[00:00:00] Speaker A: Are you walking the length of the pier then, Vanessa?
[00:00:03] Speaker B: Yeah. Pushing him. Yeah.
[00:00:04] Speaker A: All right, anyone out there who is able bodied and complaining about that walk?
[00:00:09] Speaker B: And I pass people too, because I'm like, too slow.
[00:00:13] Speaker C: Yeah. I love it. I love it.
[00:00:27] Speaker A: Welcome back, everybody, to this week's live episode of the DCL Duo podcast, brought to you by my Path Unwinding Travel and the fabulous folks over at DCL Magazine. We keep hearing that it's coming any day now, so we can't wait for the announcement ourselves because we've got an article in the first issue, we think, and so we're pretty excited about that. If you have not signed up to get your copy of DCL Magazine, head over to dcl-magazine.com to sign up for the wait list and you'll get notifications when the magazine goes live.
And if while you're over there, you want to pick anything up from the WDW magazine store, like a subscription to the WDW magazine or the DLR magazine or their. Their calendars, which I still haven't gotten through.
[00:01:11] Speaker C: Sam, Tracy's already asking you, Brian, did you order the.
[00:01:15] Speaker A: I should just do it while we're on the show, but I won't, so. So if you want to pick up anything in the store, use code DCLDUO for 10% off everything over there on the WDW store. With that, Sam, we got a really great topic tonight and a topic I'm really excited that we can bring to our community. So why don't you introduce our guests and our topic and let's just dive right into it.
[00:01:35] Speaker C: Yes, I'm super excited. We know these guests. We've sailed with them before on several occasions. I've gotten to even tour their seat room on board the Disney Wish, I believe it was. But we're super excited to welcome to the show. Vanessa and Andrew Prince. Welcome to the show, guys.
[00:01:54] Speaker B: Thank you for having us.
[00:01:56] Speaker C: So nice to see both. We just saw you, of course, onboard the Treasure for the maiden voyage, and it's just really great to have you on our show so soon after. Now we talk about accessibility on our show a little bit. I like to say a little bit because we hear about it from other folks in the community. We hear about what, you know, what challenges in particular when the Wish came out, what challenges there were with accessibility and a lot of comparison with the other ships. But we ourselves are not the experts on accessibility. And so we have wanted to do this show for a while and we're so excited to talk to the two of you, because you live this in your daily life, you go on the ships quite a bit. You are Pearl cruisers like us. And something that you deal with when you go on the ships is, of course, accessibility. But why don't you guys tell our audience a little bit about yourselves before we sort of dive in and I'll bring up my PowerPoint in a second, but why don't we dive in, tell people how many cruises you've been on when you started sailing with Disney and a little bit about yourselves.
[00:03:03] Speaker B: Go ahead, Andrew.
[00:03:05] Speaker D: I am in the chat as accessible adventures with Andrew. So I do like vlogs and things and with accessibility and other things when I, when I.
[00:03:32] Speaker B: Cruise and go to.
[00:03:33] Speaker D: Disney, do Disney stuff.
[00:03:36] Speaker C: Yeah. And we love following your adventures online. All of the amazing, you know, pictures of you all in the parks on the cruises. And of course, as I mentioned, we met you both on, on cruises before. Before. Vanessa, how many cruises have you all been on with Disney Cruise Line? And have you ever sailed on any other cruise line?
[00:03:56] Speaker B: Yes. I grew up cruising with my mom, who owned a travel agency at the time. So we went on all the different lines all over the world and we found Disney Cruise line in 2007 and we've only tried one other cruise Besides Disney since 2007.
[00:04:14] Speaker C: Oh, wow.
Can I ask which line that was?
[00:04:18] Speaker B: Royal Caribbean.
[00:04:19] Speaker C: Oh, nice. Yeah.
[00:04:20] Speaker B: And the kids were younger and they did not care for the kids clubs and all the stuff happening at the pools. They're like, take us back to Disney.
[00:04:27] Speaker C: So we're like, okay, yeah.
[00:04:29] Speaker A: My favorite thing about Vanessa and Andrew is that there are always several people ahead of us in line for the photo. Sam.
[00:04:34] Speaker C: So that is very true. And I'm going to actually share my, my presentation at this point because I do want to show a couple of really great pictures of Vanessa and Andrew cruising.
I'll, I'll jump to the. The second slide is actually I've talked with Andrew Vanessa about this before, but I one great pictures they both have. Both have fantastic smiles. But I love the picture on the left is on the wish. But what you might not realize if you're not a hardcore deep dive Disney Cruise Line enthusiast is when Disney Treasure was being promoted, before the ship came out, they released all of these videos and one of the videos that they had released was with a character named Arthur Quinn. And this picture on the left is actually Andrew dressed as Arthur Quinn. And of course Vanessa, his mom is dressed as Voyager Minnie, who is the character on also the Disney Treasure, the special sort of costume for Minnie Mouse. On that ship. So I love that they totally bounded as Arthur Quinn and Minnie. And I think Andrew, I think you mentioned that I maybe was the only person who knew who you, who you're bounding as when I saw you guys on, I think it was on the Treasure the last time.
[00:05:59] Speaker B: Yeah, I think some of the crew members knew who it was, but I don't think anybody else did.
[00:06:04] Speaker A: I was, I was going to bound as Arthur Quinn. Sam even bought me the Mickey shaped watch.
[00:06:09] Speaker C: The same watch that. No, Andrew's wearing the watch in the picture.
[00:06:12] Speaker A: Oh, I know. Yes, it's small for me, but.
[00:06:14] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:06:15] Speaker C: I love it, I love it. Well, and like I said, you guys take a ton of pictures. I always see, you know, I know Vanessa, you post every couple of months and both of you, you're always catching up because you cruise so often. You're catching up with your, your posts from whatever the last cruise was. And you, you like, like I do. I mean, Brian's, you know, joking about how you're in line in front of us, but it's true. I'm in line for most of the pictures. Brian skips, I think half of the pictures. But you are. You guys are always getting those magic shots and character shots and I love it.
[00:06:49] Speaker A: I was going to say if, if, if few folks recognized who you were bounding as on the Disney treasury, you are recognized who we were bounding. There's always that. There's always that.
[00:06:58] Speaker C: That's true. We were, we were bounding as the folks from Gravity Falls. So Brian was dressed as Dipper, I was dressed as Mabel, and Nathan was dressed as Seuss. And so for those who don't know, that's a deep cut. Also Disney Channel show. That is an animated show. That's fantastic. So, all right, well, how many cruises was it that you guys have been on? Vanessa?
[00:07:22] Speaker B: I've been on 32 and counting and Andrew's been on 26, so I have gone without him. So.
[00:07:31] Speaker C: And, and who is usually in your cruising party? I know that sometimes the two of you sail. Just the two of you. But Andrew, who else sails with you sometimes?
[00:07:41] Speaker D: A couple of friends sail with us a couple times.
And, and my, my sister sometimes do.
[00:07:55] Speaker B: Yeah, some our family. I have a husband and two daughters who. So on the Treasure, my one daughter was with us, Lydia.
[00:08:02] Speaker C: So yeah.
[00:08:03] Speaker B: And then we have a neighborhood friend who's also trying to get her name up on Castaway Key. So hop on all the time with me.
[00:08:11] Speaker C: Nice. Love it. Well, let's jump right in. So as people can. Oops, I skipped one slide. Nope. As people can see from the pictures, obviously Andrew uses a motorized wheelchair, and.
[00:08:25] Speaker B: So it's a manual chair.
[00:08:27] Speaker C: Manual chair. Oh, okay. Manual chair. So we're going to talk about, obviously, accessibility on the Disney ships and accessibility on the Disney private islands. That's going to be the focus of our discussion today. But if folks have questions that are on point related, feel free to put them in the chat and we'll try as best we can to answer the questions. But we got to start with planning and of course, getting to the ship. Are there any things that you all do ahead of cruising? I mean, you're pros now, so you've done this a whole bunch of times. But I'm thinking of like, when you first started sailing with Disney, did you ever have to reach out to, you know, special services or anything in advance of the cruise for any kind of accommodations or information?
[00:09:17] Speaker B: Yes. And I would say that the first hurdle is getting an accessible stateroom. I think there's only 18 on the magic class, but up to 35 on the wish class. Oh, wow. But we can't sit and go fit in through the doors on a regular stateroom, so we have to have the accessible ones.
But I have reached out to special services. Even we did the Mediterranean back in 2013. I'm like, well, what do the roads look like there? Can I like, is this. I wasn't really familiar back then with Google Earth or whatever you could do and like. But what am I going to be like trying to get over or how are we going to do it once we get off the ship?
They've also helped me on my cruise coming up in February, book an excursion that will actually have a vehicle for Andrew to ride in. And they haven't always had that opportunity for us. We've done many where we've had to go out of side of DCL to book something, which is kind of tricky. But I do use their services quite a bit.
[00:10:22] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:10:22] Speaker B: And they're very, they're very fast to respond to. You could call them or email them.
[00:10:28] Speaker A: Is this the, is this the Disney Cruise Line transportation that we're seeing here.
[00:10:32] Speaker C: Or is it private transportation combination. But actually the one, the two on the left are Disney Cruise Line transportation. The one on the right is actually the Bright Line train.
[00:10:40] Speaker A: Oh, very cool.
[00:10:41] Speaker C: So.
[00:10:41] Speaker B: So ahead of time, we usually, we like to do land and sea packages because we're coming in from Ohio right now. So we fly down. We're dvc, so we stay at a resort and we book Disney Cruise Line transportation from the resort to the port. And we have to specify that we need a lift because they. Not all buses have them. And you can see Andrew being loaded up on the lift and they'll. They pretty much put us on first, take us off last.
It's a nice service. We usually have to. They pull our bus around at Port Canaveral and load us right at the building or unload him at the building.
Then we also take it back to the airport, which is nice. I don't have to deal with trying to get an Uber with a. It's very hard to find accessible transportation.
[00:11:29] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:11:30] Speaker B: In a lot of the ports.
[00:11:32] Speaker C: And now with this Disney transportation, your luggage is being picked up by Disney ahead of time and transported for you. So you're not having to bother with taking your luggage on the Disney Boston edition.
[00:11:45] Speaker B: Yeah, at the resorts they pick it up at 7am I mean they're usually right on the dot. 7am when you get down there to check in, they make sure they know how many pieces they picked up. And I'm like, yes, you know, so it's not like, oh, where did it go? So it's a nice service for me so I don't have to drag everything around.
