Anyone taken a child with autism to Disneyland?

[akaemmafrost]

Well I will be taking two actually. Was wondering how you managed and any general tips really. Thanks

Have taken my dd to WDW Florida when she was 4 and DL Paris last week :) (she's nearly 7 now).

For Florida I would strongly suggest going out of season. Dd found the heat (in May) very difficult to deal with and the first day in the park was complete sensory overload (we had to take her back to the villa after 2h :( )

Having a villa a little way from the parks (15 mins) was good as it gave dd a calm quiet place to return to.

We had an exit pass which made things bearable. We could pop in, do a few rides and then go home without having to plan too much. We probably still went on far less rides than average families without the passes.

Paris was nice but the razzmatazz of Disney was missing. The parades were short and half hearted and the characters were very thin on the ground. Florida was a blip when we came into some money, we have never had such an expensive holiday before or since. Basically I need to win the lottery as I'd love to be able to take dd back there.

Thanks lola. Yes was wondering about exit passes. What do you need for those? How does it work? We get them at Legoland and it just makes life SO much easier. The ds actually have FUN.

We are going in April. Dd especially has sensory issues around hot weather. Gets very distressed. Hoping it won't be too bad then.

It's Florida we are going to.

So envious :)

We took diagnosis letters and everything we had that looked official. This year we got a drs letter (as diagnosis stuff very old now) both times they didn't really look at any of it! I have a blue badge and a white cane and they granted passes on the strength of those tho.

Exit pass works in same way as kegoland and is a godsend.

Where are you staying and how good is your LO at walking distances?

We've been to Paris, and the special pass was great. We only went for a day, and we took the buggy (ds was 4) and he did retreat into it when things got too busy for him. Ds is very active, so we visited both play areas more than once, and then so that we could sit down and eat lunch we paid for the most expensive fast food ever and went to eat in front of a giant screen showing Disney shorts. Half an hour of rest, it was bliss.

They give you a guide listing all the rides with additional information, eg if you need to be able to climb a ladder in case of a fire/emergency. This was useful as I don't think ds would have been able to cope if that were to happen. In the end we stuck to quite babyish rides, but he loved it, and it was wonderful not having to queue for them (as it would have been impossible to wait at all).

We stayed at a campsite rather than a hotel, due to costs / it being part of a bigger (camping) holiday. Ds doesn't like enclosed spaces and finds hotel rooms stressful, so this worked well for us. Plus it was August so nice and warm!

I took my two boys to Paris last year, one with Down's syndrome and one with autism and both got pass cards from city hall that meant they (and us) could get into the disabled wheelchair queue, sometimes up the exit route to be at the top of the lines. What a godsend it proved to be! Certainly meant no meltdowns while we were there. I took a recent brief letter from the doctor saying about them struggling with and the understanding of queuing system. They also advised us on what rides might not suit them due to noise/lights/bumps etc. have fun!