Let's talk water parks.

[tink15823]

Hi I need help I was only at a water park once in my early twenties. I did not pay attention at the time to acces for wheelchair guest with mobility issues I'm ashamed to say . Our children would like to go to a water park but our daughter has a disability that causes her body to use a wheelchair at times . I wouldn't want to get her to a water park and not be able to access any rides or have fun .TIA

 

[ckergald]

Let me start by saying no one in my family has ever needed a wheelchair at one of the waterparks so I don't have much first hand experience here but I have seen wheelchair access to the lazy rivers at both Disney water parks. The wave pools both have beach entry and I suspect would not be much of an issue for a wheelchair either. Typhoon lagoon's crush n' gusher attraction has an elevator to take those that need it to the top platform for a ride down. Blizzard beach's ski lift will also accommodate wheelchairs.

That said there are a few attractions you need to climb stairs for that I don't know how you would access in a wheelchair for example at typhoon lagoon the storm slides and humunga kowabunga speed slides.

I can't think of any attractions at blizzard beach that would be inaccesible as I think most have a sloping walkway option to get to the top.

 

[tink15823]

Thank You.

 

[JennyDrake]

I'm not going to be of much help except to say that I know the lazy river at TL and perhaps other attractions are accessible via the "bump steps." I used them when I was there in 2013 post Achilles rupture.

 

[IncredibleboysMom]

My family just visited Blizzard Beach in April and it was great! Most of the slides are accessed by a chairlift. There is a gondola on the lift that holds a wheelchair. We would go to the chairlift and my son would get into the park's water wheelchair. Then one of us would take his regular chair to the exit of whichever slide we were planning to ride and rejoin the family at the top of the slide . There is one family slide on which the wheelchair is actually sent down in the raft before you! The lazy river also has a wheelchair entrance.

 

[Wishes Count]

You don't mention this, so forgive if my assumption is incorrect, but if she has issues with fatigue a waterpark can be exhausting! Spending the day in the sun waking up those pathways to the slides makes even the healthiest people completely exhausted at the end of the day! If she is young enough you may want to carry her at times. That being said as other posters have mentioned the only slides I can think of that would not be accommodating is the body slides at TL and if I remember correctly the tube slides at BB had an intense queue, I was out of breath walking up the steep pathway.

 

[sleepingbean]

I don't know about using a wheelchair at the waterparks EXCEPT Discovery Cove. There, I saw a special wheelchair with wheels that could roll on the sand and all terains. I assumed it was provided by Discovery Cove, but I do not know for certain. It's a wonderful place and it came with tickets to Aquatica, which is a very small waterpark, which is nice for mobility, but I cannot imagine trying to navigate any waterpark with a wheel chair based on crowds and stairs and lines. I'd try to find out more about Discovery Cove, as an option, if it were me. I know it's pricey, though. I hope someone has good info for you on this! There must be one park that is better than others. I have been to Blizzard Beach, too, and it's pretty huge. I would think if anyone can accommodate, it would be Disney?