A Year in Review: The Most Wheelchair Accessible Destinations for Families

Entering the Santa Monica Pier

While there are always so many barriers in wheelchair travel, I love to celebrate the places that are doing it right! These are the best accessible destinations we’ve traveled to over the past year – and they would make great travel destinations for 2022! I bet some of these will surprise you.

Most Accessible Beach

Santa Monica. With free beach front parking, an access ramp to the beach (3/4 of the way to the water front), an accessible pier, free beach wheelchairs, a wheelchair friendly ocean front walk, endless accessible dining options, and three all-abilities playgrounds, this one blew us away!

Most Accessible City

Washington D.C.. While parking in the city may be tricky, the public transportation system and over wheelchair accessibility of the city keeps this one at the top of our list. The museums, monuments, gardens, and memorials are all wheelchair accessible – regardless of age, or any other typical excuse. The city works hard to maintain a barrier-free environment, making it easy to navigate. We also love that there are endless things to do, for all ages and abilities.

Most Accessible National or State Park

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Niagara Falls. This is a repeat visit for us, but it still counts! All National and State Parks try to have at least one accessible trail, and some accessible option for navigating the park. Niagara flips the balance with an almost 100% accessible park. The attractions, dining, transportation and most trails are all wheelchair friendly. Don’t you just love places that are easy to visit?

Most Accessible Resort

Tenaya Lodge. This Yosemite resort even has wheelchair accessible cabins! You know how hard those are to find. The lodge itself is one of the most barrier-free places I’ve stayed. The roll in shower had handles at the right heights and a layout that made sense. The bathroom doors were sliding barn doors with easy access handles (you know what I’m talking about). They had an ADA height thermostat, peephole, and door latch – all the things that should be assumed in an ADA room, but are rarely there. All restaurants and shops were accessible. The indoor pool, hot tub, and all of the outdoor pools had a chair lift. The kiddie pool was ramped. They also offer accessible park tours and transportation and have wheelchairs on loan for days at Yosemite.

The wheelchair-driving pirate at LEGOLAND’s Pirate Island Hotel will forever be a favorite memory

Most Accessible Hotel

Pirate Island Hotel. Guarding the entrance to the hotel is a wheelchair-using pirate. The positive representation was a good sign of what we could experience inside. Our room was barrier-free with doors that swung the right direction and a sink that you could actually roll up to. The roll in shower even had a reachable shower head, handles on the wall, and a foldable shower chair. The play areas, character meets, pool, and dining were all easily accessible. The only thing with a barrier was the LEGO pit, built with a small wall to keep the LEGO in.

Most Accessible Theme Park

Morgan’s Wonderland. Have you heard of this one? It’s defined as “ultra-accessible,” and it lives up to the name! The park was designed with inclusion in mind – it’s meant to be a place where all kids can play together. They have 25 “ultra-accessible” rides. You can take your wheelchair right on the carousel, or the swings on the playground.

Most Accessible Water Park

Delgrosso’s Laguna Splash makes accessibility look easy

Delgrosso’s Laguna Splash. Laguna Splash the first place I’ve ever seen where you can take a wheelchair right into the pool. You can swap out your wheelchair at the first aid station for their manual PVC pipe chair. The chair is meant for adults, so it was a little hard for Jaden to maneuver on his own, but it would be fine for anyone just a little bit bigger than my five year old! We took the chair through the splash park, and even right into the lazy river (someone needs to return the chair after you’ve loaded into the tubes).

Most Accessible Playground

I’m so pleased with this category! I feel like the U.S. has made leaps and bounds in accessible play spaces, even in the past year. I couldn’t pick a winner, so I’m giving honorable mention to three spaces where my kids had an exceptional ability to play together because of the lack of barriers. The Treehouse in Lititz, PA; The Can-Do in Wilmington, DE; and the Maggie Daley Play Garden in Chicago, IL. All three of these are changing the way people can play!

Most Progressive Destination

St. Augustine. St. Augustine has a reputation for the nation’s first… just about everything. Old doesn’t usually lend itself to accessibility, but this city is working hard to rectify that. Many of the historic buildings have accessible entrances around back, and the Old Town Trolley runs a tour with a chair lift. They also have a free cruiser tour and transportation for wheelchair users. What impressed me here was the attitude and the effort. They know they’re city wasn’t built with ADA in mind, but they’re excited to make changes and welcome all. My visit here was met with enthusiasm for improvement – instead of the typical eye roll and a “how much will that cost me?”