Lookout Cay long pier.

[insureman]

And those people can get golf cart rides. This problem is already solved.

Unless they get more carts. The last cruise at Castaway Cay we had to wait almost 40 minutes for a golf cart.

 

[insureman]

I was really looking forward to Lookout Cay now it looks like we will have to make other plans unless they figure out the transportation from the ship.

 

[jimmymc]

The "only" 1/2 mile hike "only 3-4 minutes longer" on an exposed open pier is somewhat more debilitating to some people (like me - old, with a hip replacement).

Yes it is, and that's why they have plenty of golf carts available for people who need them. There seems to be a double standard for a long walk at Castaway vs a long walk at Lookout. I agree they should add some shade, but I rarely see concerns brought up about the distance from the ship to the tram at Castaway Cay. The photos make the pier look longer than it is in reality.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Yes it is, and that's why they have plenty of golf carts available for people who need them.

Again, it's my understanding that the carts can be arranged for the person requiring assistance, not the whole party. Technically, I don't REQUIRE assistance, but walking that far in heat, humidity, and (possible) wind would be challenging for me. That, and the fact only I would be allowed to ride, leaving my husband to trek the pier by himself means that I/we would most likely be staying onboard, or just doing cruises that go to CC, and not Lookout Cay.

 

[jimmymc]

Again, it's my understanding that the carts can be arranged for the person requiring assistance, not the whole party. Technically, I don't REQUIRE assistance, but walking that far in heat, humidity, and (possible) wind would be challenging for me. That, and the fact only I would be allowed to ride, leaving my husband to trek the pier by himself means that I/we would most likely be staying onboard, or just doing cruises that go to CC, and not Lookout Cay.

There's been a lot of back and forth on who requires assistance, whether you need to be in an ADA stateroom or not, request in advance, etc. But from the vlogs I've seen, you can just like up and ask for a ride if you need it. Maybe this will change, but that's what I've seen so far. If the walk would be challenging for you or anyone else reading here, ask for assistance.

 

[Cheburashka]

I rarely see concerns brought up about the distance from the ship to the tram at Castaway Cay.

The distance of the walk on Lookout Cay is 2-3 times longer. It is not a long walk on Castaway.

 

[lanejudy]

But from the vlogs I've seen, you can just like up and ask for a ride if you need it.

Have you been seeing this for the arrival to Lookout Cay? Admittedly I don't watch many vlogs, but I've heard there is quite a wait for a ride in the morning and if your name isn't on a list it's a "no." Maybe if you are getting off the ship much later than the crowds it's no problem.

The afternoon return to ship is a different story. Probably guests are spread out enough returning throughout the day that yes the golf carts will take anybody back to the ship.

 

[DynamicDisneyDuo]

The return cart queue is gonna be a dumpster fire 10 minutes before all aboard.

 

[MomOTwins]

The distance of the walk on Lookout Cay is 2-3 times longer. It is not a long walk on Castaway.

Agree--that's a big difference, both physically and psychologically (see more on that below). The more I've been thinking about it over the past couple weeks, the more my thinking has shifted from "we can handle this--it might not be so bad" to "this is a big problem--what am I going to do?"

Yes it is, and that's why they have plenty of golf carts available for people who need them. There seems to be a double standard for a long walk at Castaway vs a long walk at Lookout. I agree they should add some shade, but I rarely see concerns brought up about the distance from the ship to the tram at Castaway Cay. The photos make the pier look longer than it is in reality.

Two thoughts: Do they have "plenty" though? From what I have been hearing, concierge takes up a lot of the carts, then people are waiting 40 minutes to two hours in the hot sun for a golf cart.

I also think it is significant that addition to the walk on castaway being a lot shorter, it is a lot less psychologically daunting, which is HUGE with kids. We just aged out of strollers at disney world, and let me tell you, its is MUCH easier to walk with the kids around magic kingdom or world showcase, where they are pausing to explore and peek at all the interesting sights, than it is to walk a long walk all in one go (Caribbean beach resort is somewhere we learned the hard way we just can't ever stay again). On the broken up walks, the kids do fine--none of the rides at disney world is 10 minutes apart, so even though you are walking a lot over the course of the day, you are never really walking for more than a couple minutes before you get to the next ride or something else to entertain them. On the long continuous walks, every second is whining (it's hot, my feet hurt, daddy carry me, how much longer is it, this is taking forevvverrrrr!!!!). And that's just my neurotypical kids, I have another kid with autism and he gets so frustrated and overwhelmed if he has to wait to wait or walk a long time that he will just lie flat on the ground and refuse to get up and fight us if we try to get him to move--which won't be a great thing if it happens to us in the middle of a long concrete walkway. Yet I haven't heard of the golf carts being an option for disabilities other than physical ones, and even if they did, the long wait on the pier for our turn on a golf cart would be a deal breaker since that would be just as taxing. He is too old/big for one of the kiddie wagons, but I may try to squeeze him into one as a last resort--will see if they have a better solution by the time we cruise.

