Disability Positivity

There is so much to see and do in the city of downtown Toronto, and from what I’ve experienced personally, Toronto is one of the more accessible places to visit when you’re someone who is part of the disabled community.  You  always have so much to choose from, it’s hard to know what places to visit first. You can go to places like the CN Tower, Ripley’s Aquarium, St. Lawrence Market, AGO, Eaton Centre as well as the R.O,M,along with many others.

Even though I have visited many places in Toronto, there are always new things to discover, and what better way to do that. than taking a staycation by yourself or with others. If you’re not familiar with what I’m talking about, let me catch you up. A staycation is simply being away from home and exploring what your area has to offer, instead of traveling far away to other locations. It can sometimes include staying in a hotel for a few days that’s close to places you want to visit and explore. 

Going on your own staycation has many benefits including getting out of your daily routine, saving money on air fairs and getting the opportunity to explore your city from a totally different perspective..That’s why I chose to take one this past March. My Mom, a support worker  and I thought it might be fun to go on a staycation for a few  days in downtown Toronto.  So, after some consideration we all agreed to move forward with the idea.

The first step in this entire process was finding a hotel that would work for my support worker and I. We ended up staying at the Hilton near the downtown core and were able to get it for a really good price. After the hotel was booked, I took the initiative to make an itinerary for our staycation since I often do the same when my family and I go on trips. 

On the first day we arrived at the hotel using Wheel-Trans, Toronto’s  accessible, door-to-door transit service for people with disabilities  After settling in we decided to watch a show on my support workers’ Apple TV Then it was time to have dinner at the hotel, we were going to go out, but we were too tired. We spent the rest of the night in our hotel watching the Out of my Mind film on Disney+ and playing my favourite card game Uno! 

The following morning, we ate something at our hotel for breakfast before heading out for a walk to the Eaton Center. We window shopped a bit before finding a t-shirt I wanted to buy as my souvenir for this trip. As time passed, we were both getting hungry for lunch so we stopped by the food court and had some sushi. After eating we headed back to our hotel before having an early dinner, because my support worker and I were going out to see a show tonight. 

We went to see the Second City comedy festival. I had never seen a Second City show before, so I was looking forward to it. The performance was a mix of improv and comedy. I would probably say seeing Second City was my highlight of my whole staycation.

The next morning we had breakfast at a restaurant and then took Wheel-Trans back home. We were going to go see the wildlife photography exhibit at the R.O.M. when we got home, but decided to save that part of the adventure for another time when we had more energy. I had a great time and would definitely do a staycation in  the city of Toronto again sometime!