Hi guys, my wife was diagnosed with ALS eighteen months ago and since then we’ve been taking trips to make memories before she passes. On Christmas Day the five of us are flying to Tokyo (via Toronto, the only way we could get decent tickets) and flying back ten days later. Our boys are 13, 11, and 7, and my wife is now confined to a wheelchair (though I can carry her about 300 yards or so if needed).
We budgeted Uber to get around instead of trying for the notoriously slow subway elevators. So far we are taking a train to Kyoto for Super Nintendo World, and she wants to do Nara Park. Fairly simple stuff. Maybe pay a scalper to do the Kirby restaurant, see some temples, lots of sub-recommended local restaurants and people watching; nothing crazy.
Here’s the deal, first of all I have been told that wheelchairs are tough but doable, which is great. I am her caretaker, I raise our boys, I work; I am getting burnt out. I would REALLY like to pay somebody to schedule us for the big stuff (rooms, train tickets, maybe amusement package), getting AIRBNB or hotels for 5 is labor intensive, frankly all of it is.
Yes, the sidebar has tons of tips and I could sit down for 20-40 hours and work it out, or I could find somebody trustworthy and drop a grand or so extra and have it all just be handled. My ask is do you guys have a recommendation? If you’ve ever googled “travel agents” you know what a mire full of traps that is. I would really appreciate a referral or three if you have one.
Thanks for reading, I love this subreddit and learning from all of your amazing experiences!
6 comments
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Well, there is two points that you can manage if you give some pointers for use to help.
Hotel. Is there any specific area you would prefer or just stay in Tokyo and Tokyo (by the way, USJ is in Osaka, not Kyoto. Can check to propose you some hotel options, and you would just have to go on their website and make the booking.
Train, you go on the Smart EX website or app and buy tickets there if you want to buy in advance, I would probably advise to buy in advance as it look as you will travel around new year. You can buy tickets up to 30 days in advance.
The only thing you would have left is USJ, I do not have experience with booking it so cannot really help.
Kirby Cafe you can always try to get someone to try to book for you, but they do not allow transfer/scalping of tickets, to that would be at your own risk and to have a table of 5 scalped… kind of unlikely if you ask me.
Haven’t used such travel agents myself, but for singular itineraries I find that booking through klook is generally quite hassle free. You can have a personal driver to bring your family around for the whole day if you book a driver package or so. If you have Amex cards I think they also have a service to help travellers book stuff and connect to places. Many of the commercial airbnb owners are also more than happy to help schedule these day trips on your behalf, as they usually have profit sharing agreements with the local tour agencies.
I would contact Inside Japan, the travel agency. I am positive they would be able to design an itinerary that takes your wife’s chair into account.
One thing I’m observing in Japan is a high level of adaptive compliance. Within reason—it’s still a walker’s country, with lots of steps and hills.
I don’t have a lot of answers here but for a family of 5, check out the MIMARU hotel chain. They seem to have more beds/space.