If you’re wheelchair bound like me, cruising can be a very convenient and relaxing way to travel because you’re able to visit different destinations without the hassle of transferring baggage or checking in and out of hotels. On a cruise ship you literally take your hotel room with you. During my 22 years as a quadriplegic I’ve cruised six times: two Caribbean cruises, a Baltic cruise and three Alaska cruises, all with Royal Caribbean and Princess Cruises. I love cruising!  In this article I’ll share some of my experiences and observations.

Making your cruise reservation

The cruise industry is making major strides in adapting its ships to support the needs of disabled passengers, but the amenities vary from ship to ship. Therefore it’s essential for you to do some research before you book your cruise.

The Berlitz Complete Guide to Cruising is an excellent guide book for finding out which ships are well equipped to accommodate people with disabilities.

My advice is to make your reservation well in advance. Each cruise ship has only a limited number of wheelchair accessible cabins which fill fast. Unless you’re able to get out of your wheelchair and walk a few steps, there is no point in reserving a cabin that is not wheelchair accessible because your wheelchair won’t fit through the doorway of your cabin. Usually, only wheelchair accessible cabins have entrance doors that are wide enough to accommodate wheelchairs

Wheelchair accessible cabins are typically 50% larger than standard cabins in the same class. But it’s still a good idea to confirm that your cabin has enough room for you to maneuver around in your wheelchair with your travel agent or cruise reservation specialist. For example, I need enough space between the bed and the wall to do transfers from the wheelchair to the bed and vice-versa using a Hoyer lift.

Just a small view of a truly huge cruise ship.

Choose a cabin in the center of the ship if you’re prone to motion sickness. Stay close to the elevators because the corridors where the cabins are located tend to be quite long and are often partially blocked by housekeeping carts during cabin cleaning which makes it hard for a wheelchair to pass by. The closer you are to an elevator, the less likely a housekeeping cart will be in your way. And if you’re a manual wheelchair user, you may find yourself straining your arms when you have to push your chair a long way from your cabin to the elevator because the corridors are fully carpeted.

Cruise lines generally make a lot of effort to accommodate your disability, but they have to know about it in order to meet your needs. When you make your reservation, tell them about the nature of your disability.

Getting to your cruise ship

If you live close to a major cruise terminal where many ship departure such as Miami, New York, Los Angeles or Vancouver, you might be able to drive to your port of departure to embark the ship. I had the pleasure of taking just a 25 minute drive from my home to the cruise terminal with my most recent round-trip cruise from San Francisco to Alaska last August. Not having to travel by air with a wheelchair can make your trip much more enjoyable because it eliminates the worry of your wheelchair getting damaged or of having to deal with discomfort while being stuck in an airplane seat (see our article about Minimizing Your Worries When Flying With a Wheelchair).

If you do need to fly to a Canadian or US port of embarkation, you will find that several cruise lines will make arrangements to pick you up at the airport in a wheelchair accessible van for a reasonable fee. Check with your cruise line at the time you reserve your cruise to see if this service is offered.

I’ve also noticed that the security when boarding the ship has become a lot more stringent after 9/11. The security procedures have become very similar to what you have to deal with when getting on a plane. Don’t forget your passport because they won’t let you on the ship without it. On our last cruise to Alaska, my sister checked a bag that contained her passport. She realized this as we approached the security gate and she had to rush back outside the cruise terminal to try to find the checked bag.  Luckily our porter was able to find it in the baggage area based on some descriptions we gave him and she retrieved her passport for security check-in.

Wheelchair accessible staterooms

Even though the ADA was passed in 1990, it took another 15 years before the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that foreign-flagged cruise lines must make their ships accessible to disabled travelers. Therefore, you’ll find that newer vessels have been built with fully accessible staterooms featuring wide doorways with level entries, roll-in bathrooms with shower stools, emergency call buttons and sinks that are accessible to those who must wheel up to the sink. So before you reserve your cruise, inquire about the age of the vessel.

A view of a fjord in Oslo, Norway

All accessible cabins are roomier than their standard counterparts in the same class, but if you are able to afford the more expensive outside rooms, I really recommend that upgrade. On two of the cruises, we stayed in an inside stateroom, but I found this kind of depressing because the absence of windows makes the room look smaller and dark inside. I could never wait to get out of the inside cabin, a feeling I never experienced while staying in an outside cabin. If you’re in a wheelchair you tend to spend more time in your cabin because processes like getting ready for bed or getting up in the morning simply take longer.

On one of the cruises to Alaska we had a cabin with a window almost as big as the outside wall and my wife and I loved laying in bed early in the morning looking at the beautiful scenery passing by when the ship was entering a new port. I especially remember one morning when we entered Tracy Arm at 5 AM on our way to a glacier. If we had stayed in an inside cabin we probably would have had to start getting up at 3 AM to be able to enjoy the beautiful scenery from one of the decks. Instead we opened the curtains around 5 AM, and lay facing the window and very leisurely watched the many waterfalls running down the fjords and the pieces of ice that had fallen off the glacier passing by. Then by 6:30 AM we started getting up while we continued watching the beautiful scenery.  This gave us enough time to go to one of the upper decks before we arrived at the glacier. When the ship turned around and away from the glacier, we parked ourselves near a window at the breakfast buffet and took in some more of the breathtaking views while we enjoyed our breakfast.

If you have a room with a balcony, make sure you’re able to get over the lip to the outside; otherwise the balcony won’t bring you a lot of enjoyment.

And if you need special equipment in your cabin, your steward will do anything he can to get it to you. For example, I have had no problem getting extension cords and a replacement power supply for a piece of medical equipment which stopped working after a few days on the ship. Cruising is all about service!

Dining and entertainment on board the ship

Food on the cruise ship is abundant and the dining room service is excellent. You can pretty much eat around-the-clock and it’s almost guaranteed you will gain a few pounds. The bigger the ship, the more dining options you will have.

