Seniors’ wants and needs while on vacation are often overlooked. What seniors want inside guest rooms at Disney (parks, resorts and cruises) are rarely mentioned or discussed. This includes YouTube vlogger video room tours of this or that Disney resort. This also includes it seems website articles on most Disney fan websites.
Disney for Seniors is focused on enhancing the experience of seniors at all things Disney.
Part 1 of this two part series examined the top convenience related items mentioned by seniors from the original Disney for Seniors Facebook Group online community. You can first read, or reread, using this link the What Seniors Want Inside Guest Rooms at Disney – Part 1 article.
If you recall, over 72,000 Disney luvin’ seniors were asked recently to respond to the following question:
“What is important to you, a senior, when YOU stay in a hotel room, Disney or non-Disney, on a Disney resort vacation?”
Safety Related Items for Seniors Inside Guest Rooms at Disney
As a reminder we are talking about non-ADA compliant guest rooms. These are items mentioned by seniors which can impact the safety of an adult, senior or not. This categorization of convenience vs safety items is subjective for those items mentioned by seniors. Yet, this is the grouping used in this two part article.
As was done for the Part 1 article, below are listed the most frequently mentioned items by the seniors who responded. They are what they want in a guest rooms they use anywhere, regardless if the guest room is in a hotel or resort owned by Disney or some other corporation.
This includes guest rooms at the Disneyland Resort or the Walt Disney World resort or the Disneyland Paris resort or….. . Obviously, these needs are not just at a vacation resort but in any hotel room occupied by seniors.
The percentage to the left of the safety related item in the list below indicates the percentage of seniors whose response included the particular items.
- 41% – Grab / Safety Bars
- 26% – Walk In Shower
- 23% – A True Refridgerator (not a ‘cooler’)
- 18% – Accessible Electric Outlets to Charge All Electronics
- 15% – Higher Toilets
- 12% – Space Inside Guest Room for 1 or 2 Scooters
- 12% – Night Light in Bathroom
- 11% – Lower Beds
- 9% – Non-Slip Mats or Grips on Bathtub and Shower Floor
- 6% – Elevators
- 6% – Electrical Outlet Near Bed for CPAP Device
- 5% – Hand Held Shower Head
- 3% – Night Stands on Both Side of Bed
Grab / Safety Bars in Guest Rooms at Disney – 41%
By far this was the most frequently mentioned item by seniors. It is a direct safety issue. I will generalize here, but there are more seniors with minor mobility challenges (take myself with my bad knee) than ADA guest rooms. And, like myself, us seniors are generally not comfortable taking up an ADA guest room when all that is needed is a little consideration in room design.
In the picture above there is clearly sufficient wall space for a grab bar to be installed. The design of the bathroom would make it challenging to place one convenient for someone using the toilet.
While not frequently mentioned, the bench inside this recently renovated shower stall is a really great touch. It is useful for seniors or anyone who needs a place to sit during the shower. This includes while using the hand held shower head. The hand held shower head was also mentioned but not in the top 15 of safety items.
Even More About Grab or Safety Bars in the Bathroom
Yet, what is wrong with the picture above? There’s plenty of wall space inside the walk in shower for a grab bar on the opposite wall. No, the horizontal bar on the inside of the shower door is not sufficient. It is too far to be reached from all areas inside the shower.
Lastly on this safety item for seniors inside guest rooms at Disney. If you think that Disney just won’t put grab bars in showers or bathtubs or at toilets unless it is an ADA room, think again. The picture immediately below was takin in a non-ADA (i.e., a ‘normal’) guest room just a couple of months ago.
Grab or safety bars are a realatively inexpensive cost to install. And will help reduce guest falls in the bathroom area. At least, that’s my take. It is also the take by many of the seniors who made this the number one requested improvement in guest rooms at Disney:
“We want handrails in the bathroom for toilet and tub…Safety and comfort are most important to us.”
“We stayed in Studio’s for decades and their tubs have no grab bars, so hard to get in and out and they wonder why the towel bars next to the tubs are always loose and coming off the wall. Grab bars in all showers and tubs in ALL rooms would be the best thing Disney could do! Are you listening Disney??”
Walk In Shower – 26% And Non-Slip Mats or Grips in Bathtub and Shower Floor – 9%
This picture looks like its from a newer refinished bathroom from the one above. And you would be right. Yet look at all that wall space where a grab bar could be easily installed. (just to continue on the above section’s topic).
More and more resorts are including walk in showers which are far easier for seniors, and any adult really, with or without mobility challenges to use. Many, but not all, hotels and resorts do have bath mats in the rooms for the use of guests.
One of the comments stated very nicely the need for walk in showers from a safety perspective:
“Walk-in shower…many accidents occur while stepping out of a tub (retired firefighter/paramedic)”
And another nicely made the case for non-slip surfaces or bath matts for both bathtubs and showers:
“Rubber bath mat. My 88 year old mom will not shower or bath without one. Very few hotels have rough grade porcelain on their bathtubs surface.”
A True Refridgerator Inside Guest Rooms at Disney – 23%
This one caught me by surprise, from a safety perspective. Many of those who responded made this a safety issue. It was not about the size of the refrigerator in the room. It was because they need to store their medicine in a truly refrigerated area.
“I just discovered that I need a refrigerator, not a beverage cooler as they do not get as cold as a refrigerator, for medications”
“Proper refrigerator, not cooler is important. Some of us have meds, some of us don’t eat much and turn one meal into two.”
