Reviewing a Theme Park for Autism Friendliness

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Are any of you roller coaster fanatics and/or theme park goers?

I am one of those people. I've been riding roller coasters since I was 4 or 5. And I've been to theme parks in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Florida.

Anyway, I'd like to review my local theme park, Kings Island in Mason, OH, for autism friendliness. Since I'm a big fan of the park, and that I am an Aspie, I want to take my interest of roller coasters and turn it into something beneficial for others. I want to help improve the policies that they have already in place for guests with autism spectrum disorders. So far, they have a timed ride admission ticket where one can go to a ride at a certain time, and I believe they get to go ahead of the line with this policy. I plan on doing a tour of the park, about a dozen or so on-ride videos (with Kings Island's consent), and do a 5 to 10-minute interview of a Public Relations member, asking them questions on the subject of Kings Island and autism. I will also mention sensory stimuli that I encounter in the park that could affect someone on the spectrum.

If anyone has ideas on what to look for or include in my review, let me know. I will upload my review video to YouTube, and possibly Wrong Planet as well. I will need to contact the park via letter so I can try to get authorization to film on the rides. Support is encouraged, and wish me luck in my endeavor.

...I haven't been to an amusement park in so many years .

This is a really good idea! Are you going to make a site?

Will you go to different parks? I would be very interested to hear what you have to say about OH and PA parks.

I would love a site with information like this. My aspie husband and I don't go on as many trips as we used to now that we have a little boy. And we're not as adventurous. Something like what you're suggesting would save time and headaches for a lot of us.

Maybe. I want to make it a joint project between Wrong Planet and my YouTube account. I'll have to let Wrong Planet's administrators know about my project so they give . As far as YouTube goes, I have 302 followers and over 430,000 overall video views with a YouTube Partnership under Music Nations Network.

For now, I want to start out with the theme parks in my home state of Ohio. I'll start with Kings Island since they're 30 miles south of where I live while Cedar Point is 3 hours north of me. If my project goes well, I will consider other parks around the US, and perhaps Canada and the UK.

But for me to get the review project going, I first have to get permission from Kings Island's Public Relations department (PR) (as well any of the other parks I contact) to film on the rides. Many theme parks forbid cameras for mainly insurance reasons since they can fly off and hit someone (resulting in injuries and lawsuits). If Kings Island's ride operators catch anyone with a camera on all but two specific rides, they can eject them from the park and ban them for x amount of time. Trying to reasonably convince them for permission to use a camera on a ride while in public operation will be the tough part. Perhaps doing my review project for the non-profit purpose of helping those with autism spectrum disorders, in association with an credible autism website can convince Kings Island's PR manager to let me film. I have to film while riding during public operation so an Aspie or someone else can see and hear what's typically expected on a roller coaster, thrill ride, etc. If not, the project will be ruined.

Then I'll need to a 5-10 minute Q&A interview with a PR representative. I want to compare what they're doing for guests on the spectrum verses what's said in words on their website.

Then I want to share any and all feedback on my review to Kings Island's PR department so they can changes and hear from everyone else about park policies and how effective they are.

I'm not trying to seek fame or fortune on this, but I want to be the ambassador for people with Autism Spectrum Disorders and theme parks.

That is fantastic idea! One of my kids loves rollercoasters. We've only gone twice though, so I wouldn't exactly say we're "fanatics" . But I did decide NOT to go to Disneyland thanks to online reviews, so I have definitely found these types of reviews to be helpful. Since you are in Ohio, I have heard that Cedar Point Amusement Park which is in Ohio, is good for bringing an autistic person to. Have you ever been there?

Some things I consider before going anywhere (most of these things, I find by phoning the park, but it would be convenient to have a guide somewhere):
-if they have anywhere we can go to get a 'sensory break'
-what kind of food they have, and can we bring our own food
-how much shade there is
-average wait times
-staff reactions to special needs (do they get any training?)
-where are service dogs not allowed? *

*The first time we went to the park, I assumed they would be allowed everywhere on the ground (although obviously not on the rides), but actually our local place didn't allow service dogs in several places. Not into the waiting area for rides (my kid already has a hard time waiting, if you take his dog, we won't be able to wait at all) and not in the first aid area, which is where they advised us to go for a 'sensory break' (again, when my son is going into meltdown mode, taking the dog away is not going to help…). So having experienced that, I've learned that this question is very important for us.

Those are great things to bring up to the PR representative and to mention in my review. I have been to Cedar Point 3 times in my life, and I've been to Kings Island (which is also owned by Cedar Fair, the parent company of Cedar Point). Disneyland and Disney World are too overrated and too sensory-packed that I gladly refuse to review them in my project.

I will tour the park, and try to look for a point with the least sensory stimuli (if Kings Island does not have an area for a sensory break). By Ohio law, bottles of water can brought into the park and outside food can be brought into picnic areas. I'll make sure to bring up what a person can do if they, or someone in their party has certain dietary restrictions. On the website, Kings Island claims that the staff are trained to accommodate for guests with autism. I should also check for ADA wheelchair accessibility for attractions where someone in a wheelchair can get into a coaster car if they can physically be able to ride the ride. Kings Island does allow service dogs into the park.