Castaway is usually a problem though, because in addition to the much shorter walk to the tram, there is plenty to keep them interested along the way and break up the trip into manageable chunks. Whether it's stopping to look at the painted rocks with disney characters on them, pointing excitedly at Pelican Plunge, running and grabbing a coconut they find on the ground. But on lookout cay it's just a looooong strip of concrete in the ocean, with an island in the distance but no family beach in sight, and mentally that walk looks really daunting, and while you might say that's all in their heads, yes, but that's my point--the mental part is where the real battle is. Especially when the sun is pounding down and there's nowhere to pause and take a break on the way, and if you don't get off first thing, you can kiss your chances of getting a waterside lounger from which to watch your kids in the water goodbye.

It was really a poor decision for a family friendly cruise line that has always been worth the high price tag because they go above and beyond to make things easy for families and those with special needs. Since the announcement, I've been checking daily to see if concierge become available on our lookout cay cruise (currently sold out) because it sounds like that's really the only way we can be sure of getting easy transport on the island. I'm hoping they add more golf carts, or at least shade and benches where we can wait out a mid-walk meltdown, since it seems like those are really the only options at this point. But I still can't help but wonder, what were they thinking? And how is this the "disney difference"?

 

[jimmymc]

I also think it is significant that addition to the walk on castaway being a lot shorter, it is a lot less psychologically daunting, which is HUGE with kids. We just aged out of strollers at disney world, and let me tell you, its is MUCH easier to walk with the kids around magic kingdom or world showcase, where they are pausing to explore and peek at all the interesting sights, than it is to walk a long walk all in one go (Caribbean beach resort is somewhere we learned the hard way we just can't ever stay again). On the broken up walks, the kids do fine--none of the rides at disney world is 10 minutes apart, so even though you are walking a lot over the course of the day, you are never really walking for more than a couple minutes before you get to the next ride or something else to entertain them. On the long continuous walks, every second is whining (it's hot, my feet hurt, daddy carry me, how much longer is it, this is taking forevvverrrrr!!!!). And that's just my neurotypical kids, I have another kid with autism and he gets so frustrated and overwhelmed if he has to wait to wait or walk a long time that he will just lie flat on the ground and refuse to get up and fight us if we try to get him to move--which won't be a great thing if it happens to us in the middle of a long concrete walkway. Yet I haven't heard of the golf carts being an option for disabilities other than physical ones, and even if they did, the long wait on the pier for our turn on a golf cart would be a deal breaker since that would be just as taxing. He is too old/big for one of the kiddie wagons, but I may try to squeeze him into one as a last resort--will see if they have a better solution by the time we cruise.

Castaway is usually a problem though, because in addition to the much shorter walk to the tram, there is plenty to keep them interested along the way and break up the trip into manageable chunks. Whether it's stopping to look at the painted rocks with disney characters on them, pointing excitedly at Pelican Plunge, running and grabbing a coconut they find on the ground. But on lookout cay it's just a looooong strip of concrete in the ocean, with an island in the distance but no family beach in sight, and mentally that walk looks really daunting, and while you might say that's all in their heads, yes, but that's my point--the mental part is where the real battle is. Especially when the sun is pounding down and there's nowhere to pause and take a break on the way, and if you don't get off first thing, you can kiss your chances of getting a waterside lounger from which to watch your kids in the water goodbye.

It was really a poor decision for a family friendly cruise line that has always been worth the high price tag because they go above and beyond to make things easy for families and those with special needs. Since the announcement, I've been checking daily to see if concierge become available on our lookout cay cruise (currently sold out) because it sounds like that's really the only way we can be sure of getting easy transport on the island. I'm hoping they add more golf carts, or at least shade and benches where we can wait out a mid-walk meltdown, since it seems like those are really the only options at this point. But I still can't help but wonder, what were they thinking? And how is this the "disney difference"?