[00:12:03] Speaker C: Oh yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. I remember you were talking or you were asking a question I think in one of the Facebook groups about doing sort of a back to back cruise, but where you were changing from Terminal 8 to Terminal 10 or from Terminal 10 to Terminal 8, I can't remember which. And I remember you asking the question, Vanessa, about whether or not there's a way to one walk right there, a continuous path that you and Andrew could walk and whether or not there would be assistance with luggage from moving from one ship to another. And this is at Port Canaveral I'm talking about right now. What ended up being the answer there?
[00:12:41] Speaker B: Well, they just started doing this where they had the two ships in at the same day. And what I was just recently told after our Treasure cruise was that when you're on board your first cruise, let's say it's the wish, you have to go to guessers and say I need to. I'm doing a back to back with different ships and I need to get over to Terminal 8 from 10 and they'll make the arrangements for it knowing that you have the wheelchair and luggage. And I don't know about regular passengers, but for at least us. And I have been told there is a pathway and they're not very far when you, you look at it when you're at the port.
[00:13:16] Speaker C: So, yeah, I, I have heard that there is a pathway that you could walk it from 8 to, to 10 or 10 to 8. But obviously the luggage would be the issue.
Got. If you've got the two of you and luggage, that's not really going to be feasible to drag all of your luggage over to the other terminal, whereas Brian and I probably. It wouldn't be great because we always. We over pack too. So we dragging a lot of, a lot of luggage with us as well. We have a great question here about the port access outside of Port Canaveral. You guys, I know, have sailed outside of Port Canaveral. I'm thinking Fort Lauderdale. I don't know if you sailed out of San Diego, but have you seen. Port Canaveral is pretty decent, right, in its accessibility. But what about some of the other ports that you've sailed out of? Any, any thoughts about those?
[00:14:14] Speaker B: Well, we've sailed out of seven different ports with.
So that includes Barcelona, Copenhagen, New York City, Vancouver, New Orleans. And I would say New Orleans is the hardest one for us. Even though we were at a hotel right across the street, we could see the ship. It was very hard to get to it. We couldn't get an accessible taxi. You could, you could walk, but yet there was obstacles to get there. And a couple of times you're like walking and like, oh, please don't hit me with that car. Because there's no sidewalks, but everybody's doing it. I don't know why they don't put a sidewalk there for people to walk from those hotels.
[00:14:53] Speaker C: Yeah, well, there's train tracks, right. And there are trolley tracks, rather. And then there are steps and there's. And it's of course, cobblestone, some of the streets. It's, I mean it, it's, it's historic New Orleans, but it's a mess for.
[00:15:05] Speaker B: Well, that, no, that sounds, that's not historic part, but yeah, that's.
[00:15:09] Speaker C: That part isn't historic part.
[00:15:11] Speaker A: Yeah, that part's not historic, Sam. It's just a mess. And yeah, I mean, like, I had, I had the brilliant idea to walk from our hotel across the street to the point, and I was like, where are we going? And why, why do I feel like I'm in an alley right now?
[00:15:23] Speaker C: And we had to go. We were also like just a couple blocks, so we had see the ship, but we had to walk like all the way, like sort of a, like a big U to get to where the. Is and where you can drop it's. It's. Yeah, it's a mess.
[00:15:37] Speaker A: How is Disney? So, like, I'm curious. There's a question here about different regions, so I'm curious about Europe, but I'm also curious how is Disney with giving you kind of the background on a port before you get there? I mean, is there anything. I can't think of anything on the website. So there's like, no way to gauge on your end of things what the best way is to do it until you experience it.
[00:15:57] Speaker B: Right. But like Sam said, we're in a couple groups together for accessibility with Disney Cruise Line. And so it's great to ask in there and people will share pictures, their experiences. But when we went to Europe, we didn't have that. I don't even think I was on Facebook yet back then. So, yeah, you know, it was 2013 and it was all like, oh, I don't know. You know, it's. You're on your own, basically, with them.
[00:16:18] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:16:19] Speaker A: Just. Just to take this step one step further. Are there. You mentioned you'd sailed with Royal once and, you know, maybe we can ask about that later just in terms of comparison. But I'm just curious, in these groups you're in, are there cruise lines that are preferred over others? Like, is Disney a preferred cruise line or is Disney a least preferred cruise line when it comes to these sorts of accessibility issues?
[00:16:38] Speaker B: Well, we're in a Disney Cruise line. Accessibility.
[00:16:40] Speaker A: Okay. Yeah, but. But I didn't know if others were talking about experiences they had on other ships or cruise lines, but I haven't.
[00:16:46] Speaker B: Not an accessibility one. I'm in a couple other ones, and that goes back and forth about who likes what one better and why. And so.
[00:16:54] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Well, obviously, getting to the. Getting to the port can be a challenge when you don't have Disney transportation, I take it, do you guys. You said you usually do Land and seas. Is it your preferred destination than to sail out of Port Canaveral as opposed to someplace else Sometimes.
[00:17:14] Speaker B: I did enjoy taking the Brightline train down to Fort Lauderdale. So we stayed, you know, at a Disney resort, and then we took a Mears bus to MCO where they took us to the correct terminal by the train station. And the staff at Brightline was great. You know, they told us how it was going to work. They called ahead to Fort Lauderdale because they only give you like 90 seconds to get off at the stops. So they had somebody meet us there and hold the train while we got off. And then she ended up walking us all the way to where we were being picked up, so.
[00:17:47] Speaker C: Oh, wow.
[00:17:48] Speaker B: I thought that was a nice option. We have driven to Port Canaveral from Vero beach, but generally I like to use Disney cruise line transportation. It's a little more expensive, but I know the ship's not going to leave without us.
You know, if something happens, they like even going on the treasure. They had to bring a second bus for us, you know, so they're very accommodating.
[00:18:12] Speaker C: Right. You know that they're going to send.
Even if. Even if there's some kind of delay, you know, there's going. They're going to send accessible transportation. It's not. It's not going to be a last minute cancel on you and you have to figure it out yourself. Yourself. Yeah, yeah. That is, you know, that is a good way of looking at it. Well, let's. Let's jump, of course, onto the ship. This is not how you enter from Port Canaveral. For those who are looking at the pictures, this is getting off gangways, usually at your port stop. So it could be castaway, it could be any other, you know, port stop. I just wanted to give people sort of the visual. And you gave me a really nice side by side.
You know, the one on the left is just an accessible gangway and, you know, it's all ramped. And then the one on the right is a split gangway. So it's half with steps and half with a ramp. And this is typically what we see.
In fact, I'm confused.
[00:19:10] Speaker B: I think that's new, though.
[00:19:12] Speaker C: Oh, the half and half is new.
[00:19:13] Speaker B: That was on the Treasure.
[00:19:14] Speaker C: Yeah, I remember seeing that at Castaway. I was just thinking that, Vanessa, we.
[00:19:19] Speaker A: Had this on the Fantasy, though, as well.
[00:19:21] Speaker B: I've never seen it before because we.
[00:19:23] Speaker A: Stopped in San Juan on the Fantasy. Right, Sam, and they had. They had this. We walked down the stairs. They were having people go down the stairs and up the ramp, but they had both there. Yeah, yeah.
[00:19:33] Speaker B: Which is nice for us because when I'm going back on. Let me take a step back. Because when we're even getting off the ship, I look down and I'm like, I need help. And the security staff will find somebody or they will stop the service of letting people off and they'll help me get down. And the same with going back up, up, but I have to get momentum to go up some of them, so.
[00:19:55] Speaker C: Right. Well. And grab. Gravity is pulling you down and so pushing your. Your own body weight, Andrew's body weight, the chair's weight, and whatever accessories you might Have, I know you always have bags attached to his chair. Right. With your stuff in it. And so, yeah, it's, I imagine that is not always the easiest.
[00:20:19] Speaker A: This makes me think about. We just did an episode. So I wanted to ask about this. You mentioned that the side by side is new. We just did an episode on Norway and Iceland. And somebody I think mentioned in that episode there was one port that they got to that the ramp out was coming off of, like deck three down to deck one.
[00:20:37] Speaker B: Whoa.
[00:20:37] Speaker A: Have you experienced like, is, are any of these ports like just really bad, like zigzag?
[00:20:42] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:20:43] Speaker A: Well, no, this was a straight down because they were talking about how steep it was and it was with Cynthia and Alex, and Alex was in a boot at the time because she had. And she was nervous going down it. Are there ports that you've been to that have been worse than others, let.
[00:20:57] Speaker B: Me put it that way, anymore. We cannot get off in Grand Cayman. And it's not because it's because it's tendered. And the problem is it might be nice and smooth in that bay in the morning, but in the afternoon that it can get very choppy and the transfer and go across a little ramp that's going with two different, you know, boats. It's, we just don't do it anymore.
When we were in the Med because of the wheelchair, I can't remember which port it was, but we actually got up, we were on the Magic and there was something down on deck one and not one of these doors, but a different one that actually had a little platform that came out and a little ramp and we went out on that and then got onto a special little tender that just backed in and we got on. I was like, wow, never seen that before. So I thought that was unique. But it was only for wheelchair users, so.
[00:21:52] Speaker C: Interesting. Yeah, yeah. I imagine tender ports in general are challenging. And you know, I, I, you hear of people talking about when they're on tender port, oftentimes scooter and wheelchair users will often opt to stay on the ship, even if it's possible to get on the tender because it's just really difficult. It's not an easy transfer. Even if it's possible to do that transfer. Yeah.
We're hearing from CT that Reykjavik had a three story contraption for the Dream a couple of years ago.
[00:22:24] Speaker A: I think that was the port, I think that was the port that they were talking about.
[00:22:27] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. All right, well, I'm going to move to the next slide because I have a bunch of slides to get through, we have a few different. I've tried to sort of split things up. Magic Dream and Wish class, because you guys, as I have said, sent me tons of pictures and I wanted to talk. These slides are primarily to talk about the hallways and obviously opening doors. This is on the Magic Class.
We can see. I'd call this a tight hallway fit. Andrew, you've got all this luggage right next to you in that middle picture. Is it tight? This is a Magic class ship. And is it tight getting down those hallways? Yes.
[00:23:10] Speaker B: And the crew is nice because they'll pop out and help move stuff because they're like, oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know you're coming or something. Or one of the suitcases might be, you know, out just a little too far. They're. They're host carts or something, and they're all very convenient. You get to know them by the. All of them. All the way down the hallway. You know, all of them by the end of the cruise. So.
[00:23:28] Speaker C: Yeah. Well, and room service is the other carts. Right. That are. So these are the. What we see in the left picture. These are the. The carts for the stateroom attendants. So those are the. With all their cleaning supplies when they're cleaning your rooms. And those are in the hallways constantly. And like on this.
