In 2006, Gordon Hartman observed his daughter, Morgan, who has Tatton-Brown-Rahman syndrome, a rare genetic disease, wanting to play with other vacationing kids at a hotel swimming pool, but the kids were leery of Morgan and didn’t want to interact with her.
Then and there, Gordon resolved to create opportunities and places where those with and without disabilities can come together for fun and a better understanding of one another. On April 10, 2010, Morgan’s Wonderland became the world’s first theme park designed with individuals with special needs in mind.
Hartman started on a quest to create a space where no one felt left out. He had experience as a builder and enlisted help from other experts to turn his dream into what is now Morgan's Wonderland.
In 2017, the Ultra-Accessible™ theme park opened it’s expansion, Morgan’s Inspiration Island, which was named on the 2018 “World’s Greatest Places” list by TIME Magazine.
The park with an 8 acre lake is circled by a super small train, and it has a Ferris wheel, zip lining and even a water park – all fully accessible.
And for people who can't get their electric wheelchairs wet, Hartman and his team have a solution. "We have a wheelchair valet," said Hartman. "You go from your wheelchair to a wheelchair that has been specially built to the size that you need and if you're in a battery-operated wheelchair, we actually give you a nomadic wheelchair, which works off compressed air. It works underwater."
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