Top 6 Wheelchair Accessible Attractions For A Week In Toronto

Toronto is the capital city of Ontario and is the most populous city in Canada.  It is also the fourth most populous city in North America.  I have visited Toronto in 2009 for about 4 or 5 days but that was one of my first trips ever post-injury, so I was a bit reluctant to do things.  Seven years later, I feel I have matured a lot in terms of travelling.  I went recently over Canada Day week to attend Digital Dreams Music Festival and had 7 days to explore the top attractions that is wheelchair accessible and that represented a good snapshot of the city.  I stayed downtown at the Chelsea Hotel which was central to everything.  Checking out Toronto’s tourism website as a reference, here are the top 6 things I did:

underwater tank at Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada

1.) Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada

Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada is actually quite new to the city as it opened in October 2013.  It is conveniently located downtown right beside the CN Tower, the Rogers Centre and the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.  The aquarium has 17 habitats and holds 5.7 million liters (1.5 million gallons) with over 13,500 exotic and freshwater creatures from more than 450 species.  I been to many aquariums around the world and this aquarium in Toronto is one of the better ones.  Not only is it huge at 135,000 square feet but it has the Dangerous Lagoon.  This is the underwater tank and has a moving sidewalk.  It is the biggest tank in the aquarium and is even wheelchair accessible if your wheelchair isn’t overly wide (to go on the moving sidewalk).  You can just park your wheelchair on the moving sidewalk and have it take you through the underwater tank.  This is amazing cool and is definitely the highlight of this massive aquarium.  Being a newer building it is very wheelchair friendly and has wheelchair bathrooms.  The admission price is only $29.98 at the counter or you can buy online to save $3 or get it bundled with other city attractions to get it cheaper in the citypass.  Highly recommended and can be seen between 2 to 3 hours.

moving sidewalk at The Dangerous Lagoon

2.) CN Tower

Canada’s National Tower is over 550 meters (1800 feet) high.  It opened in 1976 and was the tallest tower in the world until the Burj Khalifa took over that title in 2010.  I have been to both towers and was wowed by both of them.  The CN Tower is declared as one of the modern Seven Wonders of the World.  Once you take the elevator up, you will see that they have a revolving restaurant that slowly spins around.  The restaurant does block off a portion of the viewing area but there is still plenty to see.  Like all towers around the world, a wheelchair person has to come right up beside the window and park sideways in order to get a great view of the city.  The Skypod is an extra observation deck that goes even higher.  It requires an additional ticket ($12) to visit and is accessible by elevator, but only the first level of the Skypod is wheelchair accessible.  The main windows are on a second level and only accessible by stairs.  I really enjoyed wheeling over the glass floor and was not scared at all.  For extreme adventurists, people can do the EdgeWalk.  In groups of six, people walk outside on a ledge 356 meters (1168 feet) high while attached to a harness.  Yes, this is wheelchair accessible but you need upper body strength to do this attraction ($195).  The CN Tower costs $35 to visit but is $2 cheaper online or bundled in the citypass.  I thought it was really cool to do and can be done in 1 hour.

glass floor at CN Tower

3.) Toronto Zoo

The Toronto Zoo is about a 35 minute drive from downtown ($60 cab ride) and is a bit of a hassle to get to by transit.  At 287 hectares (710 acres), it is the biggest zoo in Canada.  Yes, it’s huge! It is divided into 7 huge geographic regions: Indo-Malaya, Africa, Canadian Domain, Americas, Australasia, Eurasia Wilds and the Tundra Trek.  We were here for almost 5 hours and didn’t really get to see everything.  It was great too see the giant pandas and their cubs, the rhino calf and the baby gorillas.  There is a nice paved pathway that is easy to get around in a wheelchair.  Make sure you bring sun screen and to keep hydrated if you want to spend a good day here in the summer.  Admission is $28 during the summer (April 30 to November 1) and $23 during the winter (November 2 to April 29).  Again, zoo admissions can be bundled in the citypass.  Parking is $12 per vehicle.  I really enjoyed the zoo and am glad we went on a nice sunny day.  I would suggest the zoo can be done in 4 to 6 hours depending on weather and how long you like looking at animals.

pandas at the Toronto Zoo

4.) Hockey Hall Of Fame

The Hockey Hall of Fame is conveniently located downtown and is both a museum and a hall of fame.  It has exhibits about players, teams, NHL records, memorabilia and trophies.  I was shocked at how big it was.  I was expecting to visit this place for 1 to 2 hours, but we were here for almost 3 hours.  There is so much to see.  Goalie masks, jerseys from all hockey leagues, mini hockey movie in the theatre, Stanley Cup rings on display, hockey cards and even interactive games.  There is the NHLPA Game Time.  People get to play Shoot Out or Shut Out and allows them to play one-on-one against life-size computer versions of goalies and shooters.  I didn’t do this but my buddy really enjoyed this.  The TSN/RDS Broadcast zone has a few interactive experiences for people to try.  The Broadcast pods lets fans call some of the most memorable moments in hockey history.  They even have a spot for wheelchair users to try.  The TSN SportsCentre Studio lets fans be a sports anchor with a teleprompter.  This is fun and am surprised at how fast the teleprompter can really go.  There is even an elevator that takes you to the second floor to see trophies including the Stanley Cup.  Overall, I really enjoyed the Hockey Hall Of Fame.  At only $18, if you are a hockey fan, it is definitely worth it and can be done in 2 to 4 hours.

TSN SportsCentre at Hockey Hall Of Fame

5.) Royal Ontario Museum

The Royal Ontario Museum or ROM is the largest museum in Canada and one the largest in North America.  With over one million visitors every year, it is a museum of art, world culture and natural history.  There is 40 galleries with more than 6 million items.  There are dinosaurs, minerals and meteorites, Near Eastern and African Art, Art of East Asia, European and Canadian History, design and fine arts and many more.  We only had 3 hours to see the museum so we went at a faster pace than needed.  I loved looking at the dinosaur exhibit and being in a replica bat cave.  Even though this museum opened in 1912, I am surprised at how wheelchair accessible this museum is with ramps, elevators and accessible bathrooms on every floor.  They also have exhibitions that run for a few months and change but we did not do that due to time.  The extra exhibitions require an additional ticket.  For $17 admission, this giant museum is totally worth checking out and can be seen from 4 to 6 hours if you add the extra exhibitions.  You can even come Friday evenings after 4.30 to 8.30pm for only $10 and again tickets can be bundled in the citypass for extra value.

dinosaurs at ROM

6.) Digital Dreams Music Festival

I visited Toronto this year over the Canada Day long weekend to specifically attend the annual Digital Dreams Music Festival.  It is a 2-day electronic music festival that began in 2012 and is held at Ontario Place.  It is high energy and a lot of fun and runs from 3pm to 11pm the Saturday and Sunday.  Even though this is held outside, it is very wheelchair accessible.  There are 3 main stages this year and had acts like Above & Beyond, Borgore, Armin van Buuren and more.  It is nowhere near as big as other music festivals like the Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas but was just as fun.  If you are into this music and this scene it costs roughly $170 for the 2-day general admission pass.

Digital Dreams Music Festival with my buddies

Overall, I had a blast during my week in Toronto.  There are many other things that are worth checking out in Toronto that I didn’t write about including Casa Loma, Art Gallery of Ontario, LEGOLAND, Centre Island and more.  Please visit Tourism Toronto for more details.  I had a blast during my visit and would definitely revisit this city to repeat some of the things that I have done and try some other things.  Let me know if you have visited Toronto and tell me what you did.