I definitely agree the issue is more psychological than the actual length of the walk. Disney should've added shade, benches, water stations, and some kind of theming to the pier to distract guests from the long strip of concrete. In terms of what they were thinking, I think a long pier is the best solution they could've made. The other options are tendering or dredging. Tendering comes with long lines and also doesn't feel like the Disney difference to me. And dredging probably wasn't going to be approved by the government, and even if it were, you'd have the issue of larger ships not being able to dock in rougher weather, like we sometimes see at Castaway. I think it's the best option they had for that piece of land< and I'm not sure what other locations were available.

 

[MomOTwins]

I definitely agree the issue is more psychological than the actual length of the walk. Disney should've added shade, benches, water stations, and some kind of theming to the pier to distract guests from the long strip of concrete. In terms of what they were thinking, I think a long pier is the best solution they could've made. The other options are tendering or dredging. Tendering comes with long lines and also doesn't feel like the Disney difference to me. And dredging probably wasn't going to be approved by the government, and even if it were, you'd have the issue of larger ships not being able to dock in rougher weather, like we sometimes see at Castaway. I think it's the best option they had for that piece of land< and I'm not sure what other locations were available.

They could have made a wider pier to run a tram on it. In fact, I read in one of the various reports that apparently they did originally plan to make a wider pier but narrowed it.

 

[jimmymc]

They could have made a wider pier to run a tram on it. In fact, I read in one of the various reports that apparently they did originally plan to make a wider pier but narrowed it.

I haven't seen that. I've heard that it was kept narrow for environmental concerns.

 

[Cheburashka]

or at least shade and benches where we can wait out a mid-walk meltdown

There should definitely be several benches on that pier. The sturdy kind that are nailed into the concrete would be stable even during most hurricanes. And they can rig up shade, as other lines have done on piers, even though that would require more maintenance/repair due to tropical storms and hurricanes.

No excuse for not having those basics on the pier to make the experience more safe and comfortable for guests. They should be added asap.

 

[Lucien Franciosa]

Have you been seeing this for the arrival to Lookout Cay? Admittedly I don't watch many vlogs, but I've heard there is quite a wait for a ride in the morning and if your name isn't on a list it's a "no." Maybe if you are getting off the ship much later than the crowds it's no problem.

The afternoon return to ship is a different story. Probably guests are spread out enough returning throughout the day that yes the golf carts will take anybody back to the ship.

so.. put your name on the list? the folks that do seem to find it acceptable. I can see if you don't sign up and you show up as 3,000 people are getting off the boat it could be a problem.

 

[lanejudy]

They could have made a wider pier to run a tram on it. In fact, I read in one of the various reports that apparently they did originally plan to make a wider pier but narrowed it.

I haven't seen that. I've heard that it was kept narrow for environmental concerns.

I can't speak directly to what was originally planned vs what got changed, but I do know that Disney wasn't necessarily the one pulling the strings here. The Bahamian government restricted a lot that could be done based on environmental concerns, and this resulted in some changes to the original plans. I wouldn't be surprised if that included the length and width of the pier. Also, it's likely anything such as benches would have needed to be permanent fixtures built into the pier due to safety, or maybe were not allowed at all. Disney didn't get to make all the decisions.

 

[Lucien Franciosa]

Walkers on one side, tram on the other.

sounds good.. how about a little math? I haven't found any published figures, but from pictures, using people as reference points, it appears to be about 19 feet wide, but the handrails arch in a bit, so usable width seems to be closer to 18 feet. great! that means a line painted down the middle would be 9 feet.

width of the tram is 7.5 feet to accommodate 4 guests. Great it fits in half the width of the bridge. beep beep.

well no, there are practical considerations, people being people some idiots will reach out to the sides. I bet there is some minimum distance requirement, let's call it two feet either side. all of a sudden the tram is taking almost 12 feet out of 18 leaving walking guests 6 feet. well .. okay then... thats like a couple with a stroller... so what do you do when people are going the opposite direction? now 6 feet doesnt seem that wide for two way people traffic.

as others have pointed out, no place for a tram to turn around, but okay a tram that can go both directions. well, no. they are long, probably dont stop on a dime. and they NEED to stop on a dime because some idiots wont walk on their side, or could fall, or a kid not paying attention is jumping around and jumps in front of the tram.