[00:23:43] Speaker B: This.
[00:23:43] Speaker C: In this picture, they're on both sides of the hallway, so you're kind of zigzagging. The middle picture is. Is embarcation day or disembarkation day.
[00:23:52] Speaker B: That's the embarkation.
[00:23:53] Speaker C: Yeah, embarkation day. Yeah. With the tags. So these. These are, you know, this is luggage being delivered to people's rooms. And then on the right, we've got the. These are buttons for opening the doors, and you can either press them or wave at them. And they're now on all of the ships, I believe.
[00:24:12] Speaker B: Yeah. And they didn't always have those either.
[00:24:14] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:24:15] Speaker B: So that was very tricky. And when we first started sailing.
[00:24:18] Speaker C: Oh, yeah.
[00:24:18] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:24:19] Speaker C: Now here's on the Dream Class, and we've got similarly tight hallways. I don't. I don't see too much difference between the Magic and the hallway.
[00:24:28] Speaker A: That hallway on the left looks narrower to me for some reason.
[00:24:30] Speaker C: Does it? That was going to be my angle. Well, I was going to. I was going to ask, do you think. Are the Magic and Dream Class hallways? Did they seem a similar or.
[00:24:41] Speaker B: Yeah, I don't notice any difference between the three that much.
[00:24:44] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:24:45] Speaker B: But I will say the carts have these funky little wheels on them. You can kind of see it.
And they move. If you get your wheel caught on it, it just kind of guides you back past them. So.
[00:24:56] Speaker C: Yeah. And then here we've got Andrew playing miniature golf on the Dream class. So this is on the back of the ship, on the back of the. Either the fantasy or the dream. I think this picture is from the fantasy.
And. Yeah, so obviously there. That is an accessible area. And then this one on the right is up to, I believe, the. Like, the pool deck. This is one of the ramps up to one of the.
[00:25:22] Speaker B: Yeah, I think that's on the Fantasy.
[00:25:24] Speaker A: Let me. Let me ask it sort of a general. I know you're going ship by ship here, Sam, but two general questions. One is. And these are coming from the chat. So Tracy's asking, I don't know if you've been on every ship, Vanessa, but if so, do you have a favorite ship that makes life easier? And I guess the contrast would be, is there a ship out there that.
[00:25:42] Speaker C: That's.
[00:25:43] Speaker A: Or class that's worse than the others? Because someone early on mentioned we're gonna get there with some zigzagging hallways.
Yeah. Yeah. I'm just curious.
[00:25:52] Speaker B: Yeah, well, I'll answer that question real quick. The Magic is definitely my favorite ship.
I love the Treasure, but the Magic, because it has short hallways, they're straight. It's very easy to get around that whole ship. You're not getting off with, you know, extra people.
It can get into ports that the other ships cannot get into. So I think, like, our European cruises were different than what they're doing these days because we could get into tiny little ports.
But definitely, you don't have to worry about lifts to get anywhere. On the Magic class or even the Dream and the Fantasy, we don't have to use a lift to get somewhere where on the Wish class. It's really bad.
[00:26:28] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:26:29] Speaker C: Yeah, here we go. We're going to talk. So Wish Class, there's a myriad of lifts. I think that's really the theme here.
So this is the grand hall stage, and these are some great pictures again, you guys sent me. We've got. Got Andrew on the stage, but how does he get up onto the stage? Because there are steps, right. There are steps in the front, as we can see in the picture. There's steps right. Right down in the middle front, but there's also steps off to the side, and there is no ramp. And so there is a lift.
And it's only, you know, a lift of maybe two feet. Not even probably a foot and a half. But. But you got to get on the lift to get up on that stage. Stage.
[00:27:09] Speaker D: It's one of the stairs turns into it.
[00:27:14] Speaker B: Yeah. It like lowers down, it goes flat, and then it lifts them up and then it turns magically back into stairs at the end.
[00:27:20] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:27:21] Speaker B: And he may have been the only person that's ever used those. I don't know.
We were doing a group photo up there, and I'm like, well, how are we going to get up there? And then I'm like, oh, wait, we've got to go. So they came in and like lifted him up with that. And I'm like, I gotta take photos. So.
[00:27:34] Speaker C: Yeah, tell us, tell us, how does one get. Get the lift to operate? To be operated? Right. Because you don't get to operate it yourselves.
[00:27:42] Speaker D: Services.
[00:27:43] Speaker C: Yeah, you get services. So you have to grab somebody and then they send someone over to. To operate. Okay, so here's we're gonna. There's. There's some more lift pictures we're gonna see in a second, but here's a couple more. This is a hallway picture is the hallway. That's the wish, right on the wish. Sorry, the hallway.
[00:28:01] Speaker A: That one definitely looks.
[00:28:01] Speaker C: This one looks more narrow. Am I. Are we right? Is this more narrow? It looks a little bit more narrow.
[00:28:06] Speaker B: Yes. Yes. But to me, they still feel the same. The difference I feel on these, they had those little indents. Maybe the other ships have them. But I noticed them more on the wish class. The indents.
[00:28:15] Speaker C: Gotcha.
[00:28:16] Speaker B: And going back to the question about walking around through here, the problem with the wish class is there are so many curves and they only have the two elevator banks. And so I prefer the staterooms in the aft. So that's a long haul from that elevator. And I probably take five or six turns before I even get to our stateroom. And you got to watch out for people and kids and, you know, it's a challenge. And then if you forget something, that's when I leave them at the elevator. Go.
[00:28:45] Speaker C: I'll be right back. I'll be right back. Andrew, you stay here. All right, well, here we've got. This is on. On the right hand side. We've got a pool deck lift over here.
So this is to get. I think, I think it's the Aqua Mouse. Oh, you're right. I'm sorry. You're right. This is the Aqua Mouse. I even wrote the title it in the title so I wouldn't forget. This is the Aqua Mouse lift. So there are also stairs to get. Get up and down from the Aqua Mouse. Well, there's. There's like the front stairs to get from. What is that deck? Deck 11 to deck 12 or 12 to 13, I can't remember. But then there's also. You can get to the Aquamouse, sort of the back of the Aquamouse on the elevator. And then you have to use the lift to get his. To get his chair up to the track to get into the ride. Is that. Is that right? Okay. Right.
[00:29:32] Speaker B: But we cannot. He's never been on the Aqua Mouse because. Great. They have this lift, but the problem is I'd need a hoyer lift or something because you have to sit back down on the ground and there's no way I can pick him up from the ground or even with two people, the way it's set up. And the crew members are not allowed to help you with anything.
So it's okay if you can transfer yourself and sit down and stand up. But somebody like Andrew who cannot walk at all, it's very difficult and is.
[00:30:04] Speaker C: Like one of those kind of sling lifts like. Like, you see it pools often. Is that right?
[00:30:08] Speaker B: It's kind of like that. But it sits on the ground and they're movable. But all the pools have the lifts, which is nice. You still have to call Guest Services and arrange for them to be put into all the pools. But the pools are so crowded and it's like not even worth it.
[00:30:22] Speaker A: So not even the lifeguards can operate.
[00:30:25] Speaker B: No, they have to. They can operate it, but it has to be put in by Guest Services or some crew members.
[00:30:30] Speaker A: So that seems unnecessarily difficult.
[00:30:33] Speaker B: Yeah, because at the resorts, they're sitting there, they're covered, and they'll.
[00:30:38] Speaker A: You.
[00:30:38] Speaker B: I still have to operate it, but they'll come and uncover it for you lifeguards. So.
[00:30:44] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:30:45] Speaker C: Gotcha.
[00:30:47] Speaker B: I just say the difference when we talk about the Aqua Mouse versus the Aqua Duck on the Dream Class, those had stairs all the way up. And there's. Andrew was. Now he did ride it.
[00:30:59] Speaker C: Oh, wow.
[00:31:01] Speaker B: It was back in, you know, what was it, 2011. And of course, he was a lot smaller, but my husband carried him. Yes, they. They actually shut the ride down during. When we were at Castaway Key.
They arranged for us to be able to go when everybody else was off the ship. And Andrew got to ride down with my husband. And then they did help us get him off, but I don't know if they would do that anymore. And then what was cute at the end, the one crew member at Guest Services gave Andrew a special little like Admiral little Donald Duck pin and stuff. And a little certificate and stuff, so.
[00:31:34] Speaker C: Oh, I love that. See, they can make magic happen some of the time. Right.
[00:31:39] Speaker B: That's one of my favorite memories of them doing that for us, you know, so he could go on it.
[00:31:44] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:31:44] Speaker B: But now I couldn't carry him up, so. Yeah.
[00:31:47] Speaker A: How, how old was Andrew for that? And does Andrew. Do you remember it? Do you remember? Yeah. Did you like it? Was it fun?
[00:31:54] Speaker B: Yeah, he might have been like, like 13 or 14 or something.
[00:31:58] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:31:58] Speaker C: Wow. Wow.
[00:32:00] Speaker B: A little skinnier then.
[00:32:02] Speaker A: Well, you know, 20 something cruises earlier. We're all a little skinnier.
[00:32:09] Speaker C: That's right. Well, here in the middle and I've got more pictures with lifts actually coming up. But here in the middle is actually Luna, but it's the same as Sarabi. So Luna on the Wish, Sarabi on the Treasure. And this is the, the, the accessible seating area right next to where this, if you see this, these. I don't know what the. The sort of movie theater seats I guess is the best way to describe it.
[00:32:32] Speaker A: Can I ask you a question here, Sam? So for the theaters and Sarabi, where they have Disney, is. Is it good seating? I mean are you able to really see and experience the shows?
[00:32:41] Speaker B: Not Surabhi, the.
[00:32:43] Speaker D: What we're seeing on Sarabi is better.
[00:32:45] Speaker B: Yeah. But there's still poles is a problem.
[00:32:48] Speaker C: Yeah.
Sarabi is I think a challenging place to seat.
[00:32:54] Speaker A: This is on the second floor of Sarabi. Yeah, that's terrible seating.
[00:32:58] Speaker B: And you can see there's a column right there too.
[00:33:00] Speaker C: Right there.
And the other problem with Sarabi is you've got those sort of lip. Right. So if I'm seated on the top part, I'm usually trying to sit in the front row and leaning my body over towards the railing. Now that's not something that Andrew's going to be able to do from his vantage point. So that, that's. Yeah, it's not the best seating there. Here's the wish class. This is just a, a whole bunch of the different lifts. Right. We've got pool deck lifts. We've got lifts for where the. I'm going to air quote this. The walking track is. Right.
