This text is a part of the wheelchair journey weblog collection, Accessible Journey and Journey Planning. On this collection, I’ll take you behind the scenes of how I plan and assemble wheelchair accessible journeys to locations in the USA and around the globe.

When planning a wheelchair accessible journey, whatever the vacation spot, there are a couple of essential questions that I have to reply — how will I get there, how will I get round, and the place will I keep? Since I’m a triple amputee and energy wheelchair person, I’ve to think about accessibility at every step. On this collection, I’ll lead you thru my journey planning course of to see the way it’s executed. Let’s get began!

Journey Particulars

Listed here are a couple of particulars in regards to the circumstances surrounding my journey:

• Vacation spot: Dallas, Texas
• Objective/Objective of Journey: A uncommon Complete Photo voltaic Eclipse will go by the USA in 2024, so I requested readers of the Wheelchair Journey Publication to vote on the place I ought to journey to see it. A plurality of voters (some 39%) selected Dallas, in order that’s the place I’m off to — hopefully to soak up an awe-inspiring sight!

• Journey Size: I must be in St. Louis each earlier than and after the journey, so I needed to restrict the journey size to 2 days and a single night time.

With that out of the best way, let’s get began in answering these three urgent questions.

How will I get to Dallas, Texas?

Although St. Louis and Dallas are in the identical time zone, the cities are 630 miles and about 10 hours other than each other by automotive. I looked for different types of floor transportation, and famous that the quickest route on the wheelchair accessible Greyhound Traces bus service is 15 hours, 40 minutes, and the one rail possibility (Amtrak’s Texas Eagle service) is simply 5 minutes sooner. That’s just too lengthy to journey on a bus or prepare, so I needed to shift my focus to air journey.

Two airways have fortress hubs in Dallas — American Airways at Dallas Fort Price Worldwide Airport (DFW) and Southwest Airways at Dallas Love Discipline (DAL), and each carriers have continuous flights between St. Louis and Dallas which can be scheduled for two hours or much less. Since I used to be reserving this journey on pretty quick discover, airfares had been larger than regular — about $450 for a round-trip ticket.

That’s a steep value to pay for an in a single day journey, however fortunately I had another choice — frequent flyer miles! The price of those self same flights was simply 7,000 American Airways miles every manner, for a complete round-trip value of 14,000 miles and $11.20 in charges, saving me greater than $400 in actual cash.

The flights shall be operated on a Boeing 737-800 plane, which is one among my favourite planes — however there’s a catch. The clearance on the airplane cargo door is simply 33 inches, that means I’ll have to scale back the peak of my energy wheelchair earlier than handing it over within the airport. In case you’re planning to fly, be sure you try my Information to Airplane Cargo Door Dimensions for Wheelchair Customers. It’s additionally a good suggestion to tag your wheelchair with the Return Wheelchair to Plane Door and Wheelchair Should Be Loaded Upright notification tags.

How will I get round in Dallas, Texas?

I’ve opined extensively in regards to the lack of wheelchair taxis in Dallas, however there may be restricted (usually unavailable) wheelchair accessible Lyft service within the metropolis. One large downside, as is the case in different cities like Houston, Texas, is that the accessible Lyft service space doesn’t embody Dallas Fort Price Worldwide Airport, that means there isn’t a wheelchair accessible non-public transportation at one among America’s largest airports — until you wish to shell out a whole lot for non-emergency medical transportation.

That leaves public transportation as my solely possibility — fortuitously, wheelchair accessible public transit in Dallas is nice, consisting of metropolis bus, gentle rail, and a contemporary road automotive line. The sunshine rail’s Orange Line serves DFW airport, and connects riders to downtown, the place I’ll hope to spend most of my time.

The place will I keep in Dallas, Texas?

Many individuals are touring to Dallas to see the Complete Photo voltaic Eclipse, which has shot room charges to the moon (pun supposed) and resulted in sellouts at many properties. I’ve visited Dallas fairly a couple of instances earlier than and reviewed a number of resorts there, together with The Adolphus Resort, Aloft Dallas Downtown, Hyatt Regency DFW Airport, and the Omni Dallas Resort. However, since I’m seeking new experiences (and resorts) to share with readers such as you, I made a decision to remain someplace new.

I set a couple of standards in my search:

• Wheelchair accessible resort room — It was essential that I have the ability to affirm an accessible room kind when reserving.
• Proximity to public transportation — Since public transit shall be my main mode of transport, I looked for resorts a brief distance from a light-weight rail station, which I thought of to be half a mile or much less.
• Worth of lodging — Given the excessive value of resort rooms within the metropolis, I needed to discover a resort that wasn’t too overpriced, no matter whether or not I in the end booked with money or reward factors.

For the reason that journey hasn’t occurred but, I received’t share my resort location (however will replace this text following the journey), nonetheless I used to be in a position to meet every of my prime three standards. Accommodations had been filling up quick, so I didn’t do as a lot due diligence on the accessibility as I might have favored, nonetheless I anticipate issues ought to end up alright. In case you’d prefer to study extra about what correct due diligence appears to be like like in confirming accessibility at a resort, try visitor blogger Amin Lakhani’s article, Step-by-Step Information to Verifying Resort Accessibility in Advance.

As a matter of comfort, I selected a resort that was between DFW Airport and downtown Dallas — this helped me to save cash, but additionally means getting round shall be simple given the resort is only some blocks away from a light-weight rail station.

Further Concerns

If this journey had been longer, I might have put extra time into planning my itinerary, with a key fourth query being “what is going to I do and the place will I eat in Dallas?” However on this event, I actually have just one concern — the place will I watch the photo voltaic eclipse?

Lots of the native occasions, together with one on the Perot Museum of Nature and Science and one other on the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Backyard, have been bought out for a while. I used to be in a position to rating tickets for the Solar, Moon, and You Photo voltaic Eclipse Viewing Occasion, which is being hosted by NASA, NOAA and the Nationwide Science Basis on the Cotton Bowl. The plethora of actions there are interesting, together with an look by Neil deGrasse Tyson, although I do marvel if the eclipse could be higher seen in seclusion, relatively than a stadium that holds tens of 1000’s?

Since I shall be in Dallas for about 36 hours and the eclipse lasts solely 4 minutes, I’ll have time for different actions — I’ve already consulted the record of 18 Wheelchair Accessible Issues to Do in Dallas, Texas. I’ve buddies within the metropolis and will even squeeze in a enterprise assembly, so I’m planning to maintain my schedule versatile and take issues as they arrive.

Ultimate Ideas

That is going to be a enjoyable journey and, though my planning was made simpler resulting from my familiarity with the vacation spot metropolis, I sill discover myself consulting the Wheelchair Accessible Journey Information to Dallas, Texas that’s discovered on this web site. This look into the planning of a visit is a brand new collection, and I’d like to listen to your ideas within the feedback under. Would you prefer to see extra of those journey planning articles?

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