Disabled boy ‘told to walk’ at Legoland returns to park after policy change
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A disabled boy who was told to prove he could walk before being allowed on a theme park ride has returned to Legoland after it changed its evacuation procedures.
Sebby Brett, seven, was asked to prove he could walk three steps before being allowed on the park’s Ninjago ride in October 2019.
Sebby, a Lego superfan, suffers from a medical condition similar to cerebral palsy which left him unable to walk short distances without help.
After the “humiliating” ordeal his mother, Joanna Brett, pushed for a change, resulting in Legoland changing their policies and on Saturday the family returned to the park to see them in action.
Mrs Brett told the PA news agency the whole family, including husband Duncan and Lottie, six, were “so excited and thrilled” to be going back.
“They have changed the policy for the rides, so if you are prepared to evacuate your child, then you can go on,” she said.
“The staff have been given more training on how to approach people with disabilities and they are going to very much be led by the parent or carer.”
She said the park had gone “above and beyond” what they asked for.
“They’ve really changed their entire outlook,” Mrs Brett said.
“The whole attitude has gone very much from ‘it’s all too dangerous to work’, to ‘what can we do to make your experience as good as possible’, so I’m really impressed with that.
“I’m really, really thrilled with how they’ve engaged, and it just shows that it can be done when somebody really wants it, so the rest of the parks should take note.”
Mrs Brett said she was “still hearing stories” of people struggling to access theme parks, and she hoped this would be the beginning of other parks changing their policies.
She said: “There are still theme parks where disabled people can’t access most of the rides.”
During the visit Legoland gave Sebby a miniature version of himself, which he was able to place in Miniland as a permanent fixture.
A spokesman for Legoland told PA they were “delighted” to welcome the family back and show them the changes that had been made.
They said: “Over the past year we have reviewed all of our rides, purchased specialist evacuation equipment, continued our focus on staff training and how we communicate to guests and we now have a dedicated accessibility experience team to assist guests during their day out.
“We’re looking forward to continuing our accessibility journey together with the Brett family at Legoland Windsor and across the other Merlin Entertainments attractions around the world.”