But this is the, this is the other major accessibility issue on, on the Wish and the Treasure, obviously. Is that, is that fair? Are the. Just the, the numerous.
So we. And the one on the bottom left is the getting up to essentially the, the pool deck stage where the funnel vision is. Yes, yes. And then this is also pool deck. The one on the bottom right is the adult area. So there Is a ramp there and.
[00:34:06] Speaker B: There'S a lift going somewhere. I have no idea where it goes. Just around the top of that ramp. I don't know where it goes.
[00:34:11] Speaker C: Oh, funny. And then obviously this one in the upper right hand corner and the upper left hand corner are the, the walking track. Running track would have five to six. Right, Right.
[00:34:22] Speaker B: And that's a one and done for us. I think Andrew would agree with that.
[00:34:25] Speaker D: Because I can't see over the white.
[00:34:29] Speaker C: Oh, yeah.
[00:34:30] Speaker D: Wall.
[00:34:30] Speaker C: Yeah, the white wall. The railing. Yeah. You don't get a good view there. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.
[00:34:37] Speaker B: Yeah. So again, you have to make arrangements. You can't just go use them. You have to sit there and wait for them to come. And first of all, you have to wait for them to answer the phone, you know, so it's. Yeah.
[00:34:46] Speaker A: Do you.
[00:34:47] Speaker C: There's, there's phones there. But then you have to wait until somebody shows up. And obviously that takes time, especially if it's multiple lifts.
[00:34:55] Speaker A: Do you, do you use the continuous track on the other classes of ships?
Okay, that's good to know.
[00:35:02] Speaker B: I have to get my steps in so I can eat more.
[00:35:05] Speaker A: Don't we all? Don't we all? You know, before we move off of lift. Sam, someone asked, I think it was Ashley was asking about elevators.
[00:35:13] Speaker C: Oh, that's a great question. And I didn't have pictures of the elevators.
[00:35:16] Speaker A: Vanessa, you mentioned, you know, the, the, the, the travel time between smell. But, but the various elevators, because the magic class, those elevators are tiny. Like, like how, how is it using the elevators beyond kind of, you know, the wish class with the length of.
[00:35:31] Speaker B: The walk, like you said on the magic class, like the aft ones are really super tight. So it's like Andrew and I fit in there.
The problem is like some people aren't courteous that if you're already there waiting that they just run in front of you. And the problem is also I wish they would do like the hotels have where it tells you which one is going to come to you.
[00:35:53] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:35:53] Speaker B: But you can kind of watch. But it's still really hard because you got to run practically. Tim. Especially on the Treasure. They were just awful. They were so fast. I mean, even when you're on the elevator trying to get off, sometimes it's like closing and you're like, I'm still coming.
[00:36:06] Speaker C: Yes. I, I can't tell you how many times I had to like reach my arm out or forward, like depending upon if I was getting on or getting off or I was just trying to move out of the way to Let somebody else off of an elevator. I would have to reach my arm out. But this is like a great reminder to folks who, anyone who doesn't need to use an elevator. I don't need to use an elevator. Sometimes I'm really tired and I want to use an elevator, but I don't need to use an elevator. So I should just get off that elevator and walk my butt up those stairs or down those stairs so that I can make sure that folks like Andrew and Vanessa get the room on.
[00:36:43] Speaker B: The elevator, especially for one day when they're just going to be fair.
[00:36:46] Speaker C: I never use it for one deck. It's only if I. It's, it's easy and it's like three decks. But you know, when it's like six decks, I'm, I feel like I'm justified in using an elevator.
[00:36:58] Speaker A: It's also a good PSA for people like, like, even for able bodied. Like, you don't like there is a line for the elevator.
[00:37:06] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:37:07] Speaker A: We don't like elevator etiquette. Let the people who are there first get on the elevator first and wait. But if there is someone there who has a mobility challenge needs to use an elevator, I was going to say this once, for the love of God, wait for them to use the elevator. Right. Like, it's just, it's infuriating to me when that kind of stuff happens. Just be patient and wait. So anyway, PSA over rant over.
[00:37:31] Speaker B: Well, I will say though, for the mustard drills because we have to go to different locations.
Like we were in, I think world of Marvel on the Wish and the Treasure and other places, even if we're out on deck, they let the wheelchairs people go and some of the people with walkers and stuff ahead of everybody else and try to get to the elevators. And we've had some really great crew members who are there going, no wheelchairs for, you know, and sometimes on the Treasure, it wasn't like that. I was like, ah, yeah.
Because it's just a madhouse rush.
[00:38:03] Speaker C: That's the worst after the mustard drill is the worst time to be in any hallway on any ship because it is wall to wall people. You. I just try and like wherever we are, I try to wait a little bit and let the crowd kind of disperse a little bit. And in that scenario I'm always going to use the stairs because like I said, it's wall to wall people and there's so many people waiting for the elevators.
Plenty of people who don't need to use the elevators, waiting for the elevators after the mustard drill.
We've got one question, actually, about the muster drill from ct. He's asking, are there any mustard drill, specific instructions, like if, you know, if the emergency alarms go off, are you told you need to go someplace your normal muster station?
[00:38:50] Speaker B: No, I was told that a crew member will come to us if we're in our state. If it happens when we're in the state room or you go to a crew member and they have. Andrew calls it the chair of doom. It's a chair. I've seen them somewhere. I had a picture of it. It's a special seat thing that'll go down the stairs. And they're trained on how to do that.
I was also overheard a conversation on the last cruise with a woman who's worried about her son's wheelchair. And if we had to get into one of the boats and they're leave it behind. It's for the people, not for your chair, you know, so they will transfer you into the lifeboat and your equipment stays behind and they'll just deal with you when you get off the. The lifeboat on the other side.
[00:39:32] Speaker C: Right, of course. Because it's. Lifeboat are life saving.
[00:39:35] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:39:36] Speaker C: Things. They are not item items can be replaced. They're not easy to be replaced, but items can be replaced, people can be replaced. And that's what lifeboats are used for. Yeah.
[00:39:46] Speaker B: They will help you. Yeah.
[00:39:47] Speaker A: It's another good question we talked about.
I don't know if there's other special equipment you need to bring on the ship with you, Vanessa, to help support Andrew. And like, how does that work if, you know, like, you know, if people have, like, other medical equipment they need to bring on board?
[00:40:02] Speaker B: Well, so far I haven't had to bring any, but I'm getting to the point where I'm going to have to bring a hoyer lift pretty soon.
Yeah, he's getting a little heavy. But there's a company called Special Needs at Sea where you can rent equipment and it's delivered to the ship.
I don't know if I have the list of what they actually will bring to you, but I know I don't. They do have a hoyer, I believe, bath the roll in shower chairs and just they'll even bring oxygen if you need that and things like that. I do have a friend who I reached out to to say, well, how do you get your medical equipment? And they bring a shower chair, but it also has a portable bag for it. So they just send it with the luggage and they're like, it just arrives in the room.
[00:40:45] Speaker C: So I did reach out, and it is important to reach out to Special Services for things like that because you also need to know what should go on with the luggage and what should go on separately, and if it's going to go on with you and you can't carry it, but you need assistance with it, that sort of a thing. I'm sure Special Services can work with folks on that kind of equipment.
But even things like, I don't know, some people use a CPAP and they need distilled water for their cpap. I know that Disney Cruise Line will provide that. But it is something you need to request ahead of time with Special Services. So there are things. There are all kinds of medical needs and accessible needs that Special Services works on. So it's not just exclusive to, you know, wheelchair accessibility. Right. Let's talk a little bit about the dining rooms. And some of the dining rooms are kind of tight. I'm thinking Arendelle being the main one.
But Marvel's kind of tight also, and so is 1923. This is a picture of Andrew in Animator palette on, I believe, on the magic.
Tell us, like, are the dining rooms difficult to get in and out of, or are you seated in certain areas in order to make it easier to get in and out of them?
[00:42:03] Speaker B: So far, we haven't had any trouble, but you can see they've pulled a chair away. They always have that ready to go when we first get there.
Without even asking, like, where would he want to sit? I guess where we're sitting.
But the tightest one is, like, Marvel. I have to, like, get in position and kind of hop him, like, pick the chair up and kind of move him over a little bit. There's not a lot of room to turn. And it's same probably with Arendelle Coco. We just. We were on a back end one, so we just kind of rolled in. But they're pretty good. And I will say the wait staff is great with him.
[00:42:40] Speaker C: What?
[00:42:40] Speaker D: I like people I can't understand.
[00:42:44] Speaker B: Oh, several.
[00:42:46] Speaker C: You have people you can't understand. Oh, so like somebody with a heavy accent.
Yeah, some of them talk or they talk too quietly. Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah.
[00:42:55] Speaker B: But one of the nice things is. And I never ask, but sometimes, like, you know, if he orders a steak, they. They'll cut it up for him.
So sometimes I have to cut a little smaller, but. But it's nice because then I get. I don't have one less thing I have to do for, you know, the week is get his food cut up. Or something.
[00:43:11] Speaker A: So.
[00:43:11] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:43:12] Speaker A: Are there.
[00:43:12] Speaker B: Are there.
[00:43:13] Speaker C: Like, I. I appreciate that with Nathan, so. I mean, I understand the same.
[00:43:17] Speaker A: Are there. Are there tables in the dining room they tend to seat you at over others, or are you just at the mercy of the table assignments like anybody else?
[00:43:24] Speaker B: I don't know. I don't know how they do it because, you know, it's magical. However, your rotation even works. So, yeah, I know we're flagged as being in a wheelchair, so I don't know if they just automatically. They have moved our table numbers sometimes. Like, we're not. If. If you look, they're not consistent with other table numbers around us.
[00:43:45] Speaker C: Oh, yeah, we've had. We've seen waitstaff swap table numbers and things like that. That's why they sometimes are a little bit confused when they're trying to find your table when they take you into the dining room, because the table numbers are not always in the same place. You do see some of some movement. All right, well, let's move on to talking about the Walt Disney Theater. And brought up, this is some pictures from the magic class. There's two different seating areas pictured here. The one Andrew is in is at the top of the theater, meaning the. The sort of the back of the theater.
And then. Or actually is this midway through.
[00:44:24] Speaker B: This is the magic class only has.
[00:44:27] Speaker C: The top and the top and the bottom. That's right. That's what I was thinking. So, yeah, so this is Andrew sit top of the theater. And so you've got also a picture without his chair there in the top of the theater. But then the pictures on the right are showing the very front of the theater. So there's another accessible area right there as well.
