Inclusion Works Best When Everyone Plays Together

A theme park where wheelchair users do not get parked in the front row, where sensory needs shape the design, and where “accessible” is not a single modified option, it is the whole experience. We sit down with Sharon Newhardt, inclusion strategist at Morgan’s Wonderland and Morgan’s Inclusion Institute, to unpack what ultra-accessible really looks like when you build a destination from the ground up.

We get specific about the craft behind inclusive design: how Sharon’s team brings people with different disabilities to the table early, how they pressure-test ideas with real feedback, and how they find vendors who can solve for safety and access at the same time. Sharon shares a standout example of accessibility innovation in themed entertainment: a 4D theatre “roller coaster” that includes moving wheelchair platforms so guests using wheelchairs get the same motion experience as everyone else. That kind of work does not just improve one park, it creates new products and raises the bar across the amusement industry.

We also dig into the bigger mission and how it scales beyond a theme park. Sharon tells the origin story that sparked Morgan’s Wonderland, explains why the park is for everyone, and describes how the Inclusion Institute helps airports, museums, hospitals, sports venues, and employers start with practical “low-hanging fruit” improvements and move toward lasting cultural change. If you care about accessibility, disability inclusion, universal design, accessible travel, or building better guest and employee experiences, you will leave with real ideas you can use.

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Transcript

Welcome And Guest Introduction

Neil Milliken 0:00

Hello and welcome to Access Chat. Delighted that we're joined today by Sharon Newhart, who is the inclusion strategist for Morgan's Wonderland theme parks. Now, if you're not in the US, you probably won't have heard of Morgan's Wonderland theme parks. So, firstly, welcome Sharon. And please tell us a bit about both Morgan's Wonderland and also your role as the inclusion strategist and what that entails.

Sharon Newhardt 0:30

Well, first of all, thank you for having me. It's a pleasure to be here today. Morgan's Wonderland is the world's first, and so far we're the only ultra-accessible theme park. Our park and all of our Morgan's entities are designed from the ground up, thinking about different types of disabilities and individuals with disabilities and what they need to have the perfect experience. So for a theme park, that's what does that look like when you go to a theme park and you want to have the perfect day, or when you come to a camp? What does that experience look like? And we take everything into consideration. We talk to people who have different types of disabilities and we incorporate all those suggestions and feedback into our design. So everything is designed from the ground up to be alter accessible.

Neil Milliken 1:14

That sounds wonderful. And how long's Morgan's been going? I'm sorry, how long? How long has Morgan's been around?

Sharon Newhardt 1:21

Yes, so we just celebrated our fifth anniversary last year for our theme park. So we started it in 2010.

Neil Milliken 1:29

That's fantastic. And and it's in Texas?

Sharon Newhardt 1:32

Yes, San Antonio, Texas.

Neil Milliken 1:34

Okay, so so I I'm an I'm a big fan of roller coasters, actually. So I I I quite like theme parks. I've been to a a few in in the US and some are more accessible than others. What what kind of what kind of rides and themes and and and and sort of entertainment do you provide at Morgan's?

What Makes A Park Ultra-Accessible

Sharon Newhardt 2:00

So we're a little bit unlike a traditional theme park. For example, we don't have a lot of roller coasters because we want to make sure that everything that we have in our park is as accessible and inclusive as possible. So there are a lot of folks, for example, who are unable to ride a traditional roller coaster because of physics by and large, and also a lack of accessibility to the ride vehicles. So we work with vendors to help us create experiences that are accessible for everyone in the family. So for example, uh, we did have a lot of folks that asked us when we were going to get a roller coaster. And so we didn't have one for a number of years. And finally, we had a vendor who works with theme parks all over the world creating uh 4D theater experiences. And they said to us, you know, we can create a 4D roller coaster experience that will mimic very well what you would experience on a coaster, and we can also make it accessible to everyone. So not only did they create this wonderful little movie that goes in our theater, but they also created the first of its kind uh wheelchair platforms that actually mimic the movement of all the seats so that everyone who goes into the theater gets the same experience.

Building Accessible Attractions With Vendors

Antonio Vieira Santos 3:19

So uh, Sharon, can you tell us about the process that we how you work with the vendors to create accessible experiences? I think that could be an interesting topic for us to explore here today.

