Florida’s newest theme park prepares to be the ultimate theme park for all preschoolers with enhanced ride and play accessibility, writes Shauna McCrudden
The World’s First Peppa Pig Theme Park is set to debut on February 24th, located a 45-minute drive from Orlando in the city of Winter Haven — and just steps away from Legoland Florida. The new park will open as a certified autism centre with enhanced ride and play accessibility. A full Accessibility Guide along with other longer-term plans for continued updates are also in development for all the park’s ‘oinktastic’ experiences, including its six rides, six themed playscapes and water play area.
Kids and their families will enjoy brilliant views from Peppa Pig’s Balloon Ride. Guests will enjoy the ride from whimsical baskets, crafted to look like a hot air balloon and are specially designed to allow children who use wheelchairs to roll on to the ‘balloon basket’ without needing to transfer from their wheelchairs.
In addition to this very special ride, the playful park’s marquee water play attraction, the Muddy Puddles Splash Pad, has also been developed with kid-friendly accessibility in mind. The ground will be specially graded for wheelchair use and several heights of water play elements are being choreographed for the enjoyment of all guests and all abilities. This includes a tunnel of water hoops that can be navigated in a wheelchair and additional interactive splash surprises at varying height levels.
Back on dry land, explorers and ‘little piggies’ will discover additional fun adventures with these same guiding principles of accessibility in mind. Children in wheelchairs will be able to manoeuvre and explore the sensory-rich trail of Peppa’s Pedal Bike Tour without leaving their own wheelchairs. The enchanting, greenery-covered maze walls of George’s Fort have also been mapped out to all ADA guidelines and standards. Additionally, all the Fun Fair, free game counters have been constructed at accessible heights to be easily enjoyed by everyone.
Peppa Pig Theme Park is also now a Certified Autism Center (CAC). As a ‘certified autism centre’, all the attractions have a sensory guide featuring how children with sensory processing issues might be affected by each of the five senses. All staff at the park have undergone autism sensitivity and awareness training, in addition to making more tangible updates to the in-park communications. This makes it easier for parents and families to plan activities that satisfy their child’s specific needs and accommodations so they can plan the ultimate day of adventure for their preschoolers.
Oink, oink, look out grownups!
Tickets, annual passes and vacation packages are now available on PeppaPigThemePark.com/Florida. Check out visitcentralflorida.org for more information
Instagram & Facebook: @PeppaPigThemeParkFlorida and Twitter: @PeppaPigFlorida
Shauna McCrudden
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