March 12, 2010
Disability Travel Planning For A Successful Journey
Avoiding the many potential disability travel disasters requires a little forethought and planning that you might not expect. There are several resources out there that are dedicated to disability travel planning and accommodations. Anyone that has a disability or that is planning to travel with someone that has a disability must make their arrangements with a little more care than other travelers.
Disability travel becomes much easier when you offer yourself the chance to gather up information that is necessary to help arm you for what you might face. If you have little to no experience with the particular difficulties that you might experience, it is often best to contact a travel agency that handles the needs of the disabled and let them take the reigns for you.
Starting with the airport, make sure you understand their rules and regulations regarding special needs individuals. Some airlines will have you check your wheelchair and then offer you one that belongs to the airport.
If you must move through various doorways or rooms, you might want to find out how hard it is to push the doors open or if they have easy access push plates to open doors. It is absolutely helpful to know exactly how far your accommodations are from other various access routes such as elevators, access ramps, and entrances that are designed for special needs use.
You will also find it helpful to know how far your room is from other destinations that may be on the same grounds, like restaurants, casinos, or pools. If you have to take an excessively long path to get from one area to another you should request a different room with easier and faster access to all the routes and amenities before you arrive.
Make sure that your hotel knows that you will have special needs before you book the room. Most hotels will try to be accommodating, but others literally do not have the access you will need. Make sure that you will be able to use the shower or bathtub, have easy access to the elevators, and will be able to receive assistance with your bags and any other needs you might have.
Travel to and from your hotel should be simple. While not all cab companies are willing or able to go out of their way to make sure your needs are well met, your hotel or inn should be able to connect you with the best transportation choice possible. Disability travel problems often center just as much around the hotel as any other travel issue. Carpeting can make wheeling around difficult while the doorways are often only wide enough to allow the wheelchair through but are often not wide enough to account for hands that are propelling the chair forward via the wheels. Talk to the hotel in advance and be sure to leave them accurate and directive feedback about their accommodations before you leave.
Filed under Whale Watching Tours by jenny