The Accessible Amusement Park in Your Own Backyard


Four wheelers who share their favorite accessible amusement parks with us, as well as some insider tips.

Be it California’s Six Flags, Ohio’s King’s Island, or Florida’s Sea World, every region has its amusement parks, and many of these are accessible enough to make a nice day of it. Better yet, although the admission price may initially make you gasp for air, compared to plane fare and hotel stays, they’re doable, making them good options for families on a budget looking for affordable recreation options.

We caught up with four-wheelers who share their favorite parks with us, as well as some insider tips.


It’s Right in Our Backyard

Kara and Adam Ayers’ family has grown since they spoke with NEW MOBILITY about their first child, Hannah, 6, in February 2011’s “Anything for Baby.” The family adopted Eli, 9, who has a form of dwarfism, from China in 2014, and in March of this year, Kara gave birth to a baby girl named Riley.

Like any family with young children, they are always looking for ways to keep the kids entertained and busy — and since both Kara and Adam have osteogenesis imperfecta and use manual wheelchairs, anywhere they take the kids has to be accessible. Enter King’s Island, located in Mason, Ohio.

“It’s right in our backyard and takes 10 minutes to get to the gate. We can hear their fireworks in the summer, so it’s really close to us, which has to do with how frequently we go,” says Kara, 37, the advocacy coordinator at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital’s Medical Center. “And we get annual passes.”

There is plenty for a young family to do at King’s Island.
There is plenty for a young family to do at King’s Island.

Admission isn’t cheap, with renewing season passes usually coming in around $100 per person, but Kara says it depends on what you compare the passes to. “I watch those videos about the Caribbean and cruise travel and all that’s cool, but they’re not affordable,” she says.  “And I do know amusement parks aren’t perfect. But we get our money’s worth with all the seasonal stuff. Like, they do a Halloween thing and this year they’re bringing back their Christmas program — they freeze their big fountain and have ice skating, so we’ll be able to go Christmas Eve and watch ice skating.”

When you get to King’s Island, you’ll see there are plenty of accessible parking spots. “Rows and rows, and they’re upfront,” she says. “You park and roll right in, no tram.” Next, stop at guest services. “It’s right there — you don’t have to search for it like you do in many other parks.” This is where you pick up your ride admission slip, which lets you use the accessible entrances and is printed on old-fashioned paper — as the park has not yet gone electronic. “We keep the papers from previous trips so we don’t have to explain to a 16-year-old kid every time what we can do.”

Guest services also estimate wait times for the more popular rides and give paper passes with the times the Ayers can show up at the accessible entrance. “This doesn’t always help with the line, as it’s an estimate, but we don’t have the option to not do it because there are several rides we enter through the exit. So we build this process into our system, and our kids probably think this is what everybody does. The passes can be a headache, but we’ve got a good routine.”

Adam and Hannah Ayers head off to a roller coaster.
Adam and Hannah Ayers head off to a roller coaster.

Built into their routine is who rides which ride with which child. “Hannah and Adam ride roller coasters. Eli will never meet the height requirement but doesn’t want to ride them anyway, so it works out.” And once in a while, the couple will be able to go to the park without the kids and ride the rollercoasters together.

Overall accessibility is decent. “You can transfer on the platform for the coasters and the car is right beside it, so there are no steps up and down,” says Kara. “I have a strict rule of no loops, but Adam does more than I do, and there aren’t any steps to and from the cars. Also, the park is not hilly.”

“Another thing that makes it affordable for families is they update things frequently enough that there’s something new to look forward to each year,” adds Ayers. “Like one year there were animatronic dinosaurs, but usually it’s a new ride, like a roller coaster.”

• King’s Island, www.visitkingsisland.com, www.visitkingsisland.com/plan-a-visit/guests-with-disabilities. Daily ticket price is $44.99 and season pass package pricing ranges from $114 for regular, $129 for gold and $210 for platinum.


California Coasting

Christiaan “Otter” Bailey (left) and fellow chairskater Aaron Fotheringham goof off with young wheelers at a WCMX workshop.

