PLAN BY NEED
Complex needs and the people who care: planning a day
For people with complex or profound needs, and the family carers, support workers and friends who plan the day with them. Desk research, read on 3 October 2026.
A day at a theme park can be a real treat for someone with complex needs, and a lot of work for the people around them. This page is for people who need help with most things every day, including people with profound and multiple learning disabilities, and for the family carers, support workers and friends who go too. Carers are people with needs too: for rest, for toilets, for a plan if something goes wrong. You do not need a diagnosis to use anything here.
Two things first. There is almost no research about theme parks and complex needs, and the parks publish less on this than on queue passes. We say where we found something, and where we found nothing.
In short
- There is no research on theme parks and complex needs. What exists comes from related settings, and it is small, descriptive or old.
- Personal care is the first thing to check. Ask what the park has for an adult who needs a hoist or a bench, because parks use different words and many publish nothing.
- Companion rules differ park by park. The wording covers a number of companions, a minimum age, a “must ride” rule, or a free ticket. No profile of ours publishes a two-carer rule.
- Medication, feeding and equipment need an answer from the park before the day. Only a handful of parks say anything. No profile says anything about tube feeding. Your own care team advises on the person’s needs.
- Getting separated is almost never covered. Only Bobbejaanland (an information badge) and LEGOLAND Florida (a meeting-point tip) say anything. Make your own plan.
- Plan the carer’s day too. Carers have much less free time, and the evidence that respite helps is weak. That is a reason to plan breaks, not to skip them.
What can make theme parks hard, and what helps
How strong is the evidence? Weak to moderate, and none of it is about theme parks. We found no study of theme parks, companion tickets, two-carer hoisting, getting lost or communication passports on days out. Everything below comes from related settings, so read it as background to your planning, not as a rule.
Less time and fewer outings
A Dutch time-diary study compared parents of children with severe or profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (27 fathers and 30 mothers) with parents of typically developing children. It found they spent much more time on care tasks and had on average 1.5 hours less free time a day. The authors note that leisure time can contribute a lot to wellbeing (Luijkx and colleagues, 2017 (opens a new tab) ). It is one small study in one country.
A questionnaire study of parents of 49 children with significant cognitive and motor delay found fewer and less varied out-of-home activities than for 45 typically developing children, and lower engagement. The authors suggest adapted leisure activities with plenty of personal interaction might help (Van Keer and colleagues, 2019 (opens a new tab) ). A systematic review of leisure for children with cerebral palsy found the same direction: less involved than peers, with family preferences and coping, and environmental supports among the factors that matter (Shikako-Thomas and colleagues, 2008 (opens a new tab) ). That review is old and covers one condition.
Toilets and changing
In interviews with 5 self-advocates and 16 caregivers in the United States, all the caregivers had changed disabled people in vehicles and 11 on public toilet floors. Several limited fluids during unavoidable outings. Respondents most wanted height-adjustable changing tables in healthcare settings, airports and large recreational facilities (Treiman and colleagues, 2024 (opens a new tab) ). It is a small US study and does not name theme parks. It does show why changing facilities decide how long some families can stay. Our guide to Changing Places and adult changing explains the terms.
The demands on carers
A UK survey that followed 312 family carers of adults with intellectual disabilities over four time points found that caring for someone with profound and multiple intellectual disability went with more carer depression and stress (Thompson and colleagues, 2025 (opens a new tab) ). UK and Irish focus groups with 126 family carers described constant caring, a struggle to get support and exhaustion, and said male carers want to be included in decisions (Linden and colleagues, 2023 (opens a new tab) ). A smaller study of charity workers named carers’ mental and emotional health as the most prominent issue, with isolation and exhaustion (Linden and colleagues, 2022 (opens a new tab) ). Both took place during the pandemic. A review of 29 qualitative studies of family carers of children with medical complexity found their priority is keeping the child safe in every setting, and that services need to look after the whole family (Page and colleagues, 2025 (opens a new tab) ). That review was mostly about hospital and home care. Siblings matter too: a scoping review of 62 articles found siblings face challenges with mental health and wellbeing, and little research measures their participation (Linimayr and colleagues, 2025 (opens a new tab) ).
