Traveling

[Allison Ferraro]

Hi I am hoping someone can help me My husband Joe (32) Was diagnosed in 1/08. We are planning a trip to Disney this September with our daughters 7&2, and I am hoping someone might have advise on traveling to Disney with PALS. I am basically traveling alone with a family member and friends. Any advice will be helpful. Are there certain rules for the motorized wheelchair on the plane, and other places we visit?


This is my 2nd time writing something, but I do read often and I cannot tell you all how MUCH I have learned from all of you. So THANKYOU.

Allison Ferraro

[andyvaughn]

One of the ALSA chapters has a handy reference to traveling with a power chair - at this link http://www.catfishchapter.org/news/AirTravel.html
You have to be able to transfer your husband from the chair to the airline seat and back, but it appears attendants will help with this process.
I have found lots of disabled travel sites by just typing "disabled travel" into a google search. But, MAKE SURE they are really handicapped accessible, as in does the hotel have a roll in shower? I have seen some lately that claim to be handicapped accessible that have simply added a grab bar to the tub. Make sure you bring all your husbands meds on board the plane, not checked in baggage.
I just traveled to Lake Mead with my husband, he is still walking, albeit barely. The "handicapped" parking for the houseboats was about 300 yards from the entrance to the marina, and all dirt/gravel... wouldn't have been passable in most wheelchairs. In fact, out in the middle of the lake was a floating port a potty with a wheelchair stall.. kind of funny, as I can't see any way in heck a wheelchair could be delivered to that potty.
We also have some travel coming up, we are headed to yosemite next week, by simply doing some searching online I found out all the wheelchair accessible paths, resturaunts, etc....also in the state park system you get in for free with a disabled placard, and they let you drive where other people can't...
Hope you have a great trip.
Andrea - wife of Pals JIm.

[trying to stay positive]

[quote=Allison Ferraro;48733]Hi I am hoping someone can help me My husband Joe (32) Was diagnosed in 1/08. We are planning a trip to Disney this September with our daughters 7&2, and I am hoping someone might have advise on traveling to Disney with PALS. I am basically traveling alone with a family member and friends. Any advice will be helpful. Are there certain rules for the motorized wheelchair on the plane, and other places we visit?


Hi Allison,

My DH was DX 8/07 and we (DH, 15 yo daughter & myself) went to Disney just last month. It was an absolutely fabulous vacation. Disney is really accomodating when it comes to people with disabilities. Can Joe do transfers by himself? I ask because most of the rides require transferring from the wheelchair to the ride. There are only a few that allow you to stay in the scooter or chair. The Disney website has lots of disability info.

I don't know about the power chair and the airplane. We took a manual chair and then rented an electric scooter at the theme parks. I would suggest contacting the airline directly so you don't end up with any surprises. With the manual chair, my DH was able to be wheeled up the ramp, right up to where we boarded the plane. Then the flight attendant had the chair sent down and loaded with the baggage. When we landed, they brought it right to us.

When you make your hotel reservations, be sure to confirm that you will have a room with handicap access. When the time drew close for us to leave on our trip, I called both the hotel & the airline to confirm that everything was in order. You just never know. Once we got to our hotel, we ended up having to leave our handicap access room & take a regular one, as the roll in shower was clogged & flooded the bathroom. It all worked out OK, but what a time that was!:?

OH! One thing that you will just LOVE! If you go to guest sevices when you first arrive, you can get a wheelchair pass. This allows you to go in the express lane line! Cuts down on the wait times tremendously!:mrgreen:

I hope you have a wonderful time. I'm sure you will! Take lots of pictures and wear lots of sunscreen!

Speaking of my Disney vacation, I would like to once again thank Jamie for donating the airmiles to my family, and Irma for telling me about the Memories of Love Foundation that provided the hotel and theme park tickets. We most definitely have wonderful memories from that trip!

[Al]

You can also go to Quadbliss's website and read how he has travelled with his vent and chair.
AL.

[Jennifer51]

Hi I am hoping someone can help me My husband Joe (32) Was diagnosed in 1/08. We are planning a trip to Disney this September with our daughters 7&2, and I am hoping someone might have advise on traveling to Disney with PALS. I am basically traveling alone with a family member and friends. Any advice will be helpful. Are there certain rules for the motorized wheelchair on the plane, and other places we visit?


This is my 2nd time writing something, but I do read often and I cannot tell you all how MUCH I have learned from all of you. So THANKYOU.

Allison Ferraro

You may want to look into renting a villa rather than going to a hotel...there are several homes that are well fitted for totally immobile clients...We have owned villas in the disney area for about 20 years and have made then wheelchair FRIENDLY but they would not be good enough for severe disability...so I am not personally looking for a rental...but we know SOME homes have been fully adapted, mostly because the owners have their own family special needs. It is worth investigating. There is at least ONE site that offers special needs homes...I will try to find it for you...do a search and dont forget to look under the .co.uk listings as many brits have homes there.
Jennifer51