Formal Dinner Night - Son, Mom, Luc

The main dining room is quite large and it’s usually not easy to get to a table next to a window because they tend to be further away and requires some maneuvering going between all the tables, passengers and waiters. I recommend settling for a table that’s closer to the entrance of the dining room. In the evening, the main dining room has an early and a late seating and some of the evenings formal dressing is required. When you regularly eat in the main dining room, your waiter really gets to know you and starts tuning into your special needs. For example, I always carry a glass mug with a handle in the backpack that hangs behind my wheelchair because it is easier for me to pick up. On the first night I asked our waiter to take it out of my backpack for me, but every night after that he did that without me having to ask as soon as I arrived at our table. And, when we were almost ready to leave he would make sure my mug was cleaned and put back in my backpack.

Dining in the buffet lounge is another option. The buffet lounges are typically located at one of the upper decks and have glass windows all around, an ideal location to soak up the scenery. Again, I was always pleasantly surprised by the attentive service I was given. As soon as I approached the buffet line, one of the staff members would come greet me and ask me whether I needed assistance. I always graciously accepted the offer so that my wife would not have to load up a plate for me, allowing her the time to make her own selections without feeling pressured needing to take care of me. And when we exited the buffet line, the same staff member who helped me fill up my plate would always make sure to find us a free table even when the place was packed.

If you get tired of eating in the main dining room or at the buffet, you can always choose to order room service or eat at one of the specialty restaurants on board the ship. Just be aware that some of these specialty restaurants may charge you an extra fee.

Entertainment on board the ship

One of the many outdoor lounge and pool areas.

Most cruise ships have large, accessible public rooms; therefore passengers with mobility problems can enjoy their full share of entertainment. The shows are actually really good and typically last about an hour. Wheelchair accessible seating is available in the show theaters, but my experience is that the quality of the seating varies by ship. The bigger the ship, the more seating options you have. For example, when we cruised on the Grand Princess in the Baltics, we had plenty of accessible seating options in the show room and my wife and I could sit next to each other. However, when we went to Alaska on the Star Princess, the accessible seating was in the very back behind the regular seats and my wife had to sit in front of me or even further away when those seats were already taken.

There are plenty of activities on board the ship during the day to keep you busy, but a lot of times I just simply loved to park myself at a table next to a window in one of the lounges to relax and read a book or to spot whales.

Shore excursions

The orange boat is a small tender transport.

Avoid cruises where most of the stops are at tender ports because most tenders (when the ship is anchored away from shore instead of next to a dock and a small boat must transport passengers from the ship to the shore) are not wheelchair accessible. Even if a port can accommodate docking ships it is still not a guarantee that a tender won’t be used when the number of cruise ships at the port exceeds the available docking spaces. This happened to me during my last cruise to Alaska. On my first cruise to Alaska we weren’t being tendered ashore in Juneau and I automatically assumed this would be the case again when we cruised to Alaska last summer. So I was very surprised to find out I could not get on shore in Juneau because a tender was being used to ferry people to shore. I learned the hard way that cruise lines alternate among each other between docking and tendering. Again, do your homework upfront and make sure you ask your cruise agent all the right questions when you book.

Shore excursions are operated by independent contractors and the accommodations they provide are beyond the control of the cruise lines. The tour operators are not obliged to provide accessible transportation, especially not in foreign countries. However, disabled passengers can improve accessibility by asking cruise lines to contract with operators that provide accessible tours.

The St. Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg

If the cruise line does not offer any accessible excursions at a certain port, it might be worthwhile to do your own research and book a private tour or rent a wheelchair accessible van. Actually, that is exactly what we did in St. Petersburg Russia on our Baltic cruise. The cruise ship docked at St. Petersburg for two days and we rented a van with a wheelchair lift that came with a driver and a tour guide. We were able to tailor our tour and we had a wonderful time in St. Petersburg.  I’ll save those experiences for another article.

Happy cruising!

Our tip for the day is on accessible travel.  To that end, we’ve put together a list of sites  – both new and old – on disabled travel that we think are definitely useful.

Ability Trip

One of my favorite emerging disabled travel sites, Ability Trip was founded by a husband a wife team looking to provide a lot of disabled travel information from their own personal experiences. The site is organized by region with more tips and areas being added all the time. We found the layout and the thorough, travel guide style place descriptions to be very well done. If you’re planning a trip, make Ability Trip one of your first stops.

Disabled Travelers Blog

I love reading travel blogs – they serve as a way to experience travel through someone else’s eyes. The Disabled Travelers Blog captures the accessible travel experience. They’ve been adding content since 2007, so there’s a good amount of information that you can sort through – and it can be a fun read even if you’re not planning a trip.

Access Travel Center

The Access Travel Center is a large collection of links of accessible travel. Organized in categories such as van rentals, cruises, discounts, airlines, and hotels, this site offers a wealth of collected information of disabled travel and wheelchair travel.

The Accessible Travel Guide

If you’re looking to travel in the US, The Accessible Travel Guide might have some information for you. Although we didn’t find initial site navigation to be very intuitive, once we made our way to the “find” section we saw destinations arranged by US state. This made finding destinations easy, and the simple grading system attached to each location was a fun change from the typical travel review.

Disaboom

If you’re disabled, there’s a good chance you’ve heard of Disaboom. Launched less than 2 years ago, Disaboom has quickly become a resource for nearly every type of disability. While it’s not always easy to find exactly what you’re looking for, the vast collection of articles here means that eventually you’ll find some really useful, relevant information. Disaboom Accessible Travel.

One more resource…

You! – what about you? Do you have any tips or resources that you’ve discovered in your own travels or on the internet? Share them – we’d love to hear from you!

Recently we had the chance to visit a local, organic, and sustainable farm and want to share the amazing experience we had there learning about farm practices and how easy it can be to eat local and healthy.

