Best (or worst) travel experiences

[choicetomake]

With some tentative plans to do some traveling soon, I'm here to gather some of your best travel experiences. Devs feel free to chime in too. From PWDs specifically I'm curious to know where you've been too that may have taken you by surprise (for good reasons or bad) when it comes to accessibility.


For instance, NYC I'm always a bit shocked isn't more accessible, and it should be no surprise I suppose when I went to Rome just how difficult it was to get around. London however seemed so easy to navigate, and same with Barcelona that I really felt comfortable the whole time getting from point A to point B.

So let's hear it, where have you been?

[bsmn]

Other than occasional trips to Branson, MO, the furthest I've been was Las Vegas. Vegas was both good and bad for a PWD: The strip is very handicap accessible, relatively level ground for wheeling, lots of elevators, monorails, and most of the casinos blend together so you can go from casino to casino without much trouble (or even going outside if you want.

However, don't stay at Circus-Circus if your in a wheelchair. I stayed in 2014 and the room was accessible, however the shower was a plastic insert and the bench was molded in and slippery when wet. Also the shower sprayer and controls were on the opposite wall (It was as long as a bathtub control's at the front, bench in the back). On my second to last night I fell off the bench and slid/smashed into the opposite wall, so I called the front desk, got an ambulance ride to the hospital and had to call my buddy at 3am to pick me up from the hospital (he had better accommodations at the MGM). I spent the last day and the plane ride back on painkillers, my knee still clicks when I bend it, and I would still go back to Vegas.

[mswarrior1]

I guess the lack of accessibility in places shouldn’t shock me but it does. And when the handicap button on the door doesn’t work!! How does that happen?? Anyway, the lack of attention by airport staff (Seattle) to assist with luggage or anything really. I live in Orlando and we are Programmed to help tourists so it shocks me when I see the lack of care other places for the handicap. But it’s like “who do you bitch to?”

[choicetomake]

Jun 22, 2024 22:01:21 GMT -5 bsmn said:

Other than occasional trips to Branson, MO, the furthest I've been was Las Vegas. Vegas was both good and bad for a PWD: The strip is very handicap accessible, relatively level ground for wheeling, lots of elevators, monorails, and most of the casinos blend together so you can go from casino to casino without much trouble (or even going outside if you want.

However, don't stay at Circus-Circus if your in a wheelchair. I stayed in 2014 and the room was accessible, however the shower was a plastic insert and the bench was molded in and slippery when wet. Also the shower sprayer and controls were on the opposite wall (It was as long as a bathtub control's at the front, bench in the back). On my second to last night I fell off the bench and slid/smashed into the opposite wall, so I called the front desk, got an ambulance ride to the hospital and had to call my buddy at 3am to pick me up from the hospital (he had better accommodations at the MGM). I spent the last day and the plane ride back on painkillers, my knee still clicks when I bend it, and I would still go back to Vegas.

The bathrooms crack me up. I’ve transferred onto or into a few just for the controls to be out of arms reach and just been like…now what? Maybe if I blow on them hard enough….

[pyrat]

Jun 22, 2024 11:34:32 GMT -5 choicetomake said:

With some tentative plans to do some traveling soon, I'm here to gather some of your best travel experiences. Devs feel free to chime in too. From PWDs specifically I'm curious to know where you've been too that may have taken you by surprise (for good reasons or bad) when it comes to accessibility.


For instance, NYC I'm always a bit shocked isn't more accessible, and it should be no surprise I suppose when I went to Rome just how difficult it was to get around. London however seemed so easy to navigate, and same with Barcelona that I really felt comfortable the whole time getting from point A to point B.

So let's hear it, where have you been?

I thought NYC was very accessible. All buildings were and the they always had Ubers available that you could just roll into. While I wouldn’t like being in my chair on longer rides, it’s convenient to not have to transfer for shorter rides.
Europe was better than expected, with its obvious challenges. Some old buildings just aren’t built with wheelchairs in minds hundreds or a thousand years ago. Therefore they try really hard like say always having a person assist you eg at the airport, just jumping in as needed even if you didn’t pre-request it.

[scarletfire]

Dubai was awesome.

[Born2Roll]

Jun 23, 2024 13:29:12 GMT -5 mswarrior1 said:

I guess the lack of accessibility in places shouldn’t shock me but it does. And when the handicap button on the door doesn’t work!! How does that happen?? Anyway, the lack of attention by airport staff (Seattle) to assist with luggage or anything really. I live in Orlando and we are Programmed to help tourists so it shocks me when I see the lack of care other places for the handicap. But it’s like “who do you bitch to?”

Ah yes! People here tend to be so reluctant to reach out unless asked to that we have a term for that - the Seattle Freeze 🥶 I imagine how when you live in the Happiest Place on Earth^TM, you could be used to a significantly higher level of customer service than most places ever dream of!

Jun 26, 2024 8:57:29 GMT -5 scarletfire said:

Dubai was awesome.

Ooo, I'd love to hear more! The only time I've been to Dubai was during a 9-hour layover in 2005. A friend and I left the group we were traveling with to get out of the airport and explore the city, and we had a great whirlwind tour: hopped in a cab and asked the driver to take us to his favorite regular spot to eat; he took us to this tiny, divey, absolutely delicious Pakistani diner; found our way to a hotel lounge where we were served alcohol(!) and enjoyed a revue of female dancers lead by a drag queen(!!); carried down a flight of stairs to a sweaty dance club with a friendly Scottish DJ; then back to the airport in time to make our flight home, where we learned that the rest of our group had spent their time eating fish 'n chips with Sir Benjamin Kingsley(!!!). So absolutely awesome all around - I described the city at the time as a Middle East Las Vegas, if Las Vegas was built for oil bajillionaires rather than frat boys.

BUT! There is a but: I was forever struck by this (then) brand new city, with so much money that the sparkling new sidewalks were made from beautiful, impossibly smooth granite(?) that all had the STEEPEST curbs, without a SINGLE curb cut seen the entire time I was there. What a missed opportunity/ableist snub! Any chance that's improved in the last 19 years, scarletfire ?

[wheelzoffortune]

Italy was the worst in terms of accessibility, although my favorite town/city in the world is there (Sorrento). Spain and France were bad, also.

Liechtenstein was the absolute best for accessibility. Germany, Austria, and Sweden were pretty close (depending on the part).