A Guest Who Relied on Them Says Typhoon Lagoon's Beach Wheelchairs Are Gone, and Blizzard Beach's Could Be Next

It is a simple piece of equipment: blue mesh, a white PVC frame, and chunky front wheels. But for Gem Hubbard, a beach wheelchair like this one was the difference between a Disney water park day and no water park day at all. "Because for me, the water parks were something I genuinely loved, and the beach wheelchair was the one thing that made them possible," she wrote.

Now she says they are going away. In an Instagram post picked up by WDW News Today on Thursday, September 17, Hubbard (@wheelsnoheels_) reported that Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach have stopped offering their beach wheelchairs, or are phasing them out.

A beach wheelchair Hubbard photographed at a Disney water park, shared with her post. Photo: Gem Hubbard (@wheelsnoheels_), via WDW News Today

What she says she was told

Hubbard's account is partly second-hand, and she says so. "Today I was told that Typhoon Lagoon no longer has them at all," she wrote. "Blizzard Beach might still have one, but you can't hire it out for the whole day anymore the way you've seen in my earlier vlogs, and from what I'm hearing, it's likely on its way out there too."

She put it this way: "I've recently learned that Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach have stopped offering, or are quietly phasing out, their beach wheelchairs, and it's left me pretty disheartened."

According to WDWNT, Hubbard also said she found a statement on Disney's website saying Blizzard Beach has no waterproof or water-accessible wheelchairs for use in its pools and on its attractions, that guests who need one must bring their own, and that the chairs rented in the park are for use on land only. WDWNT's report does not include a response from Disney.

What Disney's own pages say

We checked Disney's wheelchair rental page, its Services for Guests with Mobility Needs page and its Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon pages on Friday morning and did not find the wording Hubbard describes on any of them. That does not mean it is not somewhere on Disney's site, only that it is not on the pages you would most likely check first.

What the rental page does say is that "wheelchairs are available for rent at all Walt Disney World theme and water parks as well as Disney Springs." At the water parks the price is $12 a day, and "A refundable $100 deposit is required at these locations." The page does not mention beach wheelchairs or water-accessible chairs at all, in either direction. It also notes that "You are welcome to bring and use your own wheelchair throughout Walt Disney World Resort."

Typhoon Lagoon (left) and Blizzard Beach's Summit Plummet tower (right). Image: WDW News Today

Typhoon Lagoon is closed right now anyway

The timing adds a wrinkle. Typhoon Lagoon closed on September 9 for its refurbishment, and Disney has not announced when it reopens. Its park hours for Friday, September 18 read "Refurbishment," with the note that "Disney's Typhoon Lagoon water park is temporarily closed. During this time, we encourage Guests to enjoy Disney's Blizzard Beach water park."

So nobody can go and check Typhoon Lagoon's rental counter for themselves at the moment, and with Blizzard Beach the only Walt Disney World water park open, the question for guests today is whether Blizzard Beach still has the chair Hubbard says it might.

Why it lands the way it does

Hubbard tied the report to Disney's Disability Access Service changes, writing that they "already shut a lot of disabled visitors out of the parks entirely." As WDWNT recaps it, Disney updated DAS in 2024 and narrowed eligibility to guests who, because of a developmental disability such as autism or something similar, are "unable to wait in a conventional queue for an extended period of time."

"Now it feels like the accommodations that were still working are being stripped away too, and it's hard not to be upset by that," she wrote. Of the beach wheelchair itself, she added: "Losing it isn't a small inconvenience. It's huge."

Another view of the chair, showing its large rear wheel. Photo: Gem Hubbard (@wheelsnoheels_), via WDW News Today

If you are planning a water park day: We have not seen Disney publicly confirm or deny the change, so ask before you go. The rental page lists disability.services@disneyparks.com for more information, and it says wheelchairs are available on a first-come, first-served basis, reservations are not accepted and quantities are limited. Its list of rental locations includes Beach Haus and Singapore Sal's, whose map pins sit at Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon. If a sand-capable chair is what makes the day work for you, confirming it in writing before the trip is the safest move.

Sources

• WDW News Today, Disney Reportedly Stops Offering Beach Wheelchairs at Typhoon Lagoon & Blizzard Beach
• Walt Disney World, Wheelchair Rentals (checked September 18, 2026)
• Walt Disney World, Services for Guests with Mobility Needs (checked September 18, 2026)
• Walt Disney World, Disney's Typhoon Lagoon Water Park (checked September 18, 2026)
• Walt Disney World, Disney's Blizzard Beach Water Park (checked September 18, 2026)
• Parks Magic, September 3, 2026 story on Typhoon Lagoon's closure

Image credits: Beach wheelchair photos by Gem Hubbard (@wheelsnoheels_), via WDW News Today. Water park collage: WDW News Today.