My Diet as a Quadriplegic

Being confined to a wheelchair as a C5/C6 quadriplegic and not able to exercise my body like a non-disabled person can, I find it very important to take care of my body in other ways to stay healthy. The best alternative I can think of is to nurture my body with healthy foods. When I say healthy foods, I mean eating lots of fruits and vegetables, preferably all organic. Eating that way has really made a tremendous difference in my overall health and my energy levels. See my earlier articles about the Benefits of a Healthy Diet for a Quadriplegic and Juice Feasting. I even read an article a little while ago claiming that a healthy diet is more of a contributing factor to longevity than regular exercise. I hope that is kind of true as I am trying my best to stick with it. So far, so good, because I hardly ever get sick.

The Tara Firma Farms Story

free range hens

I am always eager to learn more about organic farming practices. So, when Aaron told my wife and me that a new sustainable, organic farm – Tara Firma Farms – had opened in our area and was doing tours on Sundays, we didn’t hesitate to go check it out. My expectations for getting around on the farm in a power wheelchair were very low, especially after the huge amounts of rain we have had over the past two months. But it ended up being a very pleasant and educational experience.

Tara Firma Farms is located in the rolling hills of the San Francisco North Bay and the setting of the farm couldn’t look any more green and beautiful on our sunny visit after months of rain. First of all, the owners Tara and Craig Smith had an amazing story to tell. After they learned more and more about the impact of traditional food production on both the health of our bodies and our planet, they decided to make their own environmentally friendly initiative by becoming organic food farmers. They sold their home on the Bay, Tara quit her successful career, and they purchased 240 acres of land to start a sustainable and organic farm.

Tara conducted a wonderful and enlightening informative tour. I was struck about how passionate she is in trying to make her own impact on healing our earth. By practicing biointensive farming, they are able to get greater yields per square foot from their produce gardens. By moving their cattle to new patches of grass every day, the grass isn’t grazed down too far, and is able to stay healthy and nutritious. And by moving their hens onto the land recently vacated by the cattle, their hens are able to eat bugs and grubs which give their eggs thick yellow yolks.

Accessibility on the Farm

In front of the pig pen

The dirt roads through the pastures and the vegetable gardens were quite muddy after all the recent rain and in some places a little hilly, but nothing I wasn’t able to manage in my power wheelchair. I was actually having some fun and felt a little bit like a kid again maneuvering through the mud and puddles. Tara was extremely accommodating to my situation. She guided me through the most accessible route and even put some wooden boards down in a spot that was very muddy. I was able to stay with the rest of the group during the entire tour and didn’t miss out on anything. And as soon as the mud dries up, it will even be easier to get around in a wheelchair.

The only place I wasn’t able to access on the tour was the shop where produce and meat was sold. There was a small step to the entrance and Tara felt really bad they hadn’t put up a ramp yet. I can fully understand they had overlooked that given everything else they had to deal with during the past six months getting the farm operational and I’m sure they will fix that soon.

A Weekly Box of Local Organic Vegetables

Even though I am a vegetarian, it was heartwarming to see the chickens, turkeys, pigs, and cows being raised with a lot of respect. I was actually tempted for a while to add a little bit of their meat back into my diet knowing that the meat is free of chemicals and that the animals have had a good life.

I hope more people will follow in Tara’s and Craig’s footsteps so that food production is gradually put back in the hands of small, local, independent farmers which allows us to regain trust in the foods we put in our bodies. In the meantime we are making our contribution by having a box of organic vegetables from Tara Firma Farms delivered weekly at a pickup place in our neighborhood.

Big pig and piglets

2 week old chickens

A Rooster protecting his hens

Off-roading in a wheelchair

An improptu accessibility aid

A trail on the farm

Luc and Tara in front of the mobile chicken coop

The gorgeous farm landscape

lazy pigs

Disney World can be an amazing vacation destination as evidenced by the over 40 million people that visit each year. I’m sure there are many people confined to wheelchairs who have never visited Disney World and have some questions about how accessible it really is. Last year, I spent two weeks during Spring – long enough to make a decent accessibility assessment – visiting all of the Disney World parks and I would like to report on some of my personal experiences getting around as a C5/C6 quadriplegic in a motorized wheelchair. Hopefully, some of you confined to a wheelchair and thinking about making a trip to Disney World will be able to pick up a few tips while reading this article.

Why Disney World again?

While I lived on the East Coast, I had the chance to visit Disney World a few times both before and after my disabling accident. But this recent trip was special because my wife had never been to Disney World, my brother came over from Belgium with his wife and three kids, and I was able to take enough vacation to go for two full weeks to avoid having to rush through the parks so we could experience everything leisurely. And this time I also had an incentive to pay extra attention to accessibility related issues for this article on DisabledAndProductive.com.

When is a good time of the year to go to Disney World?

Disney World Wheelchair Accessibility at Epcot

My past visits to Disney World have been in the middle of the summer, at the end of September, around Thanksgiving, at Christmas and New Year’s, in February, the beginning of April, and during the middle of May. One may think I’m a Disney fanatic, but I’m really not. It just happened that my first wife loved to go there when my son was a little boy and I didn’t mind going along because I liked the warm weather, it was fun to see my kid having a good time, and I found Disney World quite accessible.

I don’t recommend going to Disney World during the summer because any day it’s almost guaranteed to be very hot and humid, which can make you miserable. If you’re a quadriplegic like me, and you don’t sweat below your level of injury, you can easily get overheated when you have to wait in the baking sun before you are allowed inside for an attraction. Even in the middle of May and the end of September I have experienced 95° weather. Christmas and New Year’s is a great time to go because Disney does a very nice job creating a festive atmosphere with amazing decorations. The weather can be iffy though; if you’re lucky, you can have a long stretch of 75° weather, or you may be unlucky and visit during a cold spell with temperatures in the 40s during the day. Weather wise the same is true in February. Thanksgiving is a good time to go because you have a better chance of having mild and warm – but not too hot – weather and the Christmas decorations are already up. Just be aware that the parks get very crowded during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, and around spring break. When we went during spring break in the beginning of April last year it was fairly windy and chilly with temperatures in the high 50s for the first few days – which we were told is very unusual at that time of year. Then, during the last 10 days of our trip, we had beautiful weather with temperatures ranging between 72 and 83° during the day.

