disabled at water parks?

[pampam]

We want to do blizzard beach and typhoon lagoon, but my daughter can only walk a few steps and has difficulty with stairs. We don't swim but enjoy the water. Is there shoving? would we enjoy it?

 

[Deb & Bill]

I know at TL that there are wheelchair transfer points on Castaway Creek. I think BB has them, too. They may even have those water W/C available.

 

[Debi]

Hi there! In order to get more responses to your question, I am transfering this post over to the DISabilities board. Please check there for further replies. Thanks!

 

[DJBounce]

We have taken our DD who has CP and cannot walk to both places. There are wheelchair spots along the lazy rivers and there are plenty of room for her to have fun. My DD loves to be in the water and she had a ball. As far as I can remember there was no shoving or any times where I felt it was unsafe for my DD. Both places had plenty of kids around, but I can't think of an instance where there was any unsafe activity.

 

[SueM in MN]

Here's a
link to the question on the same subject that you posted on this board.

 

[Wade Shrader]

I posted a similar thread a couple of years ago to get information and to stimulate some discussion.

I have triplets (2 DS and 1 DD), and my 2 sons have cerebral palsy. While we haven't been to the water parks with our kids yet, my wife and I did get to go to Orlando for a business trip without the kids, and we went to Typhoon Lagoon. While we were there, we ran into a family with twin daughters, both in WC with CP. We tried to help them through their day.

The park is not a "wild" water park in that kids aren't running through rampant knocking other kids down. Those twins had some trouble with the wc's, and we helped navigate. The river was wonderful, and I think that would be a nice activity for our kids. I know some people have stayed away from the wave pool, but if you have some balance, can stay toward the back (toward the "beach"), and have someone to help the disabled person (buddy swim), the wave pool can be fun. I think our boys (with their floaties or vests) could enjoy this.

The slides are the biggest obstacle. I did help carry those 2 girls up the hills for a couple of slides. And they had a blast! And I was exhausted! We may try that with our kids before they get TOO big (and too heavy for me to carry). I know that BB has a "ski lift", but I think that only leads to that HUGE drop slide, which I don't think my kids should be on.

By definition, a water slide park is difficult to make accessible. But I think this is one of the last frontiers for accessibility for WDW, which by and large, does such a great job for disabled guests.

Wade

 

[SueM in MN]

There isn't a lot of info about the water parks for people with disabilities (except for what people who have been there post). The last time I checked (about a month ago), Disney didn't have anything in writing about accessibility of the water parks on their website and there is no Water Park Guidebook for Guests with Disabilities.
I do remember reading a post once from someone who had a child with Downs Syndrome. The child could not climb stairs and was able to use an elevator to get up to some of the water slides. I don't remember which water park that was, though. It might be worth a call when you are down in Orlando to inquire about the accessibiliity features that you need before going to the park.