Morgans Wonderland

[SlimSkeeter]

Theme Park for Those With Special Needs

A boy's first ride on a carousel. A 57-year-old woman's first time on a swing. A no-holds-barred adventure in the water. These are simple joys that for so many people with special needs were out of reach, until a place called Morgan's Wonderland came around.

Morgan's Wonderland in San Antonio, the first large theme park created for people with special needs, was created by Gordon Hartman, 46, a former San Antonio real estate developer who said his daughter Morgan was his inspiration.

"Morgan has really taught me that there's more to life in many ways than what I saw before, being so busy as a business man," Hartman said.

Hartman's 16-year-old daughter Morgan suffers from severe cognitive delay. A few years ago, Hartman sold his business and began spending more time with Morgan and her friends, he said.

One day, while he and Morgan were in a swimming pool, Hartman said he had a realization that helped put his life into perspective.

"There were some other children at the other end of the pool, a couple of kids playing with a ball back and forth and you could tell Morgan wanted to play with them," Hartman said.

But because of her inability to communicate properly, Morgan and the kids were left on opposite sides of the pool. So Hartman decided to make sure there was a place where couldn't, shouldn't or can't were not a part of the vocabulary.

He raised $30 million, including $1 million of his own, to build Morgan's Wonderland, which is scheduled to officially open on April 10 but has already been open to some visitors.

Taking Special Care to Design a Park for Special Needs

"Morgan's Wonderland is a park that has been designed with special needs individuals in mind, at the beginning of the process and throughout the entire process," Hartman said.

The concept of inclusion goes far beyond the design of the park. Admission is free for those with disabilities, and only costs $5 for friends and family.

Some of the features of the park's layout are easy to understand: big, wide ramps for wheelchairs and a sensory village to enjoy light, touch and sounds.

But other features are not so obvious. The park has special computer bracelets that allow you to keep track of each other while in the park. The size of the crowd is also controlled, because big numbers can be overwhelming for many of these kids.

Debbie West, the mother of 11-year-old Ashton West who has cerebral palsy and ditaxia, said the park is an opportunity she never thought her son would have.

"You see them struggle with so many different things, little things that no one could even imagine," she said. "You know seeing here without that limitation, it is just, it's overwhelming, it is amazing, it is fun.

"I just admire anybody with disabilities who can just, they find their way, they make their way and do what they want to do, but they have to do it differently," she said. "You are only disabled in an environment that makes you that way. And you are not here."

It is a sentiment shared by Courtney Wyrtzen, who brought her daughter Blythe to the park. When Wyrtzen looks at her daughter's face while in the park, she said she sees "pure joy."

Hearing and seeing how happy the park makes people is the best reward for his hard work, Hartman said.

"The best thanks is when these kids come up to me and hug me and say thank you and they don't even have to say thank you, you can see it in their eyes," he said.

And of course, there is the incredible added reward of finally having a place where his own child, Morgan, can play and feel like she belongs.

"Morgan taught me that there's more to life in many ways than what I saw before," said Hartman. "The blessing that Morgan has brought is beyond anything that I ever could have imagined and could explain."


Parents of special needs kids have their very own disneyland to take their kids to, now, that caters directly to their needs.

Now they can laugh and play and have all the fun they should be having but weren't for fear of rejection or lack of communication.

I know some moms who would give anything for that, just to see that glint in their child's eyes.

AND (and here is something that Disney would never do) the very children that this park is dedicated to get in FREE. Friends and family, $5. Pretty damn cheap if you ask me. I hope to see this place expand exponentially.

[RapedBySeveral]

Very awwwww.

But!

"You are only disabled in an environment that makes you that way."

No.

[CrAnIuM]

Nothing wrong with that ..


Kids need to be kids, even the retards.

[Wenis]

AND (and here is something that Disney would never do) the very children that this park is dedicated to get in FREE. Friends and family, $5. Pretty damn cheap if you ask me. I hope to see this place expand exponentially.

Sounds really decent- Hope it doesn't go bust.

[Josie]

Cool place. Somewhere I should never visit. I empathize with people with disabilities.... but I also laugh at "inappropriate" times. As in, when something really is funny - but everyone else is so damn busy being sappy and feeling sorry for [insert gimp here] that they're perma stuck in sad mode.

Then I'm the devil. Then I open my mouth. Then there's a fat argument and Josie is asked to leave.

Still. Pretty cool.

My grandfather, though a pedophile, used to (up until last year) sponsor an event called the "Ice Fishing Jamboree" in Anchorage, Alaska.

Everything was free for the disabled and all events were designed to be wheelchair friendly. It was really pretty awesome too. It wasn't just ice fishing. It was indoor fake rifle ranges, pony rides, mini dog sled races,hot cocoa, soups, donuts/other yummies, ice fishing in either tents or out in the open, little competitions for prizes, raffles... etc.

I think someone has taken over now, I hope it doesn't go down hill.

[Negativecool]

Cool place. Somewhere I should never visit. I empathize with people with disabilities.... but I also laugh at "inappropriate" times. As in, when something really is funny - but everyone else is so damn busy being sappy and feeling sorry for [insert gimp here] that they're perma stuck in sad mode.

Then I'm the devil. Then I open my mouth. Then there's a fat argument and Josie is asked to leave.

Still. Pretty cool.

You and me both sister. Don't let the self-righteous gimp lovers getcha down. Laugh and be proud you don't have to ride the short bus.

[Josie]

Laugh and be proud you don't have to ride the short bus.

Hehehehe, okay the town I live in? Has one normal sized bus. The rest are short buses that speed around all crazy like... now... it's either that we live in a small town orrrrr it could be that we live in an area where radiation and lead poisoning are a real issue and all the kids are stupefied.

Seeing as I should be outta here in about 5 months, I laugh and like to think it's the water.

[SlimSkeeter]

Granted, I'd probably laugh too, but here is my logic: They and their parents wish for them to be treated as equals. I would laugh at pretty much any misfortune that wasn't tragic in nature. For them to ask me to treat them differently than I would treat anyone else is for them to admit that I'm better than they are. That I should show difference to them because they are lesser than me. If, in fact, they are equals, I shall treat them thus. If they are lesser, then thus it shall be. I leave it to them to decide.


My favorite cousin has a daughter who has this. Shes a sweet girl, but its a terminal condition. In fact, shes in the record books, because she has survived the longest with this condition. Make fun of her all the time. So long as you know her. IF you don't know her, be ready for an ass whoopin if you poke fun. Why make fun of her? Because that way she doesn't feel like shes some lump who doesn't deserve to join in the fun.