Disaster disability Disney holiday

Gemmapolak

Hi all.
I'm after some advice.
So the bones of my story are that last year we booked a magical Disney holiday for my family including my 2 small children and my disabled mum.
My mum is wheelchair bound and permanently on oxygen along with several other issues. She is a bluebadge holder and my dad is her full-time carer.
This has been the case for the last 17 years.

We booked this "magical" family holiday as my mum is rapidly getting worse and this was going to be last time she would be able to travel. We wanted to make those lasting memories.

Anyway we decided to book through a well known company.
I called to make the booking as I wanted to make sure we had a disabled room and I wanted to discuss disabled access in the parks ect.
Like the past 17 years when booking anything concerning mum we always call ahead and make sure he needs can be catered for.
While making the booking I mentioned several times and asked lots of questions regarding my mum's wheelchair and mobility issues her bluebadge and how a wheelchair adapted room was essential.
I was told by the adviser that all rooms were disable accessible and the only difference was a shower or a wet room but the bedroom was exactly the same.
Having never been to Disney before and trusting the well known company I chose to book with I believed this and choose a room with a bath.

We went on the holiday and yes we could just about get the wheelchair in the room but it was absolutely not disable friendly and the bathroom was shockingly small and an absolute nightmare to get the wheelchair in.
We didn't complain at the hotel as we had been told by our booking company this was a disability adapted room plus we paid for a club level upgrade and when we sat with the receptionist to book in with mum with her wheelchair and oxygen they didn't even mention we were not in a disabled adapted room.
Nor did they mention that we had infact paid full price tickets for all the adults in the party when actually my dad the full time carer didn't need to pay for his ticket. They knew my dad was her carer as my parents provided my mum's blue badge and a letter from her doctor detailing her condition to obtain a green pass to reduce queue times for mum.

After returning home I started asking questions about why a Disney hotel had such poor disability adapted rooms only to discover that we were not in a disabled adapted room, it was a standard room, club level but standard.
The actual disability adapted room were twice the size with much more room for wheelchairs plus a wheelchair accessible wet room.
It transpires that the chap taking my booking saying the only difference was a wet room and a bath was talking total rubbish. We needed a disabled adapted room like I stressed repeatedly when booking but somehow we were in a standard room.

Obviously I contacted to company with my 2 issue the wrong room which had a massive impact on my mum during the holiday plus being charged for the carers tickets.
A month later and several emails apparently they can't trace my call recording from my booking so the best they can do to make the situation right is a goody bag for the children and a 5% discount off future bookings!!!

Surly this can't be right.
Any advice would be appreciated.

custardy

Gemmapolak wrote: »

Hi all.
I'm after some advice.
So the bones of my story are that last year we booked a magical Disney holiday for my family including my 2 small children and my disabled mum.
My mum is wheelchair bound and permanently on oxygen along with several other issues. She is a bluebadge holder and my dad is her full-time carer.
This has been the case for the last 17 years.

We booked this "magical" family holiday as my mum is rapidly getting worse and this was going to be last time she would be able to travel. We wanted to make those lasting memories.

Anyway we decided to book through a well known company.
I called to make the booking as I wanted to make sure we had a disabled room and I wanted to discuss disabled access in the parks ect.
Like the past 17 years when booking anything concerning mum we always call ahead and make sure he needs can be catered for.
While making the booking I mentioned several times and asked lots of questions regarding my mum's wheelchair and mobility issues her bluebadge and how a wheelchair adapted room was essential.
I was told by the adviser that all rooms were disable accessible and the only difference was a shower or a wet room but the bedroom was exactly the same.
Having never been to Disney before and trusting the well known company I chose to book with I believed this and choose a room with a bath.