Professional surfer and chairskater Christiaan “Otter” Bailey spends much of his time traveling on tour as an adaptive surfer or — his other great love — chairskating with Team Box WCMX. Since he also enjoys amusement parks, his travels have given him the chance to experience roller coasters all over the world.

“I went to Tokyo Dome City. That was pretty amazing, especially the Thunder Dolphin roller coaster. The Japanese embrace a lot of cool themes and their parks are pretty amazing, and their rides are crazy,” says Bailey, director of the nonprofit Ocean Healing Group and an L3-S3 para. “And Disneyland Paris was a lot of fun.”

That’s really cool, but how about parks closer to home?

“Great America in San Jose is really, really big,” says Bailey, who lives in Santa Cruz. “It’s awesome because they have everything under the sun as far as amusement parks go. They are a lot more accessible than a lot of other places I’ve been and are phenomenal in getting you to the front of the line.”

If you think that’s not necessary, Bailey says to reconsider. “Typically a line to a roller coaster is on a gradual plane. So if you’re in a wheelchair and go halfway up a ramp and hold that position, then spend 30 minutes to an hour going incremental inches … it’s torture in a manual wheelchair.”

Bailey also enjoys Six Flags Magic Mountain, which he says is, “awesome in terms of being accommodating to people with disabilities.” His favorite part? “Six Flags has old-school wooden roller coasters. There’s sentimentality when you ride them — you just can’t help but love them. You only have one of those little lap bars and gravity keeping you in, and they’re so rickety. As you come across these massive valleys, you hear the wood creaking … it’s pretty gnarly.” The park boasts 19 wooden roller coasters, the most in the nation and possibly anywhere.

But the park he visits the most is the one closest to home: The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.

“The Boardwalk is one of the oldest amusement parks in California, built in 1907, and still retains much of its charm. I always bring my friends there when they come to town and want a quintessential Santa Cruz experience,” says Bailey.

What does he ride the most? “It depends who I go with. If it’s a little kid in a wheelchair, I won’t do some rides, although most kids in chairs are pretty adaptable, especially the kids I work with through Ocean Healing Group. They’re WCMXers and have already broken down those social barriers. If I’m coming, they want to come, too. We have a great time.”

• California’s Great America, www.cagreatamerica.com, www.cagreatamerica.com/help/accessibility. Daily tickets start at $39.99 for same-day admission and season passes start at $69.

• Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, beachboardwalk.com, beachboardwalk.com/Accessibility. Admission to the boardwalk is free, but daily ride passes range from $36.95 to $48.95, and season passes are $81.95.

• Six Flags Magic Mountain, www.sixflags.com, www.sixflags.com/magicmountain/plan-your-visit/guests-with-disabilities. Daily tickets cost $79.99 at the park and $54.99 if purchased online. Season passes start at $97.


Theme Parks and Family Time

Vance and Casey Taylor have two daughters — Isabelle, 11, and Samantha, 10. Like many young families, they’re on the lookout for affordable activities to do together, and often that means theme parks.

“Disney World, for example,” says Vance, 39, who has muscular dystrophy and uses a power chair. “They put on a lot of shows, so it’s really great. You go, the kids are into it, and they do a Lion King show and it’s very accessible, very accommodating, with climate control. We have a lot of fun doing that.”

Vance and Casey Taylor enjoy taking their daughters, Isabelle and Samantha, to theme parks.

There are some rides the whole family can enjoy together, but sometimes Dad gets left out. “You can go on It’s a Small World After All and Finding Nemo with your wheelchair and that’s great,” says Vance, who is the chief of the Office of Access and Functional Needs at California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. “They’ve got a fair number of rides you can transfer on to, but I don’t transfer onto rides.”

Before the system was wrecked by people who took advantage of it, Taylor’s whole family could go to the front of the line. “And then you get them on the ride and you’re done. Now they could wait in line for an hour and a half, and they’re together in the line, but where am I? When that happens, I feel like I pay a lot of money to sit by myself, and they still get to go on rides.” [See “Disney Universe: Changing but Still Magical,” NM, March 2015.]

Still, the Taylors find lots to do together at the park. “Not being able to ride a lot of rides is offset by the shows, eating together, watching fireworks and parades together.”

