Accessible theme parks

I just finished reading “Theme Park Design: Behind the scenes with an engineer” by Steve Alcorn. I picked it up at the Bookstore during the IAAPA Expo in Orlando last month and took advantage of the flight home to read quite a lot of the way through. The book describes in a very realistic way how talented people make plans–and adapt to reality–using examples from his own career in show engineering with a number of theme parks, as employee and as contracted consultant, including many examples from his role in the organization now known as Walt Disney Imagineering and particularly the construction and launch of Disney’s second Florida park: Epcot. The book clearly differentiates the many specializations required to conceive, design, plan, build, test, and operate an amusement attraction. I was particularly reassured that it validated the theme park design roles I have learned about through years of hard labour (okay, not that hard to take, but undertaken diligently!)

Just one part of the book struck me as a foreign body, and that was in Chapter 11, A Dose of Reality, the final section “ADA”, or Americans with Disabilities Act. This wonderful piece of legislation created a social-justice sea change and a new normal and has genuinely changed the life course of people with disabilities in the USA and the enjoyment of visiting the USA.

The ADA section, three paragraphs describes (paragraph 1) ADA mandating a broad range of accommodations, (paragraph 2) that most attractions must [listing of accommodations], and (paragraph 3)  concludes “We need to evaluate every attraction for compliance with this law.”

My heart sank. Throughout the book were stories that lyrically recounted the commitment to the guest experience and the extremes to which the diverse cast of engineers and designers would go to achieve the best show. It was as though this section was written by a completely different author.

The theme park industry, and Disney Parks outstanding among them, has demonstrated tremendous ingenuity to achieve accessibility to guests with disabilities and their travelling companions. It is incomprehensible that the designs they have produced are the result of “evaluating every attraction for compliance”. Compliance isn’t even the half of it. These designs demonstrate ingenuity that can only be the result of thriving on a challenge and rising to meet it.

From my perspective as a person with a disability and an advocate with a network comprising many different disabilities, I would put Disney Parks as not just the “happiest place on earth” but a strong contender for the most accessible place as well. The parks clearly illustrate the Walt Disney philosophy in the “Walt quote” in the image: delight ALL members of the family. People with disabilities are not just single tickets; they are single tickets in a group of four tickets, or six tickets, or a dozen tickets. The investment in accessibility is not merely compliance. It is part of the mission of safety, courtesy, show, and efficiency.

The multiple ingenious wheelchair-loading ride vehicles on several rides are tremendous examples of how engineering is ultimately about people. These mechanisms are also done in a way that does not spoil the show for other guests. Stopping the ride to load a wheelchair is a perfect opportunity for other guests to rack up big scores in Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin, or get more practice at target shooting in Toy Story Midway Mania. The sliding track segment in some Space Mountains fascinates me every time, and gets a great deal of use, proving the point that when you build it (accessibility), they will come. The many different ways of providing communication access including handheld text display devices, rear projection captions, closed captions on pre-attraction video presentations, and sign language interpretation of parades and other shows are also often feats of design, maintenance, and operations. I cannot count the number of times I have seen a party with no blind guests exploring a Braille map with wonder, as though learning about blind navigation was itself an attraction exhibit.

It is a small note, but I hope the next edition presents accessibility (and the equally brief section on safety) at more length and in a tone more in line with the rest of this well done book.