It’s guest blog Monday, and today I’ve invited my Vision 2000 colleague, and good friend, Alex Yates to promote her group of “Disney and a Cruise” for people with disabilities. Alex is the queen of cruises, and an expert in the world of arranging travel for people with disabilities. If you and/or your family members deal with these sorts of challenges and want to travel with a host who is very knowledgeable about the issues you face, please contact my friend, Alex. Her group travels in May, 2011; and her contact details are at the end. I have every confidence in recommending her to take care of you on this hosted trip to Disneyland with a cruise!
===========
Disney and a Cruise for people with disabilities, their Friends and families (oh and anyone else who wants to come along)!
Disneyland, one of the most Disability Friendly places ever!
My name is Alex Yates and I am lucky to be a Travel Advisor with Vision 2000.
As the parent of a young Man with Physical disabilities ( That’s him and me in the picture above), and as a Travel addict, this was a perfect fit. So now I am a home based Travel Advisor for Vision 2000 in Victoria BC and have been able to use my specialized personal experience to help many people with diverse disabilities to travel.
Almost every year for the last 6 years I have organized a group Cruise Tour for Families who have a Family member with Disabilities, their Families and Friends, (although I don’t discriminate against people without disabilities), Everyone is welcome! What we do is a 4 day Anaheim Stay, and Cruise Package up or down the West Coast depending on whether the ships are on the way to start the Alaska season, or are ending it!, This has always been so much fun to organize and escort!
So this year, I am doing it again! The dates are May 7-14th 2011 Starting with flights into Los Angeles, and 4 fantastic days in Anaheim, then 3 days Cruising to Vancouver on the Golden Princess!
The most we have taken on this group is 44 people, and 4 of them were in wheelchairs. I usually escort the group so there is someone there to assist, I now have a great list of ground suppliers who can arrange anything from Oxygen to replacement parts on wheelchairs. My suppliers make sure wheelchair accessible buses do all the transfers, and that the Hotel is fully equipped for the specific needs of individuals in the group.
The best part for families taking this trip is that they know they will be with people who “get it” that they will get support from other family members and that whatever the persons disability, the group will be welcoming. On one occasion we had a young lady with us whose disability made her a unhappy girl who cried a lot. While waiting in Seattle for 5 hours when our flight was delayed, everyone in the group took turns helping the Mom and Dad keep this young lady amused, and when we discovered that she loved the Teacups, we all took it in turns spinning around with her as she laughed with delight!
The Norwegian Star in Astoria 2008
Cruising has long been a favorite for me, so marrying Disneyland and a Cruise is a perfect fit. Cruises are incredibly wheelchair friendly! Wheelchair accessible rooms are available although most ships don’t have many so they need to be booked early, but on most ships there isn’t anywhere you can’t get to in a wheelchair. The children’s programs are usually welcoming, although if a child has very high needs they may not be too happy without some back up support. On several occasions we have had enough people to be able to take along a couple of specialized support workers to help out so parents can get a break.
As my role as a Travel Advisor has evolved, I find myself being asked to arrange more and more specialized travel including helping a number of the 2010 Para-Olympians get to Vancouver, helping people travel with assistance dogs, finding scooters in Vegas, transporting people in Stretcher wheelchairs and providing wheelchair accessible transportation at destination. I have built up a large data base of suppliers I can go to with specific requests and each time I help someone new, I get to open the world to someone!