Before You Arrive: Five Things to Do
- Register for the IBCCES Accessibility Card at AccessibilityCard.org or in the app, at least 48 hours before your visit. It is free and lasts a year, but it needs a provider statement, so start early.
- Read the Guest Accessibility Guide. It lists rider criteria, heights, and access details for every ride. Mark the rides that are out and the ones worth trying.
- Request ASL a week ahead if you need interpretation for a live show, using the park's request form.
- Reserve a wheelchair or ECV online if you need one. The guide says supply is limited and online reservations are available.
- Check the calendar. Halloween Haunt and Winterfest bring fog, low light, and strobe-style lighting. Pick daytime hours if those effects are a problem.
Best Time to Visit
Weekdays early in the season and after school starts are the easy call, since the park says its program does not provide immediate boarding. Shorter lines mean a shorter day for everyone. In the fall, daytime visits avoid the heaviest Haunt effects, which the guide says include dense fog and strobe lighting.
Hour by Hour: One Day in the Program
On Arrival: Parking
Ask the associate at the toll booth for the accessible parking area and keep your placard displayed. If it is full, drop your party at the main pick-up and drop-off area near the main entrance.
First Stop: Guest Services at the Front Gate
Go here before anything else. Show your IBCCES card, explain your needs, and get the program details. While you are there:
- Ask for the list of rides you can safely ride.
- Ask how ride times work, whether they expire, and how many people can ride with you.
- Ask about harness eligibility if anyone has an amputation and wants Orion, Diamondback, or Banshee.
- Ask which service animal ride list applies, since the park's two sources differ.
- Ask where to take a sensory break, since the park does not publish a quiet room.
Rentals are at the Rental Center on the left just inside the front gate, and a height station is at the Information Center.
Morning: The Big Coasters With Lifts
Banshee, Mystic Timbers, and Orion have wheelchair lifts to their platforms. If you need test seats, Banshee, Diamondback, Delirium, and Orion have them at the entrance, and the guide lets you check restraint fit through the exit before you wait.
Midday: First Aid and a Break
First Aid is in Planet Snoopy next to Charlie Brown's Wind Up and can refrigerate medication. The Family Care Center is across from the International Showplace. Planet Snoopy is also where the family coasters are.
Afternoon: Soak City or Family Rides
Soak City is included with admission. A water wheelchair serves Coconut Cove, the Splash River entry area, Tidal Wave Bay, and Breakers Bay; ask the Aquatics Supervisory team. Heights are measured in bare feet with separate wristbands.
Evening: The Railroad and the Eiffel Tower
These are the two attractions that take a wheelchair on board. The Eiffel Tower uses strobe lighting at night, per the guide.
Managing the Program
- Every requirement still applies. Heights, rider criteria, and the prosthesis rules are checked at every ride.
- Staff will not transfer you. Someone in your party has to help with every transfer.
- Plan for evacuations. Riders may need to cross catwalks and steep steps, and guests needing help may be escorted last.
- Pack light for the big coasters. Banshee, Flight of Fear, Mystic Timbers, and Orion do not allow loose items in line that will not fit in a waist pack or cargo pocket.