Helping Santa Barbara welcome families visiting Gwendolyn’s Playground
The planned 2027 grand opening of Gwendolyn’s Playground is an extraordinary opportunity for Santa Barbara. The playground is likely to attract families with disabled children from throughout the region and beyond.
Their experience, however, will extend far beyond the playground itself.
Families must also find suitable lodging, travel between destinations, obtain meals, use restrooms, and understand which local attractions can accommodate their needs. A truly inclusive destination considers the entire visitor experience—not just one accessible location.
ACT is independently exploring how Santa Barbara’s hotels and other visitor-serving facilities can better welcome disabled travelers and their families.
Starting with nearby hotels
Hotels near Gwendolyn’s Playground are well positioned to serve visiting families. ACT would like to encourage constructive conversations about what those travelers may need and how properties can provide more useful, reliable accessibility information.
This work could include advocating for:
- Accurate accessibility information on hotel websites
- Clear photographs and descriptions of accessible rooms
- Reliable reservation of specific accessible room types
- Information about bed height and wheelchair transfer space
- Usable roll-in showers, grab bars, shower seating, and bathroom controls
- Accessible routes through entrances, lobbies, dining areas, pools, and other amenities
- Accessible parking and passenger-loading areas
- Transportation options between hotels, the playground, and nearby attractions
- Staff training on disability access and respectful communication
- Effective procedures for receiving and fulfilling accommodation requests
- Accessible emergency information and communication
Compliance is important, but a room described as “accessible” may not work for every traveler. Families need enough specific information to determine whether a property can meet their individual needs.
Building a more accessible visitor experience
The playground could serve as a starting point for a broader accessible-tourism effort.
Visitors might also want to experience Santa Barbara’s beaches, waterfront, parks, adaptive recreation, restaurants, shops, and cultural attractions. ACT can help identify accessible destinations, document remaining barriers, and encourage businesses and tourism organizations to provide information travelers can trust.
This is not simply a marketing opportunity. It is an opportunity to listen to disabled travelers, improve facilities and services, and make participation more practical throughout a family’s stay.
ACT welcomes participation from:
- Families with disabled children
- Disabled travelers and local residents
- Hotels and other lodging providers
- Hospitality and destination-marketing professionals
- Restaurants, attractions, and retailers
- Transportation and mobility providers
- Inclusive and adaptive-recreation organizations
- Accessibility evaluators
- Accessible-travel writers and creators
- Businesses and sponsors interested in supporting accessible visitor experiences
Current stage
Exploring: ACT is identifying nearby visitor facilities, and considering how to begin constructive outreach to hotels and other community partners before the playground’s planned 2027 opening.
How you can help
Join the discussion about what makes lodging and travel work—or not work—for you and your family. We also welcome connections to hotels, hospitality professionals, accessibility specialists, transportation providers, and others interested in creating a more welcoming visitor experience.
ACT is pursuing this opportunity independently. ACT does not speak for or on behalf of the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation, Gwendolyn’s Playground, participating families, hotels, businesses, or public agencies. References to these organizations and facilities do not imply endorsement, sponsorship, or partnership.
Stage: Exploring