Sharon Newhardt 3:31

Oh, yes. It's it's quite a lengthy but very fulfilling experience because first of all, we have to find vendors who are willing to take some risks. And uh, this is a industry that is very safety conscious or should be very safety conscious. We have to find vendors who are willing to work with us to find the accessible but also safe solutions for these things. If it's not safe, it's not accessible for anyone, of course. So we have to first of all have those conversations, and usually we have several conversations with several different vendors before we find the right one. When our founder, Gordon Hartman, first came up with the idea of Morgan's Wonderland, he would talk to these vendors and they had no idea how they would do this. No one had ever done these things before. And so it took a long time to find our partners. But now we have vendors that we work with on a regular basis, and we come to them and say, you know, gosh, this is a this is a standard theme park attraction. How can we make this roll-on wheelchair accessible? How can we adapt this for individuals with sensory sensitivities? And so they get to work on the physics side of it and do all the math. Meanwhile, what what we do here at Morgan's is we gather individuals who have different disabilities and ask them what would their challenges be? For example, for a roller coaster, what would your challenge be getting on a Ferris wheel? Different disabilities have different needs and they need different accommodations. So we have to take all of those into consideration. So we usually have several conversations with different individuals that have different disabilities. Uh, for our upcoming hotel, we staged a town hall meeting and we got over 600 pieces of information from people about what their ideal hotel experience would be like, for example. So we have lots of conversations both internally and externally with people who have disabilities and give them a voice and a seat at the table before we commit to designing and building anything.

Debra Ruh 5:32

Sharon, I am I'm familiar with what y'all have been doing for a long time. And also, I know that Disney and others have also created rides that are fully accessible. So but I was wondering if you could go back and talk about why it was created. Because I just think that's a really fascinating story. And and I'll just tell you, I've worked with Disney and Richard, one of he was my partner, was actually a Disney imagineer, and he built three of their theme parks. And I remember the first one of a conversations I was having with the Disney team, and they asked me a question. So I just want to tell you what they asked and how I answered, and then I want you to talk about why y'all started it. But they I was say, they were saying, well, we have to be really careful with the boat rides and blah, blah, blah, blah. And so, so we have this, we have a one boat that's the ADA compliant, and so we're doing that, but it backs up. And I said, Well, I don't understand why wouldn't you create all the boats to be compliant so that we don't have to wait for one boat and we could just all have access to it. And they were like, they looked at me and they made a funny face, and I thought, did I say something stupid? And then they started laughing and they're like, Well, wow, that is really just a really good idea. Why do something separate? We'll just do them all. But y'all have a very, very interesting story of how it was even created. And I was just wondering if you could take a few minutes just to tell us about this. The origin story.

Sharon Newhardt 7:03

Yes. The origin story. Well, first of all, just let me just shout out to the Disney. That's where I started my career. So I have all the love for Disney, uh, Disney Universal, Six Flags. I worked for all of the big players before I uh came to Morgan. So yeah, I love, I love what they're doing. I love that they're that they're you know doing more and paying more attention. When I worked there, you know, it would there was virtually no wheelchair access to very, very few attractions. So seeing the evolution of that has been really, really wonderful as a as a former Disney girl. So while you're watching a Disney girl, you're always a Disney girl, right?

Debra Ruh 7:40

I agree. And I would also say, but the really beautiful thing about your career is that, you know, you're now applying it, and Disney is learning from y'all too. So I really, really, yes, I really like that. But what a cool background you have.

Sharon Newhardt 7:53

Well, thank you. But the origin

The Moment That Sparked The Park

Sharon Newhardt 7:55

story. So the origin story for Morgan's Wonderland starts with Gordon Hartman and his wife Maggie and their daughter Morgan. Morgan was born with profound medical challenges and disabilities, both physical and cognitive. And Gordon had a home building business when she was born. And once he sold his home building business, uh, he and Maggie and Morgan went on a vacation and they were at a lovely resort at the pool, at this resort, and there were some children in the pool playing with the ball. And Morgan at that time was not as verbal as she is now. And so she did not really know how to express to these children that she just wanted to come and join the fun and play with them. And they didn't know how to respond to her. They didn't know how to react. And so they just took their ball and got out of the pool and left. And Morgan was heartbroken, and as you can imagine, you know, her parents were devastated to see her disappointment. And so they kind of resolved right then and there to create not just experiences for people who have disabilities, but for everyone to come together and play together. And that's what for us, ultra accessibility is all about. It's about inclusion, making sure that there's a space for families to enjoy and friends to enjoy together. And so that was kind of what the idea for Morgan's Wonderland was born. It was originally conceptualized as more like a city park. But as the idea grew and we got more and more feedback from people, you know, we realized we we really need to make more of a theme park environment out of it. So like I said, we opened in 2010. And I didn't work for the organization on opening day, but I actually came with a friend. My son's best friend at the time, he has tetraplegia. And so he was invited to come on opening day, and then the family invited us to come. And so we got to come on opening day and just see see my son and his friend go off and play together. They didn't need anyone to help them, they didn't need us to, you know, transfer anybody. They they could just run and roll up on the playground and and get on the equipment and play together. And so, you know, it was it was just magical to see that inclusive play happening in such a beautiful environment.