Special Disney World vacation preparations as a disabled person

Traveling to Orlando from the West Coast means flying for me, which is a scary endeavor when you travel in a wheelchair. There is always a chance something might go wrong with my equipment or my paralyzed body might experience discomforts that are hard to deal with while in transit. I‘ve developed a few traveling procedures I follow to reduce the chances of running into adversities based on lessons learned from my past flight experiences. I’ve documented these in the article Flying with a Wheelchair.

For my setup once I arrive at my hotel, I use a Hoyer lift to aid with transferring between my wheelchair and bed. Rather than dealing with the hassle of bringing a clunky Hoyer lift on the airplane, on this last trip we opted to rent one in Orlando. We also decided to rent a scooter for my wife because she was experiencing pain in her knees due to an old waterskiing injury and we figured we would be doing a lot of walking in the amusement parks.

Using a scooter and wheelchair at Epcot Center

Cost of the two week rental cost for the Hoyer lift came to $150, and the scooter was $350. We were able to rent both of these from CARE Medical Equipment in Orlando (www.scooterrental.com). Their service included delivery and pick-up from the hotel and we were very pleased with the company’s service. Scooters can also be rented on a daily first-come-first-serve basis when you enter a Disney Park, but there is no guarantee one will be available – especially on a busy day – and scooter/EVC rentals are more expensive ($50/day) in the Disney Parks.

Accommodations in and around Disney World

My first inclination when I looked into accommodations was to stay on the Disney property itself to be close to all the action. Several types of accommodations ranging from standard hotel rooms to one, two, and three bedroom living quarters with full kitchens are available on the Disney property. Because we all wanted to stay in a single location with seven people so we would be able to spend more quality time together, we needed a place with three bedrooms. However, the cost of a three bedroom accommodation during the high spring break season on the Disney property ($17,000) was prohibitive and I decided to look into accommodations outside of the Disney property instead. We ended up at the Marriott Imperial Palms in a nice, comfortable, spacey, and accessible three bedroom timeshare type unit only two miles from the Disney parks, which we were able to rent for less than $4,000 for the two weeks. As part of the deal we were allowed access to all the amenities at the beautiful nearby Marriott World Center resort which was less than a five minute wheelchair stroll away.

Looking back, if cost weren’t an issue, it would have been nice to stay on the Disney property. There are some wonderful hotels next to Epcot Center within a three minute wheelchair ride from the park entrance. But our compromise was well worth the huge money savings!

Transportation in and around Walt Disney World

If you stay in a resort on the Disney property you can take advantage of the Disney bus transportation system which can take you to any attraction or hotel on the property without an additional charge. These busses are accessible and run frequently; just make sure your wheelchair can fit in the wheelchair lift space of 32″x40″. I’ve stayed on the property previously and found the bus system to be very convenient if you stay within the Disney property during your entire visit. Just keep in mind that at night, after the fireworks, the lines to get back on the bus from the Magic Kingdom or Epcot Center may be very long as there is generally a mass exodus at that point.

Since we were staying outside of the Disney property and were unable to take advantage of the Disney bus system, we decided to rent a wheelchair accessible van instead. Several car rental companies in Orlando offer wheelchair accessible vans. After calling most of them we picked Florida Van Rentals because they gave me the lowest quote which also included pick-up and delivery at the Orlando airport. I’m glad we chose them and we ended up being very pleased with the van rental. The van was waiting there for us when we arrived at the Orlando airport, and was an almost brand new van. Another plus was that the tie-down system for the wheelchair was fairly simple.

Renting a van offers more flexibility compared to solely relying on the Disney bus system. It allows you to go grocery shopping or to eat in one of the cheaper and less crowded restaurants just outside of the Disney property. And you will be able to easily drive to some of the other attractions Orlando has to offer such as Sea World and Universal Studios. Or you can take a day trip to Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, the beaches in Tampa, or even the Everglades.

Parking at the Disney parks costs $12 per day and even though plenty of disabled parking spaces are available, they tend to fill up very quickly in the morning. We usually visited the parks in mid-afternoon when people had already started to leave, and by then we usually were able to find vacated disabled parking spaces.

Another way to get around is by using wheelchair accessible taxi services to transport you from the airport to Disney World. Not only are they plentiful, but they can also be called upon for an outing outside of the park boundaries where the Disney bus system is not available.

Disney World also has a monorail system that connects some of the parks and hotels. The monorail is completely accessible, but just be aware that an attendant has to put a ramp up to let you in and out of the monorail in your wheelchair or scooter. On one occasion the attendants didn’t spot me when I was ready to disembark and my wife had to go tell one of the attendants I needed to get off or otherwise I probably would have been stuck there for another loop around the park system!

Accessibility in the parks

On your very first day in the park, make it a priority to go to the Guest Relations booth, show them proof that you have a disability — if you’re in a wheelchair, it is quite obvious — and ask for a special pass for people with a disability, called Guest Assistance Card. Present this card to the greeter or first host or hostess you come in contact with at each ride and you and your party will be guided gently to the entrance that accommodates your disability. This pass is valid in all of the four major theme parks (Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios) for the duration of your stay. I found this pass to be the best perk for attending the parks in a wheelchair. It works like a glorified Fast Pass because it allowed me and the other six people in my party to enter many of the attractions through the Fast Pass lane or an alternate entrance that makes it easier for people in wheelchairs to enter, bypassing the long waiting lines without needing to arrive at a specified time. Even if you are not allowed to enter the attraction yourself because the attraction is not accessible given your physical condition, everyone else in my party was still allowed to bypass the long waiting lines. That was a huge time savings and my brother’s kids adored me for that. We were able to enjoy about three times the number of rides as when we would not have gotten the pass.

While you are at the Guest Relations booth, also ask for their “Guidebook for Guests with Disabilities”. Even though the regular park maps are pretty well marked with the accessibility conditions for each attraction, the guidebook provides a lot more helpful detail and it’s free.

