Waynama Safari Wheelchair access report

[KAT4DISNEY]

We went on the Waynama Safari at AKL/AKV in May and I thought I would share some pictures of the vehicles that they currently use. I will say that overall it was easily accessible. One thing was that once on the vehicle the CM's didn't require my DSis to have her wheelchair tied down. We hit a couple of bumps that left the chair moving so I would recommend that you do the tie-down for the stability.

The vehicle stops often for animal viewing and you will get the most out of it if you are able to stand - you would not have to take any steps if that were a problem. If you are not able to stand you still will be able to view a lot from your seat.

You can also see the steps that are used to get up into the vehicle if you did not want to take your chair. Each vehicle is only able to accomodate one chair so if you have more than one in your group you can see what the others would need to navigate.

Here you can see what the height of the slats are on the vehicle. It is possible to see over them sitting down and standing can be done for improved viewing.

Everyone had a wonderful time and learned a ton about the animals that are at AKL/AKV. Dinner at Jiko was included afterwards and was terrific. I would highly recommend it if you have the opportunity!

 

[SueM in MN]

Thanks for the great report and the great pictures.
One question I have is were there tiedowns and the CM h
just did not use them or did you not see them at all?

I would appreciate it if anyone else with AKL (not park) safari experince posts on this thread. Questions about accessibilty of the AKL safaris come up freqently. If you respond, be sure to specify which AKL safari you were on. Hopefully, we will get lots of responses and I will a
add a link for this thread to the disABILITIES FAQs thread.

I would also like to use your photos if it's OK to make a jpg file with some/all the photos combined into one jpg so it's easy for people to print out. I will give you credit for your great pics.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I did not look closely enough to be certain if the tiedowns were there or not. The CM offered to tiedown the wheelchair if my Dsis wished. I think she chose not to since it would have tucked her more closely to the back corner where the lift gate was. I did notice at least one tiedown point on the floor of the truck and you can see it if you zoom in on one of the pics. I do have a lingering impression that the tiedowns were there. The vehicles travel slowly and if there hadn't been a couple of bumps/dips there would not have been any issue.

Please go ahead and use the pictures! I wanted to share them since I had been unable to find any prior to our trip.

DH and I also did the sunrise safari but not with DSis so I wasn't paying close attention to the accessibility. What I can report is that they use regular resort busses for transport from AKL to AK where you are let out behind the scenes and walk thru a back entrance to the main loading area for the Kilimanjaro Safari. You unload at the regular unloading docks as well so access to all the transportation should be the same as if you were going to the park for the regular ride.

 

[SueM in MN]

Thanks for the additional answers.
If there is a lift, they also would have tiedowns. I thought it looked like they were near the lift, but was not sure.
I know that for the AK park safari, DD gets bounced around pretty much, even with the wheelchair being tied down. She brings her manual wheelchair to Florida; a power wheelchair may 'stay put' for the safari you were on since power wheelchairs are so heavy, but I would not go with a manual wheelchair without it being tied down (there is no choice on the park Kilimanjari Safari.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Absolutely Sue - I would 100% recommend that a manual wheelchair be tied down.

Another possibility on the ride would have been for a transfer from the chair to the bench seats. I don't believe that there was a pull down seat that went by the lift so the chair could still be brought along and wouldn't be taking a space for another guest and may not figure in to the overall capacity. When booking I was asked if my sister would need to bring the chair or not. If the safari was at capacity (which ours wasn't) then there might not be an option to transfer if you hadn't arranged for it. In most cases I'd say that staying in the chair will be more comfortable, however as I mentioned the chair will be tucked back by the lift and have a bit more obscured view.

 

[goofieslonglostsis]

I would appreciate it if anyone else with AKL (not park) safari experince posts on this thread. Questions about accessibilty of the AKL safaris come up freqently. If you respond, be sure to specify which AKL safari you were on. Hopefully, we will get lots of responses and I will a
add a link for this thread to the disABILITIES FAQs thread.

We're scheduled on the Sunrise Safari at the end of September. If I don't forget because I'm too busy being exited, I'll take some pics if there are none available yet by then.

We'll actually be doing this with 2 wheelchairs (both of us noted as nontransferable), which makes me curious to see how they'll handle it. I know on the regular safari, they can only fit on wheelchair on the truck.

 

[SueM in MN]

We're scheduled on the Sunrise Safari at the end of September. If I don't forget because I'm too busy being exited, I'll take some pics if there are none available yet by then.

We'll actually be doing this with 2 wheelchairs (both of us noted as nontransferable), which makes me curious to see how they'll handle it. I know on the regular safari, they can only fit on wheelchair on the truck.

Thanks
that would be great, although I can certainly understand if you forget because you are too excited. Even if you don't get any pictures of the setup, a couple of safari pictures from the point of view if a person in a wheelchair would be helpful because one of the big questions people have is whether they will be able to see everything.

 

[goofieslonglostsis]

At least the latter should be doable! Maybe we can even make a comparance, as I'll be using a powerchair and friend a manual.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

We're scheduled on the Sunrise Safari at the end of September. If I don't forget because I'm too busy being exited, I'll take some pics if there are none available yet by then.

We'll actually be doing this with 2 wheelchairs (both of us noted as nontransferable), which makes me curious to see how they'll handle it. I know on the regular safari, they can only fit on wheelchair on the truck.

On our sunrise safari there were at least two of the safari vehicles used - the group was much larger than I expected it to be. We also had two busses to the park from the lodge. What might happen is that you may have to split up if a single vehicle can't hold two chairs.