Improvise on Arrival

Greetings all and I hope everyone is having a great holiday season (whatever that holiday may be). I have returned from the Kingdom of the Mouse (better known as Disneyland) and I have much news that is good for mobility impared folks like myself as well as those who get around without assistance (or just able bodied). There is a ton to tell so I may break it into smaller details in later blogs but I will give an overview so that those of you traveling might use what I have found out in your trip planning.

First off the entire trip didn't go without glitches. The flight on Horizon/Alaska air was what I have come to expect from them, which is to say good and uneventful. We had a bit of a quick connection to meet up with our plane but it wasn't far and it was even in the same terminal (which is not always the case).

Where the trouble hit us was once we got to Orange County Airport. We had booked a shuttle to take us to Disneyland from the airport. Our travel agent (a good friend to us and this blog who has booked many DL trips) contacted the Disneyland Magical Express (operated by Greyline) who told her not once but twice that they had buses that were accessible that made the trek from Orange County airport to the Disney Resorts every half hour. They said if one bus didn't have a lift the next one would.

This as it turns out is only a half truth, or a lie depending on where you hear it. After we got off the plane and lugged our stuff to the ground transportation station we went to meet our bus. Once there an uninterested Greyline employee (who seemed to be irratated that we interrupted her) asked us what time we had been told that our bus would be there. We explained that we had not been given a time, and what our travel agent had been told. The Greyline employee informed us that not only did we need to make arrangements for an accessible bus, but that there were no accessible buses making the route to the Orange County Airport, only at LAX. When we asked her what suggestions she might be able to give us (as we had paid for the seats on their bus and had not been told about the need to make further arrangements), she just told my wife that "it wasn't her problem and that we should have made reservations" and told us to check at the Super Shuttle stand to ask for help as she packed up her belongings and left on the bus. Let it sink in, SHE left on a bus stranding two passengers with (as far as she knew) no knowledge of the strange city they were in, and one of whom was visibly disabled. Not the way I would have handled the situation (I was trained that if there is a problem that I was to find a solution to assist the customer). Needless to say we will never use a Greyline bus if we can avoid it, and I plan to contact their corporate offices because this would have been catastophic if it were a non-seasoned traveler.

My wife and I decided that we were going to roll with the punches and I went to the Super Shuttle kiosk. They were extremely helpful. They informed me that they didn't have a vehicle with a lift in the area and that it would take a few hours to get one here (as they contract with a third party this did not come as a surprise) but they did ask me if I could transfer and when finding out that I could  they walked me over to the porter and explained my situation and were given a taxi to Disneyland (that we had to pay for but it did get refunded to us). Total props to our cab driver as he assisted my wife with folding my chair and sticking it in the trunk. All that and he got us there in record time. Way to go Yellow Cab of Anaheim!!!

Once we arived at the Grand Californian Hotel were told that our room was ready (even though we were early) and that we could head up any time (which we did as we were dressed for Seattle cold weather and were a bit warm). When we got to the room it was the exact room that we had stayed at for my 30th birthday. My travel agent (Mary @ AAA) had told the Disney folks some details about the last room we stayed in and they figured out where it was and made sure we got it again (Disney employees are great about these little touches). We freshened up a bit (ordered up some extra towels and a shower bench, thanks Kennedy at the Bell desk) and started exploring the Christmas decored hotel and parks. I loved all the decorations in the lobby and was amazed how great the tree looked all trimmed out in Mission style ornaments (with subtle holiday music in the background).

We made our way into Disney's California Adventure and headed to get some food at the Paridise Pier section of the park. I got to be honest after two and a half hours on a plane the mediocre Mexican food was pretty tasty (although the Asian style rice bowls a few days later was markedly better) and is usually how my wife start our park adventure. We then went over to Soarin Over California, a flight simulator style ride that takes the riderup and over an IMAX screen throught the various merits of the state of California. It is one of our favorite rides because it is an easy transfer (from the wheelchair to the ride chair which is about the same level and has many hand holds) and it is a slow immersion into park life.  Next post I will give some details about accesible rides (or newly accessible revanps) and some pitures too!!