Momentum - Summer 2012

COURTESY OF NANCY CHAMBERLAYNE

they go above and beyond to accommodate visitors. Disney’s resorts, for example, offer attractions, transportation and rooms all designed with guests with disabilities in mind. Scooters and wheelchairs are available to rent on a first-come, first-served basis.

Many theme parks offer some type of accessibility pass for individuals with specific disabilities, including MS. Most parks ask people to apply for the pass in person, but it’s usually a simple process: When you arrive, tell the park’s guest relations representative that you have MS and describe how it affects you. For example, explain that heat sensitivity makes it tough to wait in the hot sun. The pass generally applies to your whole party, so you don’t have to worry about being split up.

Monica Garozzo of St. Louis, who has gone to Florida with her family for 14 years in a row, says, “Disney World was the vacation I thought I could never do, but it worked out well. With MS, I have to plan a little more and maybe spend a little more time at a vacation destination. I have what I call the ‘no-see-ums’: You can’t really tell, but my balance is a little off, and I don’t do well in the heat. Disney’s Fast Pass helped me go on rides and see shows without waiting in long lines,” Garozzo says.

Disney parks also offer handheld audio devices to visitors with visual disabilities. These units, which are about the size of a cell phone, use wireless locating technology to provide descriptions of rides, shows and surroundings as guests move about the theme parks. A refundable $100 deposit is required each day.

Nancy Chamberlayne discovers the accessible Rainy Lake Trail in North Cascades National Park in Washington.

Carefree cruising

Thanks to a combination of laws and
economic incentives, pretty much
everything an American cruise ship
offers is now available to someone
in a wheelchair—a big improvement since Jerry
Lacroix took his first cruise. For example, many
ships include a lift that enables a wheelchair user
to get into and out of a hot tub. “Cruises today
rely on conferences, family reunions and other
large gatherings” that could easily include people
with MS or other disabilities, Nayar says. “If
someone can’t board or enjoy the ship, the cruise
company will lose the business.”
Any ship that docks in a U.S. port has to follow
ADA regulations, but shore excursion operators
may not. Ask your travel agent or contact the
cruise line to verify that those on your trip provide
roll-on access. (See cruisecritic.com for reviews
of specific cruises, or the websites of individual
cruise lines for more information, destinations
and prices.)

Once a year, Florida-based travel agency Fun Cruise & Travel hosts MS Cruisers (mscruisers .com), a cruise ship dedicated to people living with MS, including family members and friends. This year, the cruise will be heading to Alaska’s Inside Passage.

The Lacroixes took an Alaskan cruise independently, and they loved its extras, such as hopping off to pan for gold, and taking a wheelchair-accessible helicopter ride. “We flew over a mother grizzly with her babies, and saw Denali and a glacier,” Kristy recalls. They also took a cruise through Scandinavia and Russia that included half a dozen accessible land tours.