If I had the money, I would like to build and manage my own sensory-friendly amusement park. But until then, I'm going to make the difference, and I will not let some money-hungry corporation and/or some non-autistic person seeking instant gratification represent us as a whole.

You sound like you have a talent for this kind of thing. Are you considering doing this as a paid job, or a personal project only?

If you are able to write a professional report for the theme park you could use it as an example of your work and offer "autistic reviews" for all types of commercial/public places, offering them lots of ideas on how to accommodate for us. You would have to keep the report neutral/positive in tone because they wont pay you to slate their businesses- they want ideas to help them get the most MONEY out of happy disabled customers and their family/friends. You would also have to be realistic about their budgets- they can't cater for everything for everyone- so maybe focus on what the staff could do better or small changes to the environment or systems, like the ones you mentioned?

What I meant was, even though you are doing this purely to help other people, you would get more access to change things (and permission to film etc) if you frame it in a positive-only light for the businesses. I'm sure many businesses (not just theme parks) would pay you something for that sort of service and you could make a difference to more places over the years.

It's going to be a personal project for the time being. If some company wants to pay me or put my name out there for an honest review which can positively impact their business, I will accept it. But I will take into account that not everything is offered at a park, and that not all people on the spectrum like roller coasters or theme parks as a whole.

As far as the positive/neutral stuff goes, I will only say what I like and what they need to improve on (with honest proof). I want to be unbiased, by I don't want to sound like a jerk by saying such a company or place is bad just because of such reason. Not everyone's experiences are 100% positive in any aspect of business. And hopefully viewer/reader feedback can add to my review as I share it with the parks that participate in the project. But I have to get my stuff together, and get what I need for the project first before I go into how I will respectfully rate a theme park.

I will base my review upon these following criteria:
- Location (Distance for major cities in the same state)
- Cost (Admission, parking fees, paid attractions, nearby lodging averages)
- Food (what is the selection, and policies about bringing in food from outside, especially if it involves someone with dietary restrictions)
- Auditory sensory stimuli (roller coaster chain lifts, ride noises, music on loud speakers, screaming, laughing, fireworks, etc.)
- Visual sensory stimuli (lights, special effects, array of colors on signs, large and small areas, Halloween events at a certain time and date, etc.)
- Other sensory stimuli (smells of food, etc.)
- Ride wait times on average? Are their ways to avoid the lines without cutting in front of everyone in line?
- Is the staff trained to accommdate guests with special needs?
- Service dogs allowed?
- Wheelchair accessibility for basic rides?
- Is there a "cool-down" area where someone who is autistic can calm down if they're over-stressed or about ready to have a meltdown?

Sounds like a great idea!

I will contact Wrong Planet's developer, Alex Plank, to see if I can do this review for the website.

I just visualized service dogs on rides and was utterly delighted. Oh well. Anyway...

If they don't allow you video the rides do you think you could take pictures? That would help. Pictures of things like the food and sensory overload areas would be helpful too. Maybe you could do one of those paypal donation things so that we could help fund you?

This really is a great idea.

That is another good idea. The pictures will be in the review video and on forum posts for Wrong Planet. I will take pictures of the food and sensory overload areas where the commotion is at its highest.

I don't know how PayPal donations work, but I do have a paid YouTube partnership. I don't make much of anything on that partnership, but I'm probably going to invest what I can into a decent quality action camera (pending Kings Island's response).

I plan on mailing a letter to Kings Island's PR Manager, Don Helbig, and see what his response is. Hopefully, he'll give me the okay to film on the coasters and an okay for an interview. This review is my way of giving back to both the autism community and to the park.

I'm going to have to cancel the project. Too much red tape (requirements & restrictions) with trying to get authorization to film on rides and for an interview, not enough money in my bank, and not enough demand from outside Wrong Planet. Unless I can some come up magic media credentials, my name and experience is nothing to Kings Island's PR manager. Sorry that I built up all this momentum, just to let all of you down in the end.

No need to apologise (as far as I'm concerned anyway). It was an ambitious project.

If you want to do it though, you could start smaller. Then if the blog grows into something that would benefit the parks, they might allow you to film and stuff. I can't see any reason why you wouldn't be allowed to blog about your experience at the park, and even include pictures. This is a blog I follow:
http://www.lovethatmax.com/2014/01/how- ... works.html
She says at the bottom that Disney paid for her entrance into the park because she's a blogger, so maybe you need permission to post personal pictures, but I'd be very surprised.

I was too ambitious. But that's probably a better route. I can film at Kings Island, just not on the rides, except for their steam train and their 1/3 replica of the Eiffel Tower. I've double checked their camera policy for good measure.

I do YouTube videos in my spare time, and so far I've done 2 specific videos on Kings Island. I plan to do more off-ride videos and some vlog-type videos soon (but no on-ride stuff, until I get permission).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3R8T0VJBl_4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnjsG8Zv84k