Wheel chair question

[2pluto]

We will going on a Disney Cruise this Oct. My son (9yr old) has muscular dystrophy and is in a electic wheel chair. Is there any one who has experience on the cruise being in a wheel chair.

We are also having trouble renting a van there will be 6 of us and his chair. Looked into renting a van with a ramp, but price is too high for a 2 week stay. We thought we might being his portable ramp and rent a van. Any other suyggestons?

[dclfun]

I went on the DCL cruise in Dec. of 2001 while in my chair and had a great deal of trouble. The elevators are very small and there was only room for myself and one or two others...barely. We waited forever for an empty elevator to come and thus missed the Sailaway celebration. We were on the 6th floor. I'm an adult so perhaps your son's chair is smaller ( mine's an adult "narrow") but I also had trouble getting down the hallways as there was nearly always a room steward's cart in the way. The automatic doors on the 9th floor have a button to open them, but no sensor in them, so when I'd press the button, people would rush through as if the door had magically opened for them- by the time I started through with my chair the doors would shut with me in the entryway. That said, I tried to do alot by myself. With your son having a parent there to help, it should make a big difference on the positive side. If he's able to transfer, they do have beach wheelchairs at Castaway Cay so he can enjoy the water- something I could not do. As far as the restaurants, they were very accomodating and moved our seating arrangements the first night since we were in the middle of the room and thus not enough room for the chair. Hope you have a nice trip- just try to bring alot of patience with you! ---Kathy

[SueM in MN]

I don't have any cruise experience (but it looks like kathy gave you some great info). I did find a link to some information about cruising with disabilities (http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/disneycruiseline/faq/faqgroupingindex?id=GuestsWithDisabiltiesFAQGrping ) that might be helpful and I know there have been past posts by other wheelchair cruisers.
Hope you have fun.