Starting on March 15, 2012, a new provision of the Americans with Disabilities Act is going to take effect. The provision allows travelers with special needs to be able to make reservations for accessible guest rooms in the same way that people without any special needs or disabilities can make reservations – electronically, in person, telephonically or through a third party.
The provision says that hotels and resorts will have to:
- allow accessible rooms to be booked in the same ways for people with disabilities as for people without disabilities
- have access to information available about those rooms that are descriptive enough for the person to decide whether the room will meet their needs (including photos or other images)
- include information about which features which rooms have, including which are accessible with roll in showers and which have tubs with grab bars
- reserve and hold a specific room for that specific guest with a disability. Those specific rooms must be actually removed from the reservation system (to avoid double booking and ensure that when the guest arrives the room they needed was available for them)
- hold accessible rooms back for reservation by people with disabilities until all non-accessible rooms of that type/class have been rented.
How will this impact Disney?
Disney is going to have to provide a lot more detail describing the accessible features and in enough detail so one can make the determination if that guest room meets their needs.
Disney will have to train its’ cast members to answer specific inquires about accessible guest rooms.
When an accessible guest room is reserved, Disney will have to hold and remove it from the reservation system to ensure that the specific features needed are available.
If Disney uses third parties to make reservations, and there many travel partners Disney uses familiar with the needs of travelers with disabilities, those third party need information about the accessible features of the facility and the guest rooms.
I feel this is a plus for everyone, because more people will learn about the accessibility features in rooms, and with an aging baby boomer population – which is a huge market share - Disney will be able to tap into that.
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