Disneyland: Sleeping Beauty Castle Virtual Walkthrough Experience

Date of Visit: May 21, 2015


Mik wasn't interested in going on any rides this morning after two rounds of Buzz Lightyear. However, he still wanted to hang out in the parks long enough to get lunch. Thus, we wandered over to the castle for him to visit the dwarfs, which he likes doing and for once there wasn't some character hanging out over there and we got to really enjoy it including seeing the whole fountain show. Then I remember there was the accessible version of the castle walkthrough, which we've never done before.

The accessible experience is located in a room off to the left of the path through the castle when looking at the back of the castle. The room is decorated with things that fit the theme including a case of royal crowns, jewels, and trinkets and a royal seeming bench that you can watch the virtual walkthrough from.

The virtual walkthrough is a video that plays on loop. It is basically an animated version of going through the attraction and the story is read aloud as well as shown with captions on the screen. It is really well done and Mik thought it was good for what it was, but we only watched a little bit of it because he just isn't interested in Sleeping Beauty at all.

Destination Info:
Disneyland
1313 South Harbor Boulevard
Anaheim, CA 92802

Shenandoah National Park: Skyland Resort

Date of Visit: May 12-14, 2015

We stayed on the lower level of the Laurel building at Skyland Resort. I had booked an accessible preferred room (it’s the only type that was available at least at the time when I clicked to show accessible only). The website didn’t give any specifics of what accessible meant like I’m used to seeing when booking on places like Hyatt and choosing between tub or roll-in shower, so honestly all I was going for was making sure we didn’t end up on the second floor when it clearly said that no buildings had elevators.

At first when we drove up to the building we were confused that the second floor is actually level with the parking and our room was down a level.

There is a ramp to the far right of the building that leads down to that level, which I only noticed after going down the stairs to scope out the room.

The room did not have an accessible bathroom, but considering Mik would have gone with camping in a tent here if they had electricity roughing it without an accessible bathroom was fine.

The only real accessibility issue with the room for us was that it had a raised threshold. It seems that the rooms on the upper level are actual more level with the hallway, which also makes us wonder if there are any actual accessible rooms in the sense we think of normally on that level.

One night we ate in the dining room. Well, actually we ended up eating in the taproom with the dining room menu because the lift down to the dining room was broken. It was still enjoyable, but it would have been nice to have the view you get down in the dining room.

Also, note that there is a path up to the dining room building from the lodging buildings. However, it very clearly says it’s not accessible. You can go on the road for a more accessible path grade wise, but it’s still going up a hill and quite a long way around.

Of course, Dad decided that we should just do it anyway and pushed Mik up it when we went to eat at the dining room. Yeah, it really is very steep and it is especially not safe to go back down. Thus, Dad went and got the truck to go back to the room after dinner.

Overall we enjoyed staying at Skyland Resort. The view from the balcony was good, except that at night it kind of ruins the whole feel of being in a national park when you really notice that civilization is right out there with all the lights.

Destination Info:
Skyland Resort
miles 41.7 and 42.5 on Skyline Drive
Shenandoah National Park, VA

Shenandoah National Park: Byrd Visitor Center

Date of Visit: May 12, 2015

We mainly stopped at the Byrd Visitor Center to get the National Park passport stamps there. We had already done most of the Skyline Drive and gone to the Natural Bridge and back by that point, so MIk was ready to get to the Skyland Resort and be done for the day. Thus, we didn’t check out the movie that was starting right when we got there. However, we did check out the exhibit.

The exhibit is an interesting one about the history of the park. We accidentally went through it backwards, which worked okay, but would’ve probably been better to go in  chronological order from the start. Some of the highlights are the parts on controversy of eminent domain to take private owned land to create the park and the 1930s and 1940s desegregation in the park.

Destination Info:
Byrd Visitor Center
Milepost 51 Skyline Drive
Shenandoah National Park, VA

Virginia's Natural Bridge Park

Date of Visit: May 12, 2015

The Natural Bridge is something I've been really wanting to see since reading about it in the 1940s Virginia: A Guide to the Old Dominion. While it was out of the way, it ended up making a good thing to add to our Skyline Drive trip.

