ruby41
01-03-2007, 01:14 AM
I'm taking my 7 year old son with Autism to Walt Disney World, Florida in March. Staying in the Disney Resort. Will love to hear of anyones experiences. Any advice will be much appreciated.
Sponsor
iyami
01-03-2007, 02:02 PM
my mom took me wheni wa sonly 1, she said i had a horrable time and cired at micky mouse getting near me.
but i was only 1 year old
but i was only 1 year old
Laenini
01-03-2007, 03:55 PM
I have 2 autistic boys and we have been to Walt Disney World 4 times with them. The most important thing for you to do once your arrive in the first park on the first day is to go to guest relations. Explain that you have a child in your party who has special needs and that you would like a guest assistance pass for your entire party. This pass will allow you to have alternative access to attractions in the event you are having problems managing your child. For example, lets assume your child's ability to stand in line and wait for long periods is limited, and his ability to tolerate the closeness of strangers around him in line is limited. Because of these limitations his ability to enjoy the park is impacted, and he may even be distruptive to people around him impacting their enjoyment of the park. The guest assistance pass allows your entire party to access attractions through the fast pass line without having to actually use a fast pass, or on attractions that do not have a fast pass line you can enter through the exit queue. Although you will still have to wait for attractions, your wait will be significantly shortened and hopefully more managable for your child.
I highly reccommend that you do Disney at your child's pace, and plan on not being able to see everything and not being able to do everything. There is way too much for anyone to see and do it all. After 4 visits, all ranging from 7-10 days in length, I have not seen nor done all there is to do at Disney! There is a real sense of trying to "push" to get as much in as possible and its very overwhelming!! Instead, get a guide book and decide in advance what are the most important things your family wants to see. I usually tell each person that they get one "absolute must see" attraction, and then I expect them to go with the flow on everything else.
There are nice advantages to staying on site at a Disneyworld Resort when you have a special needs child. For a child who is easily over whelmed, its nice to go to a park in the morning for a few hours, then take the disney bus back to your hotel for a nap or swim in the afternoon, then head back to a park for the evening. That mid-day rest makes a huge difference for both the child and the caregivers. If you are staying off site, its much harder to get that afternoon rest. Also, resort guests get extra access to the parks, either before opening or after closing that the general public doesn't have access to.
Our last trip in May of '06 we lost our youngest (he was 8 at the time) in the Magic Kingdom for about 30 minutes. It was the most frantic 30 minutes of my life! I have found a few adaptive equipment kinds of items that I plan to bring along on our next trip to prevent this ever happening again. On an autism store web site I found temporary tatoos that you can place on a non-verbal child with caregiver contact information in the event they get lost. I also found a tracking system where the child wears a unit that puts out a signal that can be tracked by a reciever the parent carries. I found the disney staff to be very blase' about my missing child. I work for a company that calls a "code adam" and locks down the store when a child is missing and all available employees begin searching for the missing child. In contrast I couldn't even get disney to send a security person to help us search for Zachary!!! Children get lost there so frequently that it seemed like no big deal at all to them. I couldnt get them to understand that this child had special needs, couldn't communicate well, wouldn't know how to get safe help to be found, etc. The next trip I'm taking my own precautions. BTW, I usually dress my kids in a bright and distinctive shirt to help pick them out in a crowd. Zach got lost when it started to rain and the whole crowd pulled out their bright yellow Mickey Mouse ponchos and all of a sudden 100,000 people all looked the same! I'm going to get ponchos to bring with us next time that are NOT yellow.
I hope this helps, I'll post more for you later if I think of other things!
I highly reccommend that you do Disney at your child's pace, and plan on not being able to see everything and not being able to do everything. There is way too much for anyone to see and do it all. After 4 visits, all ranging from 7-10 days in length, I have not seen nor done all there is to do at Disney! There is a real sense of trying to "push" to get as much in as possible and its very overwhelming!! Instead, get a guide book and decide in advance what are the most important things your family wants to see. I usually tell each person that they get one "absolute must see" attraction, and then I expect them to go with the flow on everything else.
There are nice advantages to staying on site at a Disneyworld Resort when you have a special needs child. For a child who is easily over whelmed, its nice to go to a park in the morning for a few hours, then take the disney bus back to your hotel for a nap or swim in the afternoon, then head back to a park for the evening. That mid-day rest makes a huge difference for both the child and the caregivers. If you are staying off site, its much harder to get that afternoon rest. Also, resort guests get extra access to the parks, either before opening or after closing that the general public doesn't have access to.