Does a break help?
Be careful here. A systematic review of respite for carers, of 29 studies, is from 1999 and is the oldest evidence here. It found “little evidence” of a consistent or lasting benefit to carers’ wellbeing, and said much of the work was methodologically poor (McNally and colleagues, 1999 (opens a new tab) ). A scoping review of 49 studies of families of children with medical complexity found caring very stressful and an emerging body of evidence that some interventions reduce carers’ stress, but no conclusive evidence on which of its six types of intervention, respite (8 studies) among them, works best (Edelstein and colleagues, 2017 (opens a new tab) ). A 2023 scoping review of respite for people with intellectual disability, of 31 sources, maps services and says a knowledge base exists. It does not rate whether respite works (Abrahams and Kleintjes, 2023 (opens a new tab) ). So we cannot say a short break “works” or “does not work”, and none of it tests a day at a park. The NHS and Carers UK both say breaks matter, and we pass that on as their guidance, not as proof.
Passports and communication
Sense and PAMIS both describe communication passports, which explain how someone communicates for people who do not know them. Sense says to print one and carry it when you go out (Sense: communication passport (opens a new tab) ). PAMIS makes free digital passports for people with profound and multiple learning disabilities, and its stated uses are in care settings (PAMIS: digital passports (opens a new tab) ). Neither page mentions theme parks, and a park is not required to read one. Treat a passport as a helpful thing to carry, not as a pass. More on communication is on our learning disability page.
What parks offer
No park scheme is built for complex needs as such. The schemes that fit are queue and access passes, companion or carer tickets, and a few published facilities. Our guide to which access scheme fits compares the types. For this need the useful facts are different: where the person can be changed, whether a carer may stay with them, and whether staff will store equipment or medication.
The table lists parks whose profiles publish something concrete. Each date is from that profile’s official sources section. We have not re-checked the park pages for this page, and a park may have changed since. “Not published” means our profile found nothing, not that the park has nothing.
| Park | What it publishes | Official source and date |
|---|---|---|
| Paultons Park | A room just inside the main entrance with a height-adjustable changing table and a mobile hoist. You bring your own sling. Essential Companion tickets are a separate arrangement from the Queue Assist Pass. | Queue Assist, rates and Essential Companion pages, read 1 October 2026. rates and facilities page (opens a new tab) |
| Efteling | One Changing Places toilet next to First Aid, with a hoist (two-point spreader bar; you bring a sling with four to six loops) and a changing bench. Care rooms elsewhere. | Accessibility pages, checked 1 and 2 October 2026 per the profile. discover the park (opens a new tab) |
| Dyreparken | An accessible toilet at Guest Service approved as a Changing Places toilet, with a hoist and height-adjustable bench. Usually one companion with the band holder. | Norwegian pages read 2 October 2026; toilet page dated 3 July 2026, companion page 23 September. toilet page, Norwegian (opens a new tab) |
| Heide Park | A “Toilette für alle” next to first aid, with a ceiling hoist and a changing bed. One companion who must ride with you, aged 16 or over. | German pages read 1 October 2026. accessibility page, German (opens a new tab) |
| Tripsdrill | One “Toilette für alle” with a changing and care bed and an electric hoist. We did not check it against the Changing Places specification. | German pages dated 2 October 2026. guide, German (opens a new tab) |
| Drayton Manor | A room with toilet, basin, shower, hydraulic bed and hoist, described as large enough for carers, and a second hoist room behind the medical centre. Free Essential Companion ticket needs a +1 or +2 symbol. | Accessibility pages opened 2 October 2026. accessibility page (opens a new tab) |
| Kolmården | A toilet near the cable car with a height-adjustable bench and a hoist, and slings to borrow from Guest Services. One or two free companions as the certificate states, aged 16 or over. | Pages read 1 October 2026. accessibility page (opens a new tab) |
