Inclusive Travel in California

SENSORY EXPERIENCES

Bouncing Around
Once a month Rebounderz Adventure Park in Sacramento offers a Sensory Friendly Night. The normally boisterous trampoline arena dials down the music and distractions to ensure that kids with special needs and sensory sensitivities can enjoy the high flyin’ fun. Parents or caretakers are allowed to assist on the jumper if needed.

Mellow Mornings
Unleash your imagination at Santa Barbara’s Mellow Mornings at the MOXI. This kids museum focuses on exploration and innovation, and once a month invites those with autism and sensory processing challenges to enjoy an experience crafted with their needs in mind. Noise and light levels are lowered, dedicated comfort spaces are designated, and a sensory backpack kit with noise reducing headphones, fidget spinners and more is provided.

Splish Splash
With live DJs, loud kids and big crowds, hotel pools can be chaotic places. At the recently renovated Westin Mission Hills Golf Resort & Spa in Rancho Mirage, the La Paloma pool is a dedicated quiet pool where you can soak up the California desert sun with a level of serenity not found at most high-energy resort pools. Marriott properties worldwide are continuing to add features that embrace inclusive travel, from on-site amenities to a better online experience.


ACCESSIBLE FRIENDLY

Gone Fishing
If you’re looking to catch tonight’s dinner, or simply to enjoy the Zen of fishing, head to McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park in the Shasta Cascade region. From the overlook to Burney Falls, the short, relatively flat, crushed dirt Headwaters Trail leads to an accessible fishing pier. There is also another accessible fishing pier and beach wheelchair rentals along the longer Lake Britton Beach Trailhead.

Tahoe Trails
The stark beauty of the Sierra Nevada wilderness is best explored on the many nature trails in the Tahoe area. The Pine Drop Trail located near Tahoe Vista is a beautiful, nearly flat, wide paved trail that takes outdoor lovers on a tour of the many wildflowers in the national forest.

Play Time
Matteo’s Dream was one of the first all-ability playgrounds in the Bay Area when it debuted in 2007 in Hillcrest Park. The city of Concord and its local Lions Club built the fun playground with the help of many local volunteers. It features a rubber surface and extra-wide ramps to allow children in wheelchairs to maneuver easily, specially treated slides that don’t generate static that interferes with cochlear implants or other hearing devices, and a tactile slide that lets children with visual impairments feel different surfaces.

Lofty Views
Located in Torrance, the Annenberg Treehouse is California’s original universally accessible treehouse. Opened in 2005 in Wilson Park, the whimsical treehouse was created to give kids and adults of all ages and physical abilities a fanciful experience and bird’s eye view of the area.

Beach Bum
Nine of San Diego’s iconic beaches, including Mission Bay and Coronado Beach, offer free manual or power beach wheelchairs to provide access for all to the ocean. The special chairs are a hybrid of a wheelchair and dune buggy designed to navigate soft sand with ease. Several other area beaches have sand access mats available for wheelchair users to get to the beach.

Nature Getaway
Two hours outside of Los Angeles, but a million mindsets away, Lake Arrowhead Resort & Spa is an outdoor lovers paradise. The resort was designed with a host of accessible features to help wheelchair users enjoy the unspoiled landscape.

All-Terrain Access
Five new beach wheelchairs – for a total of ten – are now available for visitors and locals to use at any of eight state beaches in Santa Cruz County. Supplied by Deming Designs Inc., the new wheelchairs are a standard fixed-frame, all-terrain, stainless steel model, with removable swing-away armrests. Shared Adventures, a local nonprofit organization, provides additional access including multi-day beach wheelchair use and beach wheelchairs for children.


GOING ABOVE & BEYOND

Knott’s Berry Farm
From a small family farm to the world famous theme park it is today, Knott’s Berry Farm has always put the focus on family fun for everyone. Its Boarding Pass program allows guests with mobility restrictions or cognitive impairment to access attractions at specified times via the alternate access entrance in order to avoid crowds and waiting in the regular lines. The park also has staff to help assist guests with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Disneyland Resort
Inclusivity reigns at the happiest place on earth. Disneyland offers a host of accessibility programs and services to ensure that Disney magic is delivered to all. The Disability Access Service helps manage wait times, assistive listening systems help the hearing impaired, and braille guidebooks bring the Disney world alive to visually challenged guests.

Northern Exposure
Nestled on the Northern California coast, the Glendeven Inn & Lodge is a boutique, adults-only haven where guests are recharged by the power of the towering redwoods and the calming influence of the water and ocean breezes. With a concierge fluent in sign language and accessible rooms, the inn is inclusive to all. Van Damme State Park surrounds the property and its own grounds are filled with gardens and llamas and chickens that roam at will.

City-Wide Initiative
Visalia was the first California city to adopt the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower, a program designed to help travelers with various needs obtain additional support while traveling. Visit Visalia offers Hidden Disabilities Sunflower lanyards and bracelets complimentary to travelers that request. When worn, the sunflower serves as a visual cue to trained hospitality staff throughout Visalia that a traveler may need additional support during their visit.

Play Ball
Launching in fall 2021, the Vacaville Play 4 All Park is an accessible outdoor space for picnics, sports and relaxation. The new park features two barrier-free baseball fields, accessible play areas for crawling, walking, and wheeling, people-friendly surfaces that encourage mobility, and two dog parks. The city of Vacaville also just joined the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower program.

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