We are thrilled to have partnered with Margaret and Dan Lajoie for our Adventures In Accessibility around the Kitchener Waterloo Area. You may recognize their names from their Van For Dan campaign. These posts are their take about family friendly venues that are accessibile for wheelchairs. Do you have questions about accessibility in the Kitchener Waterloo Area? Leave a comment at the bottom of this post and we will do our best to answer it for you.
With lots of Christmas Events and Holiday Festivities happening at this time of year, we thought it would be great to check in with Margaret and Dan about accessible events this winter.
Margaret had this to say....
Something my husband loves is that the artificial outdoor skating rink at Central Park in Preston (where Candyland takes place) it is fully accessible. He took our daughter for her first skate last year by her holding on behind him while he pulled her along. Plus, when he got cold he was able to sit in the van and watch the kids skate some more. The space between the rink and where we parked on King st was no more than the width of the sidewalk!
Another very accessible thing is the Santa at the Cambridge Centre mall has so much room that they can do a family picture with Santa without having to cut off the chair in the picture! Tons of space!
He doesn't generally do too many winter activities as we've either found them incredibly crowded or else they're outdoors.
Sensitive Santa
She also informed us about the Sensitive Santa event happening in Cambridge.
If you have a child that has difficulty mentally or physically, some times visiting Santa can be overwhelming for a family. Cambridge Inclusion Services has a way to assist with this.
Be sure to click the link to learn more about it and to pre-register for the Dec 15 event.
We hope this info is helpful to those in the Kitchener Waterloo area looking for accessible events. Do you have a great one to share? Post it in the comments and we'll make sure to pass the information on to Margaret and Dan!
We are thrilled to have partnered with Margaret and Dan Lajoie for our Adventures In Accessibility around the Kitchener Waterloo Area. You may recognize their names from their Van For Dan campaign. These posts are their take about family friendly venues that are accessibile for wheelchairs. Do you have questions about accessibility in the Kitchener Waterloo Area? Leave a comment at the bottom of this post and we will do our best to answer it for you.
Accessible Pumpkin Patch Assessment
Our Pumpkin Patches and Corn Maze post is always a popular one. Margaret, Dan and the kids decided to visit a couple of pumpkin patches from the list and here are the results
SHANTZHOLM PUMPKINS http://www.shantzholmpumpkins.ca/ Free + cost of pumpkin
We went to Shantzholm and both kids loved it! My husband wasn't able to access the pumpkin field due to the terrain but could easily see the kids (even wagons/strollers wouldn't be able to get into the field very far) but there are some pumpkins right along the path he was on so kids in wheelchairs could still participate picking their own from the field. There are also tons pre-picked at the farm entrance that people can pick from. We did the corn maze, but there were a few areas that got a little bumpy but still manageable. We turned around and came back out the way we went in only because the maze is LONG! Not sure about accessing the animals since we didn't get to it but I noticed lots of strollers and wagons over there so guessing wheelchairs would have no troubles. For younger kids there's a hay bale maze with trikes and Step2 climbers and slides but wouldn't be enough room for a child in a wheelchair to pass through. Wagon ride is definitely inaccessible and pretty steep to lift an older child onto without a second person's help. Parking is NOT favourable for wheelchair users but they didn't mind us using their private driveway to load/unload. If we had asked they might have allowed us to park there due to the circumstances, but it wasn't a big deal for us that day. Highly recommend them and will be returning again closer to Halloween to get our official carving pumpkin! The entire day cost us $3 (1 medium sized pumpkin and 1 large gourde).
SNYDERS FAMILY FARM http://www.snydersfamilyfarm.com/pumpkin-patch (formerly known as Kim-Glo) see website for pricing
Okay, we also went to Snyder's (thanks to free tickets from my boss) so here are my thoughts for anyone with accessibility concerns. The kids had a ton of fun, and my son loved that there were more things for kids his age (9 yrs) including a haunted house and bouncy castles and hay mountains. The animals were literally right in your face at the petting area however..... The ground was extremely uneven for people in chairs and they seemed to be stopping people from bringing their own wagons in too! The farm is very large and spread out with lots to do, but not somewhere I would recommend for those in wheelchairs. We didn't make it to the corn maze so I can't comment on theirs compared to Shantzholm's. In a nut shell, if you're planning on making a FULL day of it and your kids are on the older side (and no wheelchairs) I would recommend paying the money and going to Snyders. If you have younger ones, wheelchairs/wagons, or want a fun free few hours out at a farm then I recommend Shantzholm!
Have you visited an accessible pumpkin patch lately? We would love to hear your thoughts! Leave your comment below or on this post on our facebook group.