The first couple of times I went to Disney World after my disabling accident I was using a manual wheelchair and I was pleasantly surprised that it was really not that hard to push myself around because the parks are so flat. Just know that using a manual wheelchair versus a power wheelchair does not make any difference as far as accessibility to their shows or rides is concerned.

All of the shows are wheelchair accessible, but some of the rides require that you transfer from your wheelchair or EVC into the regular seats or a special wheelchair provided by Disney. Because I feel completely insecure when I am not sitting in my own wheelchair I chose not to transfer and I skipped those rides. The rides that are not accessible to people who need to stay in their own wheelchair are mostly the thrill rides. I had gone on most of those thrill rides before I became disabled; but now, even if I was allowed on those rides, I would not feel safe enough to do that in my condition due to my lack of upper body balance.

Sometimes the ride needs to be stopped to allow someone in a wheelchair to maneuver into position on one of the specially modified ride vehicles. Some of the wheelchair spaces are pretty tight and in one occasion on the Journey into Imagination ride in Epcot it took a couple of minutes before I was able to properly position myself, halting the entire ride during that time.

Being Assisted onto the Seas with Nemo Ride

Disney provides detailed accessibility information on maps they pass out, so I won’t go into depth about accessibility of individual attractions. If you would like to find out more about accessibility before you head out to Disney World, this Attraction Accessibility Link provides you with a good summary – but I did find two inaccuracies compared to what is listed. The site mentions that guests in a motorized vehicle or an EVC must transfer into an available wheelchair for the Kilimanjaro Safari at Animal Kingdom and The Great Movie Ride at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. I did not find that to be the case as I was allowed to stay in my power wheelchair on those rides. If you plan to go on the Safari on a hot day, I recommend you go later in the afternoon when it starts to get cooler because you will be able to see more animals because they nap during the hottest part of the day. Just be warned! The safari ride was probably the bumpiest of all the rides I was allowed on in my own wheelchair because the roads were purposely made rough to simulate a real safari experience.

The Animal Kingdom Safari Ride

For some of the rides Disney provides one or two special vehicles that are wheelchair accessible and you will have to wait until that vehicle is available. In some cases Disney has been very inventive in providing accessibility. For example, one of the boats for the Jungle Cruise in Magic Kingdom has been modified so that a ramp can be extended to embark, then it swivels around 90°, and next the ramp is lowered hydraulically to let you enjoy the ride at the same level as anyone else. Just understand that you will be the center of attention because the boarding area is right in front of the normal waiting area.

Riding on the Jungle Cruise

Special areas along the parade routes are designated for people in a wheelchair or EVC, but plan to arrive well ahead of time because these areas fill up early. If you’re mainly interested in watching the fireworks, you may consider picking a spot closer to the park exit to avoid the stampede when the fireworks are finished.

Favorites and disappointments

Call me a nerd, but one of my favorite rides is in the Land in Epcot where you cruise in a boat between various fruits and vegetables grown hydroponically. I’ve always been interested in learning about healthy foods and this type of cultivation really fascinates me. We even decided to go on a guided “Behind the Scenes” tour, which is completely accessible, where we were allowed to get close to the plants and also were given a few freshly picked fruit and tomato samples.

Entrance to the Animal Kingdom

Of all the parks, Epcot and Animal Kingdom were definitely my favorites. Insert picture 528 here. I loved seeing the animals being well taken care of and seeing them living in an area that looks similar to their native habitat where they have room to roam around. And I always enjoy World Showcase in Epcot where you can get a taste of the featured countries without needing to travel to them. The 360 degree movies in China and Canada are also pretty cool.

I often enjoy the little pleasures in life which many people take for granted. Sometimes I just like to take off on my own to explore new areas. So, one day I decided to cruise around in my wheelchair along one of the golf cart pathways in Disney World and stopped when I heard a noise in the woods. I waited a while to see what was causing the noise and was completely surprised when I saw this prehistoric looking animal coming out of the woods. It was an armadillo and I had never seen one before in real life and certainly didn’t know they could be found in the wild in Florida. The armadillo actually came very near to my chair and I just got the biggest kick out of watching it so closely.

In Front on the Epcot Ball

One of my biggest accessibility disappointments was the Spaceship Earth ride in Epcot. I’m sure that everybody wants to find out what the heck is going on in that big silver Epcot ball. Unfortunately, unless you’re able to transfer from your wheelchair to a ride seat, you will never be able to witness it with your own eyes.
Be aware that Disney personnel are not allowed to assist you with the transfer from your wheelchair or EVC to Disney provided seating on a ride. Be sure that someone in your party is able to help you instead.

Unless you enjoy watching other people having fun or if you’re just happy sitting in a bar area sipping a cool drink, you may want to avoid the Disney water parks (Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon) because there’s not much else for you to do if you are unable to get out of your wheelchair into the water. I really think that people in a wheelchair should be allowed in the water parks for free or at least get a huge discount.

A great Disney World disability resource

If you’d like to find out about all the ins and outs regarding accessibility at Disney World, I recommend reading Walt Disney World with Disabilities by Stephen Ashley who visited Disney World many times and performed a complete and detailed accessibility analysis of each ride, attraction, and restaurant on the Disney property. This book actually goes beyond wheelchair accessibility issues since it covers many other health conditions also and all the reports are based on personal experiences and extensive research.

Final note

Even though you’re unable to attend all the attractions when you’re confined to a wheelchair, there’s plenty for you to enjoy in and around Disney World. Disney World is a safe and predictable destination for a person with a disability because Disney has made significant efforts to accommodate the disabled. In many cases you’ll find yourself and your party allowed to bypass the long waiting lines to get into the attractions, which is a big bonus.

If you have enough vacation time on hand, I recommend you go for at least a week because there is so much to do and rushing through the parks takes away a lot of the fun. And, the Park Hopper passes only cost a few dollars more each day after the fourth day.

I hope you find this article useful if you’re planning on visiting Disney World in a wheelchair or an EVC in the near future!