Antonio Vieira Santos 10:12

Sharon, considering all the situations that you need to solve in the park and how inclusive you have to make them, I'm very interested in understanding how innovations that we have built at the park can actually be used by others in different industries, in hotels, in airports. Because I think the fact that you have that experience, I think it can bring a lot of knowledge if you share with other entities in order to make other spaces who are not as fun as you place is, also to make in to make them a little bit more accessible and enjoyable for people who travel or just want to have some fun going and go on holidays.

Sharon Newhardt 10:54

Yes.

Sharing The Model Through The Institute

Sharon Newhardt 10:55

Well, so that's what Morgan's Inclusion Institute is all about, which is is uh technically where I work now for the institute. We were formed to answer those very questions, Antonia. We when we opened the park, and then shortly a few years later, we opened a water park, then we opened a camp. We started getting so many phone calls, so many emails and inquiries about how did we do what we did? Who did were our vendors, who did we work with? How did we figure out what to do? And how can I build one? You know. And so we realized we were getting so many requests that we needed to create an entity that was designed specifically for training and consultations and assessments. And so that's what the institute is. That's what I do as an inclusion strategist. And we do work with lots of different industries and organizations. We have a, of course, a very strong foothold in the amusement industry because that's uh that's where we started. But we also work with airports. You mentioned airports. So we've done some, we work closely with the San Antonio International Airport. And we've also done some assessments for other airports around the country. And we work with uh sports and entertainment groups and teams, we've worked with schools, we've worked with hospitals, museums, all kinds of different types of industries. And the the number one thing that we really stress to them is to, first of all, especially if they already have a building or a, you know, an organization already built up, to look at the what we call the low-hanging fruit. What are the easy things that you can fix? A lot of people just don't know what they don't know. If they don't interact with someone who has a disability, if they don't have people on their staff who have disabilities, they may just not be aware of some really simple things. One thing that I always do when I give a presentation in PowerPoint or something like that is I always have the captions turned on. And people ask, oh, wow, I'd like to know how you did that. And they think it's some sort of magic, you know, software or something that I've done and it's it's already there in PowerPoint. So we give people little tips like that just to make something more accessible for, you know, their deaf and hard-of-hearing listeners and employees. We also encourage them to do look at their hiring practices, making sure that they are hiring individuals with disabilities on their teams, that they're not overlooking individuals who have disabilities who apply for jobs and making sure that they're getting fair interviews and and fair opportunities because it adds to the diversity of your organization and the organization's ability to respond to requests and inquiries about accessibility and making experiences better for everyone.

Neil Milliken 13:38

Sounds fantastic. And I'm I'm glad that the that the organization is sharing its know-how with other organizations because quite often within companies is a a fear of addressing the issue, and it's not from a lack of willingness or anything other than the fact that people don't know where to start. Aside from the the the work that you do directly with companies, do you also sort of publish case studies and best practice? Because you're doing a lot of innovation, so you're you're procuring in the services and and and you're helping the organizations that supply you change how they do things as well. And so, and and I think that this is something that I've always felt very strongly about. You can use your procurement as a lever to help the ecosystem change. Do you do you have any good examples that you can share of those kind of things where you've you've come in and and you've set a challenge for your suppliers and then they've met the bar, and then that's then enabled them to go on and have a whole new sort of strand of business. Because that's quite often the case, but people don't know about these stories.

Sharon Newhardt 14:51

Yes.

