Greetings, Jennifer, and welcome to planDisney! Ensuring a smooth vacation for everyone in your travel party is of the utmost importance, and this is especially true if you're navigating the parks and resorts with your parents and wheelchairs. I'd be more than happy to suggest some resorts for your upcoming visit and provide some additional tips that you may find useful.
Walt Disney World Resort is designed to be safe and accessible for all guests, and there is a robust series of accommodations in place to ensure
guests with disabilities can get around and enjoy everything The Most Magical Place on Earth has to offer. My first suggestion is to check the
"Accessible Rooms" box when you plug your travel dates into the Build Your Vacation tool on the Disney World website. This will show you the resorts that have accessible rooms available during the period you wish to travel. While having an accessible room is important to ensure your comfort while at the hotel, I also want to make sure your travel from the hotel to the theme parks or Disney Springs is smooth as well.
Take a look at your itinerary and determine which parks you are planning to visit. If EPCOT is on the top of your list, you may choose to stay at Disney's Beach Club Resort or Disney's BoardWalk Inn. These hotels are just a stone's throw from the International Gateway entrance to EPCOT, so transportation to and from your hotel will be very easy. If you're planning a day or two in Magic Kingdom, consider a resort on the monorail loop, like Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, Disney's Polynesian Village Resort, or Disney's Contemporary Resort. The monorail is wheelchair accessible, and Cast Members provide ramps so wheelchair users can safely enter their monorail car. A monorail resort will also enable you to easily access EPCOT as well.
If Disney's Hollywood Studios features prominently in your plans, a resort on the
Disney Skyliner route may be appealing. This gondola system also travels to EPCOT, and you can find stations at Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort and Disney's Riviera Resort, plus an additional stop that serves both Disney's Pop Century Resort and Disney's Art of Animation Resort. These enhanced transportation options will simplify your travel to the parks, but I do want to add that bus transportation is easy and reliable for wheelchair and ECV users, too. Bus driving Cast Members are professionals when it comes to safely and speedily loading their vehicles to get guests where they're headed!
Finally, a resort with a smaller footprint may be best so the travel distance from your room to the hotel amenities will be relatively short. Perhaps you're planning a resort-only stay where the hotel is a destination in and of itself, and you're hoping to relax by the pool or explore the fabulous dining options. If this is the case, I recommend Beach Club, Yacht Club, Riviera, BoardWalk Inn, Wilderness Lodge, or Port Orleans - French Quarter.
I know that you'll be able to get around no matter which hotel you choose, Jennifer! I am wishing you and your parents an enchanted vacation full of amazing memory-making. Please visit us again here at planDisney for more vacation planning help.
Stay magical,
Scott