Before I had Jacob I have to admit that I didn't give much thought to wheel chair accessibility. I knew that there were wheel chair parking spots, automatic doors on some buildings and the odd place had a ramp, but that was about the extent of it.
This week we visited a place that seems to have given accessibility some real thought, oddly enough, it was an amusement park, Calaway Park in Calgary Alberta. A place full of family fun, spinning rides, challenging games, yummy food and fun entertaining shows!
But here is the inside scoop on accessibility. We stayed at the campground right beside the park. We had a power only site because the full service sites were full and I am glad. The campground is all about being close to the park, not about space and privacy, however the power only sites do have some trees and shade. Full service was pretty much a big field with some little trees that will need a few years yet before they are ready to shade anyone!
There are bathrooms and showers on site. A Canadian toonie ($2.00) will get you five minutes of hat water in a very clean shower. I was very impressed. But what I loved even more was the family bathroom. You need the access code to get into this bathroom with a wheel in shower and room to manoeuver a chair and a couple of helpers.
We got up each morning, ate breakfast, stepped outside the door and walked across a field to the gates of the park. No fighting the traffic or worrying about parking! Admission to the park is listed below and if you stay at the campground they offer discounted tickets and meal vouchers too. If you have a family member with a disability they get in for $11.55 (at the time of this post) and their aide (or mother/father) gets in free. That is not all! Once you have your tickets you head over to the guest service counter and ask for a bracelet. This allowed Jacob and up to three others family members to beat the line ups. We were put on the ride in one or two turns. Someone was thinking!
Regular (7-49 years): $35.95+gst
Junior (3-6 years): $29.00+gst
Fifty Plus (50 years and up): $27.00+gst
Family of 4: $89.00+gst Each additional family member: $22.00+gst
After 2 PM rate: @20.95+gst
children 2 and under are FREE! And you can purchase season passes.
That being said my sister in-law found tickets for $20.00 each at her local Co-op store.
Okay, now that we have all of that out of the way, let me share with you our adventure!
We spent two days at the park. It was great fun. My dear husband, Colin, our daughter, Mackenzie, son Jacob and nephew, Sloan joined me on this excursion. Nathan was being 17 and decided that he would have more fun if he stayed home (Dang it all, he thinks he did)!
Our first stop was the junior bumper cars for Sloan. We were too big and Jacob couldn't go alone so we headed over to the "egg" ride where you climb aboard a giant egg that spins around and goes up and down. This is where we discovered Jacob is no longer 3 :) He was so excited to get on the ride and squealed as it started, but soon turned to me with a very serious "You have got to be joking" look on his face! Apparently he has out grown the "egg" ride. We moved up to the junior roller coaster...better, but still not enough.
 Kenzie and Sloan on the Eggs! |
A very excited Jacob, ready for adventure! |
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| Jacob on the Spider ride! Getting ready for it to start! (We tried to get a picture while it was running, but couldn't catch us!) |
So reluctantly I got in line for the Spider. This is what Jacob had been waiting for! Spinning, tilting, up and down and the turns made "your heart feel funny" (quote by Sloan!) Jacob laughed right out loud! Then we headed over to a ride kind of like the swings, but in a car instead of a swing. This was Jacob's limit I am sorry to say. He came off a very pale boy. Wasn't to interested in lunch either. Poor guy, but I am sure he was happier going on the 'big boy' rides. It was a good reminder to me that he is growing up!Kenzie and I had a turn on the roller coaster, we all took a turn on the carousel ~ tradition of course!But the favourite for all of us was the bumper boats! We came out dripping! It was the best of both worlds, "big kid" ride without the crazy spinning!
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| A tired Boy on one last ride! |
Thank you Calaway Park for helping All families to enjoy a fabulous day together~ everyone!
Have a wonderful Day! I plan to!
