Amusement Park for All Abilities

Last night we had the opportunity to visit a local amusement park, courtesy of the Green Bay Preble Optimist Club. This was a unique opportunity because the park was closed to the general public. The Optimist Club rented out the park and invited families with a child with a disability to attend. This enabled families to avoid the chaos and commotion that is often too much for families to navigate with their child(ren)'s disabilities. 

It was amazing to see so many wheelchairs (with ride attendants wheeling them right up to the rides to assist), visually impaired individuals and others with visible and invisible disabilities. For one thing, Teddy fits into this environment. He's not different because everyone is different. Second, it was truly heartwarming getting to see the joy that everyone got the opportunity to experience.

Check out the amazing view from the Ferris Wheel.

We've taken our boys to this amusement park in the past, with at least one adult dedicated to Teddy. They even have a disability access pass that we used once, which definitely helped when I was there solo with Teddy. But due to COVID, we've avoided the park the last two seasons because it would be way too people-y for us to be comfortable with Teddy, even outdoors and with masks. However, we knew this evening would be few people since it was limited to families with disabilities. 

Dave was going to be late getting home from work, so unfortunately he was left beyond. No worries, though, because I had plenty of help (with AJ, Sigrid and Bri). We got to enjoy the 8 rides that were open, which included Teddy's two favorites: the train ride and the carousel. There's also a fantastic Ferris wheel with stunning views, especially at dusk. We mildly traumatized Teddy with the drop ride. He was rather quick to run away from that ride and was skittish about getting on the next one. However, he settled down and transitioned back to happy Ted about halfway through the Ferris wheel. 

I will admit the Tilt-o-Whirl followed by the Scrambler had me mighty grateful for additional support. I came way too close to losing my supper. I blame my children because before kids I was up for any ride. Now my equilibrium protests, and that combo nearly did me in. 

But all in all, we had an amazing evening. It was wonderful to get to enjoy the amusement park rides, the acceptance and make some special memories.