Elijah’s trip of a lifetime…
We had an amazing trip to Disneyland Paris with our son Elijah after a friend/work colleague kindly helped to raise funds for some new equipment, and a holiday for our family.
I never thought we could ever manage a trip abroad, but we did it and we loved it!
I know that some UK families have successfully applied to visit Disneyland Paris with ‘Wish Foundations’, but we planned our trip to Disneyland all by ourselves.
Our advice is, if you are going without the support of a Wish Foundation – planning far in advance is ideal. As soon as Eurostar tickets become available, book them, as there’s limited wheelchair spaces per journey. Eurostar are really very helpful too when you phone them, especially when someone needs two companions.
In our case, our friends went a day ahead to receive the bed/hoist early on the day of our arrival. They organised it with hotel staff to make sure the hotel bed got out of the room to accomodate the adjustable bed. And to receive oxygen delivery.
Disney clinic has lots of stocks like suction bags, yankaur suction. So don’t panic too much if you forget one or two things, although it is wise to check with them too before travel.
We asked our ventilation supplier/manufacturer to provide us with extra batteries. They were so helpful and sent us 2 new external battery in case we got stuck on the train with delays.
We took portable nebs to carry with us all day. Elijah used the disney clinic at least twice a day for resting and recharging batteries and changing nappy (and if you notice on the photo, daddy is resting too!)
To find out more about access at Disneyland Paris and travel with Eurostar please visit :
Disneyland Paris https://www.disneylandparis.com/en-gb/guest-services/guests-with-disabilities/
Eurostar https://www.eurostar.com/uk-en/travel-info/travel-planning/accessibility
Download a copy of this page about Disneyland here (PDF)
Important: When travelling abroad, it is always advisable to seek specialist medical travel insurance covering emergency repatriation to UK if necessary.
(Updated 2021)