[00:44:47] Speaker B: Well, and wait. Those are really fun to go to if you want to sit down in the front. I don't always care to sit in the front, but you have to go to a crew member on the top deck when they're going into the theater and they take you through airtight doors. And they actually have to call up water t.
They have to call up to the bridge to get the doors released so they can open. And then you have to wait while they close them back up. So you're going through, like, little, like the crew area.
[00:45:15] Speaker C: Yeah, that's so cool.
[00:45:17] Speaker B: And then there's a little elevator down that they use for the shows and stuff. I know on the magic, it's through keys. There's a push door. You might not even know. It's like, got the wallpaper on it. But there's a Little door to the left of the piano, and that's where we go.
So that's kind of fun.
[00:45:34] Speaker C: Yeah. We have sometimes, depending upon the ship, concierge might have access to the theater early and through some of those same spaces. At least I believe on the Dream.
[00:45:47] Speaker A: Class, it's on the opposite side because.
[00:45:50] Speaker C: Oh, yes, right.
[00:45:50] Speaker A: Because keys, you'd be on the left in O'Gills or whatever the. And you go through O'Gills for concierge, and they're going through keys on the other side. Yeah.
[00:45:58] Speaker C: So here's the Dream Class. And Dream Class has. This is similar.
We've got the, you know, sort of at the very front of the theater, but then on the Dream Class, you also have sort of the middle. Right. Which is the. So the. The orchestra section. Let's talk about the floor orchestra section. You have in the front and in the back of the orchestra section, two options of where you can sit. And then I think you can also sit up top as well, right?
[00:46:23] Speaker B: Yeah, but those are kind of hard because you don't see the top of the stage, like, even sitting regularly. I'm like. I don't like sitting up there.
[00:46:30] Speaker C: I don't like sitting there either.
[00:46:31] Speaker B: But this is just a slight little ramp. Ramp up to that little upper low or the upper section from whatever you were calling it, the orchestra section.
[00:46:39] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. Well, and then this is the wish class seating. And this is, again, sort of the. There's this top area and then there's this, you know, down at the very front of the theater as well.
And then this area. I know they're seating also in the middle, because I know in the Treasure. I remember seeing you all just below us. You were sitting right in the. In the center, the very back of orchestra.
[00:47:11] Speaker B: That's our favorite spot.
[00:47:12] Speaker C: Yeah, that's the. I think that's the best spot. I always choose the next section. But, like the. I try and choose one of the first couple of rows of that very next section for that exact reason. I think that's the best spot in the theater. So you get. If you get there probably early enough, you get the best. Probably the best spot in the theater, I would say.
[00:47:30] Speaker B: And just like the other seats, they reserve a seat each handicap or wheelchair spot. But if my family's not with me, and we're a family of five, I can't reserve all five seats.
[00:47:42] Speaker C: Right.
[00:47:42] Speaker B: They have to be with me to be able to sit there.
But again, like I said, they do have. It says reserved right on the seat for at least one person to Go with you.
[00:47:51] Speaker A: So, Sam, I want to. I just want to jump in really fast because there's one person in the chat, Vicki is saying, hi, Andrew, Vanessa. She apparently sat with you at dinner, so I wanted to pass along that message.
[00:48:01] Speaker B: Oh, I love that she's in Australia. Oh, wow. Amazing.
[00:48:04] Speaker A: Amazing.
[00:48:05] Speaker B: We've cruised with her several times.
[00:48:07] Speaker C: Wow, that's awesome.
[00:48:09] Speaker A: We all love having Aussies on the show. Talk about the wonder down under. I have a very important theater question from the Treasure, which is just. Andrew, what did you think of Moana?
[00:48:19] Speaker D: I loved it.
[00:48:20] Speaker C: Yeah, I loved it too. I know you guys are big theater fans too, because I know you go to all of the shows like I do. And of course, on the Treasure, you were always, like I said, always down there. And same on the Wish, always down there. And I think you were. You went to see Don Ducky Williams, his presentation. Yeah. Love that.
[00:48:41] Speaker A: Are you listening to our show because you want to make the most out of your next vacation? Great news. The fabulous team over at My Path Unwinding Travel can help guide you so you don't miss a thing. Their team of professional travel advisors are caring, knowledgeable and experience experienced. It's why we use them to book our own travel. My Path Unwinding Travel is an authorized Disney vacation planner, which means they are recognized by Disney for their expertise and service. They have sailed on all the Disney ships, including in concierge, visited the theme parks, adventured with Disney, Relaxed at Aulani, and so much more. Whether it's a Disney cruise, a theme park vacation, or adventures by Disney, or if you are looking to expand beyond the mouse, My Path Unwinding Travel will elevate your next vacation planning experience. Even if you you have already booked, reach out for a complimentary consultation to make your vacation even more magical. Ready to talk to the experts? Head over to mypathunwinding.com DCLDUO or email DCLDUOMYPATHunwinding.com so they know we sent you their way. Thanks My Path Unwinding, for sponsoring today's show. Now back to the episode.
[00:49:40] Speaker C: Here's the entry to the the Walt Disney Theater on the wish class. This is the sort of orchestra, the bottom floor entry. This is on decor too, right? Yeah, this is. And this is an area again where if concierge gets early entry, this is the same way that they come in.
Well, and so most people don't see these areas because they're just, I mean they're, they're there to be seen. They're just kind of off the beaten path, because only the, you know, the kids club and there's some. And some state rooms are on deck too, but there's not much else down these hallways. So most people don't venture down these hallways.
[00:50:15] Speaker B: But those are wide hallways. And I'm so glad they did that because then we don't have to go through the. Calling the bridge and everything to get down, down lower.
[00:50:22] Speaker C: So yeah, this is.
[00:50:24] Speaker B: We applauded them for that.
[00:50:25] Speaker C: So this is like a. This is one area where wish class improved as opposed to the lifts where they obviously. And the. And the hallways where they maybe did not so well. And here's some deck party viewing. So for those who don't know or who haven't seen this before, for all of the deck parties, there are reserved kind of roped off areas that are accessible areas. So wheelchair accessible areas. And it's usually for the person in the wheelchair and I don't know, one or two.
[00:50:56] Speaker B: At least one. Yeah.
[00:50:56] Speaker C: At least one. Yeah. And so on. You know, here we've got on the magic and the dream class. So the left one is on the magic, and I think the other two are maybe on the fantasy or actually.
[00:51:09] Speaker B: Yeah, it's probably the fantasy. Yeah.
[00:51:10] Speaker C: Yeah. And then. And do you. How early do you have to get there for like a deck party?
[00:51:16] Speaker B: Well, if you want to be right in the front, you. You kind of have to go early. But you. There's. They always have plenty of room and they can move those stanchions back a little bit if they need to.
I know that for the sail away. Sometimes it's on port, sometimes it's on starboard. It depends on where the sun is. That's what they told me because, like, one time I went all the way over to the port side and they're like, well, no, today it's on starboard. I'm like, well, why? So there's like, we'd like to keep you in the shade. So I thought that was nice.
[00:51:41] Speaker C: That is. Yeah. Because if you notice here in these pictures, they. It. It is on both sides. So the one that has the picture with Donald in it, you are on the starboard. Starboard. And then the picture. And then the picture of the pirate party, you are on the port side.
[00:51:55] Speaker B: So pirate party is always on port because you want to be able to look out because they shoot them off the starboard.
[00:52:00] Speaker C: See the fireworks. That makes sense. Yeah. You have to. Other if you are on the starboard side, the. The Aqua Mouse would kind of block your view and the deck would kind of block your view. Mm, yeah. Okay. And then here is deck party and grand hall viewing on the wish class. I think this is a great ad because we. Well, I guess we have it on the. On the dream fantasy magic and wonder you do have. If they're doing like a tree lighting or whatnot, there will usually be a roped off area also for accessible.
[00:52:30] Speaker B: And that's very hard to get into because those atriums are so small. Yeah. Part of it is even just getting past the people to get to it. If you're not there early, you know, never mind. So.
[00:52:41] Speaker C: And a lot of kids are seated on the floor in the atrium for these things. Like, for like, I'm thinking the tree lighting for Christmas or the tree lighting for Halloween. You have a lot of people sort of sitting. So here you are. This is on the wish and the treasure. So this is the, this is the pirate deck party, I think on the left and then in the middle is of course one of the holiday celebrations in the atrium. And then on the right is of course our favorite sage himself.
Was this the tales from the Lamp Aladdin retelling?
[00:53:17] Speaker B: I don't know if it was the. Maybe it might have been the last part.
[00:53:21] Speaker C: Oh, treasure found.
[00:53:23] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:53:24] Speaker C: I mean, he talked to you. Yeah. Wasn't he great? I thought he was fantastic. Yeah.
[00:53:29] Speaker B: I hope he's still on in February.
[00:53:31] Speaker C: I, you know, we're going back on in, in April and I hope he's still on as well, but I don't know. I'm guessing not. Well, so here's, here's a couple of other.
Here's the a.
You don't travel with a service dog, but you, you did share these folks, these pictures with me and I thought they were helpful for people to see. This is on. On whichever walking track of whichever ship there is a dog.
[00:53:54] Speaker B: The left one is the magic.
[00:53:56] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:53:57] Speaker B: On Deck 4. And the other one is on the wish.
[00:54:00] Speaker C: Yeah. Very much improved, you know, spaces. But really. Yeah. When you see service dogs, if people are wondering where do they go to the bathroom? That's where they go to the bathroom.
[00:54:11] Speaker B: Well, and if you have a vera veranda, they can bring one of those pads to your veranda. Some people have had issues with them because the dogs need more room than the veranda. Has to kind of walk around a little bit first.
[00:54:22] Speaker A: So.
[00:54:22] Speaker C: Yeah. Oh, that makes sense. Yeah. Get them moving.
All right. We're going to talk a little bit about state rooms now. The majority of the 1. The pictures you sent me are deluxe family ocean view with veranda. I also have one picture from A deluxe family ocean view without a veranda with just support hole window.
And so these rooms are. I have to say these rooms are huge to me as, you know, as a non wheelchair user. But do you guys have any preferences between. I'm going to scroll through these just to show folks. This is the bed lift and of course the bathroom in the magic class. This is dream class and a bathroom on dream class. And then this is wish class as well. And I think I've got one more. This is the one. Yeah. Bathroom. This is a ocean view without veranda. So you can see the porthole in this picture. But do you guys have a. A favorite category of room and, and are there for example inside staterooms that are accessible?
[00:55:27] Speaker B: Yes, starting with the state room. The inside ones. We did stay in one on the Dream on deck two.
