Wheelchairs at WDW resorts

[harryk]

Over the past few years we have been able to obtain 'courtesy' wheelchairs' at the various delux resorts where we have stayed (Wilderness Lodge and Boardwalk Villas). This past December (2015), I asked for a courtesy wheelchair and was told that they no longer provide them to guests and was handed a flyer with information as to where we could rent one. Naturally I was surprised when this happened and when I questioned why the program was discontinued the response was 'maintenance'. When I received my copy of the bill for our stay at the WLV I found that the shelf rate for our stay was 3500.00 ± -- (7 nights). With charges in this range - they can't afford to provide courtesy wheelchairs to guests. This may seem petty - but overall - guest service should be on top.
(This has nothing to do with the wheelchairs within the various parks - just in the resorts.)

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

With charges in this range - they can't afford to provide courtesy wheelchairs to guests. This may seem petty - but overall - guest service should be on top.

I sympathise with your position but I have to side with Disney on this -
1) There's a recession and Disney must answer to its shareholders - every penny counts and if that means trimming its maintenance bills by cutting wheelchairs then so be it.
2) The cost you quote is for your room, its upkeep, resort maintenance, staffing levels etc. It doesn't say anywhere in your invoice that you may get a courtesy wheelchair.
3) If you arrive at WDW knowing that you need one to get about the resort then I'm afraid that you should make provision to either bring your own or research where you can rent one in advance.

 

[Tom]

I sympathise with your position but I have to side with Disney on this -
1) There's a recession and Disney must answer to its shareholders - every penny counts and if that means trimming its maintenance bills by cutting wheelchairs then so be it.
2) The cost you quote is for your room, its upkeep, resort maintenance, staffing levels etc. It doesn't say anywhere in your invoice that you may get a courtesy wheelchair.
3) If you arrive at WDW knowing that you need one to get about the resort then I'm afraid that you should make provision to either bring your own or research where you can rent one in advance.

Recession?

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Recession?

Yes, where've you been hiding

 

[wm49rs]

I sympathise with your position but I have to side with Disney on this -
1) There's a recession and Disney must answer to its shareholders - every penny counts and if that means trimming its maintenance bills by cutting wheelchairs then so be it.
2) The cost you quote is for your room, its upkeep, resort maintenance, staffing levels etc. It doesn't say anywhere in your invoice that you may get a courtesy wheelchair.
3) If you arrive at WDW knowing that you need one to get about the resort then I'm afraid that you should make provision to either bring your own or research where you can rent one in advance.

Considering the profits crowed about by TWDC on a quarterly basis, I'm certain the upkeep of some courtesy wheelchairs, or heaven forbid, new ones, wouldn't break any profit margins across the parks....

 

[DisneyJoe]

Some guests borrow the courtesy wheelchairs for the entire day, as if they were meant to use them to tour the parks. This puts more wear and tear on the chair, and also increases the need for more chairs at the resorts. At some point the decision needed to be made to offer a wheelchair service at every resort and maintain them, or to allow this to fall to the outside vendors.

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Considering the profits crowed about by TWDC on a quarterly basis, I'm certain the upkeep of some courtesy wheelchairs, or heaven forbid, new ones, wouldn't break any profit margins across the parks....

No, perhaps they wouldn't. But for every one chair that Disney buys, it has to maintain it, and buy spare parts for it, and somewhere in the equation there will be staff costs to service it and then it will need replacing when it becomes unserviceable - it all adds up and by getting rid then they save quite a chunk of money.
I can't see any reason why they couldn't rent them out like they do at the parks - that would keep guests happy and the rental should cover the maintenance.

 

[wm49rs]

No, perhaps they wouldn't. But for everyone chair that Disney buys, it has to maintain it, and buy spare parts for it, and somewhere in the equation there will be staff costs to service it and then it will need replacing when it becomes unserviceable - it all adds up and by getting rid then they save quite a chunk of money.
I can't see any reason why they couldn't rent them out like they do at the parks - that would keep guests happy and the rental should cover the maintenance.

TWDC can more than afford such "chunks of money." And who knows, such gestures as repairing/maintaining the wheelchairs or again (heaven forbid) the purchase of new ones might display such goodwill towards their customers that it encourages more people who use them to visit WDW. Where those terribly onerous costs could be reclaimed by customers spending in the parks/resorts....

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

TWDC can more than afford such "chunks of money."