Our last trip in May of '06 we lost our youngest (he was 8 at the time) in the Magic Kingdom for about 30 minutes. It was the most frantic 30 minutes of my life! I have found a few adaptive equipment kinds of items that I plan to bring along on our next trip to prevent this ever happening again. On an autism store web site I found temporary tatoos that you can place on a non-verbal child with caregiver contact information in the event they get lost. I also found a tracking system where the child wears a unit that puts out a signal that can be tracked by a reciever the parent carries. I found the disney staff to be very blase' about my missing child. I work for a company that calls a "code adam" and locks down the store when a child is missing and all available employees begin searching for the missing child. In contrast I couldn't even get disney to send a security person to help us search for Zachary!!! Children get lost there so frequently that it seemed like no big deal at all to them. I couldnt get them to understand that this child had special needs, couldn't communicate well, wouldn't know how to get safe help to be found, etc. The next trip I'm taking my own precautions. BTW, I usually dress my kids in a bright and distinctive shirt to help pick them out in a crowd. Zach got lost when it started to rain and the whole crowd pulled out their bright yellow Mickey Mouse ponchos and all of a sudden 100,000 people all looked the same! I'm going to get ponchos to bring with us next time that are NOT yellow.
I hope this helps, I'll post more for you later if I think of other things!
BetsyAnn
01-03-2007, 04:23 PM
We took our 3 boys (13, 9 bipolar, and 5 autistic) to Disneyland in September. We had such a great time that we are going back next fall.
A couple of things that help us
1- We went to Town Hall and got a Guest Assistance Pass.
We didn't us it the first day. Most lines were fairly short and my
husband was with us for the entire day. Things went smoothly, but my
husband had to hold my son if the lines were more than 2 or 3 minutes.
This brings me to number
2- We rented a stroller. (If we were going to Disneyworld, I would
Purchase a nice foldable stoller that is designed for older kids. Disney
World is so spread out, and you can not take a rented stroller between
the parks there. We saw numerous people with them. They seemed
very slick.) This was very helpful the first day,
but even more so the other days. The second and third days my
husband would not be joining us until evening. I was concerned about
having to hold my son in each line. I went back to town hall and
asked if we could get an accomodation to allow us to use the stoller
in the lines. A nice man put a stamp on the Guest Assistance Pass that
allowed us to use the stoller just like a wheelchair. He explained to us
that we should go to the exit of each attraction and show the pass or go through the fast pass lane when available--we didn't need the fass pass ticket just the guest assistance pass.
This now brings us to number
3- We used the pass! What a difference this made. If the lines were
more than a few min. wait, we used the pass. It was wonderful, it keep
all us of happy and energized and prevented any meltdowns.
Now for number
4- We let our son go on the rides he loved numerous times. We
probably went on Buzz Lightyear 20 times.
A couple of things that help us
1- We went to Town Hall and got a Guest Assistance Pass.
We didn't us it the first day. Most lines were fairly short and my
husband was with us for the entire day. Things went smoothly, but my
husband had to hold my son if the lines were more than 2 or 3 minutes.
This brings me to number
2- We rented a stroller. (If we were going to Disneyworld, I would
Purchase a nice foldable stoller that is designed for older kids. Disney
World is so spread out, and you can not take a rented stroller between
the parks there. We saw numerous people with them. They seemed
very slick.) This was very helpful the first day,
but even more so the other days. The second and third days my
husband would not be joining us until evening. I was concerned about
having to hold my son in each line. I went back to town hall and
asked if we could get an accomodation to allow us to use the stoller
in the lines. A nice man put a stamp on the Guest Assistance Pass that
allowed us to use the stoller just like a wheelchair. He explained to us
that we should go to the exit of each attraction and show the pass or go through the fast pass lane when available--we didn't need the fass pass ticket just the guest assistance pass.
This now brings us to number
3- We used the pass! What a difference this made. If the lines were
more than a few min. wait, we used the pass. It was wonderful, it keep
all us of happy and energized and prevented any meltdowns.
Now for number
4- We let our son go on the rides he loved numerous times. We
probably went on Buzz Lightyear 20 times.
maggie78
01-03-2007, 07:24 PM
i live in tampa, fl about 45 min from disney orlando, i havent even tried to take lucas almost 4, so these tips are very helpful for me as well. my girls have been there when they were younger, but we havent been able to go with lucas, maybe now we will go. if you need to pick my brain about the area, or anything at all, let me know. as i said, i'm 45 min away, in florida, 45 min is nothing.