But it was what was nice about. Had the magical porthole, but it was tight for me. I mean I could get them around but it wasn't as big as this one we're looking at right now. Now again, because it was an inside one. My favorite, I don't know if it's Andrew's, but I prefer. I call them the pie shaped ones on the back corners. I'm not allowed to give out stateroom numbers. He said, although you could see them.
What if they book our stateroom? Because they're just a lot more room. What is nice on the wish class is it was probably back on the last one there's a curtain that can block off where the sofa bed that is. You see how it's like drawn on the bottom corner.
[00:56:13] Speaker C: Yep.
[00:56:13] Speaker B: Yeah. So like when we travel with my daughter on the maiden, it was nice she could have her own little private area and I had ours and stuff and we didn't have to bother each other. So.
[00:56:21] Speaker C: Yeah, that's really nice.
[00:56:23] Speaker B: There's just more room. It's a little awkward how it's laid out, but the verandas are nice that you can. Especially when you're docked at Castaway Cay, if you're on starboard side, you can see, you know, the whole island and everything.
[00:56:36] Speaker C: So.
[00:56:36] Speaker A: So we had one question about bathrooms. Not in the staterooms, but elsewhere, just sort of. I think it was. What's the situation with the companion bathrooms on the Treasure? I don't know if you have any information there, Vanessa.
[00:56:50] Speaker B: I didn't say one, but the one up by Paulo, it's just like a standard bathroom with the rails that you can see in this one it's just a lot wider and a wheelchair can Fit into it. I prefer to run back to the room. It's a lot easier and more private. You're not taking up room from maybe just a family or something. So it's just a lot easier.
[00:57:14] Speaker C: Well, and that's. That makes sense too because most of the bathrooms are also single sex bathrooms. Right. And so then you're trying to figure out, okay, well, which bathroom am I going in? Because, you know, Andrew's a male, you're a female, and which bathroom is the right one to go into. And yeah, if your stateroom isn't too far, that's probably the easiest. Yes.
All right, well, here is two other features on the Wish class that I think that you sent that I thought were helpful. The door. Right. So the door obviously has a button. These doors are heavy on cruise. I mean, I always think if I'm carrying something, the doors are heavy to open from either the inside or the outside. So it's really nice to have a button. And then this, I don't know if people will recognize this, but this closet on the right hand side in the pictures, it has a pull down. So the bar that you put your clothes on, this one comes down. And so makes it easier for somebody who is in a wheelchair to access their clothing by pulling, having that bar pulled down.
All right, let's jump to the private islands. We've gone long, so I'll try and get through the slides a little faster. But let's. Castaway key. So here is two pictures of the tram and then the one, the picture on the right. Right is just first aid, so. Yeah, I thought that was really, you know, I've never seen first aid at Castaway, but it's good to know that it exists.
How is the transportation on Castaway and Lookout, actually with the tram, is it, you know, easy to use? Obviously we see in the left hand picture Andrew's on the tram. So obviously he can get onto the tram with some assistance. Yeah. How is the accessibility of the tram service at both places?
[00:59:04] Speaker B: Castaway? It's great. They just, you know, they actually push him up there and lock him in. And I sit, sometimes I'll pull the seat down, I sit next to him or I sit behind him.
But actually on Castaway we walk from the ship all the way to Serenity Bay and back, so.
[00:59:19] Speaker C: Oh, wow, that's a lot of steps. Yeah.
[00:59:21] Speaker D: We didn't even know if we had castaway trim.
[00:59:26] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:59:26] Speaker B: But we used to take them. It just depends on what, how the day is going. But yeah, I prefer to walk. That's I call it my 5k.
[00:59:33] Speaker C: Yeah, I was gonna say that's probably. Yeah, you're getting your. Your steps in, and I guess if it's really hot or you're really tired, at the end of the day, it might make sense to take the tram back. But at the beginning of the day, you're fresh. You got fresh feet. Right.
[00:59:44] Speaker B: And I will say, while we're still on this slide, the reason I put through that one and for the first aid is because if you need to even change a bathing suit or something with an adult in a wheelchair, you're allowed to go into first aid and use that bed if you need to lay them out, you know, to do something. So.
[01:00:01] Speaker C: Yeah. And we have a picture lookout in a couple of slides.
That has a better option. I know, and that's an upgrade for Lookout from Castaway. But let's talk wheelchairs. So these are the beach wheelchairs that are available on Castaway.
Tell me, like, what you think of these. I remember you had mentioned when Lookout opened, it didn't have the beach wheelchairs. And you were telling me, no, that's not a bad thing because these beach wheelchair chairs aren't as good and they're trying to upgrade them, but they didn't. Oh, but they didn't.
[01:00:38] Speaker B: I was really disappointed the second time we went like, oh, bummer, bummer. The problem is these are made for what I would call, like, a very large person, because if you. I don't know if you can see in that one picture, I have, like, towels, like, packed in on him so that he's not sliding or. And he says, very uncomfortable.
I have to pull him instead of pushing him on the sand. Or we were on a group cruise and there were, like, five guys trying to get him back up out of the sand because we had Get a picture down, you know, on the family beach or something.
[01:01:07] Speaker C: Oh, wow. Yeah. Well, and, I mean, Andrew's pretty thin, so that. Yeah, you. You would think that would be, like, a helpful thing, but in. If the chair is too big, then it's. It's not really a helpful thing. Okay.
[01:01:19] Speaker B: So we don't use those unless we have to.
[01:01:21] Speaker C: Yeah.
[01:01:21] Speaker B: So this is a new addition. Just since October on Castaway, they put in, finally, sand mask. I've been putting it on my comment card for, you know, 17 years. You need sand mats.
[01:01:32] Speaker C: Yeah. And I. I'm flipping just because there's a few different pictures with a whole bunch of different sand mats and obviously some areas to sit.
[01:01:41] Speaker B: Yeah. Which is nice, you know, so if you want to sit with your family or something, you can pull over that one in the middle, you know, go. That goes over to the snorkel air to pick up snorkeling. The one on the top right is Serenity Bay.
So it is nice because at Serenity Bay I used to just park them at that Castaway Air up on the deck so he could like look at the ocean and then. But now I can like actually take him. That's Serenity Bay there.
[01:02:05] Speaker C: Yeah. And on the right is. Is Castaway Air seating area. And then obviously the middle is the. You can see Castaway Air is up at the. On the right hand side in that middle picture. And then the left is a shady area.
[01:02:18] Speaker B: Well, the left is conked out, which is nice. You can go and sit in the shade and like sometimes we'll get a drink and go sit there and watch the ocean or something without. That's. The mats came around. So.
[01:02:30] Speaker C: Yeah. So now that the mats are there, now you can, you can go to this kind of nice seating area and sort of lounge and get closer to the beach.
[01:02:39] Speaker B: Right. But if you'll notice on the next one, I just saw it when he popped over to it, they don't quite go to the end of.
[01:02:47] Speaker C: All the way down. Yeah, yeah.
[01:02:49] Speaker B: So there's a couple of them that do that and it's like. Well, it's still kind of hard. So I had to figure out how to get them on the one at Serenity Bay. And then the one on the bottom left is where their food is at Serenity Bay. And they have a couple tables there, but it's. You have to get into the sand to get to the table. So. Oh, we still just eat over at Castaway Air if we eat there. So.
[01:03:08] Speaker C: Yeah.
[01:03:08] Speaker A: I, I want to know from Andrew, which island do you prefer visiting? Castaway or Lookout?
[01:03:15] Speaker D: I like them both for different reasons.
[01:03:18] Speaker A: Diplomatic answer, my friend.
[01:03:20] Speaker C: What do you. What do you like about Castaway? We'll start there.
[01:03:28] Speaker D: I have no idea.
[01:03:31] Speaker C: What do you like about Lookout?
[01:03:35] Speaker D: How accessible it is.
[01:03:37] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. So here we're gonna. Here we've got pictures of lookout. So though I had to include this picture of the pier because it's a long pier. And you sent this to me, Vanessa. So I imagine again you're thinking about getting your steps in when you're walking. You know, this is. We're actually standing at lookout looking at the ship, basically. So. Right. A little before you hit the tram. And then of course, here's the tram. So at Lookout you have to Use the tram. You have to walk the pier or you can take a golf cart and they have accessible ones to take you to the tram. But I'm imagining you are walking to the tram, Vanessa, most of the time. Yeah. And then loading onto the tram. Everyone has to use a tram because they don't have the roadways, like completely paved and there's no.
[01:04:22] Speaker B: It's a long way.
[01:04:22] Speaker C: Yeah, it's a long ways too. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And so it looks like the trams look pretty similar. Similar to what they have at Castaway. And Andrew's wheelchair can be loaded on, on and off fairly easily, it appears.
[01:04:38] Speaker B: And they seem like they have a lot more trams there also, if you notice, I think, because everybody has to use them.
[01:04:43] Speaker C: So.
[01:04:43] Speaker B: Yeah, they're always, always a lot of them. Are.
[01:04:45] Speaker A: Are you walking the length of the pier then, Vanessa?
[01:04:48] Speaker B: Yeah, pushing him. Yeah.
[01:04:50] Speaker A: All right. Anyone out there who is able bodied and complaining about that walk?
[01:04:55] Speaker B: And I, I pass people too, because I'm like, you're too slow. I'm.
[01:04:59] Speaker C: Yeah, I love it. I love it. All right, so these two pictures on the left are just the pathways. Some of the pathways on Lookout and. Sorry, the one on the left is one of the pathways. The two on the right are actually the pathway to the lighthouse at Lookout.
[01:05:14] Speaker B: And that's the lighthouse.
[01:05:15] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. And on the right is that lighthouse, so you can walk there. And obviously is it paved or is it dirt? I can't really tell.
[01:05:26] Speaker B: It's like crushed limestone or something.
[01:05:28] Speaker C: Okay.
[01:05:29] Speaker B: And what I noticed, we were. Were there in July and then in October and they have paved a little bit more as the time goes. Even the road is paved, like for the trams because some areas it was not paved when we were there in July. And I'm hoping they do a walkway a little closer to the lighthouse just to make it because there is a sign that says wheelchairs go this way.
[01:05:50] Speaker C: It's like, well, okay, gotcha.
[01:05:53] Speaker B: And I have had health times.
[01:05:54] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. All right, so here are here like this is the same wheelchair, right? The same sand or beach wheelchair?
[01:06:03] Speaker B: Yeah, pretty much. Yeah.
