Lots of photos of ramps and lifts from WDW and Cruise

[Chickadee]

EDITED BY MODERATOR TO ADD:
AS OF MARCH 30, 2010, OVERSIZE SCOOTERS ARE NO LONGER ALLOWED ON THE WDW BUSES. THIS INFORMATION WAS POSTED on MARCH 30 BY A WDW BUS DRIVER:
There is now a painted box at the wheelchair loading queue which is 30"X48" (which is the ADA standard). Your ECV MUST conform to those dimensions to ride the bus. http://www.access-board.gov/transit/html/Transfig1.html

If your ECV does not fit those dimensions, the driver is to call for a transportation manager who will explain alternate arrangements.
THE DREAM SCOOTER DISCUSSED HERE IS LARGER THAN THE ALLOWED MEASUREMENTS. END OF EDIT

Just got back from a wonderful trip to WDW and 4 day cruise on the Wonder.
DH used a Dream scooter which is one of the biggest ECV's available for rent. We were worried about how accessible this scooter would be and couldn't find much info or photos on ramps and lifts and room on the cruise, so I took a lot of pics to share.
As there are a lot of pics, I'll separate them by catagory.
#1 WDW - not a lot of pics but didnt have any problems on any transportation.
#2 Cape Canaveral
#3 Elevators on ship
#4 Nassau ramp
#5 Nassau Sea and See tour
#6 Nassau streets
#7 Castaway Cay
#8 Cruiseline bus

 

[Chickadee]

Dream scooter and wheelchair on bus from Wilderness Lodge to Animal Kingdom. No problems loading or unloading.
We never had any attitude problems from any drivers as some have reported. They were all very helpful and courteous.

Loading onto boat from WL to MK

Onboard boat

Unloading from boat

The only time we had to wait was when we were leaving MK near park closing (closed at 11pm Oct 24th). We were taking the boat from MK to Wilderness lodge and were near the end of the line so there was no room for us. I think there were 2 or 3 ECV's/wheelchairs on already. Our party of 4 (one ECV and one manual wheelchair) waited at the front of the line and they put a few more people onboard. The next boat was one of the smaller ones that can't transport ECV's. So we got on the third boat. I think we waited about a half hour. Not bad.
When getting off the boat that night at WL the CM had to have everyone on the dock side of the boat move over to the other side so that boat would raise up to dock level. It was the only time there was a problem with the dock being higher than the boat. I think it was because the boat was full to capacity and there where about 3 ECV's on board so the boat rode lower in the water. Once everyone moved to one side the ECV's had no problem disembarking, and the CM said, "Thank you everyone! It's the first time you've been used as human balast!"

 

[Chickadee]

No problems with this ramp at all, not very steep.

Bottom of ramp

Going up ramp

Top of ramp

 

[Chickadee]

These pics show how much room is on the elevators onboard the Wonder. We were able to get the "Dream" scooter (which is very big) and the other 3 people in our party at the same time. Mind you, the three of us are not very "wide" and we are good friends!
It was a tight squeeze, and when the 4 of us werent going on together, I usually went on with him by myself as we didnt want to risk running over someones foot.

Midship elevator, the most room of any of them, as the front widened into a half circle.

Aft elevator. DH would drive on at a slight angle and turn the front wheel if we wanted all four of us on at once. Otherwise he could drive straight in and there would be just enough room. The "Dream scooter is longer than most.

 

[Chickadee]

The ramp to disembark at Nassau was the steepest, but no problems.

Top of ramp going down

Going down

View of ramp

Bottom of ramp

Bottom of ramp going up

On ramp going up

 

[Chickadee]

We booked the "Sea and See Tour" through Disney and had to arrange in advance to use a manual wheelchair, as this tour (or any other that we know of) does not accommodate scooters or power chairs.
We had a moment of panic when we got a phone message in our cabin that "this tour is not accessible so you may want to book something else". We went to the excursion desk and explained that we had discussed in detail that DH would be using a manual chair, that the tour operator had agreed to load his chair onto the boat/bus, and DH was able to do stairs/transfers with no problem. He just had stamia issues and couldnt walk the distance to where the tour started. The girl at the desk went and got the manager, who was very apologetic that we got the message, he said they have someone who goes though every excursion and makes sure no one on the excursion wont be able to do it. Apparently, no one made any notes about the arrangements we had made, so she called. He said he saw that we had talked to someone about this ( somewhere other than were the excursion list was generated i assume) and that everything was fine. He personally took us over to guest services and arranged to get the manual chair for the next day. The next morning he came up to us and assured us that he talked to everyone and that it was all set.
On this tour you have to walk to where the tour starts, then get on a boat that takes you to another boat, transfer mid-ocean to another boat then go down steps to a window viewing area in the hull of the boat to view sea life. Then you transfer back to the first boat, get off where the tour started and a small bus is waiting to take you on a short city tour.
They loaded the manual chair and some strollers onto the first boat, where they left them until we got back to Nassau, then loaded them onto the bus.

