Kansas City’s favorite destinations have plenty of ways to welcome autistic and neurodivergent guests who seek spaces with a reduced level of stimulation.
Many options are available to visitors and KC-area residents hoping to explore the area’s finest attractions within a calmer environment. Browse the resources, spaces and special hours designed for guests looking to avoid overstimulating experiences during their visit.
Things to Do
- Kansas City Zoo & Aquarium: Exotic explorations are certain to amaze at the Kansas City Zoo & Aquarium. Pick up a sensory bag with noise-canceling headphones and other resources for your time at the Zoo, or head to the Variety KC Exploration Play Area. It’s a fully inclusive space designed with sensory friendliness in mind. Learn more.
- Science City at Union Station: Inside Union Station, the hands-on learning laboratory invites kids to climb, play and explore with science-inspired exhibits of all kinds. Science City hosts Sensory Sundays from 10 to 11:30 a.m., with no sound effects and minimal lighting effects. Special activities and quiet areas are available during Sensory Sundays. Learn more.
- Worlds of Fun: For a break during a day enjoying dozens of rides and attractions, a quiet room is available in Worlds of Fun’s family care center. Guests can also participate in the park’s Attraction Accessibility Program by obtaining an IBCCES Accessibility Card. Learn more.
- LEGOLAND Discovery Center Kansas City: The creative wonderland at Crown Center is a verified sensory inclusive venue through KultureCity®. Available resources include a social story that shows guests what to expect upon arrival, also containing information on quiet areas and sensory resources available within the attraction. Learn more.
- SEA LIFE Kansas City: Adjacent to LEGOLAND Discovery Center, SEA LIFE Kansas City is another KultureCity® verified sensory inclusive venue. Preview the social story and resources available to provide a comfortable experience as guests immerse themselves in an intriguing, educational undersea world. Learn more.
- Great Wolf Lodge: All Great Wolf Lodge locations across America, including its park and resort in Kansas City, Kansas, benefit from a partnership with the International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards (IBCCES). The organization worked with Great Wolf Lodge to develop a sensory guide for every activity found inside the park, delivering a detailed resource for anyone hoping to feel more prepared before their visit. Learn more.
- Mid-Continent Public Library: Designed to facilitate a gentle storytelling experience in a small group setting, the library offers a sensory storytime series in several locations throughout the KC area. Learn more.
Museums
- Regnier Family Wonderscope Children’s Museum of Kansas City: The interactive space offers a quiet area and resources to help visitors feel more prepared before their visit, including a sensory map detailing noise levels in each of the museum’s spaces. Plus, Wonderscope hosts sensory-friendly hours from 10 a.m. to noon on the second Monday of each month. Learn more.
- The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: Every other month, Kansas City’s largest art museum hosts a low sensory morning an hour before the museum opens to the public. Guests are invited to enjoy artmaking activities and explore galleries in a quiet environment. Plus, the Nelson-Atkins has more resources available to guests on an everyday basis. Learn more.
- National WWI Museum and Memorial: The country’s national museum dedicated to the Great War illustrates the conflict and its impact on modern life using a variety of exhibits and interactive media. The institution has partnered with KultureCity® to provide sensory bags for use throughout the museum experience, along with annual trainings for staff. Quiet areas are located on the Main Level in the Wylie Gallery Lobby and on the Lower Level outside the R.A. Long Learning Center. Learn more.
- Johnson County Museum: The historical institution in Overland Park and its interactive history experience, KidScape, host sensory friendly Mondays on the first Monday of each month from 9 a.m. to noon. Participation is limited to 30 attendees, so advance registration is encouraged. Learn more.
Arts & Culture
- Kaleidoscope: Kaleidoscope is an interactive and colorful incubator for creativity, inviting kids to create their own art with materials left over from Hallmark’s production processes. Sensory friendly art sessions are hosted on the second Saturday of each month at 9:45 a.m. Reservations for sensory friendly art sessions are also available on select weekdays for groups of 15 or more. Learn more.
- The Coterie Theatre: Located inside Crown Center, The Coterie specializes in live theatre performances for youth of all ages. The venue stages sensory-friendly performances of its shows with modified light and sound effects. There’s also a sensory room available to guests seeking a short break from the show. Learn more.
- Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts: Home to the Kansas City Symphony, the Kansas City Ballet and the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, the stunning performing arts venue has two serenity rooms and sensory kits available to guests. The Ballet also offers a sensory-friendly performance of The Nutcracker each year during the holiday season. Learn more.
- Kansas City Repertory Theatre: One of the city’s premier destinations for live theatre offers sensory kits and experience guides at both locations, along with a guide specific to its annual production of A Christmas Carol. Learn more.
- Starlight Theatre: The beloved outdoor stage hosts concerts and musicals under the stars in Swope Park. Starlight offers sensory kits for guests during performances. Learn more.
Sports Experiences
- Kansas City Chiefs: GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium offers two sensory rooms for fans, located inside Gate G on the Plaza Level. It’s also a KultureCity® verified sensory inclusive venue, with a social story exploring the stadium available to fans before their arrival. Learn more.
- Kansas City Royals: Sensory rooms are available on the first base and third base dugout concourses (sections 136 and 119), along with quiet areas throughout the stadium. Staff are trained to meet guests’ sensory needs and can assist with navigation throughout the ballpark. Learn more.
- Kansas City Current: Sensory rooms are located in the northwest and southeast corners of CPKC Stadium behind sections 110/111 and sections 131/132, designed in coordination with Variety KC. Learn more.
- Sporting Kansas City: Sporting Park’s Variety KC sensory room is found on the east side of the stadium. Guests can contact a fan service associate to be escorted to the sensory room. Learn more.
- Kansas City Mavericks: A hockey team playing in Independence as the ECHL affiliate of the Seattle Kraken, the Mavericks make a sensory room available in the Cable Dahmer Arena conference room in section 201. Learn more.
Travel Resources
Kansas City aims to provide a safe, comfortable experience from the moment visitors arrive. Featuring a series of spaces developed in partnership with Variety KC, the new terminal at Kansas City International Airport is designed to be inclusive to every passenger and reduce the stress of the air travel journey.
A sensory room in Atrium B is available to travelers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with no reservation required. A quiet room is also available in Concourse A near Gate 12.
The terminal also offers an air travel experience simulator within the forward section of an actual airplane body, allowing first- time travelers and those who may find the process stressful to experience each step of the process within a calm, safe environment. Reservations for the experience can be made on the Kansas City International Airport website.
Learn more about the terminal’s specialty spaces at FlyKC.com.
Additional Information
Looking for more resources as you make plans in Kansas City? Turn to these local organizations for expert guidance.
- Variety KC exists to make Kansas City’s spaces more inclusive to children with cognitive and physical disabilities. The organization partners with many local venues to provide sensory kits, quiet rooms and other resources intended to create more inclusive guest experiences. Explore a map of Variety KC projects.
- The Whole Person provides information and referrals to resources within the Kansas City area for individuals with disabilities of all kinds. Contact The Whole Person here.
- The Autism Society of the Heartland offers support groups and additional resources in 24 counties across the Kansas City area.