Laenini
01-03-2007, 10:41 PM
Ok, More Disney stuff :)
I wish I was allowed to post links because there are message boards and websites written and maintained by folks planning disney vacations and they have been a resource to me in the past. Several sites have extensive information about how to make Disney a positive experience when there are special needs persons in your group.
The trip we took the year Zach was 5 and had just finally potty trained was kind of a bust. The first park we went to on our first day was the Animal Kingdom and the first attraction there we went into was the "Its a Bug's Life" show in the huge Tree of Life. Now that was one of Zach's favorite disney movies. Its about cute little bugs and has a story line geared for young children. Well, the attraction at Animal Kingdom by the same name is not cute nor is it geared for young children. If your child is timid at all stay away from it! Its a loud, stinky (from a stink bug character) and consist of a scary animatronic presentation that culminates in a fight between the hero and the villain bug that is scary, loud, and totally dark as they kill the lights in the middle of it. Pitch black I'm telling you! Zach was mortally terrified and refused to go on another attraction the entire rest of the week! Instead, he became fixated on Disney's "potty toilets" and had to see every toilet and leave his "mark" at each one! I'm now able to tell you where every toilet is in the entire 4 park complex!
There are guidebooks out there that rate the scariness factor of each attraction. In retrospect I wish I would have paid more attention to those books and planned Zach's Disney world introduction a little more carefully. If I had it to do over again I'd go to the Magic Kingdom first and start right off with a sure fire kid pleaser like "Its a Small World" or "Dumbo" and then have worked our way up from there!
If your child is a fussy eater the guidebooks can help you plan meals too. The good guide books list all the different restaurants in the parks and resorts and their menus. Also, if you have special dietary needs (like the GF/CF diet or a ketogenic diet) Disney will accommodate those needs if notified in advance. The guidebooks help you know who and where to call to arrange those things. Also, there are guidebooks put out by Disney where everything has a positive spin, and there are independent guidebooks that are more objective. Go with the independent books.
I'm getting excited about Disney World now, I think I need to go plan our next trip! :)
I wish I was allowed to post links because there are message boards and websites written and maintained by folks planning disney vacations and they have been a resource to me in the past. Several sites have extensive information about how to make Disney a positive experience when there are special needs persons in your group.
The trip we took the year Zach was 5 and had just finally potty trained was kind of a bust. The first park we went to on our first day was the Animal Kingdom and the first attraction there we went into was the "Its a Bug's Life" show in the huge Tree of Life. Now that was one of Zach's favorite disney movies. Its about cute little bugs and has a story line geared for young children. Well, the attraction at Animal Kingdom by the same name is not cute nor is it geared for young children. If your child is timid at all stay away from it! Its a loud, stinky (from a stink bug character) and consist of a scary animatronic presentation that culminates in a fight between the hero and the villain bug that is scary, loud, and totally dark as they kill the lights in the middle of it. Pitch black I'm telling you! Zach was mortally terrified and refused to go on another attraction the entire rest of the week! Instead, he became fixated on Disney's "potty toilets" and had to see every toilet and leave his "mark" at each one! I'm now able to tell you where every toilet is in the entire 4 park complex!
There are guidebooks out there that rate the scariness factor of each attraction. In retrospect I wish I would have paid more attention to those books and planned Zach's Disney world introduction a little more carefully. If I had it to do over again I'd go to the Magic Kingdom first and start right off with a sure fire kid pleaser like "Its a Small World" or "Dumbo" and then have worked our way up from there!
If your child is a fussy eater the guidebooks can help you plan meals too. The good guide books list all the different restaurants in the parks and resorts and their menus. Also, if you have special dietary needs (like the GF/CF diet or a ketogenic diet) Disney will accommodate those needs if notified in advance. The guidebooks help you know who and where to call to arrange those things. Also, there are guidebooks put out by Disney where everything has a positive spin, and there are independent guidebooks that are more objective. Go with the independent books.
I'm getting excited about Disney World now, I think I need to go plan our next trip! :)
ruby41
01-04-2007, 06:49 PM
Thank for all your replies. Lots of useful tips. Maggie78 it's good to hear from someone nearby. As I will be comming over for 3 weeks I would like to do a lot of shopping. Where are the best shopping malls.
ruby41
01-13-2007, 10:30 PM
Hi Everyone
I was reading about the Guest Assisstant Passes some of you were talking about. What kind of proof do I have to show of my son's diagnosis to get this. Will it be a doctor's letter or do they need to see the proper diagnosis that was done when he was younger.
I was reading about the Guest Assisstant Passes some of you were talking about. What kind of proof do I have to show of my son's diagnosis to get this. Will it be a doctor's letter or do they need to see the proper diagnosis that was done when he was younger.