When you need to use a wheelchair to get around, the thought of flying in a commercial airliner can understandably cause a lot of anxiety and even fear. Damage to the wheelchair is always a possibility, you may get hurt during the transfers to and from the aisle chair, your wheelchair may be delivered late to the jet way upon arrival, or the seats in the plane may be too uncomfortable because they don’t recline far enough or there is not enough leg room. But if some steps are taken, you can minimize the chance of anything adverse happening when you fly, and can help to ensure a safe, successful trip.

Tips for booking a flight

If at all possible book a direct flight, or at least minimize the number of layovers. Fewer plane changes mean fewer mishaps are likely to happen to your wheelchair or your body. If you must schedule a connecting flight, make sure you allow a large buffer of time in between flights so that any mishaps in delivering your wheelchair will not cause you to miss your flight. As a non ambulatory person you will be the last passenger to leave the airplane and it may take some time before your wheelchair is brought to the jet way. On occasion I have waited up to an hour before I was taken off the plane, and once I arrived so late to the baggage claim area that my luggage had been stolen. And missed flights can be a large problem for a disabled person using a wheelchair – we don’t have the same flexibility to do unplanned overnight stays as a non-disabled person due to the special needs involved.

Traveling in coach is really uncomfortable for me and I try to upgrade to business class whenever I can. Business class is expensive but I use a credit card that accrues airline miles that allows me to upgrade to business or first class. The seats are much more comfortable in business class because they recline further and there is more leg room, especially in the first row. You are also more likely to get extra help in business class when boarding – including assistance with carrying and storing bags and in securing extra space for a medical equipment bag and wheelchair parts.

If you travel coach, I recommend you request bulkhead seating when booking your flight. Bulkhead seats have the most leg room in the coach section and persons with a disability typically are given priority to obtain those seats, especially when traveling with a service animal. To find out where the bulkhead seats are or any other seat you might prefer, check out www.seatguru.com. This website shows a seat map for every airplane model used by each major airline carrier. To find out which specific airplane you will be flying on you can check your flight reservation, which will provide this information.

Inform the airline about your special needs

I always call the airline a few days before any flight to convey my particular special needs – traveling in a motorized wheelchair – to ensure that all is properly recorded in the airline’s computer system. At check in I do the same again to reiterate that I need to be transferred to an aisle chair by two strong people in the jet way before boarding and that my wheelchair needs to be delivered to the jet way at arrival. During the flight, about half an hour before landing I ask one of the flight attendants to notify the pilot that my wheelchair needs to be brought up to the jet way along with an aisle chair and two strong persons to transfer me. The pilot will radio the airport and relay my needs to them so that the personnel at the gate are fully prepared for my arrival. This reduces the possibility of having to remain in my airline seat for an extended period of time waiting for assistance to arrive.

Even with these steps, if the airport does not have an elevator near the arrival gate it still may take quite awhile before the wheelchair arrives at the gate. In some instances, an airport staff person may need to completely exit the terminal and re-enter through security to bring the wheelchair to the arrival gate. If this will be the case, you may save time by suggesting that the wheelchair be brought up by an airplane catering truck, which has a lift that can deliver the wheelchair directly to the passenger area of the airplane. I have used that suggestion twice and it saved me significant time in both cases.

Make your wheelchair flight proof

I never take my primary wheelchair, which is an expensive standing wheelchair I absolutely don’t want to get damaged, when I fly. Instead, I travel in my backup wheelchair, a Quickie S-646 that is still in decent condition even though it is seven years old.

I always make sure that my wheelchair looks clean when I fly. A clean wheelchair is likely to be treated with more respect by airport personnel during transport from the jet way to the cargo area. Just human nature!

Before we leave for the airport, my wife and I make sure that no electrical wires are hanging loose off the wheelchair. If we do discover any lose wires, we tighten them securely to the wheelchair frame with wire ties. By leaving wires hanging loose, you will increase the risk they get ripped off during handling when stored in the cargo hold. It would be terrible to arrive and find an inoperable wheelchair, so this is an important step!

I always attach a laminated sheet of paper with a picture of myself and my service dog to the seating panel and the back of my chair when I fly. The paper also contains instructions for how to switch from manual to automatic operation and a note asking handlers to be careful because the wheelchair serves as my legs. If the native language of the country of destination isn’t English, I also provide the translated instructions. This personalizes the chair and the chair handlers tend to be more careful when they realize that a person depends on the chair to get around. It seems to help because my wheelchair has never been damaged yet when flying.

Wet-cell batteries need to be disconnected to protect the terminals against electrical shorting because they are considered spillable. On the other hand, dry-cell and gel-cell batteries are considered non-spillable, have fewer requirements for handling, and don’t need to be disconnected. Be sure you know your type of batteries before you fly.

If your wheelchair equipment does not fit upright through the aircraft cargo compartment door, the batteries have to be removed and will be transported in a special battery box that the airline provides to meet all federal “dangerous goods” handling requirements. Personally, I have never run into a situation where I was asked to remove the batteries.

You can check your wheelchair at the ticket counter or the gate. I always check my wheelchair at the gate because it avoids having to do another transfer to a wheelchair provided by the airport and because it is uncomfortable for me to sit in any other wheelchair but my own.

My wife takes off all removable wheelchair parts such as footrests, armrests, headrest, seat cushion, and the electronic control after I have been transferred to the aisle chair during boarding, and we take these parts in a carry-on bag on the plane. Unfortunately this is extra work for my wife who has to do this under stressful conditions while people are watching and passengers are waiting to board, but by doing this we ensure that all of those parts are not damaged.

Ensure your medical supplies and equipment are not lost or damaged

Be prepared to deal with adversities as much as possible in case disaster strikes. It is much better to have things and not need them than to need things and not have them. As a C5/C6 quadriplegic I am dependent on having certain medical supplies and pieces of equipment such as catheters, a seating cushion, a Hoyer lift, etc readily available on a daily basis. I recommend that you keep any essential medical supplies with you at all times because losing these could make an overnight stay very unpleasant. We always pack a separate carry-on bag with all my medical supplies and small pieces of equipment, and I sit on my wheelchair cushion during flight.

