Travel

Is a Disney Cruise Right for Your Special Needs Family?

April 15, 2012 By barb 1 Comment

Before I left for the media preview Fantasy Cruise last month, I did some price comparison. While my husband, oldest and I have all cruised multiple times, I have yet to take our youngest. And I feel really badly about that. But to be honest with both the wheelchair and autism hurdles to overcome with him, I just have never been quite sure how he would do. Since he is such a Disney fan I always thought that his first cruise would probably work best on a Disney ship. Every time I went to book one though two things stopped me: the price and the fact that they always seemed sold out of the itineraries we wanted.

Disney cruises aren’t cheap. Comparing the cost between two fictitious similar itineraries to Mexico, Princess Cruises were close to $3000 less than the Disney counterpart & 3 days longer.

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Which is the point where I would take my hand off the ‘book’ button and walk away, dazed and confused to exactly why I thought that sailing on a Disney ship was going to be so much better.

I’ll be honest. I posed this question to several friends that had cruised Disney before. They all assured me that once I was on board I would see why they are almost always booked and why people were willing to pay so much more.

Fast forward to my cruise. I landed in Orlando and had the option to make my luggage magically appear in my room at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Flying in from Denver pretty much necessitates an overnight stay somewhere in FL before cruising from Port Canaveral. The next morning, I again had the luxurious option of having my bags magically appear in my stateroom on board as I was transported to the port. Score 1 for Disney magic.

Disney Fantasy Ship at Dock in Castaway Cay

The check in process was flawless. Which has not always been the case on other cruise lines. Another point. We were on the ship as quick as you can say Tinkerbell. There was no mass crowding to get on board and the Disney crew announces each new group by name as they board.

The lunch buffet prepared in Cabana’s was the perfect place to get a bite to eat, get oriented and meet up with all my friends sailing with me.

I went back to my room to change into the bathing suit I had in my day bag and found my luggage already at the room. My deluxe stateroom with verandah was beautiful. We were only the second group to sail out on the Fantasy so everything was new and beautiful! I was thinking though how my tall teen boys would do in this room and my 6’8″ husband would feel about that Queen sized bed (which turned out to be SO comfortable just for me). Comfortable, deluxe bed is another big plus but no doubt, 4 people (all adult sized) would be cramped in here.

Which made me worry that if my family of four would be cramped here, how in the world would a room like this accommodate Carters wheelchair? Thankfully a friend traveling with our group was using an ECV and had booked an accessible room. She wrote that her room was perfectly able to accommodate her needs.

While the group of friends I traveled with did not bring their families on this preview cruise, many others did and what I was constantly struck by was how often I did not see kids! You would have thought the ship would be crawling with lots of loud kids enjoying Disney. But the adult areas are well defined and while the kids are off having their fun, parents had plenty of time to be in the adult areas. Parents on board told me they barely had seen their children. Disney does onboard what it is best known for-it entertains little ones! Which give parents plenty of worry free time alone. Another huge score for the well defined, adults only areas to relax.

Cruise ship food can be a great place to taste mediocre food. Not on the Disney Fantasy. Each night dinner was a well coordinated ordeal. The lobsters were huge, the desserts fabulous and the staff attentive. Every dining opportunity was used as a chance to entertain and the fun in Animators Palace is not to be missed by kids or adults.

Some other nice touches that scored big points with me:

Fireworks. Disney is the only line allowed to shoot fireworks off the ship. One night, the Dream passed us and we stopped as they shot off a whole fireworks show for us, and we returned the favor by doing the same for them. It was a fun night and was interesting to see all the other cruise lines in the area pull in close enough to get a glimpse at the shooting sister ships.
The nightclub areas for adults had amazing themes such as London Tubes, Irish Pubs, and a Skyline that constantly changed scenery.
Soda is free and is easy to get. All of the food on board was above what I expected to find and allergy options were clearly marked

Another reason to choose a Disney Cruise is picking an itinerary that includes a day on Castaway Cay, their private island, which in fact feels much more like your very own private island. There was much to do and see on this Island but I enjoyed heading out to the adult beach and ordering an adult beverage, sinking my lawn chair in the ocean and relaxing away the day. It was just what I needed. Or maybe he was just what I needed…

sand wheelchairs on Disneys Castaway Cay Island

I was very pleased to see the large amount of sand wheelchairs available on Castaway Cay. I was disappointed in that this style would force an independent chair user to rely on someone else to push.

All in all I had a wonderful time on this brand new, beautiful cruise but sadly cannot say whether or not the extra cost would be worth this for a special needs family. I would need of see how they deal with kids with autism, how things like toileting are handled in the children’s programs. I would like to know how many child’s crew members can sign and how they deal with ‘runners’. Mainly I would like to see how inclusive their amazing programming is. That would determine if I could really recommend a Disney Cruise to special needs families. As it is now, I see how a typical family with kids under 12 could justify that all the Disney magic really is worth the extra money.