The crew unloaded DH backwards down the ramp. DH was happy the chair was wider than most manual chairs, he fit comfortably in it.

Going down ramp.

Transfering from one boat to the other, you had to be fairly nimble to time the wave so the two boats where the same level. One girl with Down's Syndrome was very frightened by this.

Steps going down into the Seaworld Explorer

This one shows the fold down seats also

Steps on tour bus were two fairly large steps.

Coming off bus.

 

[Chickadee]

We also had a hard time finding info on what the streets where like in Nassau.
After the Sea and Sea tour, we went back to the ship and had lunch and got DH's scooter so we could explore Nassau a bit. We went past the Straw Market up to Senor Frogs and turned to go back down Bay Street. We had no problems with curb cuts, but someone with a manual chair might find some rough patches.

Hopefully the following will give an idea as to how far you have to walk to get off the wharf..

You need to walk almost the entire length of the ship, then,,,

Down the wharf towards the cruise terminal building, then,,,

Into and down the length of the terminal, then,,

Out the terminal about half a block one way, then,,

About half a block the other way to the meetup for the Sea and See tour,,,or

About 3 blocks to the Straw Market and Senor Frogs. Bay Street is one street further inland.

The Straw Market is VERY narrow and crowded with sellers sitting in chairs along the aisles. But it was neat to see,, and keep going

This was the widest isle, the rest where about half as wide!

 

[Chickadee]

Getting off at Castaway Cay, the ramp was not as steep as at Nassau.

Going down

Off the bottom

View of ramp

Top of ramp coming back onboard

The shuttle at Castaway Cay is quite steep

The driver made sure to be behind when loading and unloading

We needed to get onto two shuttles to get to Serenity Bay, the adult beach.

On the way back, we walked (DH drove the scooter of course) from the Family Beach to the ship as I wanted to enjoy every last minute on that fabulous island!

 

[Chickadee]

This lift was the tightest fit of all. We had more trouble on the bus going to the port than the bus going back to the airport, I think because the driver on the way to the port didnt push the seats nearest the lift forward also. A regular size ECV would not be as tight a fit as the "Dream" was. But we made it and DH was very glad he had the scooter onboard. We did a lot and he wouldnt have been able to keep up without it. He was able to get down the hallways where the stateroom stewards' carts are always parked, but it was a tight fit too. It never stopped him, and if one of the stewards left something sticking out too far they were happy to move it. I forgot to take pictures of the hallways

 

[SueM in MN]

Thanks for the many great pictures and thorough report. I know it was frustrating to you to not have the information. Your report will help others avoid the same frustration.
There is a post about cruising on the disABILITIES FAQs thread. I will post a link to this thread in that post so it is easy to find.

 

[mullertwin]

I cannot thank you enough for this! I wasn't planning on needing an ECV on the 4 night cruise but as of today's news of a broken foot bone I must have one! The pics have helped me tremendously!

 

[luna99]

thank you, thank you, thank you! I'm trying to talk my parents into coming on a cruise with my husband and I and my dad has a bad back and will need an ECV or wheelchair, so he keeps making excuses for why he shouldn't go on the cruise. I will definitely show him this thread and the pictures and let him see that disney will accomodate him! He keeps thinking there won't be stuff for him to do on board and it will be a hassel with an ECV or wheelchair but I keep trying to tell him otherwise, this report will help!

thanks again!

 

[mom3girls2000]

We are going on our first cruise on the Disney Magic in a few weeks, and I wasn't sure about the ECV (scooter). I almost always use it in the parks (although I have gone without it once or twice into Hollywood Studios, but that was just for the parade or to see Beauty and the Beast, and wasn't as much walking, at least from the Accessible Parking). I was just not sure about having it on the cruise.

I have recently experienced some knee issues much more painful than anything I've ever experienced before, though, and I decided that I must have the scooter in the event I have another bout of the same problem.

I'm just wondering about the accessible staterooms onboard. We are booked through our DVC points in a Cat. 11 room, and I'm wondering if I should have a medical form filled out and request an accessible room ...

We're cruising on the 7-night E. Caribbean, and have Disney excursions booked on St. Thomas and St. Maarten; I'm just wondering about the amount of walking for those . That length of the cruise ship alone is quite intimidating ...

 

[mullertwin]

Hey Max, I imagine the cruise won't have any accessible rooms available at this late date, but you can try and call DCL to see (or have your TA call).

What I did on both my DCL cruises (once on the Wonder and once on the Dream) is to plug in my scooter in the nearest elevator lobby/stairwell. I then hobbled to my stateroom. In both cases, the stateroom wasn't that far away that I wasn't able to manage. And since you said you could manage a little bit of walking, that should be just fine for you. Enjoy your cruise!