MORGAN'S WONDERLAND

Good Day RettGirls!

This week we are so very excited about bringing you something new. For the first time at RettGirl.org we have a guest blogger! Her name is Brandi Mounce and she is the mother of Andrew Mounce, one of the special and amazing little boys with Rett Syndrome!

Brandi is also the mother of three more incredible little girls, and we are honored that she has taken the time to be our guest and let us know her take on Morgan's Wonderland -- an ultra-accessible family fun park in her neck of the woods... San Antonio, Texas!

Instead of just browsing the site we wanted a first-hand account of what it was really like there for a family living with Rett Syndrome.

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Morgan's Wonderland is a favorite place for our family and many others around Texas. Living in San Antonio we have several amusement parks to visit: Sea World, Six Flags and now Morgan's Wonderland.

It was designed and built by Gordon Hartman, a local businessman, who dedicated the park to his daughter Morgan, a teenager with an intellectual disability. The park is an inclusive environment that was designed with cognitive and physically disabled individuals in mind. In the park there are wheelchair accessible swings, wheelchair accessible rides on a carousel as well as a train that wraps around a pond.

The sensory village provides interactive areas such as a store front, darkened room with sounds and lights, and a repair shop that allows you to create sounds by touching power tools. Most of the staff are volunteers and many stand on or near the playground to help individuals down slides or climb on the playground.

There is also a water station area that is interactive and an outdoor theatre used during the summer months. This park truly is the first of its kind and the only park designed to meet the needs of people with disabilities.

A limited number of people are allowed in the park on a daily basis so reservations are recommended. At first, I was annoyed about having to make a reservation but after visiting I realize it keeps things from becoming overcrowded, and keeps my kiddos from being overstimulated by all the noise.

Individuals with disabilities get in free and are allowed one individual to accompany them at a reduced entrance fee. Pretty cool, right? I will never forget our first visit to the park and watching a large group of disabled adults from a group home play on the playground. Their smiles said it all. Finally a park for EVERYONE!

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You can find Morgan's Wonderland under Travel/Camps and at the link below.

http://rettgirl.org/2011/03/morgans-wonderland/

For more information on our guest blogger and her family click on here. If you would like to be a guest blogger, email us!

Have a great week everyone!