Water parks and wheel chairs?

[Belle68]

We have never done a water park as DD would not be able to manage without her wheel chair, she loves swimming and it seems such a shame not to take her. DH doesnt swim so it would be me on my own with her and it as always struck me as looking very stressful (something which you dont need on holiday). She is able to walk very short distances but not far.

Can anyone offer me any advice please, as I really would like to take her.

She has DS and ASD so would be quite happy with the pool at the resort and she is totally unaware that the water parks exist.

Should I try taking her to a water park or just stick to the pool?

 

[OneLittleSpark]

The water parks can be good fun, and do have more to offer than the hotel pools. Getting around them in a chair isn't too bad, though there are more limits on what you can get to, than there are in the theme parks. Most of the slides are not accessible, though the family raft ride at Blizzard Beach, and the Crush 'n' Gusher at Typhoon Lagoon are.

To go on the family raft ride at BB, you can use the gondola car on the ski lift. As your husband won't be there to bring her chair back down, you would need to borrow one of their water chairs, leaving her chair at the bottom of the mountain. When you get to the top of the hill, and have got through the line ride, they will stop 2 rafts on the loading belt (like the moving walkways, but wider), putting you and your daughter in the second one. The water chair is then strapped onto the first raft, and sent down ahead of you. Once you get to the bottom of the ride, the chair should be waiting there for you. It's then just a short trundle back to the bottom of the ski lift for her chair.

Both of the lazy rivers have bump steps at at least one on the loading points, with an area to put the wheelchair out of the way. The two wave pools also have zero entry points, though she might find the one at BB easier, as there is a hard paved entry point, with a wall on one side and a grab rail in the other. Also, the BB waves are gentle bobbers, rather than TL's bigger waves. They have a number of rings in the BB wave pool, but there is rather a lot of competition for them.

The water parks can get busy, but like all the others, they have quieter times. Don't go to them on the weekends, as a lot of local families visit them then. Also, if you can plan your holiday so it's not during school holidays, you'll have much smaller crowds everywhere, though I know that's not always possible. We've found that the water parks are often quieter on overcast days, but you would have to be prepared to get out of the water quickly if there was a storm coming. How well could she handle such a sudden park closure?

Completely random tip here, but we always wear old T-shirts over our swim things, to reduce the risk of sunburn. Waterproof suncream is another must!

Good luck and have a great trip

 

[Belle68]

Thank you so very much OneLittleSpark for such a detailed explanation, your information is much appreciated. I think we will go with the flow and decide on visiting a WP when we get there.

Thanks for the tip on the T-shirts, great minds think alike
we always wear them even in the resort pool. I burn very easily and I hate the thought of exposing my children to sunburn

 

[eyeore]

i have done typhoon lagoon 3 times with ds in a wheelchair and found it to be about the best, we would usually do the lazy river which is okay to get into,we just have to bump him down out of his chair and down a few steps into the water. the wave pool is great fun and again we just bump him down out of his chair. we havnt done any of the chutes yet so cant comment on them. the disabled toilet is also good and big so there is plenty of room to lie them down to get them dressed(i have looked for somewhere better to change him but so far have come up with nothing) i know its not the best place to get him dressed but i also make sure i put a few pampers care mats down in the corner first. if anyone has any better ideas about changing facilities i would love to hear them as hes getting big and next time i go i cant really take him into the ladies. is there a first aid area? i would suggest going first thing before it gets too packed and also use a water wheelchair (we havnt yet but will do next time as his chair gets too wet). the park is lovely to walk around and the atmosphere is great. plenty of sunscreen is needed,tshirts are a must as you burn a lot quicker in the water. go have fun you will love it.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

First Aid is on the left side (as you face it) of the Leaning Palms building; that is the large food service location.