So then you are adding a railing to separate people and tram. But people want benches put in! so a bench takes up three feet and gosh how do we get around them on our 6 foot walled walkway?

anyway, bottom line is... current tram just isnt going to cut it. even if people walk on one side, tram on the other.

Best they can do with current design is an elongated golf cart that can stop on a dime and is 2 people wide. which is what they use. any time you add couplers in to connect carts you throw out the ability to start top on a dime btw. in case you were go there.

I think its possible the architects got squeezed into this narrow pier by the local planning board and the engineers tried to come up with a way to make it work, but its hard to get around the issues just mention.

btw in case you are more of a visual type, I did a very bad photoshop job of inserting an actual lookout cay tram on the pier with guests walking.

It is fun to say, yeah but they could have put a monorail above, thats the disney way! or a lot of other ideas, but in the end it does have to conform to lots of competing forces, laws, storms, idiot people...

 

[Drfate102]

What worries me is thunderstorms. There is a half mile of open, metal pier over open water. Disney will close pools and beaches and rides at the parks if thunderstorms are close. Will they do that for the Lookout Cay pier, even if it means delaying a scheduled departure?

I hope they will.

I don't think this is an issue. Look how often they close Castaway for weather.

 

[tvguy]

sounds good.. how about a little math? I haven't found any published figures, but from pictures, using people as reference points, it appears to be about 19 feet wide, but the handrails arch in a bit, so usable width seems to be closer to 18 feet. great! that means a line painted down the middle would be 9 feet.

width of the tram is 7.5 feet to accommodate 4 guests. Great it fits in half the width of the bridge. beep beep.

well no, there are practical considerations, people being people some idiots will reach out to the sides. I bet there is some minimum distance requirement, let's call it two feet either side. all of a sudden the tram is taking almost 12 feet out of 18 leaving walking guests 6 feet. well .. okay then... thats like a couple with a stroller... so what do you do when people are going the opposite direction? now 6 feet doesnt seem that wide for two way people traffic.

as others have pointed out, no place for a tram to turn around, but okay a tram that can go both directions. well, no. they are long, probably dont stop on a dime. and they NEED to stop on a dime because some idiots wont walk on their side, or could fall, or a kid not paying attention is jumping around and jumps in front of the tram.

So then you are adding a railing to separate people and tram. But people want benches put in! so a bench takes up three feet and gosh how do we get around them on our 6 foot walled walkway?

anyway, bottom line is... current tram just isnt going to cut it. even if people walk on one side, tram on the other.

Best they can do with current design is an elongated golf cart that can stop on a dime and is 2 people wide. which is what they use. any time you add couplers in to connect carts you throw out the ability to start top on a dime btw. in case you were go there.

I think its possible the architects got squeezed into this narrow pier by the local planning board and the engineers tried to come up with a way to make it work, but its hard to get around the issues just mention.

btw in case you are more of a visual type, I did a very bad photoshop job of inserting an actual lookout cay tram on the pier with guests walking.

It is fun to say, yeah but they could have put a monorail above, thats the disney way! or a lot of other ideas, but in the end it does have to conform to lots of competing forces, laws, storms, idiot people...

Disney has solved bigger problems. They were running that big box truck whose picture I posted with people walking on the first stop, so I think your photoshop has that full size Ford van tram much bigger than it really is. Not sure why the entire tram has to turn around. Just unhitch the tug pulling it, have the tug turn around and hitch up to the back of the passenger trailers. But, my first statement really sums it up, Disney has solved bigger problems.

 

[Cheburashka]

I don't think this is an issue. Look how often they close Castaway for weather.

They almost never close Castaway for weather, and thunderstorms occur often in summertime.

The ships occasionally don't dock at Castaway because on Castaway morning the wind is too strong for the captain to steer the ship into the dredged channel. Bahamian thunderstorms are usually an afternoon phenomenon, occurring after the ship is docked and people are already on the island. It is not uncommon for them to come about after a clear, tranquil morning.

That is where the danger lies. People potentially having to cross the long, exposed pier during a thunderstorm on their way back to the ship.

 

[serrem2]

Imagine: it's about 1/2 hour before all aboard time. You just got off the tram at Mabrika Cove. A thunderstorm is moving in. You have 1/2 mile of open water and steel trestle to get across with lightning all around. Yikes!