Parents using their children’s disabilities to skip the queues at Disneyland

I understand what you are saying, We have taken our kids there because 1. They both like the rides and the shows.

1. Why should the youngest miss out on going places like this due to his brothers disability. We don't have anyone else to leave the eldest with.

My child spent two full back to back days at Paultons Park going on a ride for children quite a big younger than him on a loop. He was in heaven, as was DH who doesn't like rides, so he could sit and read a book all day in peace. That had zero queue but if it had been a busy ride, a pass would have been a total godsend as it would have enabled not just him but the whole family to enjoy their time. As it was, I could take the others on all the rides he wasn't willing to be anywhere near worrying that he was unhappy enough that we'd all need to leave without any special provision.

Because children with disabilities are also
children and want to go places like Disney, should they all just stay home or limit themselves to the local park?

I have a ND DC. We haven't been to Disneyland yet, so haven't accessed a fast track queue.

OP, you asked about what a meltdown would look like. For my DC it would start by DV over analysing everything in the queue, and masking. DC would then start to get overwhelmed and would start to vocally and physically stim. There would be complaints from DC about how they hurt (this is due to hypermobility, but I'm sure it would look like lots of other children who say their legs legs hurt...)

After the stimming has ramped up, DC would start injuring themselves, usually punching themselves in the head/phase or digging their nails into their arms. They may also physically lash out at DH or me.

It's distressing to witness, and this has happened in short queues too. As a parent, you have the double edge sword of trying to help your DC, whilst putting up with the very obvious judgement from others stood around you. Sometimes, to make it worse, there's a 'well meaning' stranger who will try and intervene, and this will make it even worse for DC.

Things in queues likely to trigger this are; how they are already feeling that day, sounds, lights (this can even be sunlight), facial expressions from other people, interactions from strangers, closeness to anyone not on their list of safe people, fear of being touched as well as all other stimuli around them.

I think it's reasonable for kids who need it for whatever reason to skip the line but what I don't really understand is - for kids with ASD particularly, who get sensory overload and can't stand the crowds and noise etc - why take them somewhere like Disney anyway? Surely the whole bloody place is sensory overload even for NT people? Seems a bit nuts to me.
Whatever though. Each to their own
I won't be going with my kids because I'd be 100% overwhelmed (as would ADHD DS) other DC would probably love it though.

Can I ask if you wanted to open a discussion with parents about their disabled DC why you accused parents of using their DC in the title?

I'd also echo what previous poster said. Educate yourself. I'm fed up with trying to explain to people what Autism is or isn't. Plenty of information on the Web. Half the time noone listens and think they know better anyway.

Thanks - maybe now, but back when we went (years ago!) he wasn’t eligible as he only got middle rate care. Must have changed x

Shouldn't these passes be reserved for the people who really do need them?

They are

HTH

OP, you need to develop some self-awareness. The whole tone of your post is suggesting families of disabled children are behaving unreasonably and claiming things they shouldn't. Attitudes like yours significantly contribute to the stress families of disabled children experience. There is research evidence demonstrating parents of autistic children are the most marginalised and stigmatised of any type of disability and other people's judgemental attitudes and failure to understand hidden disabilities contribute significantly to the stress families experience. Your attitudes cause harm to disabled families.

My DC can queue ok mostly BUT cannot envisage what a ride might be like until they are in the loading zone (even if they have done it before). So a typical day at a theme park would involve a long queue followed by inability to get on a ride, leaving and joining another queue and refusing again for that one.

The pass was a godsend on our trip to Disney as there were so many rides he was unable to get on once we were at the loading area. Though in the end he liked an out of the way ride with practically no queue for anyone and we spent most of the day doing that one ride again and again and again and hardly using the pass at all, whilst we parents took turns to take his siblings on other rides (without the pass).

We also wouldn’t go in August.

Did it seem like a good morning for trolling OP @satsumaqueen you clearly have no empathy or interest in understanding what Autism or ADHD is. Hope you get torn to shreds, it's what you deserve.

As for your comment about Disney land being overwhelming because of sensory overload, well that's why they can queue jump. What's your solution, stay at home and never leave the house. Because people like you resent those with needs jumping the queue. Sounds like a you problem.

