A great day out - for people who are able bodied.
2
2
Date of visit: December 2025
I am a disabled person and a carer or friend of a disabled person and a general supporter of disabled access. I have experience of challenges around: a hidden impairment, accessing toilets, dexterity or coordination and moving around.
Overall Rating
Poor
Whilst there are some aspects of the resort that are disabled friendly, this seems more for appearances than actual accessibility. Lack of pavement/safe wheelchair areas, awful bathroom facilities and being made to feel left out of activities made for a miserable trip due to being a wheelchair user in a place that's built for able bodied people.
Disabled Access In and Around
Bad
Whilst the resort is mostly single level and has ramps to a lot of areas, these ramps are incredibly steep and inaccessible if you do not have assistance. There is an automatic door to the main bar/restaurant area where the disabled bathroom is located, but this is only accessed via the fairground and then the outdoor seating area of the bar/restaurant. We visited for my children to go ice skating, however other than the ramp to enter/exit the shack attached to the skating rink, not a single thing was disabled friendly. The flooring had rubber mats haphazardly placed around, meaning my wheels repeatedly got stuck, the "viewing area" for the ice rink was only 1.5-2ft wide meaning I could not access it in my wheelchair without getting up, hobbling without any assitance rails and then having my partner move my chair into the viewing area for me to sit down (and vice versa on the exit).
Accessible facilities: Step-free access to most areas
Parking & Transport
Poor
I travelled to this place by personal vehicle
There aren't any disabled parking spaces or EV charging at Gateway resort, only standard parking spaces available. There isn't any access to public transport, however it is a short distance (5 minutes) from Llanelli town centre, so a taxi would not cost much if you didn't have access to a personal vehicle/lift. Walking to the resort would mean walking via the Millenium Coastal Path and this is quite lengthy and not very disabled friendly.
Accessible facilities: Dedicated on-site parking
Accessible Toilets
Bad
The bathroom is located inside the bar/restaurant which is a very long distance away from the skating rink, meaning I could not access these on my own until the skating session was over. When I eventually got past the chair that was dumped in the entry way to the toilets, I couldn't get into the bathroom at first as there were so many bins in the way. The baby changing unit is also located inside the disabled toilet and was left hanging down, making it very difficult to maneouver once inside - meaning anyone with a bigger chair would not be able to use this bathroom at all. I struggled a lot to get the baby change to return to its closed position. The soap dispenser had been removed from the wall and there was no replacement for this whatsoever. The red emergency cord had been cut to approximately 3ft from the ceiling and unless you were to stretch above your head from a seated position on the toilet, you would have no chance in reaching it during an emergency. (I have since attached a Euan's Guide red cord card in the hopes this is rectified). The door itself has a very flimsy lock and at one point I feared it was about to open when someone tried to gain access.
Facilities: Accessible toilet
Staff
Bad
The only staff I interacted with were on the till area inside the skating rink and I was left to feel very ignored and invisible. I was the person whom made the booking, it was all in my name and the person on the till took it upon themself to ignore me and speak to my partner instead, even though I was the one speaking to them. We were asked to sign a disclaimer and I would usually be the one to fill this in as I book the activities, however the staff member would not pass me the folder and continously asked my partner to sign it for me, rather than treat me like a human. I will not be visiting here again, I will take my children to a properly organised event in the future where I can physically join the ice-skating by going onto the rink in my wheelchair and be made to feel human, just like everyone else.
