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I will be going to WDW in May with DH, DS 4 yrs, DS 2.5yrs, he has autism. My therapists have suggested we get the pass to skip the lines. I think it is GAP. Have any of you used this with special needs children? Also if anyone has been to WDW with special needs child tell me some tips for how to make it the best for him. [img]graemlins/mickey.gif[/img]
[img]graemlins/mickey.gif[/img] Welcome to INTERCOT, mammalizzie!! [img]graemlins/mickey.gif[/img]
Since this isn't site related, I'm going to send it down to the Vacation Planning forum for answers to your questions.
Hope you have a wonderful trip! [img]smile.gif[/img]
Well,I've been lurking for a few weeks but never thought I'd have anything to say until now. BTW thanks to everyone for all of your great info & help! My nephew 10 is autistic & my DBrother & DSIL & I have taken him twice - we had the absolute best times. The first thing I would recommend is to let everyone know about DS. We had notes on our AKL ressies, our plane ressies,& our PSs that DN has autism. Definitely get the special needs pass from guest relations as soon as you get to your first park. It can be a lifesaver for a kid who cannot wait in line. My DN has some sensory issues, & he was not comfortable doing some rides & shows - ITTBAB comes to mind. Try to keep DS schedule as "normal" as possible for WDW - the first time we went, we had several breakfast PSs & it took us a few mornings of fighting to get DN on the bus before we realized that we were making him leave "home" without eating breakfast, which never happens at home. Like many autistic kids, DN wanted to do the same loop every day & go on the same attractions, so it took some imagination to get him to try different areas of MK & visit some of the other parks. He was raised on Disney channel & movies, so he knew most of the characters & really loved meeting them. If the line for a character is too long for your DS approach the CM escort for that character with your pass - sometines they will let you meet the character without having to wait so long - this worked for us at the Judges Tent in Toontown - it's also a signal to the characters that your child has special needs & they pay extra special attention & give you extra time with them. Just give yourselves time to adjust to being at WDW & have down time. We can't wait to go back - if your experience is half what ours have been, you'll have the time of your life. It is almost overwhelming to be in a place where my DN was treated so lovingly by every CM he came into contact with, and some, especially at AKL, who never even met him. I hope you have a great time!
Thank you for your reply. I was in tears reading it. We are excited to take them but worry about the routine issue. It seems that you need to make things as close to home as possible then? I have to admit I was so glad to hear that there was a program for these children. We were not going to take him in fear that the lines and such would just make it unbearable and unenjoyable for him. I am so happy that our therapists encouraged us to look into the pass. At first I felt like I would be taking advantage of the situation but the more I read it sounds like it would really be a necessity! Thanks again!
I was almost in tears writing it! As for the pass, we felt the same way at first, but no one made us feel uncomfortable using it - we were in line to see Cinderella at the Judge's tent & a CM saw the pass & took us out of line & told us we shouldn't have to wait to see her! We go in January when it's not so crowded & if the wait is not too bad, we make DN stay in the regular line, but once we saw how much easier the pass made life for us (and those around us)we didn't feel bad using the pass. BTW if your son has food allergies or is on a restricted diet, all of the table service restaurants in WDW except the World Showcase can accommodate a special diet (DN is on the wheat free, dairy free, egg free, peanut free diet) with some notice. We made many PSs & gave that information when we made them, but we also did a couple of walk-in meals & had no problem. As far as the "everything has to be the same every time" thing, my DN was 6 the first time we took him & remembered where everything that interested him was 2 years later on our second trip! If you use a schedule board with your son (he might be too young for that) it might help plan your day, so he'll have an idea of what is coming next. Good luck & have a magical time!
I have no autism related advice but just wanted to say parent to parent: Only you know your childs needs best. Dont second guess. Dont put him into questionable situations. Take your time and dont try to smoosh him into the dream vacation, work the vacation into him.
My son has ADD (now adays though who doesnt) and we had to go in prepared for all of the big issues. But we stuck with his schedule, kept him on his medicine and with his diet. We took frequent breaks to keep him from getting overstimulated.
Study a map before you go and find all of the nice little shaded out of the way spots. That way IF you have an issue, you have a place to scoot out of the way. One place we used was right outside of Dinosaur at Animal Kingdom. The walkway leading to the ride has little off areas that are heavily shaded, not fully open to the path with benches, trashcans and misting thingys. My son came off of Dinosaur very overstimulated, totally hyped up and scared to death (at 5 he thought he could handle it, at 7 he still says NO WAY) it was just a good spot to sit down and handle him till he calmed down, cooled off and had a snack.
