San Diego with A Wheelchair

NOTE: This article originally appeared in Exceptional Parent On-line in 2009. It has been revised and updated.

 San Diego – Let’s go!

My daughter Amanda has autistic behaviors as well as mobility and cognitive impairments. We’ve always loved to travel, but limited our trips to family visits as Amanda’s disability became less manageable. It just seemed like too much work to go very far with her. However, after our second daughter’s birth we realized that we shouldn’t shelter either of them.

Reasoning that the United States is more accessible than most foreign countries we decided to fly to San Diego. We lived there when were first married and loved the area. Even before we had a child with special needs it was easy to see that San Diego is a very accessible city. In fact, we had taken Amanda twice as a toddler.

This time before going I did a lot of internet research. We emailed Accessible San Diego , the nation's oldest center for information for travelers with disabilities. The center has an info line that helps travelers find accessible hotels, tours, attractions, and transportation. You can purchase a downloadable copy of Accessible San Diego’s annual guide online. In the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau's Dining and Accommodations guide, a wheelchair symbol designates places that are accessible.

In the past we’ve stayed at the La Jolla Shores Hotel. It’s a charming hotel right on the beach. It has ramps and elevators and is accessible. We love the view and the proximity to the beach.  We decided to  rent a 2 bed room ranch with ocean views for less than one room in the hotel would have cost. The rental house didn’t have an accessible bathroom, which wasn’t a problem for us but might be for some families.

Most of the city's major attractions are wheelchair friendly, including the walkways and museums of BalboaPark, the San Diego Zoo (which has bus tours to navigate the steep canyons), SeaWorld, the SafariPark, and downtown'sGaslamp Quarter. Take advantage of Balboa Park's "Free Tuesdays" if you can! Legoland is close by in Carlsbad.Old Town and the beaches require a little more effort, but are basically accessible.

You don’t have to spend a lot of money to enjoy San Diego. The weather is great almost all year. There are lots of free outdoor activities, from beaches to public parks. At Ocean Beach, La Jolla Shores and other beaches a rubber walkway  allows limited access over the sand. A special beach wheel chair is kept at the main lifeguard station at most public beaches and is available on a first come, first served basis - for free.



Using the ramp at La Jolla Shores Beach

Our favorite beach is La JollaShores Beach. We went there nearly every afternoon. The rubber ramp is almost always on the sand so it’s easy for Amanda to get on to the beach. It has a fabulous paved walkway that runs the length of the beach where she can walk or be pushed in her wheelchair. Amanda loves watching beach volleyball and the Frisbee games played in adjacent KelloggPark. The park is also accessible and has grills, benches and picnic tables. Most of the parks and playgrounds in San Diego meet or exceed the standards laid out in the Americans with Disabilities Act, with the exception of some of the sand based beach parks.

The  Trolley is a fun way to see the downtown area, without having to walk. There are stops at a number of attractions including Old Town (the historic district) and SeaportVillage, a waterfront shopping and dining area. Riders with disabilities pay a reduced fare of $1.25 for the trolley. All MTS buses and trolleys are equipped with wheelchair lifts.

The Old Town section of San Diego focuses on Mexican heritage. It’s fun to explore the bustling Mercado with its eclectic shops. There are several restaurants, many which feature Mexican food. There is normally live music and it is absolutely free. The market hours are 9 am - 3 pm. Amanda has always enjoyed eating quesadillas and watching the mariachi bands in Old Town.

Old Town San Diego State Historic Park has some interesting historic houses that you can visit during the day. Entrance to the Historic Park is free. However, there are uneven brick walkways, entry stairs, narrow doors and high thresholds. The Robinson Rose House, the current visitor center, is accessible, including the store. Other accessible areas include Seeley’s Stable Barn, the Casa de Estudillo and its garden, the Courthouse Jail exhibit, the Old Town Theater Barn and the Casa Machado de Silvas.

We like visiting Balboa Park. In addition to the San Diego Zoo there are beautiful gardens and 15 museums. Amanda’s favorite museum is the Rueben H. FleetScience Center. It has an IMAX theater as well as nearly 100 hands on exhibits, including computers! “Kid City” is a colorful, interactive space designed for young children to play and learn. The San Diego Model Railroad Museum has 4 enormous scale and model layouts depicting railroads of the Southwest.



View from Birch Aquarium



We also love the Stephen Birch Aquarium in La Jolla. Birch Aquarium is wheelchair accessible and wheelchairs are available for visitors' use. The Aquarium has sharks, seahorses, living coral reefs as well as a large Kelp Tank with a diving show. There are tidal pools where the kids can touch aquatic animals and one of the best views of the Pacific Ocean in La Jolla!

There are a number of discount passes available for San Diego’s major attractions. We purchased a 3-for-1 pass that allowed us unlimited access to the Zoo, the Safari Parkand SeaWorld for 5 consecutive days.

Our first stop was the Safari Park in Escondido, which is 45 minutes north of the city. There is plenty of handicapped parking. The Safari Park walkways are completely paved and easy to access. The Park offers informational pamphlets, including scripts for the hearing impaired and a special map for guests with walking disabilities. A free shuttle is available to the Heart of Africa and Condor Ridge exhibits.



Safari Park



The girls enjoyed seeing the animals in natural environments. There is a petting “kraal” where they could pet baby deer and an area where they could feed lorikeets. Our favorite part was the Journey into Africa Tour (which was included with our passes, but isn’t included in all value packages). It was a 25 minute electric “train” ride through the Park’s African savannah. There are giraffes, rhinos, elephants, Cape buffalo and other animals, roaming free in the nearly 1000 acre enclosure. The train attendants were very friendly and even allowed us to pre-board.

The girls’ favorite attraction was Sea World San Diego.  There is a lot of walking and people with mobility impairments should either bring or borrow a wheelchair. There is an on-line accessibility guide with detailed information about their services. We went to as many shows as we could – from Shamu to Pets Rule! The girls both loved seeing the animals perform. The theaters all had special seating areas with good viewing angles.

We had so much fun at Sea World and the beach that we went back every day. We never made it to the world famous San Diego Zoo in Balboa Park. That leaves something to look forward to on our next trip to San Diego!