Muster Drill

[Tehanna]

Do they have wheelchairs on board?
I know I could rent an ECV but I hate to do that when I know I won't use it much on board. we'll be on the Wonder and if need be walking from place to place you can always find a moment to sit down.

The do have wheelchairs on board, yes. I've had to use one before.

I also would be interested in the sort of assistance available from the number suggested in the above post:

Contact Special Services:
Phone: (407) 566-3602 Fax: (407) 566-3760 TTY: (407) 566-7455
Email: SpecialServices@disneycruise.com

Has anyone had experience calling them?

 

[JARNJ3]

I am the same way. Standing in one spot absolutely kills me. On most of my cruises (Magic/Wonder) we arrive early and can sit on the boxes that they have around the promenade deck (we always speak to the Assembly leader to let them know it is a mobility issue, not a laziness issue). If we do that, they do allow us to sit through the drill - but know there will be people lined up in front of you. They also give us the option to leave a few minutes early but we find that just gives us enough time to be in the middle of the next assembly station crowd where you are then standing in crowds trying to get through to stairs or elevator that are hopelessly crowded. So we just wait out the crowds because we aren't in a rush.

Now on our recent Fantasy cruise, we could not sit on the few boxes they have around the Promenade deck because they use them to pile up the cushions from the deck chairs. We were standing still for 1/2 hour on the first cruise and I was in pain for the remainder of the night and the whole next day because of it. I tried to find a solution on the second cruise (we were back to back) but the Assembly leader just said they could let us go a couple minutes early. I was able to lean against the back wall and that helped a little (I was just in pain the rest of that day, not into the next day), we were standing for about 20 minutes. Next time I may check with Guest Services for a wheelchair to use during the drill. I know I'll get looks from people but they don't really understand that standing still can cause tremendous pain.

I know this pain - had sciatica for years. Standing in line at WDW is pure torture (if the line doesn't move). But - in my case - losing weight, going to regular chiro & PT visits - it is mostly gone. That said - I was thrilled when my muster area was Animator's Palette & I could sit down & not tempt it. We had cabin 7525 on the Magic. I would happily request that room or area on the ship in the future.

 

[Chirple]

Do they have wheelchairs on board?
I know I could rent an ECV but I hate to do that when I know I won't use it much on board. we'll be on the Wonder and if need be walking from place to place you can always find a moment to sit down.

Yes, they have wheelchairs on board. I needed one to get from the atrium to my stateroom when we embarked on our November cruise so my husband went directly to guest services before we attempted anything else. Our muster station was inside the Walt Disney Theatre, but I was in so much pain I could not transfer to a regular seat so we sat in the physical disability section in the back row.

Since I'm recovering from a temporary disability, I purchased an inexpensive Rollator from amazon ($50 + 7 handling) and brought that on our most recent cruise. Our muster station was outside so I brought my Rollator in order to have a place to sit. The assembly captain had a wheelchair user and me off to the side and gave us a setup of specific instructions. We only got about a 10 second head start on another muster station so it was a race to the elevators. I only used the Rollator when I knew seating would be limited and walked (or hobbled) the rest of the time.

 

[Trera]

My room isn't listed here - but an educated guess says we'll be outside...
You would think that they would put Concierge in the position to be seated, but *shrug
Not sure what to do - there is no way I can stand in one place for that long without being in a lot of pain - if I could walk around that would help... but for some reason, standing is harder than walking.

the concierge rooms by in large are in the Walt Disney theather but the last couple of rooms on the hallway on both sides of the boat are outside muster stations. I think Port is station G and Starboard is station J. We always book concierge rooms closer to the front of the boat to avoid outside muster stations

 

[TestingH2O]

On Dream/Fantasy, since all the Concierge rooms are forward, they all have the same stations in the Walt Disney theatre.

Not true. We have been both inside and outside.