Here is hoping to another chance to bring Carter and really get the chance to see how this works for families like ours!

Filed Under: children with disabilities, Travel Tagged With: disney, sponsored, travel

Fun on Park City’s Main Street

March 27, 2011 By barb Leave a Comment

Guest posted originally on Snowmamas.com

The slopes aren’t the only place to have a blast at Park City Mountain Resort. For me, the shops surrounding historic Main Street are a full day’s adventure. There are lots of options in this adorable area lined with stores and restaurants. (An insider tip: For easy and free parking near Main Street, your best bet may be Suede Alley or China Bridge.)

park-city-main-street (park-city-main-street)
Photo: Sarah Sampsel

Here are some don’t-miss spots that the the members of our Snowmamas/Snowpapas Advisory Council recommend: {Read more of this article}

Filed Under: Snowmama Posts, Travel

Disney’s Club 33 Review

June 3, 2010 By barb 9 Comments

Ah, the mystery, the allure, the exclusivity of Disney’s Club 33!

Walt Disney’s private club hidden inside the New Orleans area of Disneyland. It’s only mark on the outside is a simple 33 posted on the door near the exit of Pirates of the Caribbean. There are many stories about the who, what, when, where and why’s behind Walt’s creation of Club 33. It is a legendary place among Disney fans and it is rare to get the opportunity to visit. The general consensus is that Club 33 was opened by Walt as a place to entertain the original 33 investors of Disneyland. However, it says on the menus that is named simply because of its address. Believe what you will. It is the only place within the main (old) park that serves alcohol to this day. It is said the wait list for membership is about 15 years long. The fee’s are quite steep. Most families that I know who have had the chance to visit work for one of the companies that have a corporate membership.

So, what is a visit to Club 33 really like and what is the hype all about?

You start your day by going to guest services outside of the park. You pick up day passes for your family to the park. These don’t have your name on it and since we had park hopper tickets that came with our package, we walked up to a family that was in line to give them away. If I had known they wouldn’t have our names on them I would have totally had my friend Laura come visit. The attendant at the ticket area saw me trying to give the tickets away and told me “you can’t sell tickets” and I told him I was “not selling, just giving them away”. He said “well, you can’t do that either”. How disappointing! Bob went the other way and found a family. They were so surprised and it made us feel wonderful to be able to give another family a Disney gift.

So, you have a reservation for Club33 that is a specific time. DO NOT attempt to get in 5 mins early. Trust me. I know. I was informed of this by the lady inside. There is a little speak easy type box inside the door frame of 33. You push it and tell them your name. Just don’t do it before your appointed time or you will get swallowed up by a big rabbit hole that transports you to Small World and makes you ride it over and over again.

If you don’t fall down the rabbit hole the lady lets you in. You have the choice to go up to this lift that they make a big deal about. It was pretty. I am not really into stuff like that. But if you are, they say this is an amazing example. If you are in a wheelchair you get to go in a special entrance. You get the privilege of going through the Cafe kitchen across the way. You get to experience all the sights, sounds and smells of the dishwashing area of a cafeteria. Needless to say, I think access for wheelchair users needs to be improved.

Anywho, once your family gets to the second floor you are seated. We went for a late lunch. They ask you to order the entree and you get to go to the buffet for both appetizers and dessert. With the exception of the crab, shrimp and rock lobster tails all the food on the buffet we had already seen at the Paradise Pier concierge room. It is the same stuff.

At first we were all really nervous because you hear so much about how fabulous this place is. I warned the kids not to breathe wrong! Being nervous was unnecessary though. Our waitress was very sweet and very accommodating. She saw that I didn’t eat the monk fish I ordered and offered me something else. I asked for the same truffle mac and cheese the kids had. It was yummy. I don’t know why I didn’t like the meal. There was nothing wrong with it. I just did not like it.

Bob and ordered a bottle of wine. I LOVED the balcony. It was the best part. It was a beautiful day and the views are really pretty from out there through the trees. It was a very relaxing oasis on a crazy Saturday at Disneyland.

Your bill has to be equal to what the tickets for the day would have cost you. So it is a pretty pricey meal ~ $404 for our family to be exact.

There is a small cabinet that sells souvenirs. Apparently the merchandise in the cabinet changes frequently. It is stuff like golf shirts, pens and rings. We didn’t get anything but now I kind of regret that.

You leave the sanctuary of Disney’s Club 33 and join the masses. The craziness is a little disorienting (or was that the wine?) of becoming one of the ‘regular people’ visiting Disney that day.

I was really glad we finally went. We have talked about going since the kids were little and we knew we had the option. But I am really glad we waited til the boys were older and had more experience eating in ‘fancier’ restaurants. I don’t think the food was any more impressive than your run of the mill upscale restaurant. There are a ton of antiques that were completely lost on the boys. If we could just order a bottle of wine and sit out on the patio I would consider going back but barring that I doubt we would. It is nice to say you have been but not necessarily something you need to do twice.

Here are some insider photos for all of you still curious