on and off...one word...ANTIVERT...I always have it with me and there are zero side effects. Works wonders...have your doctor prescribe. I keep one RX at work another Rx at home. Pay careful attention on stooping and bending over to pick anything up.

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Originally Posted by brownie

:welcome: Happy 2 B, welcome to INTERCOT!

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Welcome to INTERCOT

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Originally Posted by Pirate Granny

I get vertigo on and off...one word...ANTIVERT...I always have it with me and there are zero side effects. Works wonders...have your doctor prescribe. I keep one RX at work another Rx at home. Pay careful attention on stooping and bending over to pick anything up.

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Oh I'll definitely have to look into that. I got a prescription for Meclizine, which from what I can tell is basically just like Dramamine. I'll have to check into Antivert for sure! Thank you!

Well, hmmm. Is Antivert the same thing? Looks like its meclizine. It helps for sure, but it makes me groggy, and its taken over a week to get over the vertigo. Thanks so much for the info- I'll have to ask my pharmacist friends what the difference is!

One thing that I picked up on in the original post; you just got back...and...Yacht Club. This is one of the busiest times of the year for the resorts adjacent to EPCOT due to the Food & Wine Festival. Very likely, all of those resorts have been at max capacity ever since the festival began, and it may have been very difficult - if not impossible - for the resort to move you to a lower floor. Sorry it put a damper on your trip, but now you've received some very useful tips for future visits.

We are DVC members, and both of us have some mobility issues, so we always make our reservations by phone and emphasize to the cast member what our requests are and why we need them. Over the past 25 or so visits, our requests have been fulfilled about 90% of the time.

Yes I knew it would be extremely busy- there were several large conventions going on as well. Thankfully the resort didn't seem that busy and we had an awesome time at MNSSHP. It wasn't as crowded as I feared. But I'm sure the resort was totally booked, and I realize now I should have taken steps beforehand. You are right- I got some very useful tips that I will definitely be using next time! Thanks!

I hope you're feeling much better now!!

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Originally Posted by SurferStitch

I hope you're feeling much better now!!

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Thankfully I am pretty much back to normal. Thank you so much for asking! That made my day!

Glad you are feeling better. My mother was recently (beginning of August) diagnosed with vertigo and this thread had been very helpful to me. So while it is very unfortunate that nothing can be done to eliminate the discomfort you are experiencing due to the elevator/room situation - your predicament will likely help many others avoid the same pitfalls, so thank you for sharing your experience.