Kaatsheuvel, Tuesday, 7 October 2025.
Last Monday at the IAAPA Expo in Barcelona, Efteling and Vekoma unveiled a certified “seat-on-wheels” concept that allows guests to remain in their own wheelchairs while boarding tracked attractions—potentially the single biggest change to on‑ride accessibility in recent years. Developed with social sustainability partners and representatives from de Zonnebloem, the concept covers vehicle adaptation, restraint integration, evacuation procedures and safety compliance, while flagging operational trade‑offs such as throughput, retrofitting complexity, lifecycle maintenance and staff training. For park operators and manufacturers, the immediate takeaway is practical: inclusive engineering will require changes across design, operations and regulatory engagement, and could affect queue management, staffing models and capex planning for existing dark rides and family attractions. The presentation is a call to industry collaboration rather than a finished product; suppliers and parks are invited to co‑develop standards that balance guest experience, safety and operational efficiency.
A practical pivot in accessibility engineering
Efteling and Vekoma publicly introduced a certified “seat-on-wheels” concept during Sustainability Day at the IAAPA Expo in Barcelona, presenting a design intent to allow guests to remain seated in their own wheeled devices when boarding tracked attractions [1][2]. The partners framed the idea as more than a single product: it is an integrative approach that links vehicle adaptations, restraint integration, station interfaces and evacuation planning so that wheeled seating can be secured safely across varying ride types [1][2]. This presentation was positioned as a collaborative invitation to suppliers, parks and industry peers to join further development rather than a finished, market‑ready solution [1][2].
Who helped shape the concept and why it matters
Development included social sustainability partners and representatives from the Dutch disability association de Zonnebloem, reflecting an early inclusion of end users and advocacy groups in the design process [1][2]. Efteling framed the work as aligned with its social sustainability ambition through 2030—stating a goal that “everyone feels welcome, can participate, and feels part of Efteling”—and noting that roughly 28% of visiting groups include at least one person with a disability, which the park used to argue the scale and urgency of improving on‑ride accessibility [1].
Technical design priorities: restraint, certification and compatibility
The concept centres on a certified ‘‘seat-on-wheels’’ that can be secured into ride vehicles and meet restraint requirements for tracked rides, a nontrivial engineering challenge because restraints, sensors and occupancy detection systems are typically validated for factory-specified seats rather than third‑party wheeled devices [1][2]. Vekoma and Efteling emphasised certification—indicating an intention for the solution to meet applicable safety standards—and described work on interface design between a park’s vehicle and the guest’s wheeled seating, an area that implicates mechanical locks, redundant restraints and verification systems to prevent misuse or unsafe loading conditions [1][2].
Operational trade-offs: throughput, staff and evacuation
Both partners highlighted operational consequences: boarding guests while they remain in their own wheeled devices affects cycle times, station layouts and staff procedures, and it requires reworked evacuation protocols and staff training to manage on‑track rescues or offloading scenarios safely [1][2]. The unveiling explicitly flagged throughput and retrofitting complexity as trade‑offs that parks must weigh against inclusivity benefits, calling for industry collaboration to develop standards that limit operational burden while preserving safety [1].
Implications for retrofitting and lifecycle maintenance
For operators considering retrofits, the concept implies changes to vehicle floors, docking fixtures and the sensor/controls that verify securement—items that in turn affect maintenance regimes, spare‑parts inventories and lifecycle costs for existing dark rides and family attractions [1][2]. Efteling and Vekoma invited suppliers and fellow parks to participate in co‑development, signalling that adoption will likely be incremental and contingent on standardized interface specifications to avoid bespoke, high‑cost conversions [1][2].
Design and guest‑experience choices: theming, dignity and group inclusion
Efteling and Vekoma framed the initiative as preserving group experiences—enabling guests who use wheeled seating to participate alongside companions rather than being diverted to simulators or separate showrooms—and described the approach as part of a broader social sustainability narrative rather than a narrow technical fix [1][2]. Designers must therefore reconcile securement hardware with attraction theming and sightlines so that docking fixtures and restraints remain as unobtrusive as possible while meeting safety requirements, a balance the partners say they are testing collaboratively with advocates [1][2].
Regulatory and industry next steps
Efteling and Vekoma positioned the announcement as a sector‑level call to action: suppliers, parks and standards bodies are invited to contribute to further development, testing and certification so that a consistent set of requirements can emerge for European markets and beyond [1][2]. The partners stressed co‑development to address liability, standardization and training across jurisdictions, noting that industrywide uptake depends on demonstrable safety evidence and practicable operational models [1][2].
Project status and public presentation
The concept was first shown on the public Sustainability Day programme at IAAPA Expo in Barcelona on the previous Monday, where Efteling and Vekoma presented models and invited feedback; the materials released around the unveiling describe the idea as an evolving prototype rather than a completed product ready for immediate deployment [1][2][3]. [alert! ‘The exact engineering specifications, certification test reports and timelines for roll‑out were not published in the sources provided, so further technical verification from the manufacturers or regulators will be necessary to confirm detailed performance claims’]
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