Perhaps they can afford it - but when you're answering to shareholders who are driven by greed and a return on their investment, then costs need to be kept to an absolute minimum

 

[thomas998]

I sympathise with your position but I have to side with Disney on this -
1) There's a recession and Disney must answer to its shareholders - every penny counts and if that means trimming its maintenance bills by cutting wheelchairs then so be it.
2) The cost you quote is for your room, its upkeep, resort maintenance, staffing levels etc. It doesn't say anywhere in your invoice that you may get a courtesy wheelchair.
3) If you arrive at WDW knowing that you need one to get about the resort then I'm afraid that you should make provision to either bring your own or research where you can rent one in advance.

More to your second point... The charge for an accessible room vs a standard room is the same... so why would it make any business sense to provide something for some guests when you weren't charging for it? I suspect Disney can't charge more for an accessible room than a standard room because they would be sued by someone for discrimination... when the reality is nothing is free, just because you were provided something as a courtesy doesn't mean it didn't cost the provider something. It makes absolute sense that they would cut the program... why provide things you can't get reimbursed for?

 

[thomas998]

Perhaps they can afford it - but when you're answering to shareholders who are driven by greed and a return on their investment, then costs need to be kept to an absolute minimum

I suppose you have no investments at all then right?

Shareholders aren't driven by greed anymore than a street vender selling hot dogs for a profit to support his family is driven by greed...

Greed has become a nebulous catch all dirty word people use just like the word racist... It might have had some real meaning along time ago but now it is tossed about way to generously because it has negative connotation with little thought about what it really means.

I think in general people don't buy stocks in any company because they want to lose money.... That is really no more greedy than you going to work because you are being paid to, unless of course you pay your employer for the privilege of working.

 

[wm49rs]

Perhaps they can afford it - but when you're answering to shareholders who are driven by greed and a return on their investment, then costs need to be kept to an absolute minimum

If the costs are outweighed by the potential returns, and considering just how much money we're talking about here, they would be, I'm not too concerned. A little goodwill goes a long way, even for returns on investment....

 

[thomas998]

No, perhaps they wouldn't. But for every one chair that Disney buys, it has to maintain it, and buy spare parts for it, and somewhere in the equation there will be staff costs to service it and then it will need replacing when it becomes unserviceable - it all adds up and by getting rid then they save quite a chunk of money.
I can't see any reason why they couldn't rent them out like they do at the parks - that would keep guests happy and the rental should cover the maintenance.

I think the reason the don't rent them at resort and only at the parks comes down to the ability to control the wheelchairs. If I rent one in a park I don't worry about it being stolen because it can only be removed from the few controlled exits... But if I rented one to someone at a resort I pretty much give up the ability to control where it goes, a renter could easily take it off-site where it might be left, might be used in such away that someone gets injured and lets face reality if anyone got hurt by a wheelchair owned by Disney outside of Disney's properties you can bet the injured party would be adding Disney to the list of people they sued simply because they have big pockets. I fully understand why they wouldn't want to get into the the rental business at resorts.

 

[thomas998]

If the costs are outweighed by the potential returns, and considering just how much money we're talking about here, they would be, I'm not too concerned. A little goodwill goes a long way, even for returns on investment....

Goodwill will be quantified by the bean counters in some form or fashion... given that the number of people that would ever need a wheel chair will be very small I expect they would attach a very small value to the goodwill that providing them would generate.

 

[thomas998]

Considering the profits crowed about by TWDC on a quarterly basis, I'm certain the upkeep of some courtesy wheelchairs, or heaven forbid, new ones, wouldn't break any profit margins across the parks....

Thinking like that is the reason some economies collapse... Those good things that don't cost much add up and if you never draw a line the will eventually bankrupt a company or a nation that just focuses on the good they generate and not the cost they also incur.

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

If the costs are outweighed by the potential returns,

And what financial return do you get on complimentary wheelchairs ?

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

I think the reason the don't rent them at resort and only at the parks comes down to the ability to control the wheelchairs.

So how did Disney control the complimentary wheelchairs ?

 

[thomas998]

So how did Disney control the complimentary wheelchairs ?

In the past they didn't... Quite possibly having them stolen might be another of the reasons they don't provide them anymore.

 

[wm49rs]

And what financial return do you get on complimentary wheelchairs ?

How about people that use them find out they're complimentary at WDW/DL? And that information plays a role in their visiting the parks, where their spending more than offsets the ever-so-drastic wheelchair costs....

 

[wm49rs]

Thinking like that is the reason some economies collapse... Those good things that don't cost much add up and if you never draw a line the will eventually bankrupt a company or a nation that just focuses on the good they generate and not the cost they also incur.

B#ll#cks. You're talking about a handful of wheelchairs across the parks and resorts....