It is a good practice to maintain a checklist of all the medical supplies and pieces of equipment you need to take with you when you stay overnight. I also make sure I take extras of the most critical items such as a spare leg bag in case something breaks. In fact, I have accumulated duplicates of everything I need to take with me over the years, which allows us to pack days ahead of our departure date.

I use a Hoyer lift to perform my transfers between my wheelchair and the bed in a hotel. A Hoyer lift is a big, heavy, awkward piece of equipment that is hard to handle as baggage when flying. Just transporting it from the car to the ticket counter is a hassle.

During my last flight to Europe to visit my parents a wheel broke of off the Hoyer lift, rendering it inoperable. Luckily, an old childhood friend of mine is a handyman who works at a vacation resort for people with disabilities and he was able to add a similar kind of wheel back on the day of my arrival. After that incident we decided to leave the Hoyer lift with my parents to avoid this from happening again the next time we visit them. If you have a distant relative or friend you visit frequently, it might be worthwhile to permanently keep a Hoyer lift at their residence if you need to use one, if that is an option.

When flying domestically, you may want to look into renting a Hoyer lift from a local medical supply store rather than risk losing or damaging the Hoyer lift you own. We rented a Hoyer lift during our most recent Walt Disney World vacation for $150 for two weeks. It was delivered to the hotel before we arrived and was picked up after we left. I definitely consider that $150 money well spent!  It meant we didn’t need to worry about transporting a heavy piece of equipment, and we also didn’t have to worry about it possibly breaking.

Protect your exposure to bodily vulnerabilities

I always sit on my own wheelchair cushion while flying to avoid a pressure sore which can develop while sitting on a hard airplane seat for too long. The seat cushion I use is a Roho and it inflates at higher altitudes due to the change in air pressure. Therefore I ask my wife to let some air out after take-off and we add air back in when we land.

As a paralyzed C5/C6 quadriplegic I don’t have full control over emptying my bladder and bowels. Obviously, bladder or bowel accidents are to be avoided while flying at all costs. Such a mishap would be extremely embarrassing and hard to take care of on the plane because you are basically stuck in your seat from take-off to landing. Using the on-board bathrooms is not an option because they are way too small and not accessible to accommodate a paralyzed person.

As a precaution, I eat less than I normally do during the two days before I fly and I avoid any foods I know that would irritate my intestines. I use an external condom catheter and a leg bag for urine drainage and we monitor my leg bag frequently during flight to make sure it doesn’t get too full. We also carry a colored bottle with us on the plane to capture the urine when we empty my leg bag. But just in case disaster strikes, I do wear incontinence briefs when I fly to keep a potential bladder or bowel accident contained. Luckily I haven’t experienced any such problems yet.

Going through airport security

As a wheelchair user it is obvious you can not pass through the standard airport metal detectors. Instead, Security Officers will visually and physically inspect your wheelchair and perform an explosive trace detection sample of the cushion. These inspections will be conducted while you remain in your wheelchair if you indicate that you cannot get out of your wheelchair.

Any bags hanging on your chair must be taken off to be X-rayed. Expect that both you and your wheelchair will be thoroughly inspected, and be prepared to lean forward when asked by the security personnel – pending your situation you may need someone to help you with that. The main thing to keep in mind is that you will need to allow for extra time for security checks when planning your arrival time at the airport.

It is always a good idea to ask the Security Officer to monitor your accessible property, mobility aids and devices during the screening process and reunite you with them once X-ray inspection is complete to prevent that anything gets lost or stolen.

If you will go through the metal detectors with your service dog, make sure your dog is not wearing tags or anything else that might set off the detector or else you will both be searched. And be aware that your dog must still be on a collar or harness and leash at all times, even when passing through the metal detector.

Transferring to an aisle chair

An aisle chair, sometimes also referred to as a boarding chair, is a specially designed narrow wheelchair for non-ambulatory passengers to use in reaching their seat when boarding and deplaning an aircraft. Make sure you request this service when making reservations and again when checking in so that the equipment will be available at your departure gate. In my case I also need assistance with transferring between the aisle chair and my wheelchair or the airplane seat why at check in I request two strong people for transfers at the gate.

Every aisle chair I have sat in has been very narrow and uncomfortable. Some of them don’t even have arm rests. They all have seat belts but even after being belted in I usually feel unsafe because I hardly have any balance. To remedy that I bring my own Velcro straps to provide additional security for my legs and upper body. One time my left leg fell of off the footrest of the aisle chair while they moved me through the aisle on the plane, my foot began dragging on the floor and my entire leg was twisted severely. A few hours later, my knee was significantly swollen, and it took several weeks to heal. Since that incident, I always wrap a strap around the lower portion of my legs to secure them to the aisle chair’s footrest.

Also be aware that some aisle chairs do not recline at all. You will be sitting straight upright and for me that can be quite uncomfortable. Some aisle chairs can be tilted back and in that case I always ask the handlers to do so during the transport procedure, to make the ride to and from the airplane seat more comfortable.

Be sure to instruct the people who perform the transfer as to how you would like to be lifted between your wheelchair or the airplane seat and the aisle chair to ensure that you are not injured. Don’t take for granted that they know the best way to transfer you because every disabled person is different. I also let them know how much I weigh so they know what to expect and I ask the strongest person to lift me from the back. And if you feel like one of the handlers doesn’t appear strong enough to lift you safely, insist that another person is sent out to assist instead. Your safety comes first!

If you have no upper body balance like me, let the handlers know that you will feel like a sack of potatoes to them. This is especially important right after you have been lifted on the aisle chair before your seat belts have been tightened because the handlers need to give you extra support to prevent you from falling off the aisle chair.

On a funny note, make sure you undo your seat belt before transferring from your airplane seat to the aisle chair. On a few occasions I forgot, which stunned the people who tried to lift me out of my seat because I wasn’t moving no matter how hard they tried to lift me!