We went on the holiday and yes we could just about get the wheelchair in the room but it was absolutely not disable friendly and the bathroom was shockingly small and an absolute nightmare to get the wheelchair in.
We didn't complain at the hotel as we had been told by our booking company this was a disability adapted room plus we paid for a club level upgrade and when we sat with the receptionist to book in with mum with her wheelchair and oxygen they didn't even mention we were not in a disabled adapted room.
Nor did they mention that we had infact paid full price tickets for all the adults in the party when actually my dad the full time carer didn't need to pay for his ticket. They knew my dad was her carer as my parents provided my mum's blue badge and a letter from her doctor detailing her condition to obtain a green pass to reduce queue times for mum.

After returning home I started asking questions about why a Disney hotel had such poor disability adapted rooms only to discover that we were not in a disabled adapted room, it was a standard room, club level but standard.
The actual disability adapted room were twice the size with much more room for wheelchairs plus a wheelchair accessible wet room.
It transpires that the chap taking my booking saying the only difference was a wet room and a bath was talking total rubbish. We needed a disabled adapted room like I stressed repeatedly when booking but somehow we were in a standard room.

Obviously I contacted to company with my 2 issue the wrong room which had a massive impact on my mum during the holiday plus being charged for the carers tickets.
A month later and several emails apparently they can't trace my call recording from my booking so the best they can do to make the situation right is a goody bag for the children and a 5% discount off future bookings!!!

Surly this can't be right.
Any advice would be appreciated.

I'm at a loss why you didnt raise this when you saw the room?

elsien

Too late now, but you really should have raised it with the hotel at the time. And the full price ticket should also have been queried at the time of booking - they're not going to extrapolate from a blue badge, you need to ask the question.
In terms of compensation, and presuming the rest of the holiday was fine and the room was still usable, although not easy, how much impact did it actually have if you were out of the room for much of the time?

Tigsteroonie

Gemmapolak wrote: »

Nor did they mention that we had infact paid full price tickets for all the adults in the party when actually my dad the full time carer didn't need to pay for his ticket. They knew my dad was her carer as my parents provided my mum's blue badge and a letter from her doctor detailing her condition to obtain a green pass to reduce queue times for mum.

Airlines and hotesl don't give discounts for carers. Do you mean this in regard to park tickets? If so, every park/group will have its own rules, and generally carer tickets cannot be arranged in advance (it's difficult enough to do in this country for, say, Alton Towers).

societys_child

The bathroom was a little awkward but still accessible, but you feel you were entitled to something bigger?

Gemmapolak

Thanks for the replies.

We didn't complain at the hotel as atv this point we didn't know there was another option. From what my booking agent had told me this was what they called a disabled adapted room.

We were also unaware of the career free park tickets but during my booking conversation I told the agent several times my dad was my mum's full time carer. He told me there was no concession when actually there was. Again I didn't question this at the hotel as I believed the booking agent.

While the we could get my mum to the toilet and the sink this was not without difficulty. The bath was totally unaccessible to her. There were none of the aids to make things easier which I have since discovered are available in the actual disability adapted rooms. This means the very limited independence my mum has like being able to get on the toilet were removed from her, again unnecessary.

Mum and dad actually spent a fair amount of time in the room as mum needs a lot of rest. One the wheel chair and oxygen were in the room they there was no space to move. My dad would have to move mum around the room to get past or to get dressed ect.
The issue with this is my mum spent the whole week feeling like a burden unnecessary.

This room would have been disappointed if this was an that was available however I requested a disability adapted room and I was wrongly led to believe this was an that was on offer through no fault of my own.

How many other people does this happen to?

a.turner

societys_child wrote: »

The bathroom was a little awkward but still accessible, but you feel you were entitled to something bigger?

Though everything was bigger stateside.

Gemmapolak

This was Paris

sheramber

If the disabled rooms had a wet room why did you chose a room with a bath, which was not included in the description of a disabled room.

sjbrun

As you didn’t complain at the time, you cannot now expect anything. If you didn’t tell them there was a problem, they cannot rectify it.

They could have moved you to a different room or a different hotel.

DIsney have always gone above and beyond when they know there is an issue.

Gemmapolak

While booking and requesting a adapted room I was told the only difference was the bath and the wet room. I was assured both rooms were completely accessable, this was not the case.