The Taylors, who live outside of Sacramento, California, flew to Orlando, Florida, for their Disney vacation. “I liked doing that because since we were staying in their hotel, I could go to the park, go back to my room and take a nap,” says Taylor. “Disney picks you up at the airport in an accessible bus and takes your bag up to the room before you even get there. Any buses to or from the park to the hotel are all fully accessible. Once you’re there, you’re good to go. Again, with the understanding that I might spend a lot of time by myself — if I don’t plan right.”

Besides Disney World, Taylor says Pennsylvania’s Hershey Park made an impression on him. “It was very accessible in terms of terrain,” he says, although there are a few hills. “And most of the rides were good about letting our family in the front of the line, so I didn’t have to wait by myself. I don’t think that’s an official policy, they were just being nice. When they did wait in line, we could still see each other, so that was a plus. And there are a lot of cool things to do there, which is great. It’s not like the only thing to do is ride.”

Hershey Park’s zoo and water park are included in the admission fee. Chocolate World, located near the park’s entrance, is free and features a popular ride through a stylized candy factory that is only accessible for manual wheelchair users. The gift shop is accessible, though, and is a good place to mooch free Hershey samples.

“We had a great time at Hershey Park,” says Taylor. “Like everything, it’s not going to be perfect, but there are enough good things to do that you can have a great time as a family.”

• Walt Disney World, www.disney.com, disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/guests-with-disabilities/. Prices for Disney theme parks vary depending on how many days you wish to visit. The range is between $44.50 per day for 10 days and $99.50 per day for two. Same-day price varies park to park.  

• Hershey Park, www.hersheypark.com, www.hersheypark.com/park-info/accessibility.php. A one-day ticket costs $64.95 and season passes start at $170.


It’s Worth the Expense

Sylvia Curbelo Longmire enjoys taking her kids to parks that have a lot of shows, like Sea World.

Amusement parks were more fun before her MS transitioned from relapsing-remitting to secondary-progressive, says Sylvia Curbelo Longmire. “I live in Orlando, Florida, so I have a million parks to choose from, but I was also able to walk and go on all of the rides five years ago,” she says.

Longmire splits custody with her ex-husband for their two sons, ages 6 and 9. “They primarily live with their dad — with my MS we agreed it’s better for them. Their dad takes them to Disney World, and I take them to places like Sea World, museums, and the zoo all the time.”

Not counting Disney, what is the most accessible park in Orlando that Longmire’s visited? Probably Sea World. “It’s a mixed bag because like a lot of people I have ethical issues with the park. You want to take your kids to see the animals in an environment where they can be studied and learned about, but they’re in captivity,” she says. “But that said, since I can’t go on most rides anymore and usually wait for everybody who does, I like Sea World because it’s heavy on shows. Just being able to go to the dolphin show, the whale show … it’s easier to feel I am being entertained.”

If you can’t go on rides anymore, is it worth the expense? “If I was going with other adults at this point in my life, I’d say no, because I’m missing out on half the stuff,” says Longmire. “However, taking my kids, absolutely. It’s a totally different experience when you take your kids and see the experience they’re having. It’s totally worth it to be able to go with them.”

• Sea World Orlando, seaworldparks.com/en/seaworld-orlando/ seaworldparks.com/en/seaworld-orlando/park-info/accessibility-guide. Single-day tickets start at $79 and season passes start at $99.99.


Tips for a Successful Trip

The number one tip for a successful trip to a theme park according to Sylvia Curbelo Longmire is “do your research.” Fortunately, most major theme parks have a complete part of their site dedicated to listing their disability policy and how accessible they are. If the theme park’s website does not have a tab for accessibility, look for one that says something like “Park Info.” Click on that, and usually, you’ll see an option for “disability services.” In addition to park websites, try Googling the name of the park along with the word “accessibility” or “wheelchair,” and you may find blogs or posts on forums by people with disabilities similar to yours.

Remember, there is no such thing as too much research when it comes to planning a trip, even if it’s just to your local amusement park. “You have to know what to expect before going,” says Vance Taylor. “Plan accordingly, know you’ll be bored a little bit, and it all goes into the whole ‘family trip memory bank’ anyway.”


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