Procurement That Pushes Innovation Forward

Sharon Newhardt 14:52

Well, I I mentioned one that I think is one of my favorites. I touched on it briefly earlier about our 4D theater and our roller coaster. So when that vendor came to us, they designed traditional uh 4D theaters where you go in and you sit in a chair and you might put on some glasses or a headset of some kind, and then you're on a ride system or a chair that moves back and forth, pitches and and yaws and tilts, and you might get wind blown at you or water coming at you, and these images coming on you at the screen. So they've done quite a few of those, as I mentioned, all over the world. But but when we first started talking to them, we said, well, first of all, we can't have a headset because a lot of our population won't wear it, or they'll put it on and take it right off. So it's not a thing for a lot of folks with sensory sensitivities and other types of diagnoses. So they won't wear it. So that was a challenge for them. So they had to solve for how do they how do they create the depth? How do they look at aspect ratios for their film processes uh to kind of create that without having those headsets? Then they said, you know, here's here's the seats, and it's going to, they're going to do this, and here's where we're going to put the wheelchairs. Traditionally, if you walk into most of these types of theaters, there's space on the the front row on the bottom floor for a wheelchair. That's you find that commonly in in just a regular cinema as well. When you go see a movie, there's there's wheelchair seating, but it's usually kind of close to the front, may not be the best spot. So we said, well, okay, that's great. We can have that, but we want to make sure that our folks don't have to, you know, crane their necks up. So that meant that they had to work on adjusting the size of the screen, which then affected back to the aspect ratio of how they create that 4D environment look without having those headsets. And then we challenged them further by saying, you know, we want everyone to have the same experience when they come into this theater. So if we're gonna have seats that move, what about our guests in a wheelchair? We want them to have that same experience. And how do we make that happen? And they came back to us with an idea for these movable platforms. And it was, like I said, the first of its kind anywhere. They've never developed them for any other facility, but we were the beta test for it, and we were the ones who wanted to have that because this is what we do. But now they also have a product that they can sell to Disney, that they can sell to Universal, they can sell to zoos and museums where they put a lot of their other types of movies. They also now have an additional product that they can sell to other people as well. So that's one way that we also kind of spread the word, if you will. We're we consider ourselves a living laboratory for a lot of inclusive practices. And then you can come here and you can see them in action and see that they will work, and then hopefully take that into, you know, a different business, a different application. You asked about other industries, Antonio, and you know, those types of platforms could work in other applications as well. They could have applications, for example, in a therapeutic environment where that might be necessary. They could have applications on cruise ships or, you know, small boat excursions. You're talking about boats at Disney, right? They could have applications there where there's a platform that that pitches and and yaws on some kind of a gimbal that stays steady while the boat around it moves. So there's applications that can apply in other industries as well as the uh theme park and amusement industry. But we love it when people want to come to the park and see what we've done and come to our other facilities and see what we've done and get inspired to do that in their own industry as well.

Designing For Everyone Not Just Disability

Debra Ruh 18:38

Sharon, one thing I know that Antonio has a question, so I'm just say this really briefly. But one thing I do want you to tell the audience, because I believe this is true, is this is not just a park just for people with disabilities. This is a park for families. It's for all of us. And so I love, of course, how we are focusing to make sure everybody can be included, including people with disabilities. But just for a minute, could you talk a little bit about that? Because it really is for everybody. Don't think that, oh, well, I wouldn't go to Morganstown because I'm not in a wheelchair. No, this is actually for everybody to fully experience these immersive experiences and a theme park. So I just was hoping you would address that a bit and then over to you, Antonio.

Sharon Newhardt 19:20

Yes, absolutely. Well, that's why we're we're called Morgan's Inclusion Institute, because we are all about inclusion. You know, Morgan didn't want to just play with a group of kids that were like her. She wanted to play with just a group of kids. So, you know, the Hartmans were really inclusion was part of the, you know, the DNA of what we do. It's it's not about just accessibility and features for individuals with disabilities. It's for everyone to play together. My son does not have a mobility disability, and his friend does, and they were able to play on the playground equipment together, and that's what it's all about here. So, yes, I love that you brought that up because that's a big part of who we are. We want everyone to come and enjoy just a wonderful day in a theme park. And we also have a water park, so we'd love for you to come to the water park. We're also in the process of building a hotel. And while it's going to have a lot of ultra-accommodating features that make it easier for individuals with all kinds of disabilities to have a positive hotel stay, it's also a beautiful hotel. It's not going to look like a hospital. It's not going to look like it's going to look like a nice three-star hotel with a restaurant and a bar on the upper floor. And but we're thinking about ways for individuals who have disabilities to be able to get into the be able to access the bar and be able to have an evening with their friends and family, just like everyone else. And that we don't have to worry about kind of get into the building, or is it going to be too noisy? Or I'd love to go to the bar with my friends, but the bars are always way too high for someone in a wheelchair. So we want to think about all of those types of experiences so that everyone can enjoy time together as friends and family.

Inclusive Hiring And Workplace Accessibility

Antonio Vieira Santos 21:04

So, Charlotte, so far we have been talking about how you do accessibility from a perspective of the what people would experience at the park. But what can you tell us about how you do accessibility inside Morgans? How you make sure that you are an accessible organization and at employment levels, and also, you know, what type of talent are you looking at when you are hiring?

