's Wonderland Celebrates Grand Opening

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http://www.ksat.com/news/23113462/detail.html's Wonderland Celebrates Grand Opening

POSTED: Saturday, April 10, 2010UPDATED: 10:40 pm CDT April 10, 2010SAN ANTONIO -- Thousands of people turned out Saturday for the official grand opening of 's Wonderland in San .The park is a first-of-its-kind, designed for people with special needs.Amber

who brought her 5-year-old son, , said this park means

will no longer have to " sit on the sidelines. " " He's able

to interact with children that have a lot of the same issues that he

has, " said . " It's great to see him smiling and interacting

with kids, not to be left out. " The park features swings and several other rides, including a carousel and a park train, built to fit wheelchairs.Founder

Gordon Hartman told KSAT 12 on Saturday that the inspiration for the

park comes from his 16-year-old daughter, , who inspired him to

create a place for those with special needs and their families. " By

watching her and seeing her desire to want to be with others made us

think, hey, we can do better, we can build a park for everybody and

that's what 's Wonderland is all about, " said Hartman.The grand opening ceremonies featured appearances by and Eva Longoria-. told the crowd she is glad the park is in San for her sister to enjoy. " This

is something that was always a problem growing up, worrying about my

sister and where we could go and how we could do vacation, " said

. " So. to be here with Gordon and to see his dream come true is

pretty awesome. " " It really is momentous, " said .

" It's just a great forward thinking project. It's going to be a place

for a lot of people, a lot of families to have great joy together. " And while Saturday marked the official grand opening, the park has actually been open for a little more than a month.During that time, the response from visitors has already been overwhelming. " We

hope everybody will go home this evening with a very good feeling about

this great addition to San , " said Bob McCullough with 's

Wonderland.

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