[01:06:04] Speaker C: Yeah. That we see on Castaway. And then here are some of the ramps now that you sent me a ton of pictures, I only included a couple of them, but there's a ton of ramps down to the beach at, at Lookout depending upon, you know, where you are at. Not every, not every walkway that is, you know, one of these wooden walkways has a ramp. Some of them have stairs, so you have to look for the ones that have sign. But I I thought the markings were pretty good, you know, from my perspective. Did you. Do you feel similarly. Did you feel like that it was clear which ways you had to go to get to a ramp versus the stairs?
[01:06:42] Speaker B: Yes. But the only complaint I have, there's a couple of my. I don't know what you. There's like a little sand dune over by Serenity and that area and there's one ramp that goes down and you're stuck behind the dunes. You're not actually going to the beach part.
The other issue, I didn't have a good picture of it, but the one on the right, there's a couple of them where you get down there and you. You would go off, but there's still a good probably 18 inch drop down to the actual beach.
And I wish they would just mark it like, you know, caution or something.
[01:07:13] Speaker C: Right, right. Which ones are going to be easier to get down to the. If you want to get all the way down to the water in particular. Yeah, yeah.
[01:07:20] Speaker B: And other issue is there can be a lot of sand on it. So pushing back up can be tricky. I have been known to go and swipe it off with my feet just so I have better footing to push them up.
[01:07:30] Speaker C: Yeah, that makes sense. Now here's the eating area. And I think the thing to look at is the countertop height right here. Right. For the drink area, it's wheelchair accessible. And then of course, the tables, all of the tables. I think all the picnic tables have this, you know, call it a cutout. No, not all of them.
[01:07:51] Speaker B: Just a couple of them.
[01:07:52] Speaker C: Just some of them. Okay. Oh, you know what? It was over by the cabanas, they. All over by the family beach cabanas. They actually all have this cut out.
But there are several accessible cabanas as well. But yeah, they have. So that a person in a wheelchair can roll right up to the table and eat with the rest of their group without worrying about removing a chair or anything like that. And then on the right is the. These plugins. Right. They're just. And I imagine that's helpful if you need to charge any kind of medical equipment or. Or charge if you have motorized wheelchair.
[01:08:26] Speaker B: Yeah. And if you look at the beverage station, there's buttons down below. They also have them at Marceline Market.
[01:08:33] Speaker D: And cabanas, we think.
[01:08:35] Speaker B: Yeah, cabanas might have them, which is nice, so that you can run the machines from down below. But the problem is it's really hard. It's a big reach to get your cup up into there. If you're In a window.
[01:08:45] Speaker D: Very tough for like, you have to really have a good pointer finger.
[01:08:57] Speaker C: Ah, yes. Yeah. You have to have a strong pointer finger to press it and hold it. Right, yeah, yeah. No, that. That makes sense.
[01:09:04] Speaker B: We've tried it. Yeah.
[01:09:05] Speaker C: Yeah. Well, so this is another. I know this is an upgrade for. This is. And there's more than one of these, I think. Am I right?
[01:09:13] Speaker B: I don't know. I've only seen the one when you first get off the trams.
[01:09:17] Speaker C: So here's an. It's an adult changing table inside one of the restrooms, which is helpful. So instead of going to the first aid area like you do at Castaway, if you need, you know, if you need a changing table to change bathing suit, you know, toileting, that sort of a thing. This is. This is really nice.
[01:09:35] Speaker B: And it actually goes up and down to whatever height you want.
[01:09:39] Speaker C: Oh, it even lifts. Wow.
[01:09:40] Speaker B: Yeah. And I will say that they have. They've been installing these at most airports now. So I know MCO at was it Terminal C has them and then they do have some now in terminal B. I don't know if A has them yet. So it is a nice option if you need it.
[01:09:55] Speaker C: Yeah. And then here we've got. This is actually one of the ramps to one of the cabanas, as you mentioned. You got to take a sort of tour. One of the cabanas, one of the accessible cabanas. You didn't have a cabana.
[01:10:07] Speaker A: So someone did ask in the comments. Vanessa. And I'm curious, have you sailed concierge on Disney Cruise Line?
[01:10:14] Speaker C: No.
[01:10:15] Speaker A: Okay.
[01:10:16] Speaker B: I'm one of those people that I'd rather go on a couple cruises. Oh, yeah. And then I'm also the person that would like. Well, I always have to go, you know, concierge then. So.
[01:10:25] Speaker C: Yeah.
[01:10:25] Speaker A: I was more just curious if you had from the standpoint of if it altered any of like the, you know, the. The service level that you get from an accessibility standpoint.
[01:10:33] Speaker B: But yeah, and they only have a couple accessible rooms in there, so, I mean, being Pearl, I'd be able to snag them, hopefully. But, you know, there's only, I think two on a couple of them. And then I think on the Dream, they're way in the back too, the new ones.
[01:10:51] Speaker C: Yeah, I think you're right about that. All right, so then these are the service dog relief areas. On. These are two of. Well, the one. The one on the left is Lookout. It obviously looks new. The one on the two pictures on the right is actually at Serenity Bay. On Castaway. So for service dogs, there are. They're still specified. Even though it's an island, they're still specified areas they want you to use for your pet relief. Sorry, not pet relief. Service dog relief. You're not allowed to bring pets on Disney Cruise Line. But for, you know, service dog relief areas. Although obviously, you know, dogs might go other places outside, but this is where they're supposed to go.
[01:11:33] Speaker B: Well, service dogs are trained to not.
[01:11:36] Speaker C: Yes.
[01:11:36] Speaker B: To go where they won't go until they're told to go. So.
[01:11:38] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. They're amazing that you are one slide.
[01:11:42] Speaker A: Away from the end. I've got a backlog of questions going.
[01:11:47] Speaker C: I've been.
[01:11:48] Speaker A: Yes, you have.
[01:11:50] Speaker B: We could talk. You know, it's going to be a couple episodes.
[01:11:52] Speaker C: I know this. But it's such. We're getting such great information. And like I said, you guys sent me such great pictures. I wanted to include so many of them. So thank you, guys. Like, I gave you some topics and you just hit it out of the park with all of the pictures you sent. I was like, I'd love to see X, Y and Z. And then you sent me all of them. So I really appreciate it.
[01:12:10] Speaker A: Okay. But I got questions for Andrew.
[01:12:11] Speaker C: Sorry.
[01:12:12] Speaker A: Yeah, So I. I've. I. So first question for you, Andrew, is what's your favorite activities to do on board on sea days?
[01:12:27] Speaker D: The. The trivia.
[01:12:30] Speaker A: Which trivia?
[01:12:32] Speaker C: Yeah. Which one are you the best at?
[01:12:35] Speaker D: Probably the Disney music ones.
[01:12:39] Speaker A: Nice. I would fail miserably at those.
Any other favorites on board? Like, what about food favorites or other.
[01:12:48] Speaker B: He likes taking photos, as we all know.
[01:12:52] Speaker D: Taking the Disney Cruise Line photos.
[01:12:55] Speaker A: Nice.
[01:12:56] Speaker C: Love that.
[01:12:56] Speaker D: And stuff like that.
[01:12:58] Speaker C: Do you prefer the character photos or magic shot photos?
[01:13:03] Speaker D: They're.
They're.
They.
[01:13:14] Speaker C: Both of them.
[01:13:16] Speaker B: Well, they're so different.
[01:13:17] Speaker C: Yeah, they are. They are. I love them, too.
[01:13:20] Speaker A: Who's your favorite character, Andrew?
[01:13:22] Speaker D: Miggy.
[01:13:23] Speaker A: Nice.
[01:13:23] Speaker C: I mean, the boss, right? I bet Vanessa's is Minnie.
[01:13:28] Speaker B: Yeah. And Mickey.
[01:13:30] Speaker C: Oh, and Mickey. Okay, fair. I love.
[01:13:32] Speaker B: Oh, she's out a lot more now than she used to be, so.
[01:13:35] Speaker C: She is. I love all of her different. Her different outfits. I like. I try and take as many pictures. Well, I try to take pictures with as many different minis or mini outfits, I should say, as I possibly can.
[01:13:47] Speaker B: Yep.
[01:13:48] Speaker A: Okay, so the next question for you, Andrew, what is your favorite Disney World ride?
[01:13:53] Speaker C: Oh, yeah, and that one's coming from Ashley.
[01:14:00] Speaker B: Oh, I know. If you can.
[01:14:06] Speaker D: Guardians of the Galaxy or Tron.
[01:14:09] Speaker C: Oh, Guardians of the Galaxy or Tron.
[01:14:12] Speaker B: Whoa.
[01:14:12] Speaker C: He likes the thrill rides. I love it.
[01:14:15] Speaker A: I love guardians. I love guardians. All right, we had a for both of you here, we had a question. So Caitlyn set up in our chat she said I'm a college program alumni and have multiple discounts disabilities. I am graduating college in May and my mom is regaining her mobility after getting her CRPS remission. We are sailing on the Wish in May. And then she asked any tips for embark, Any embarkation tips for a first time cruiser on dcl?
[01:14:47] Speaker B: I, I think you can ask for. I find it, sorry a little hard sometimes getting up the ramp and especially if you both have disabilities, it might be hard going from the actual port onto the ship. And if you ask, they will help you.
I think that's one of the harder ones. And there's also a little drop like it's a ramp, but it's pretty steep. But again you can ask for some help on that.
And I think maybe even like looking at the ship layout before you get on the ship is a good idea. So you're not especially the Wish because there's some hallways that are weird and tricky, especially on Deck 3 over by 1923. Getting back to the elevators, you think, am I there yet? Did I miss it? You know, just learning the layout probably ahead of time.
[01:15:33] Speaker A: And then someone asked in our chat, what's the most accommodating ship so far? Now, I know you said you really like the magic. Is that true from an accommodation standpoint too, Vanessa?
[01:15:44] Speaker B: Probably.
Again, they only have 18 staterooms, but there's not as many staterooms overall. The only thing is they only only have one stateroom that'll take a family of five and that's 8094. And it used to be two rooms with the magic stairs that went up to cabanas. And they took that out in 2013 and made it into an accessible room. But there's a pole right in the middle by the Murphy bed, which on our cruise I'm like, can you put some reflectors on? They did. They came and put some glow stickers on it so I would see it in the night.
[01:16:18] Speaker C: Oh, so you don't walk into it in the middle of the night going to the bathroom?
[01:16:22] Speaker B: Well, no, it's going to him because he would be in the Murphy bed. And I'm like, oh God, there's a pole or something.
[01:16:28] Speaker C: Oh my gosh.
[01:16:29] Speaker B: But that's the only problem with that one. And even the other ones don't have that many for a larger family or they're connected to two Accessible rooms and not an accessible room and a regular state room.
[01:16:41] Speaker C: Yeah.