Sitting safely in your airplane seat

Because I have no upper body balance, a single seat belt around my waist leaves me feeling insecure. I can especially sense this during landing when the pilot puts on the breaks since I have a hard time preventing myself from falling forward. Lately I have been bringing an extra Velcro strap that is long enough to go around my chest and the back of my seat to keep my upper body more secure, and this has really helped. In addition, I have another strap to tie my feet to the bottom of my seat, and this prevents my legs from kicking forward due to leg spasms caused by severe vibrations during takeoff and landing or turbulence during flight.

Be prepared when you fly

Flying as a person confined to a wheelchair is a hassle for both you and your companion, but the process will be much smoother if you are well prepared before you get on board the airplane. Don’t just assume that the airline and airport personnel are ready to handle your special needs. Take control over your own situation by conveying your needs when you book your flight and again when you check in. Having a checklist for the medical necessities you need to carry with you and making preparations in advance for your particular needs will reduce the potential problems.

On a positive note, I find that both airline and airport personnel are better trained to accommodate persons with a disability now than in the past. Don’t let that prevent you from being fully prepared yourself! It is always important to remember that you are still dealing with humans and people make mistakes no matter how well they are trained. Only you can completely know exactly what you need, and only you can take full responsibility for your particular requirements and safety. But if you are well prepared, you can still enjoy all the benefits of flying and travel.

And if any problem arises, be aware that you are always allowed to speak to the CRO (Complaint Resolution Official). Each airline is required to have a CRO available at all times of operation, even if only by phone.

Have a great flight!

Useful references:

Seating layouts at Seat Guru – http://www.seatguru.com/

U.S. Department of Transportation – Air Accessibility –  http://www.dotcr.ost.dot.gov/asp/airacc.asp

Aviation Consumer Protection Division – Passengers with Disabilities –  http://airconsumer.dot.gov/rules/rules.htm

Transportation Security Administration – Mobility Disabilities –  http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/specialneeds/editorial_1371.shtm

Transportation Security Administration – Service Dogs –  http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/assistant/editorial_1056.shtm

Flying with Disability –  http://www.flying-with-disability.org/index.html

Hearing disabilities at security checkpoints –  http://www.servicedogcentral.org/content/node/204

Mobility disabilities at security checkpoints –  http://www.servicedogcentral.org/content/node/205\

Visual disabilities at security checkpoints –  http://www.servicedogcentral.org/content/node/206

Service animals at security checkpoints –  http://www.servicedogcentral.org/content/node/203

Do you find it hard to go camping as a disabled person? I used to love camping in a tent, but that has become hard to do since I became disabled as a quadriplegic. For years now I have been dreaming of being able to stay overnight in our national parks again, and have been searching for ways to make that a reality. I knew that any viable solution would need to be easy to use both for me and for my wife. Recently, I discovered a wonderful solution that I’d like to share with you.

Recreational vehicle evaluation

I started to get ideas several years ago when I saw a motor home completely converted for a person in a wheelchair at a mobility expo. However, motor homes tend to be large, hard to park in cities, very expensive, and are hampered by poor gas mileage.  My wife and I had been envisioning something more maneuverable – along the lines of a regular van with enough space for my wife and I to sleep in comfortably. Also, we wanted something practical enough to drive around town in if necessary, and a motor home is definitely overkill for typical city driving. So we looked at several vans but none of them were big enough to accommodate our camping needs.

A travel and mobility solution

Recently we discovered a business that converts Dodge Sprinter vans into camper vans.  This seemed to suit our needs exactly, and we ended up purchasing a 23 foot extended model. After we had a handicapped lift and a lockdown system for my wheelchair installed by a mobility facility, we moved ahead with the camping conversions. We added a refrigerator, a microwave oven, and a sink for our basic kitchen and bathing needs. There are sleeping facilities for me and my wife, along with plenty of storage space.

We had a ceiling fan installed to keep the van cool when parked on a hot day, which also gives us comfortable air circulation. The van has several windows but we are able to block them all off from the inside using shades to allow us complete privacy. Adding a television and DVD player are options, but we decided not to – we prefer to focus more on enjoying the outdoors when we camp.

Because we have dogs that we love to take with us on trips, we made sure to select a van configuration with enough space to secure two dog crates. This allows us to make sure they are safe when we travel, and is comfy for them too.

We also installed a handicapped lift with a track neatly mounted in the roof to easily transfer me between my wheelchair and the bed. The van has a water and power hookup similar to the ones in a mobile home, and we have two solar panels installed on top of the roof to keep all the equipment running when we don’t have access to power at a camping ground. The van is also equipped with a compact and environmentally friendly porta-potty if nearby restrooms can’t be found.

Wheelchair road trips made easy

Packing all the supplies and equipment I need to go on a trip used to be a difficult chore for my wife. With this van, it isn’t – we just leave a backup of all my supplies and equipment in the van, along with some clothing, and we can round up our dogs and leave for a weekend trip in the spur of the moment.

Should we decide to stay in a hotel, we have space in the van to secure a hoyer lift which is used to transfer me between my wheelchair and a hotel bed. Even with the hoyer lift, the dog crates and our accessories, I still have enough space in the camper van to move around easily, and it is wonderful to have the freedom to maneuver inside the van.

On day trips, everything is a snap because we have a refrigerator to keep our food cool, and a microwave to heat things up.

Despite it’s size, my wife feels confident driving the Sprinter van. She says it feels more like driving a minivan, and is actually quite nimble for a large vehicle. Even though it is longer than a normal car, it still fits in our driveway, and should fit in most normal length driveways.

My wife and I are very happy with the way the van turned out and we are looking forward to our first camping trip next spring. I feel very lucky to be in a position to have a vehicle like this, because even with my disability, I now have greater horizons open to me.

We also filmed a video on the van showing how some of the features work. You can see it at custom Dodge Sprinter Van wheelchair accessible conversion.

Dodge Sprinter Van Pictures