| Liseberg | A separate adult-changing room with a fixed-height bench, mobile hoist, shower and support arms. Up to three people ride with an Accessible Queue user, counting a personal attendant as one. | Pages checked 2 October 2026. personal attendant page (opens a new tab) |
| Flamingo Land | An electric mobile hoist and an electrically adjustable wall-mounted changing bed. The park does not call it Changing Places. One free carer ticket and one carer pass as standard. | Pages opened 2 October 2026. FAQs (opens a new tab) |
| Blackpool Pleasure Beach | An adult changing bed, hoist (you bring your own harness) and emergency alarm. The park does not use the term Changing Places. An Essential Companion eTicket costs £25 with a +1 or +2 symbol. | Pages read 3 October 2026; Mini Access Guide is March 2025. accessibility page (opens a new tab) |
| Chessington | A height-adjustable bench, shower, toilet and hoist. First aid has cold storage for medicines. Nothing published on oxygen or other medical-device rules. | Pages read 1 October 2026. on-park accessibility page (opens a new tab) |
| LEGOLAND Windsor | The First Aid centre separately has a hoist and bed. A free carer ticket is a separate arrangement from the Ride Access Pass. | Pages checked 1 October 2026. theme park accessibility page (opens a new tab) |
| Six Flags Great Adventure | A guest who needs a personal care attendant may ask Guest Relations after buying tickets to waive the attendant’s admission. First Aid has storage for medical equipment and refrigeration for medication. | Pages opened 1 October 2026; guide dated 28 October 2025. accessibility page (opens a new tab) |
| Canada’s Wonderland | First Aid is staffed from open to close with storage for medical equipment and refrigeration for medication. Staff do not lift riders. Our profile found no statement on free admission for a personal care attendant. | Pages opened 2 October 2026. accessibility page (opens a new tab) |
| Movie World | Registered Nurses at First Aid, where personal medical equipment such as ventilators and refrigerated medication can be stored and used. One free companion ticket with a Companion Card. | Safety and Accessibility Guide opened 2 October 2026 (2024 edition). accessibility page (opens a new tab) |
| Disneyland Paris | Up to four accompanying people on attractions with a Priority Card, two for outdoor shows and parades. Medication that needs refrigerating can be left at a First Aid Centre. One changing room per park lists a hoist; not stated to meet the Changing Places standard. | English guide, March 2026 edition, re-read 2 October 2026. English accessibility guide (PDF) (opens a new tab) |
| Walt Disney World | The registered guest plus up to three other party members, four in total, on the Disability Access Service. No companion ticket or discount is described. | Pages opened 2 October 2026. Disability Access Service (opens a new tab) |
| LEGOLAND Florida | A pass valid for up to six in total and a discounted ticket for one non-parent caregiver. Planning tips include a meeting point in case of separation. | Pages opened 2 October 2026. accessibility information (opens a new tab) |
| Bobbejaanland | The only park of ours to offer something for getting separated: an information badge for contact details at the information desk. | Dutch pages opened and read 2 October 2026. information page, Dutch (opens a new tab) |
Where parks publish nothing. Several of our 87 profiles say a park publishes no hoist, adult bench or Changing Places information. They include Bellewaerde, Duinrell, Energylandia, Hansa-Park, Parc Astérix, PortAventura, Walibi, Cedar Point and Dreamworld. The same is true of tube feeding, of ventilators (only Movie World mentions them, in the table above) and of what happens when someone gets separated.
What no profile publishes. No profile publishes a two-carer rule for hoisting or personal care. (The Changing Places Consortium specification of a room with space for two carers is about toilets, not park rules.) No profile mentions tube feeding. Several say staff cannot lift or help with transfers, so work out who will do that. For getting separated, only Bobbejaanland and LEGOLAND Florida say anything, as in the table.
