Excursions that are kid+wheelchair friendly

[kerry1379]

Hi all! I am excited to have found such a friendly, helpful forum for our first cruise!

Our family will be cruising with Disney on the Eastern Caribbean route: St. Maarten, St. Thomas, Castaway Cay. We have an 11 year old with moderate cerebral palsy and significant developmental delay. He will require his wheelchair. So far, while I am researching possible excursions, there are many that specifically say cannot accommodate wheelchairs. I am glad to know this ahead of time! I just wondered if anyone has found a particular excursion that works really well with young kids and a wheelchair? Also, I wonder if transportation to various excursions would be able to accommodate wheelchairs? The one I have found so far that sounds like a must is the butterfly garden that is right next to the dock at either St Maarten or St. Thomas (can't recall which at the moment). Any other thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[thumpie's mom]

I am so excited for you...Disney is wonderful with children and guests who have disabilities. My daughter has CP as well and is wheelchair bound. We took our first cruise with Disney when she was 11 and have gone on a total of 6 (#7 is booked) cruises with DCL. We did find for the most part, we cannot do excursions. My daughter cannot walk at all, which eliminates most of the excursions. She has a rigid frame chair that does not fold. On some excursions, if your son can walk a little way and you have a collapsible chair, you may be able to go. When we were in the Caribbean we were able to walk around St. Maarten and St. Thomas, but we did not do any excursions. It was accessible for the most part...there were some stores/areas we could not go into, but no big deal. Besides, it was VERY hot, and we ended up going back to the ship. Castaway Cay is awesome for kids in wheelchairs...they have a sand wheelchair (free) so we were able to take her to the beach and play in the water. We were able to participate in the stingray adventure as well, which she loved! I cannot say enough about how wonderful a Disney Cruise is for kids with disabilities. They have always made her feel welcome and special. The ship is pretty easy to get around in, there are only a few doors where the threshold is difficult to get the chair over. We have only sailed on the Magic and the Wonder, so we don't know how it is on the larger ships. Be prepared to wait at the elevators though...we have often had to wait for quite a while to be able to get in one. The cast members are awesome and will try to get a empty elevator available when they realize you can't get to the elevator in time before it is full. One other thing to be aware of are the ramps to get off of the ship. Sometimes they are at a good pitch and easy to get on and off, but we have had steep ramps as well. If my husband had not been there, along with some helpful crew members, we could not have gotten off of the ship. Castaway Cay is easy to get on and off of the ship. Would not recommend any ports that need tendering, looks very unstable. To be honest, our last several cruises we have not bothered to get off of the ship. There is so much to do, even on port days, that we prefer to stay onboard. The one exception would be Alaska. We were able to do one excursion in every port and since it is part of the US, easy to get around due to ADA regs. For the Adventures Away and the pirate party, would recommend you go early to get a spot where he can see, as those get very crowded. Seeing the characters on board is so much easier than the parks and they keep it very organized. There is a character board in the lobby that tells you where and when specific characters will be out. It makes it very easy for us to plan on who she wants to see and make sure we are on the right deck in enough time. The character appearances are also given in the Navigator. One other really nice touch, is that our dining room servers always cut her food up once they realized she could not do it herself. It is a small thing, but it made her happy and was nice for me as well. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me. I know you and your family will love cruising with Disney...they have always been amazing for us. Have a wonderful trip!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

We cruise with our neighbors and their DD is in a wheel chair. They find that many DCL excursions cannot accommodate them. They tend to book private excursions in port, some from the same vendors that DCL uses but will accommodate their wheelchair needs.