My 4yo son has high functioning ASD. I took him to meet father Christmas in December, it was afternoon tea at the garden centre and meeting Santa. I looked for a SEN session but there weren't any in my area. He was so excited about going. We did prep beforehand, let him know what to expect, but I didn't know how we'd get on. Cgristnas activities are meticulously planned because when you have an ASD kid you cannot simply just go out and do something. We have to consider timing, location, how busy it is, how noisy is it, smells, time of day etc. When we got there he got spooked because it was "too noisy". He's particularly fussy with food but managed ok. Santa came out and the kids could go up 1 by 1 to meet him, choose a present. We joined the queue but it was long. People were spending ages up there and DS got upset with the noise and the queue feeling busy. That spooked him even more and then he felt scared and wanted to go home. I tried to convince him to stay but that led to a meltdown. So we left. We've never actually been able to do a Santa visit despite him wanting to do so. What's your suggestion OP. Keep all the autistic kids at home forever. If I'd been able to queue jump I would have.

Why is it our job to educate you?

There's a wealth of information out there, books, blogs, YouTube, even tiktok if someone genuinely wanted to learn. Or you could have directly asked the people on FB "why do you think your kids need it", but, of course FB isn't anonymous.

Instead you chose to come onto here suggesting we educate out dc out of their disabilities.

As parents of ND children we spend half of our lives explaining things to people just so our children aren't seen as less than, and having to defend any tiny adjustment our kids get because others see the 'perk' and want it without having any of the difficulties that go along with it.

You are aware that ADHD affects people differently?

You wrote the post in a very inflammatory, unpleasant way.

Europa Park in Germany doesn't do any paid fast passes for visitors. Everyone who goes and uses their app can book a number of timed slots for the bigger rides (you have to be quite on it to get them) which is free. You can only be in one at a time. There are lots of non-ride things to do and the queues for many rides aren't too bad.

They do also have a disability pass (Access card required) that gives you up to six rides in the day.

My kids loved it as it was very chilled. Many people say it's better than Disney (which I've never done). Worth looking into.

Adding rain to an already high-sensory activity will not make an autistic child ‘grasp the idea of queueing’.

It’s not my job and nor should I have to. Do you ask wheelchair users to justify why they’re in a wheelchair? OP clearly has doubts about sen children needing these passes or they wouldn’t have started the thread or even asked the question.
This thread is thinly veiled ableism.

I can think of about 5 different ways you could have reworded the thread title to reflect that this was, in fact, a genuine request to understand (if it actually was)

My son has what the professionals describe as incredibly well managed T1D, with pump and CGM.
Managing his diabetes is still a rollercoaster all of its own, and it’s an around the clock job with alarms going off at all times of the day and night. If he sleeps on his tummy for too long, his monitor thinks his blood sugar has crashed, we get a phone call and have to go check his blood ourselves to see if he’s having a medical emergency or just tummy time.
He can be coasting along beautifully one minute and then downing glucose shots the next, or beeping relentlessly because his blood sugar has rocketed after lunch. A million different things affect blood sugar, every day is a mind fuck. My child’s body is literally trying to kill him.
If ignorant people like you begrudge him a silver lining like skipping a queue at Disney (better than keeping a person with a volatile condition like T1D trapped in a queue), just let me know and we can swap places.
Your niece deserves every piece of help she can get.

The OP thinks children can be taught not to be autistic. They may be beyond educating.

I am not offended. That’s such a cop out when you’ve been purposefully ignorant and goady.

As I said, if you truly wanted to learn, there are ways.

Do you ever care for your niece with T1D ? . If so you should know exercise and excitement both affect blood glucose levels . Your DN could experience either hypo or hyperglycemia whilst queuing, both which need to be actively and immediately managed to keep your niece safe and well . Insulin pumps are not " plug and play " , they need to be programmed to the persons individual needs . TID is one of the hardest long term conditions to manage as it requires input and decision making umpteen times per day . The pass for your niece is completely justified .

That's pretty typical uo untill the age of 16
However once she has to apply for PIP assuming the daughter is able to manage her own diabetes and there are no complications
It's unlikely she will get an award
I'm the parent of an 18 year old insulin dependent diabetic
And 14 year old severely autistic non verbal etc .son.