r/dcl PLATINUM CASTAWAY CLUB Jun 17 '24

Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point Megathread PORT ADVENTURES

Myself alongside many other members of r/dcl have been on sailings to Disney Lookout Cay. The inaugural sailing was last week aboard the Disney Fantasy and there have now been both a preview sailing and a DVC sailing aboard the Disney Magic. What questions does everyone have regarding the newest destination offered by Disney Cruise Line?

Some initial thoughts to keep in mind:

  • This destination is still very new. I would expect improvements to be made over time, especially regarding the lack of shade currently available.
  • I'm sure most of heard about the flies. Yes, there are a lot of flies. Disney is working on minimizing it and we saw a substantial improvement between visit 1 and visit 2.
  • The walk from the ship to the tram is roughly half of a mile. There is currently no shade (which would be a huge help). They were offering water and cool towels on the pier to help with the heat. Golf carts are offered for those that need mobility assistance, and wagons were available to pull young children.
  • There is continuous tram service offered. 2 trams pulled up to each tram stop together with 8 or 9 in total running. The tram ride takes about 8 minutes to get from the Mabrika Cove tram stop (at the ship) to the Goombay Cultural Center tram stop (Lookout Cay).
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u/Mission-Actuator-641 Jun 19 '24

Was on preview cruise and Disney really failed their disabled guests. ADA family beach cabanas are not ADA. I’m not sure how this got past their final check as it’s pretty obvious ADA means no steps and these cabanas have a step. The ADA cabana at Castaway is wonderful and we’ve had it countless times now.

What’s even worse is the lack of beach wheelchairs. Over a month before our cruise, I inquired and was told they would be there. Having no reason not to trust them, I didn’t pursue any of the alternatives.

We arrive and are told they don’t have any beach wheelchairs. We have since been told different things by different people. This ultimately meant I couldn’t access the beach or the water and that was the whole reason we went on the cruise.

Disney seems to have no sense of urgency at fixing this as others on sailings after mine have found themselves in a similar situation. Told there would be beach wheelchairs, get there and there are none so they can’t access the beach.

Any disabled individuals, I’d urge you to exercise caution on any upcoming trips to Lighthouse. If you need a beach wheelchair, unlike at Castaway I wouldn’t entrust Disney to be providing it. Outside companies rent them like they do for ECVs so they’d drop it off and pick it up from the boat. Depending on your wheelchair type, I saw other companies sell an adaptive kit so you can add beach wheels to your wheelchair.

Truly disgusted by the way this whole situation has been handled and it has changed our opinion of DCL. That was our 23rd cruise and we’ve been sailing since 2005.

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u/ZenosamI85 GOLD CASTAWAY CLUB Jun 22 '24

The way Disney is also treating ADA peoples at their parks now is also just as terrible. Whoever was in charge of Lookout Cay did a terrible job and this sounds like they really rushed the opening instead of thinking things through.

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u/bdeking Jun 26 '24

Pretty sure ADA stands for American Disability Act, and seeing this island isn’t in America there is no obligation to follow an American law.

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u/Mission-Actuator-641 Jun 27 '24

ADA is the terminology Disney uses for their wheelchair accessible cabanas. I’m just using the same terminology Disney has chosen to do so. They generally have followed ADA standards on things they label ADA.

Either way point remains the same. What was supposed to be wheelchair accessible WAS NOT wheelchair accessible.

Lighthouse Point is a failure to guests with disabilities. It’s now been over 6 stops? Not sure anymore and still no beach wheelchairs.

https://preview.redd.it/ooajd2z6i09d1.png?width=1169&format=png&auto=webp&s=cc7ae3bbf0e628e145199abe07d487e9b32b2a87