You start at the visitor center, which has a ramp entrance off to one side. You also need to make sure you go out that same door because you can't get to the ramp from the other doors.

The path down to the natural bridge has steps, but they run a shuttle that has a lift. The regular stop involves steps out the back of the visitor center, so they call them to do a pickup in front of the visitor center when needed. They don't do tie downs, so Mik transferred to a regular seat on the way down. On the way up he decided to just stay in chair and didn't complain at all. It's just a short drive up and down the hill and they go slow, so really it is a rather smooth ride.

The trail from the shuttle to and under the natural bridge is a paved path. The Cedar Creek Trail continues on to a waterfall after that. This part of the trail is gravel and a little steep near the first bridge, but we has no issues until we got to the lost river. Of course, the free wheel was a big help, especially since one of Mik's casters is currently totally messed up to the point the freewheel was useful even for the paved path.

The Cedar Creek Trail goes past a Monacan Indian village exhibit, a saltpeter mine, and a lost river. We skipped the exhibit because we weren't interested. The saltpeter mine has a very smooth bridge over to where you can peek in a little.

The lost river was the one part of the trail that was tough as the bridge over it isn't level with the ground. It wasn't that hard, but we did wait for Dad to catch up to make sure we didn't do something like at Pipestone.

It is worth going over the bridge because the trail is just as good as before the bridge and it is a nice viewpoint of the waterfall, especially considering Mik didn't get to see the other falls Dad and I hiked down to in Shenandoah National Park the next day.

Destination Info:
Virginia's Natural Bridge Park
15 Appledore Lane
Natural Bridge, VA 24578

National Arboretum: Dogwood Collection

Date of Visit: April 19, 2015

The Dogwood Collection was the main reason I wanted to visit the National Arboretum this time of year. There is parking near it, but it was full and we ended up taking the last spot in parking up the hill for the Asian Collection.

There is a short paved path to a little area with some benches, but it really doesn't get you close to any of the dogwood. The grassy areas you can go on to further explore the collection aren't too hard to navigate, although it is a hillside and there are some holes and Dad almost dumped Mik when he wasn't paying close attention. The path also leads to an overlook of the Anacostia River.

Destination Info:
National Arboretum
3501 New York Avenue NE
Washington, DC 20002

National Arboretum: National Bonsai & Penjing Museum

Date of Visit: April 19, 2015

The National Bonsai & Penjing Museum is one of the main reasons we visited the National Arboretum and what Mik was most interested in. He really enjoyed seeing the different varieties and styles of bonsai. I think he still wants to grow his own, but he's already hoping to revisit these next month for World Bonsai Day.

Currently, the Japanese Pavilion is being renovated, but those bonsais are currently in the courtyard so they can still be enjoyed.

The Chinese Pavilion was interesting in that they incorporate rocks and small statues in many of them. There is also a small garden path in the middle, although Mik didn't enjoy walking through that because the wheelchair barely fit on the path and there were plants that rubbed against him.

The North American Pavilion was the least accessible as the paths were gravel, which was quite thick in parts, but it did have Mik's favorite bonsais. He particularly liked the California Junipers.

The Tropical Conservatory is also very accessible except for the fact you have to go through the North American Pavilion to get to it.

Destination Info:
National Arboretum
3501 New York Avenue NE
Washington, DC 20002

National Arboretum: National Capitol Columns

Date of Visit: April 19, 2015

There is a parking area including handicap spots near the National Capitol Columns area of the National Arboretum, but we just walked over from where we had parked at the visitor center. The route from there is partially a road closed to general traffic and then there's a sidewalk path that angles towards it.

There columns and stones were originally part of the East Portico of the Capitol and are set up on a hill. There is sidewalk path up to the right and left. The floor area between the columns is not entirely even, but they are originally steps from the Capitol and certainly still very accessible, especially compared to how it is offroading to really explore much of the garden collections.

Destination Info:
National Arboretum
3501 New York Avenue NE
Washington, DC 20002