[01:16:41] Speaker B: And I don't like to take up two accessible rooms, so we're usually not near our family if we have to book two.
[01:16:47] Speaker C: Right, Right. I want to ask Andrew what your favorite ship is.
[01:16:51] Speaker A: Yep, that was my next question.
[01:17:01] Speaker D: I have crew member friends, so whatever cruise ship they are.
[01:17:09] Speaker C: Oh, I love that.
[01:17:12] Speaker B: Yeah, I think he has them on every ship. So.
[01:17:15] Speaker C: Yeah, you know everyone, Andrew, and everyone knows you, so. So, yeah, I love that.
[01:17:20] Speaker A: Andrew, I've got two more questions for you. Sam may have more. I have two more. What has been your favorite cruise that you've taken?
[01:17:35] Speaker D: I.
I can't tell you the reason, but the treasure.
[01:17:43] Speaker C: Treasure. Yeah.
[01:17:44] Speaker A: Okay. All right.
[01:17:45] Speaker C: Yeah, I can tell you the reason because it's the best ship out there. I mean, all the. It's all the parks theming, Andrew. It's. I mean, we love. We love that ship for all of its, like, spaces. And I think all of the shows. I mean, you, of course, you love Moana. Like, the shows are top notch. And then they added sage and coriander and added all those shows and. And, you know, Indiana Jones. Choose wisely. I mean, it's just. Yeah. That.
[01:18:10] Speaker B: Oh, I do love the treasure, too. I mean.
[01:18:12] Speaker C: Yeah.
[01:18:13] Speaker B: Don't get me wrong. It's like, I can't wait to get back because we did not see everything in a week. I mean. Yeah, that's how wonderful it is.
[01:18:19] Speaker A: So, Andrew, do you get to see the Haunted Mansion bar? Yeah.
What? Do you like it?
[01:18:26] Speaker D: I like the theming, but I don't drink, so I don't partake in alcohol.
[01:18:36] Speaker A: You didn't miss much there, I'll tell you. So. Yeah, I think you were doing better by not having it. Yeah. What about Andreal? Sam's. Sam's question. Favorite stage show on Disney Cruise Line.
[01:18:49] Speaker C: Oh, gosh.
[01:18:50] Speaker A: Oh, jeez.
[01:18:54] Speaker D: I knew.
[01:18:56] Speaker C: I knew this was coming, but you forgot.
[01:19:01] Speaker D: Yeah.
Well, I have to break it down to and classic shows and the newish.
[01:19:12] Speaker C: Well, just pick one. No, he can pick. He can listen. He can go classic and new. Listen, I. I'm. We. I make the rules, Vanessa. He can. He can. Can go both. I love it.
[01:19:24] Speaker D: The newest. The newest shows. Moana and Sees the Avenger. The older shows would be the Golden Mickey.
[01:19:34] Speaker C: The Golden Mickey. Ah, you see Mickey. But you picked Brian's favorite and my fav. So it's perfect.
[01:19:42] Speaker A: He knows who runs the show.
[01:19:44] Speaker C: I love it. I love it. Now, we mentioned at the top of the show, as we wrap up here, we Mentioned.
[01:19:50] Speaker A: No, no, there's, there's, there's one more question that I think is a really good one, which was it comes from Ashley who said, and you mentioned, Vanessa, that Andrew sailed when he was younger.
Did, did he get to participate in the kids clubs at all as a younger sailor?
[01:20:04] Speaker B: Yes and no.
They've actually changed it a little bit from when we first started sailing when he was able to go into him.
They do not offer one on one assistance with the crew members there. So either his sisters had to be with him, which they did not like because they were on vacation and didn't want to have to, you know, push him around or something or make sure he was taken care of. So he was, he did some, but only maybe Oceaneers club. He never, he tried to Edge. I think maybe once again it was hard because his sisters weren't up there yet and they wouldn't move him around and it just was kind of awkward.
Now one thing nice, they have a lot more open houses because it used to be when we first started sailing, they only had open house like on the first day so you could take your kids in, get them accustomed to it, and then that was it. Now it's almost every day there's some type of open house at one of them. So you can take. I mean, we can even go back in there if we want, which we do sometimes.
[01:21:07] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, we go in. I go into open houses all the time because I want to see all the cool stuff that they have in the kids clubs. I mean, they have all these like cool Star wars themed areas and I don't know. Now Nathan is in the Edge and so he actually can't go to Oceaneers club anymore during regular programming. So the only way he can go into the kids club is either if it's like an Edge takeover or during open house. So we do the same. We still check it out because even though you can't do everything when the kids clubs are in open house mode, you can at least see right thing.
[01:21:39] Speaker B: And they're amazing, you know.
[01:21:41] Speaker C: Yeah, they're really, really good.
[01:21:43] Speaker A: All right, Sam. Well, we have run way over.
[01:21:46] Speaker C: I know, I know, but it's time.
[01:21:48] Speaker A: No, but it's actually. I'll break my rule because I have one more question for you, Vanessa. Have you ever. So we had. A long time ago now we had autism on the season and they were talking about, you know, respite care. I'm just curious, have you ever looked into any of the outside providers, you know, that will sail with you and and provide, you know, kind of some additional support while you're on board.
[01:22:10] Speaker B: No.
[01:22:10] Speaker A: Okay.
[01:22:11] Speaker B: No, I do.
[01:22:12] Speaker A: It's prohibitively expensive in my.
[01:22:14] Speaker B: Yeah, but yeah, I'd rather take a family member at that point. Right. Yeah. Right. Fair enough. But I do have friends that when we sail, like our friends took him to see Don Ducky Williams while I went to a tasting. You know, so a lot of people will kind of take him over for a little while and you know, it's kind of nice.
[01:22:32] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:22:33] Speaker B: But the, the cruise is my respite in a way because I'm like, well, if I have to take care of you, I need a vacation.
[01:22:39] Speaker C: Listen, I love it because I don't have to cook, I don't have to clean, I don't have to do the dishes. Right. All of the things that I have to do at home, in addition to my ingestion to my full time job to make this household run, I don't have to do those things on a cruise. So I, it's, it's a vacation. Even, even when I'm, you know, taking care of Nathan at the same time. So as a mom, I totally, you know, relate to, to that. But I wanted to mention again, Andrew's YouTube. He's got accessible adventures with Andrew on YouTube. He also has a Facebook group that is. Is also accessible adventures with Andrew. So if you want to follow along on his adventures. I know Vanessa is always posting on, on Facebook as well about their adventures. So they're definitely people that you can find on social media and follow along on their adventures because it's really fun. There's some great videos of Andrew ice at a local, I'll call it performance. Is that the best way to describe it? Yeah, local program. But then they, they have folks with all kinds of disabilities who are ice skating and Andrew's out there and it's amazing and I love, I love following along with you guys.
[01:23:53] Speaker A: And so I'm gonna, I'm gonna reinforce what Sam just said about Andrew's YouTube channel. We're subscribed over there. It's YouTube.com Andrew Prince. Yeah. And so head over there. Subscribe if you have more questions. Questions about accessibility on Disney Cruise Line. I think it's a great spot to head over and I'm sure Andrew would be happy to answer some questions for you and Vanessa, I'm sure as well. And so head over there. Check that out.
I just like, I know the show has gone long, but I agree with Sam. This is a really important topic and we have been wanting to do this topic for a couple of years now. And, you know, our knowledge only goes so far. So I really just want to give a heartfelt thanks to Vanessa and Amy. Andrew, it is late there now.
We appreciate you hanging in. We appreciate you sharing your experience with us and our audience. We appreciate you sharing this really valuable information with folks. And just, just a heartfelt thank you for, for taking the time.
[01:24:48] Speaker B: Oh, no. I could talk, you know, all night if you want.
[01:24:52] Speaker A: I'll beg off, but Sam will go all night long.
Here you go.
[01:24:57] Speaker B: Well, I'm also in your Facebook group, so people have questions. Yeah, we could. I can answer questions in there too, if anybody has.
[01:25:05] Speaker A: Yes, that's a great. Thank you so much for, for doing that. And you do that in cruise groups. I've seen you do it. It's. It's really fantastic what you're doing. I really appreciate both you and Andrew coming on with that. Sam, I think we're gonna wrap up. I'm gonna give my usual just quick reminder to folks that we will be back same, same bat time, same bat channel here next week at 5:30pm Pacific, 8:30pm Eastern. And our next show topic is going to be with our friends Haley and Drew, who are out there sailing on the Disney Treasure right now and will be back to offer their own review of the treasure, unbiased and unfiltered, as we have come to expect from them.
[01:25:44] Speaker C: And so spoiler alert, they already love sage and coriander. I'm not surprised.
[01:25:57] Speaker A: Well, thanks everyone out there for listening this week. We really, really appreciate it. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast. You can keep getting great content from us every week. In fact, twice a week we publish shows. So be sure to hit the subscribe button to get all of those great episodes. And if you want to watch us live, we have a live show now every week, Monday nights, 5:30pm Pacific, 8:30pm Eastern over on YouTube.com DCLDUO so be sure to head over and check that out. If you want to help support the show, be sure to hit those five stars on Apple podcasts. And if you leave us a written review, a five star written review, we will read it at the top of one of our main episodes. So please head over there and hit those five stars. Of course, you can also help support the show by supporting our fabulous show sponsor, My Path Unwinding Travel. You want to book your next Disney vacation? Head over to mypathunwinding.com DCLDUO or email them at DCLDUOYpathunwinding.com so they know we sent you their way. If you've got questions or you'd like to connect with us, the best way to do that is to head over to DCLDuo.com it's got links to all of our things. Full catalog of the podcast episodes including a searchable catalog for the podcast links off to our vlog a link to our Etsy store where we sell some fun fan inspired magnets. Link to our Patreon if you'd like to help directly support the show each and every month, just head over to the website or patreon.com DCLDUO also as a way for you to sign up for our Substack News newsletter that we're hoping to start really pumping out monthly here, at least on a few blog articles that we've written. So DCLDUO.com is the best way to connect with us. You can also of course email
[email protected] or reach out to us on our voicemail line at 402-413-5590. That's 402-413-5590. The DCL Duo podcast is not affiliated with Disney Cruise Line, the Disney Company or the Disney family of theme parks. The views expressed on the show are solely those of the individuals on the podcast and in no way reflective views the Disney Company or Disney Cruise Line. If you have questions about a Disney Cruise or Disney vacation, please contact the great folks over at My Path Unwinding Travel or Disney directly or your own travel agent. Thanks again for listening and we'll see you next time for another fabulous adventure with the DCL Duo.
