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Has anyone here been to disney with a ASD child?

7 replies

Crawling · 10/03/2013 17:17

How did they cope with everything going on?

Were you able to remain in the parks all day?

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silverfrog · 10/03/2013 18:39

we took dd1 to disney florida a couple of years ago.

she was fine - she loved it.

she enjoys (or did then, seems to have gone off them a bit) rollercoasters and fairground rides, but the biggest surprise for us was that she could not get enough of talkingto the princesses and characters - she didn't really talk to other people at that point, and we thought she wouldn't be interested (but had to queue for dd2), but she was straight in there and chating away - they were really patient with her, and happily chatted about what she wanted to talk about too - it was lovely.

we lasted most of the day, but weren't at that time able to stay for evening stuff too (or go out for evening stuff once we had been back to the hotel). we usually went out around 9/9.30 am, and got back about 6pm.

she coped well with all the bustle and noise - occasinally it got a bit much. we had a disabled pass so we could go through the exits for rides and only had to queue for about 20 mintues or so maximum.

Crawling · 10/03/2013 18:43

Thank you its florida we are going to.

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silverfrog · 10/03/2013 18:53

oh, definitely go to town hall in MK then, and get pass covering your stay - you don't need any particular form of proof, and they write down your stay details on a bit of card - show this at each ride and they direct you which way to go.

dd1 was not brilliant with the parades, as she wasn't so good at watching broad spectacles - she didn't know where to look, really.

but the rides and shows were a big hit.

dd1 was 6 at the time.

we are going back later this year, and hope to be able to see some of the evening shows this time (dd1 will be 9)

magso · 10/03/2013 18:58

We took ds to disney Paris a couple of years ago. He must have been 10 or 11. He loved it. He had only just got over his running phase (not HF) so I think that helped. Ds is mostly a sensory seeker so enjoys rides and movement. He did not 'get' the dressed up people in the parade, and was best in the further away quieter corners with lesser queues. We did not get a disability pass which are available as we felt ds might manage without - and he did. He had no interest in the parade anyway.

googlyeyes · 10/03/2013 20:28

We are going to Florida this summer and hoping for the best with ds1 who will be 6! We took him to Disneyland Paris when he was 3 and he absolutely loved it (and has always loved Legoland) so I'm hoping it's a safe bet.

We would have taken him earlier but his eating was so restricted that we couldn't see any way it would have been possible at the time but now, touch wood, there's been quite an improvement so hopefully even if he has to have burgers and fries every day he'll survive!

He's moderately to severely ASD and largely non verbal, so we can't prepare him for what's to come but he is very sensory seeking so should love the rides, the crowds, the noise, the lights, all of that gubbins. Not sure we'll be able to do much stuff in the evenings though as he wakes super early and so is very tired by 8pm or so but that won't be the worst thing in the world. In fact, re the parks I'm actually much more worried about ds2, age 3 (NT) who is the biggest wuss on the planet (still won't brave it into the baby slide in our local playground)...am anticipating DH having a whale of a time on various hair raising rides with DD and DS1 while I cuddle ds2 from a safe distance!

The pass to help with queuing will be a lifesaver. I'm just praying that Virgin can help us out a bit somehow as I'm
anxious re the airport queues and keeping him in his seat on the flight! Hopefully bringing an extra battery charge for his iPad should help.

The whole thing is a v expensive gamble but if all goes well it should be a family holiday that all 3 kids will love, and that they can all share in with the huge excitement and sensory overload!

Crawling · 11/03/2013 08:24

Thank you dd will be 4 when we travel but she is a sensory seeker so hopefully will have a great time. Im not to bothered about parades I actually thought I would use the time to enjoy some rides while people are watching the parade.

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SallyBear · 11/03/2013 10:31

My poor DS didn't enjoy it at all. He was frightened by some of the rides and we ended up splitting up. DH taking the other 3 and me spending a lot of time on trains.... We had been doing really well until we went on one particular ride when it all got too much for him.
I took a GP letter explaining his ASD and went to the Town Hall at Magic Kingdom and got the pass to use the disabled access. It worked really well and you can all use the pass as a family. Worth doing.

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