The words differ. “Accessible toilet”, “adult changing table” and a Changing Places toilet are different things. A Changing Places toilet is specified to have a ceiling track hoist, a height-adjustable adult-sized bench, a peninsular toilet and space for two carers (Changing Places Consortium (opens a new tab) ). Several parks say they do not use the term, so ask what the room contains.
Before you go
Weeks ahead
- Find the personal care facilities first. Look at the park’s page and our profile, then ask for what is missing: whether there is a hoist, whether you bring your own sling or harness, the size of the bench, and where the room is. The Changing Places site has a “Find a Toilet” and a “Plan a Route” tool, which helps for the car park, lunch and the way home too.
- Read the companion wording before you buy. Check the minimum age, whether the companion must ride, how many can go, and what evidence a free or reduced ticket needs. Scope says proof may be asked for at booking or at the venue, and to take copies, not originals (Scope: companion tickets (opens a new tab) ). Our Blue Badge and parking guide covers the parking side.
- Tell the park what support is needed, such as help with eating or toileting, and ask whether a carer may stay with the person at attractions. Scope suggests asking providers if there is support for things like eating and using the toilet, and if a carer needs to stay (Scope: days out for disabled children (opens a new tab) ).
- Ask about medication and equipment. Can first aid store it, and is there refrigeration? Our medication, allergies and oxygen guide sets out what parks publish.
- Look at funding and breaks if they apply. The NHS page on carers’ breaks says councils fund respite only after a carer’s assessment, and names Family Fund and the Family Holiday Charity for holiday grants (NHS: carers’ breaks and respite care (opens a new tab) , page last reviewed 1 May 2026). Sense runs short breaks, with outings that include a theme park for some groups, mostly for children and young people (Sense: short breaks (opens a new tab) ).
The week before
- Write a short plan with your own care team for feeding, equipment and medication on the day. We give no clinical advice. As one example of the kind of thing a plan covers, a Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust leaflet for parents of children with a feeding tube advises contacting the home feeding supplier early, and carrying spare supplies, a spare pump and medical letters on holiday (Cambridge University Hospitals leaflet (opens a new tab) ). That is one trust’s leaflet, for children and for holidays. It is not national NHS guidance and it does not cover days at a theme park. Ask your own team what applies.
- Write down an emergency plan for the carer. Carers UK advises every carer to make one: who to call, medication, continence products, mobility aids such as a hoist, and anything behavioural others need to know, shared with named contacts (Carers UK: planning for emergencies (opens a new tab) ). Bring a copy.
- Make or update a communication passport if the person has one (see above), and consider the About me card.
- Preview the day. The What will happen story builder and day planner help people who find a new place hard.
The night before
- Pack documents (copies), the plan, spare clothes and continence supplies, the passport and charged equipment. The packing checklist and the access timeline can help.
- Agree who does what, and when the carers swap.
On the day
- Arrival. Note where the nearest changing room, first aid and a quiet place are before you need them, and check the room has what you were told.
- The first hour. Do the things that need a member of staff first: access pass, companion ticket, equipment or medication storage.
- Breaks. Plan a break for the carer as well as the person. Where two adults are with the person, swap so each gets time away. Carers have much less free time than other parents (Luijkx and colleagues, above), so a day built around one person’s needs only is hard on everyone.
- An exit plan. Know the way to the car park, which entrance is nearest, and what you will do if the day has to stop.
- If someone is separated from the group. No park of ours publishes a procedure for this. Agree a meeting point at the start and tell the park staff you meet your phone number. Bobbejaanland offers an information badge for contact details, and LEGOLAND Florida suggests a meeting point. Ask the park, and have contact details written on the About me card or on a card in a pocket.
- If it goes wrong. Go to first aid or guest services and say what you need. The park decides what it can do on the day, and staff at several parks say they cannot lift people.
Afterwards
Allow time to recover, and ask everyone, including the carers, what worked. Write down what to do differently next time. If a park told you something that turned out wrong, or helped well, tell us. We never publish an identifiable message, and we treat what you tell us as a lead, which we check against the park’s own pages.
