Special and medical needs travel planning is a core specialty at Stacey Vacations. I'm Stacey Haines, a Florida-based agent with intimate knowledge of planning vacations for travelers with special and medical needs — and like everything I do, the planning is free when you book through me.
Families often arrive at my inbox apologetic, as if their questions are too complicated. They never are. These are the ones I hear most, and how I answer them — because the right questions, asked early, are what turn a stressful trip into a doable one.
Where do we even start?
With a conversation, not a brochure. Every family's needs are different, so I start by listening: what does a good travel day look like for your family, and what does a hard one look like? What helps, what doesn't, and what would make you cancel the trip altogether? Your answers shape everything — destination, resort, ship, room location, pace.
You do not need to have a destination picked. Telling me the needs first and the destination second almost always produces a better trip than the other way around. And there are no silly questions in this conversation — if it matters to your family, it matters to the plan.
Will a theme park or a cruise actually work for us?
Very often, yes — with the right preparation. Major parks and cruise lines have accommodation programs and accessibility services, and part of my job is helping you understand what is available for your specific situation and how to arrange it before you travel, not at the gate. Because I am in the Disney and Universal parks weekly or bi-weekly, my sense of what a day there really demands is current, not secondhand.
The honest answer also includes fit. Some itineraries suit a family's needs better than others, and I will tell you plainly when I think a different ship, resort, or season would serve you better. A trip that works is worth far more than a trip that photographs well.
What should we tell you before booking?
Everything you are comfortable sharing. Mobility, sensory, dietary, and medical considerations all affect which options I research — room locations, dining arrangements, transportation, the works. Nothing you tell me is ever a burden; it is the raw material of a plan that actually works.
And if the unexpected happens — a flight cancellation, a change in plans — you have one person to call who already knows your family's situation. That, more than anything, is what families tell me they value: not having to re-explain everything to a stranger at a call center mid-trip.
Does specialized planning cost more?
No. My services are free when you book through me, for every kind of trip I plan. Suppliers pay the agent commission either way, so a family doing this level of planning alone is doing unpaid work someone would happily do for them. Reach out, tell me about your crew, and let's find the trip that fits — your family deserves the vacation, not just the logistics of one.