Hi Folks,
Just got back from a warm, sunny, uncrowded week at WDW - the least crowded we've ever had! On Tuesday evening we went on the Illuminations cruise, and had a wonderful time. HOwever, my mom (significant post-polio weakness, especially in the back and legs) who has her own wheelchair almost didn't make it on the ride. I had called ahead to be sure it was wheelchair accessible, and they assured me that it was. Well... at the Yacht Club Marina there was no ramp and an 8-inch step to get into the boat (no kidding!). AND the entrance is very narrow. My mom has her own narrow, lightweight wheelchair (Breezy 500) and only cleared the entrance by a couple of inches total. We pushed and shoved and lifted and she made it, but it was a close thing.
When we got off, the driver let us off at the Boardwalk dock since we were staying at Boardwalk. This was MUCH easier, with about a 2 inch height difference between the boat and the dock. I'm not sure if it would be possible to be both picked up and dropped off at the Boardwalk (or at least have some of us picked up there), but we won't plan to do it again unless that is an option.
THe good news is the driver helped us load my mom on the boat, so he didn't seem to adhere to the "don't touch the visitor" policy. The bad news is that it would have been impossible if we didn't have some strong people with us.
The other thing we noticed was that the cast members didn't seem to realize that something that seems to be easy to them would be impossible for my mom. For example, moving sidewalks. Her sense of balance is almost nil, and she uses a walker to do any walking at home. Moving sidewalks are impossible, but a few cast members neglected to mention this when they talked about the ride (their only comment was "can you walk 200 yards?"). She can walk that far given about 20 minutes and a perfectly flat surface, but any amount of steps or anything that requires that she balance on only one side of her body are impossible. We finally just said no to everything, and she stayed in the wheelchair for all of the rides. THis worked fine but a few of the cast members seemed irritated that they had to do something special for her. Since she looks perfectly healthy until you see her try to walk, I think it may be hard for them to understand her circumstances.
I don't want this to be a complaint list - we truly had a marvelous time and most of the cast members were delightful and accomodating. We can't wait to go back in 2009!
Just got back from a warm, sunny, uncrowded week at WDW - the least crowded we've ever had! On Tuesday evening we went on the Illuminations cruise, and had a wonderful time. HOwever, my mom (significant post-polio weakness, especially in the back and legs) who has her own wheelchair almost didn't make it on the ride. I had called ahead to be sure it was wheelchair accessible, and they assured me that it was. Well... at the Yacht Club Marina there was no ramp and an 8-inch step to get into the boat (no kidding!). AND the entrance is very narrow. My mom has her own narrow, lightweight wheelchair (Breezy 500) and only cleared the entrance by a couple of inches total. We pushed and shoved and lifted and she made it, but it was a close thing.
When we got off, the driver let us off at the Boardwalk dock since we were staying at Boardwalk. This was MUCH easier, with about a 2 inch height difference between the boat and the dock. I'm not sure if it would be possible to be both picked up and dropped off at the Boardwalk (or at least have some of us picked up there), but we won't plan to do it again unless that is an option.
THe good news is the driver helped us load my mom on the boat, so he didn't seem to adhere to the "don't touch the visitor" policy. The bad news is that it would have been impossible if we didn't have some strong people with us.
The other thing we noticed was that the cast members didn't seem to realize that something that seems to be easy to them would be impossible for my mom. For example, moving sidewalks. Her sense of balance is almost nil, and she uses a walker to do any walking at home. Moving sidewalks are impossible, but a few cast members neglected to mention this when they talked about the ride (their only comment was "can you walk 200 yards?"). She can walk that far given about 20 minutes and a perfectly flat surface, but any amount of steps or anything that requires that she balance on only one side of her body are impossible. We finally just said no to everything, and she stayed in the wheelchair for all of the rides. THis worked fine but a few of the cast members seemed irritated that they had to do something special for her. Since she looks perfectly healthy until you see her try to walk, I think it may be hard for them to understand her circumstances.
I don't want this to be a complaint list - we truly had a marvelous time and most of the cast members were delightful and accomodating. We can't wait to go back in 2009!