Sharon Newhardt 21:31

Yeah, so we do we do think about that a lot. And depending on the department, we have a lot of folks in the park and in the MAC as well, which is our multi assistant center, who have varying disabilities, some hidden, some visible disabilities. For example, I started in my career with Morgan's in the entertainment department over in the park, because that was my theme park background. And about 45% of our employees had some kind of a physical or cognitive disability within the entertainment. Departments. We had particularly our performers, lots of performers who had varying kinds of disabilities. So, yes, you have to make accommodations for that. And you have to be willing to listen to what someone needs because two people with the same diagnosis might need something different. But I'll give you an example when we switched over to an electronic time card system, which a lot of us have, and we went to biometrics, and the company was very excited to, oh, we've got this new innovation. You can just use your fingerprint to clock in and clock out. It's a great thing. It's a great time saver. It is wonderful. But some individuals who have some types of diagnosis don't have really visible fingerprints. And so we had to work with that vendor and say there's got to be a workaround because we have a significant number of employees here who whose fingerprints won't read, for example, on a biometric. So we have to talk about what an individual needs and how can we best accommodate them. So that vendor worked with us to give us codes and things that we then gave to those employees and we would work with them if they needed help clocking in or out. Someone was available to assist them if they needed it. Not everyone needed it. So we are always looking at talking to individuals who have disabilities. Of course, anyone, any position that is open within the organization, we are in full compliance with the law. Anyone can apply for those positions as long as they have the skill set that's required by that position. We do interview individuals with disabilities. We also work with the Texas Workforce Commission here in the state of Texas. Other states have something similar. Other countries have something similar. And we work with them to place individuals either within our own organization or assist them to get positions in other organizations that maybe we're not hiring, for example. You know, theme park is a seasonal business, right? So we may not be hiring it at at that time, but we can refer folks to those workforce commissions to help them get employment in other areas as well.

Growing Global Impact And Breaking Barriers

Neil Milliken 23:59

That's that sounds fantastic. And that's a very full answer to a a question that often organizations struggle with, to be honest. Obviously, it's in the organizational DNA at Morgan's. So you've been you've been guided for a a period of time now, and uh I'm right in reading you've had over a million guests through your doors.

Sharon Newhardt 24:22

Yes.

Neil Milliken 24:24

That's amazing.

Sharon Newhardt 24:26

Yeah, we've had all 50 states and 123 countries and counting.

Neil Milliken 24:31

And you you're spreading the best practice. Are you seeing other countries or other states starting to follow Morgan's lead? Or are you planning on world domination?

Sharon Newhardt 24:45

Well, we're we're planning on world domination in the in the sense that we want to spread the word that inclusion is possible. It's a lot of times easier than you think. And we want, you know, we just want to change the global culture. So small goals, we want to change the world. We just want to make the world more inclusive. And so, yes, we are seeing interest in in different countries. For example, we're we're very involved with the themed entertainment industry, and we're part of a group called IAPA, which has a big expo every year in Orlando, but also in Asia and Latin America. And we're working with a lot of IAPA members who are global. So we've had conversations with folks in Australia, folks in South Africa, and different places in Europe as well. So we're hoping to continue to expand the message of inclusion and keep talking about it. And the more that we talk about it and more that others talk about it, there are other people doing great work in this field as well, in all different kinds of industries. And so I think we're we're starting to come to kind of a global zeitgeist, if you will, about inclusion and accessibility and just recognizing that people with disabilities are just people and they just want to do the same things that everyone else does. And the barriers aren't their barriers. They're our barriers, that we put up barriers without even realizing it a lot of the time for individuals with disabilities to fully integrate and interact in society. And so that is something that uh that we want to change and that we want to have those conversations with anyone around the world who wants to have that conversation. We're here to have that conversation with them too.

How To Connect And Closing Thanks

Neil Milliken 26:29

So if the people from around the world want to have that conversation with you, where do they find you? Well, they how do they get to you?

Speaker 3 26:37

They can they can go to uh Morgan's Inclusion Institute.org and they can just fill out a little contact form and then one of us will will reach out and we will have, you know, we'll appear on a podcast or we'll talk to them about training, doing virtual training for their team members. Whatever they need, we'll start that conversation.

Sharon Newhardt 26:58

That sounds wonderful. So thank you so much for for sharing Morgan's Wonderland. It truly sounds wonderful. And for being with us today, we need to also thank our friends at Amazon for supporting us and helping keep Access Chat on air. And thank you to our listeners for continuing to show your curiosity and tuning in. If you're listening to this and you haven't already subscribed, please do. Every subscription, every like, every comment helps us get more visibility for people like Sharon and for topics like this. So thank you very much. It's been a great pleasure to introduce. Well, thank you so much for having me today. It was nice to meet all of you and uh thank you for the opportunity to talk to your listeners about Morgan's Wonderland. Please come visit us in San Antonio.