Laenini
01-14-2007, 03:47 PM
From what I was most recently told, Disney can not ask you to provide proof of a medical need for accomodations as it violates the HIPAA privacy act. If you ask for accomodations they have to take you at your word and provide you with the assistance you request. Regardless, I still have our family doctor jot a quick note just on a prescription blank saying something to the effect of "Nicholas and Zachary are children who both have autism spectrum disorders. Please provide them with any special assistance their family feels is needed." And then I make sure the doctor signs it. I don't think the last couple trips we've had to show the note at all though.
The only problem I've ever had at Disney related to my children's disabilities was at Blizzard Beach the summer my lower functioning son was 7 years old. He was a 1st grader and 2 inches too tall to "officially" use the preschool swimming areas at Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon. Developmentally, the preschool areas were the only appropriate areas for him to swim as he functioned at a 4 year old level or so at the time and the other areas were too scary to him (slides too steep, water too deep, etc). At Typhoon Lagoon, the staff tried to stop him from using the preschool area, but when I explained his condition they backed right off and allowed him to play there all afternoon with no more questions asked. A few days later the staff at Blizzard Beach would absolutely NOT allow Zach into the preschool area. They didn't care why we felt we should be allowed to play there, they were just adamant that he be removed from the preschool swimming area. Zach was well behaved and they were not just saying he had to leave due to his height and age because they wanted to get a difficult child out of there, they were just completely stuck on their rule. Once they told Zach he had to leave they broke his heart and he of course started crying (not a temper tantrum, just broken hearted disappointment crying). When I tried to intervene on his behalf this staff person was so cold hearted that I even started bawling! I still see no reason why Zach couldn't be allowed to enjoy that play area that day and I still find the memory upsetting. Anyway, we tried to turn it into a lesson for Zach that he was a big boy and had to follow the rules just like everyone else. But it was a harsh lesson that day.
The only problem I've ever had at Disney related to my children's disabilities was at Blizzard Beach the summer my lower functioning son was 7 years old. He was a 1st grader and 2 inches too tall to "officially" use the preschool swimming areas at Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon. Developmentally, the preschool areas were the only appropriate areas for him to swim as he functioned at a 4 year old level or so at the time and the other areas were too scary to him (slides too steep, water too deep, etc). At Typhoon Lagoon, the staff tried to stop him from using the preschool area, but when I explained his condition they backed right off and allowed him to play there all afternoon with no more questions asked. A few days later the staff at Blizzard Beach would absolutely NOT allow Zach into the preschool area. They didn't care why we felt we should be allowed to play there, they were just adamant that he be removed from the preschool swimming area. Zach was well behaved and they were not just saying he had to leave due to his height and age because they wanted to get a difficult child out of there, they were just completely stuck on their rule. Once they told Zach he had to leave they broke his heart and he of course started crying (not a temper tantrum, just broken hearted disappointment crying). When I tried to intervene on his behalf this staff person was so cold hearted that I even started bawling! I still see no reason why Zach couldn't be allowed to enjoy that play area that day and I still find the memory upsetting. Anyway, we tried to turn it into a lesson for Zach that he was a big boy and had to follow the rules just like everyone else. But it was a harsh lesson that day.
maggie78
01-14-2007, 06:04 PM
right in the disney area there is a great outlet mall. all designer names, there are other similar in the same vecinity, the hotel can tell you exactly how to get there as they are big attractions in the area.
ruby41
03-10-2007, 07:43 PM
Hi, my trip to Disney is a part of my child's birthday celebrations. I've heard of Character dining does anyone know if these have to be booked in advance. Anyone have any other tips for kid's birthdays.
Laenini
03-11-2007, 11:08 AM
Most of the Disney table service or buffet restaurants offer character meals. They usually require a reservation and the more popular ones (like the Cinderella meal in the castle at the Magic Kingdom) are booked months in advance. Others are available on shorter notice. There is also an event service that will help to plan a special event for vacationers at Disney World called Gifts of a Lifetime that will help plan something special for a birthday or other occasion. They are their own company, not owned by Disney in anyway, but I have read wonderful reviews of them.
littleshopper27
03-11-2007, 09:53 PM
All this information regarding the Guest Accomodations is wonderful! I would have never even thought it would be that easy to do. Do you have to show anything stating that your child is Autistic to get the pass? (I have one son who is 7 and Autistic and another son who is 1-1/2 and Developmentally Delayed). Thanks again for the wonderful tips for Disney as we are thinking about going in a few weeks!:)