Have a WONDERFUL time. Take way to many pictures and splurge on souvaniers!!
Yes ,I have gone with two special needs children that are under the Autism Spectrum. We got a special guest assist pass at Town Hall in the Magic Kngdom and it helped out so much and it is good in all the parks for as long as you stay. [img]graemlins/mickey.gif[/img]
My son has some problems with Sensory Integration Disorder, which is a distant cousin of autism, and WDW has been very theraputic for him. His first trip was last summer when he was 3.5 and there were some things he could not do. His biggest problems were being in big crowds, so he could not do most of the shows because of this. He could, however, do almost any ride. He loved anything that moved, and he was tall enough to do Splash and Thunder Mtn. When we went back in January he was able to do so much that he couldn't just 5 months earlier. It was so cool to see how far he's come. For example, last summer he was terrified in the Playhouse Disney show. In January he enjoyed it and even jumped and danced along to some parts. Tears came to our eyes to see how far our baby had come. So even though he liked the Playhouse characters, at first he was not ready for that show. If you continue to take your son over the years it can really do him a world of good.
Wow thanks for all your replies. I definatly feel that we can make this vacation work for all of us. We had previously talked about DH taking the 4 yrs old and me talking Michael (autistic) at differnt times of the day to just do low activity things and to just calm down. Do you think we should get the park hopper passes in case there is a situation where we miss something one day but he felt up to it another? Sorry for all the questions, but you are all so helpful!
I have no advice at all to give except to have a wonderful time.
I just wanted to commend all of you parents with young children that have autism. I'm a speech-pathology grad student and autism comes up quite a bit in lecture. I have heard horror stories about doctors not listening to the parents who just knew something "wasn't quite right" at age 1 and 2 - and were just getting diagnosed at age 6. It's so much better to have autism diagnosed young, and I think it's great that you all knew that and that your doctors listened to you. Sorry about the random intrusion - have a great vacation!
*Shannon
P.S. I would definitely go with the hopper passes. They shouldn't cost too much more, and they make things much more convenient, and you won't feel as rushed.
[ April 20, 2005, 12:47 AM: Message edited by: wonders10 ]
I would definately get the park hopping option. That way if one park gets to crowded you can hop to another park that might be less crowded. Also, like you said, your son may have a favorite activity in one park that he wants to do again.
You may want to have your DS's doctor write a letter on office stationary that states he is autistic to give to guest services. I have heard they are being a little more cautious about giving out passes because of misuse in the past. My good friend took her autistic son (7) last year and with the pass, had a terrific time. Her son cannot stand being touched by others so the jostling that occurs in line was a nightmare for him. Sometimes the CM had her and DS wait in a separate area while DH and their other DS waited in the reg. line or fastpass line and sometimes they were jsut escorted to the front of the line. She said the CMs were so helpful that she would not hesitate to go again.
I agree with the other posters - get the park hopper - on several days we went to one park early in the day & another park later, if only for a couple of hours at a time. That way, we didn't feel as though we had lost a day on our pass if we didn't stay at one park all day. Also, the suggestion about getting your doctor to write a note is a good one - we had a letter & presented it at the Phila airport - the TSA/security people checked our ID & escorted us to the x-ray/metal detector area - no waiting in the very long security check in line!
Hi, my daughter is autistic as well (14yrs) and we went for the first time last summer. I didn't do the special pass thing - I didn't know it even existed? However she did really well except for a couple of incidents - (laughing way too lound in Mickey's Philharmagic) and a few other things that set her off into a perseverative lookk! Anyhow we are going back this summer and will know a few things to watch for. How does this pass work? What about the rest of the family.
I hope it goes well for you and my heart goes out to you. There are so many challenges in society, school etc... for these children. It can be very stressful at times. Goodluck.
I believe it is called the Guest Assistance Pass (GAP). You can get it at the Guest Services desk at any park - I'm not sure about resorts. It basically functions as an automatic Fast Pass. It allows you & your entire group to bypass the line on most attractions - you would use either the specially marked handicapped entrance or the fast pass line. One pass is good for you and your group for the length of your stay and can be used at all parks. We did not use it for every attraction/ride we went on, but for the rides that my nephew really loved, or if the wait time was more than 20 minutes for a ride, we used it. We were also able to use it at some character meet & greets by presenting it to the CM escort for the characters (although it was not accepted by all of the CM escorts) & at the Judge's Tent in Toontown. We also used it once to sit in the handicapped section of the Share a Dream Come True Parade & Pluto took my nephew into the parade with him. Even if you don't use it for everything, there might be a time when it will save the day. Good luck & have a great vacation!