A Year in Review: The Most Wheelchair Accessible Destinations for Families
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 finds we’ve discovered over the past year – and they would make great travel destinations for 2023! I bet some of these will surprise you.
Most Accessible Beach
Amelia Island
Amelia Island scored points before we even visited, because they have accessibility information available on their tourism website – a rare treat.
In addition to all abilities playgrounds, beach wheelchairs, accessible river cruises, and an accessible historic fort, Amelia Island also gave us our first fully accessible mini golf experience. They even had a handicap friendly putter! You can check out accessible highlights, here.
If you don’t have a vehicle to transport the free beach wheelchair loaner from the rec center, I recommend Fort Clinch for your beach day. You can get a beach wheelchair on site, and it’s a great place for finding shark teeth.
Most Accessible Outdoor Destination
Adirondacks, New York
I’m not sure I’ve ever been happier with accessibility in an outdoor destination. The Adirondacks blew me away with the multiple opportunities for experiencing the diversity of the mountains without barriers. I’m used to sprawling parks with one, small accessible trail. The almost 12 million acres of the Adirondacks offers a lot of wild. In the small corner we were able to explore over a long weekend, we found enough to keep us rolling from morning ’til night.
John Dillon Park is a campground, deep in the forest, with fully accessible lean-tos, accessible bathrooms, only accessible paths and trails, and… well, fully accessible everything from adventures like fishing and boating to essentials like sleeping and eating.
You can read all about the other accessible trails, treetop walks, nature centers, historic hotels, mountain cafes, and more, here.
Most Accessible Hotel
Hotel Saranac
There aren’t many historic hotels with wheelchair accessibility. This Curio Collection hotel by Hilton maintains its original architecture, charm, and Adirondack design – with the added benefit of accessibility improvements throughout. Everything within the room was within reach for our wheelchair user and there were no bathroom obstacles. Our bed did not have space under it for a hoyer lift, but we recommended it before we left, and they’ve been exceptionally open to progress – so I have a feeling that will be an option in the near future.
There’s a nice restaurant on site and it’s a great location, central to Adirondack adventure.
Most Accessible Theme Park
Disneyland Paris
The accessibility and inclusion we’ve come to expect from Disney wasn’t impacted by crossing the ocean. There was very little we weren’t able to do in Disneyland Paris. We could take the wheelchair on to a handful of rides, and the park, shops, restaurants, and entertainment were all easy to navigate. The cast members were helpful and made it a day we won’t soon forget. Get your accessibility guide, here.
Six Flags
I’ll add this as an honorary mention, since we haven’t experienced it in person, yet.
This year, not only did all Six Flags locations become Certified Autism Centers, they also became the world’s first theme park company to revolutionize and design a specialized restraint harness that allows access to ALL Six Flags Thrill Rides for guests with physical disabilities.
Most Accessible Water Park
Morgan’s Inspiration Island
Unfortunately, we didn’t get to play in the world’s one and only ultra accessible splash park (it was winter when we visited San Antonio). The first of its kind, Morgan’s Inspiration Island is “like a tropical-island paradise with colorful splash pads, the River Boat Adventure ride and revolutionary waterproof wheelchairs!” Every part of the island is fully accessible. No one gets left out.
Most Accessible Playground
Park365
This playground in Richmond, Virginia, is one of the best all-abilities playgrounds we’ve ever experienced. Everything is ramped. Every aspect of the park is created for all children to have fun. We could spend an entire day, here! It’s proximity to the highway also makes it an easy stop on the way through (we make this our lunch break every time we’re heading to Florida for a therapy session).
Most Accessible Overall Destination
Anywhere with Pack Up + Go
I’ve never let someone plan our vacation before, since we’re pretty high maintenance. This was a bit of an experiment, with absolutely delightful results. They thought of everything. They not only gave us all accessible attractions, restaurants, and lodging, but they also sent us with directions for barrier-free walking routes and notes on accessible entrances and where to avoid obstacles.
Oh, and did I mention the destination was a surprise? Accessible and so much fun!
Most Progressive Destination
Richmond, Virginia
This is one of my favorite categories because, while the destination may not have it all together, I know they will. These places are at the heart of progress because of their enthusiasm for accessibility and inclusion.
Richmond, Virginia is a partner with VisitAble as the city works to improve accessibility and inclusion. This program is testing accessibility at hospitality locations and certifying them as destinations that are working to welcome all.
This doesn’t mean the city is struggling as a work in progress. They already have an impressive array of accessible attractions from museums and river cruises to wooded trails and wineries. You can check out our favorites, here.
**A note on locations: while we visited five countries this year, the States has better systems on place for overall inclusion and accessibility. I’d love for you to follow along on our journey as we highlight accessibility around the world, but all of our award winners this year are close to home!**