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View Full Version : Wheelchair use at Legoland?



bennette
03-28-2012, 12:47 PM
I'm not sure if this is better placed in "Theme Parks--General" or here.

I may be visiting Legoland with someone in a wheelchair. The person should be able to walk short distances; I think we would just rent one there.

Does anyone have experience visiting Legoland in a wheelchair?

Tips? Suggestions? Things to avoid? It's been a while since I've visited and the park has been expanded since then.

I've looked over their access guide and it seems doable, so long as the person pushing the wheelchair has some stamina. :)

MammaSilva
03-28-2012, 07:03 PM
If the person has their own chair I'd recommend taking it, if not then renting one there would work, there are several steeper paths but avoidable if the person pushing needs to. We took my ECV and Missys chair and the person pushing her was in fairly good shape at the time so we didn't encounter much difficulty. We didn't do rides since it was a special event so I'm not sure how the queues for the attractions work.

bennette
03-28-2012, 09:06 PM
If the person has their own chair I'd recommend taking it, if not then renting one there would work, there are several steeper paths but avoidable if the person pushing needs to. We took my ECV and Missys chair and the person pushing her was in fairly good shape at the time so we didn't encounter much difficulty. We didn't do rides since it was a special event so I'm not sure how the queues for the attractions work.

Thank you MS. This is a (hopefully) temporary thing so we would rent there.

It seems accessible. You can't take chairs on the rides themselves but I wasn't expecting to. She's easily fatigued so we are just hoping to save energy for the more important things (certain rides and attractions) and to take her out of the park if she crashes since she's too big to carry far these days.

We'll have several people to push the chair, including my strapping husband. Perhaps if it isn't too difficult, he'll finally agree to push me at DL on a bad day! ;)

Thanks again!

MammaSilva
03-28-2012, 09:16 PM
Bennette, if you rent there and need to take her back to the car in the chair, talk to the staff, the one thing I did notice is that they work very hard at customer service, I'm sure that you could make arrangements to pull the car up close to the exit and have an escort go with you to use the chair to deliver her to the car itself rather than worrying about trying to get her to the car in the parking lot. Is there any chance she can get a temporary HCA parking pass approved by her doctor before the trip?

bennette
03-28-2012, 09:26 PM
Bennette, if you rent there and need to take her back to the car in the chair, talk to the staff, the one thing I did notice is that they work very hard at customer service, I'm sure that you could make arrangements to pull the car up close to the exit and have an escort go with you to use the chair to deliver her to the car itself rather than worrying about trying to get her to the car in the parking lot. Is there any chance she can get a temporary HCA parking pass approved by her doctor before the trip?

Thank you.

We are bypassing her regular doctor at this point for failure to adequately respond so I'm going to go with a no on the permit. But I'll suggest it anyway. It's generally not needed in their small town but they might benefit when they start seeing big city doctors.

currence
03-28-2012, 09:27 PM
When are you thinking about going? We are contemplating a trip this weekend so if we go I can try to find out what I can - unless that's too late.

bennette
03-28-2012, 09:43 PM
When are you thinking about going? We are contemplating a trip this weekend so if we go I can try to find out what I can - unless that's too late.

Thank you. Not for two weeks, at the earliest.

I can see there are a fair amount of family bathrooms, which isn't surprising. So that's good.

I don't think we'd visit the water park, so no need to worry about that.

I don't rememberq any really long ride queues but it sounds like she could remain in the wheelchair to a certain extent anyway. If you notice any horribly long ride waits, we might skip those.

Interactive events, like the dig area, are probably out as being just too tiring.

I don't recall it as being in a super hilly area, like the San Diego Zoo, but I do remember a bit of walking and the occasional moderate climb. If there are new, horrible climbs, I'd like to know about them!

She's eight and normally super active so this will be a challenge. She's getting frustrated by her lack of mobility. I think we'd be fine. The biggest concern would probably be avoiding walking by something that looks good but is off limits.

Cheshire Figment
04-01-2012, 02:39 PM
I did a long report (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2801110) in another forum lfrom multiple visits looking from the standpoint of a person using an ECV. One potential problem with a wheelchair are there are hills.

MammaSilva
04-01-2012, 03:03 PM
CF, she's talking about the Legoland in Carlsbad, not the one in Florida.

currence
04-01-2012, 07:35 PM
We just spent the better part of two days at Legoland, and stamina is definitely a must. It seemed everything had a slight incline or decline, most of it pretty manageable. Only one pair or rides, Kid Power Towers and Sky Cruiser, was up a high enough hill that they had both the wheelchair switchbacks and stairs. I would probably skip it unless your friend really wants to go on the ride or your pusher is extra-strong. Not that you absolutely have to be extra-strong, but if you're not, you might want to save your energy for the general walking/pushing.

I spoke briefly with the person at the wheelchair rental counter. The chairs are $10 if I recall correctly. The person at the wheelchair counter indicated that he has a pass that allows wheelchair renters access to a short list of attractions. He indicated that wheelchair uses could enter through the exits of most rides. He also stated that the customer service windows had a different pass that could allow access to even more attractions and that it was better to talk to them. Since I don't know the details of the person going, I didn't bother asking there. If the line is not too long, I would recommend stopping by for a chat, and they can determine what is most appropriate for your needs.

If stamina is an issue, and you are planning on renting a chair onsite, I would recommend paying the extra for preferred parking. Depending on what time it is when you arrive, even those spaces may be a bit of a walk, but with the construction of the new hotel, I believe that most if not all of the preferred spaces are now closer than even the best regular space.

bennette
04-01-2012, 08:04 PM
Thank you Currence! I really appreciate your taking the time to investigate.

Due to a little incident at my house this weekend, I expect the trip to be pushed off a bit but this will still be very handy information.

bennette
04-01-2012, 08:05 PM
I did a long report (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2801110) in another forum lfrom multiple visits looking from the standpoint of a person using an ECV. One potential problem with a wheelchair are there are hills.

Thanks. I'm going to read the trip report anyway just to see if there is potential overlap. It can't hurt, right?