Questions to ask the park
- Where is the nearest adult changing room? Does it have a hoist, a height-adjustable bench and space for two people? Do we bring our own sling or harness?
- Can a carer or support worker stay with the person at attractions? How many can come, how old do they need to be, and what evidence gets a free or reduced ticket?
- Will staff help with transfers? (Several parks say they will not.)
- Can first aid store medication or equipment, with refrigeration if needed?
- What happens if someone is separated from the group? Is there an information badge, a wristband or a meeting point?
- Is there somewhere quiet, with a bed or mat, to rest?
Use our ask the park tool to put these questions together, and see the learning disability page for communication and easy-read planning.
Sources
Research (read as abstracts, 3 October 2026)
- Luijkx, van der Putten and Vlaskamp 2017: time use of parents of children with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities, Child Care Health Dev (opens a new tab)
- Van Keer and colleagues 2019: activity patterns of children with significant cognitive and motor delay, J Appl Res Intellect Disabil (opens a new tab)
- McNally, Ben-Shlomo and Newman 1999: systematic review of respite for carers, Disabil Rehabil (opens a new tab)
- Abrahams and Kleintjes 2023: scoping review of respite care for people with intellectual disability, Afr J Disabil (opens a new tab)
- Edelstein, Schippke and Sheffe 2017: scoping review of interventions for caregivers of children with medical complexity, Child Care Health Dev (opens a new tab)
- Page, Holder and Doidge 2025: family caregivers of children with medical complexity, Health Expect (opens a new tab)
- Thompson, Summers and colleagues 2025: UK family carers of adults with intellectual disabilities, J Intellect Disabil Res (opens a new tab)
- Linden, Leonard and colleagues 2023: family carers of people with profound and multiple intellectual disabilities, BMC Public Health (opens a new tab)
- Linden, Forbes and colleagues 2022: carers and NGO workers in the UK and Ireland, BMC Public Health (opens a new tab)
- Treiman, Cheng and Oswald 2024: adult-sized changing tables, Disabil Health J (opens a new tab)
- Shikako-Thomas and colleagues 2008: leisure of children with cerebral palsy, Phys Occup Ther Pediatr (opens a new tab)
- Linimayr, Graser and Gredig 2025: siblings of children with disabilities, BMJ Paediatr Open (opens a new tab)
Health bodies and charities (read 3 October 2026)
- Changing Places Consortium (opens a new tab) (no page date shown)
- NHS: carers’ breaks and respite care (opens a new tab) (last reviewed 1 May 2026)
- Carers UK: planning for emergencies (opens a new tab) (no page date shown)
- Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust: holiday with a child who has a feeding tube (opens a new tab) (one trust’s leaflet; no page date shown)
- Scope: free or discounted companion tickets (opens a new tab) and Scope: activities and days out for disabled children (opens a new tab) (no page dates shown)
- Sense: communication passport (opens a new tab) and Sense: short breaks (opens a new tab) (no page dates shown)
- PAMIS: digital passports (opens a new tab) (no page date shown)
- Mencap: profound and multiple learning disabilities (opens a new tab) (no page date shown)
Park sources
Each park’s official links and check dates are in its profile: Paultons Park, Efteling, Dyreparken, Heide Park, Tripsdrill, Drayton Manor, Kolmården, Liseberg, Flamingo Land, Blackpool Pleasure Beach, Chessington, LEGOLAND Windsor, Six Flags Great Adventure, Canada’s Wonderland, Movie World, Disneyland Paris, Walt Disney World, LEGOLAND Florida, Bobbejaanland. The table above gives the date and the main official page for each.
A closing note
This page is desk research, not medical advice. It does not say what is right for any one person. The park decides on the day what it can offer, and a clinician or your care team can advise about an individual’s situation. We make no judgement about whether any ride or facility suits any person. Park policies and pages can change, so where a park’s information conflicts or is missing, ask it to confirm what applies to your visit. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.