Eurodisney

[jomaman]

Hi,
We're planning a trip to Eurodisney, and I just wanted to ask for any tips if any of you have been with your dcs? My main concerns are the whole queuing thing with ds1 (ASD, dyspraxia and global delay) and also he is on a restricted diet so i wondered how easy it is to eat out with them, if hotels and restaurants are accommodating or not? And any general survival tips? Ds1 is on mid level DLA but no blue badge so i'm wondering if we would qualify the fast pass? I asked on the phone and there is no way to arrange it in advance...
thanks

We had no official DX when we took our 6 yo but the GP gave us a letter to say that her sensory processing difficulties meant she couldn't queue. Take it to City Hall when you get there.

The first day there was only a short queue for Pirates of the Caribbean so we didn't use the pass. The lines are inside and it is dark. DD had major meltdown and refused to go on it again. Even the kiddie rides, too many people in a small space all talking was more than she could bear.

Sorry, on phone. Pass meant we queued separately in a bigger area with fewer people. Some rides you still have to wait but without the crush/ noise.

Plus parades are viewed from separate roped off area. Some wheelchair users got a bit snippy about "non disabled" people being there but a flash of the pass sorted that.

We don't have issues with food except we are vegetarian so can't help there. Food inside is burgers, chips, pizza. Nicer places in village. Very expensive.

as takkulah said, after purchasing tickets (and you know carer goes free) go straight to the City Hall.

Last summer I went alone with 3 kids under 7, one ASD, one that never stops talking and one extremely opinionated asking questions about everything. The bands we were given meant we went on all rides in one day, no queuing, no tantrums, everyone was happy :)

Yes you should qualify for the priority pass. Take your DLA award letter, plus maybe an HNS/GP letter and anything else 'official' you have and take it all to City Hall. It allows you to avoid the majority of queues for rides and also to meet some character and access to a separate, less crowded area for shows/parades.

Regarding special dietary needs, if you are staying at a disney hotel they should be able to accommodate those. There is a special needs department, who you we need to contact in advance though. I have their email address somewhere, so I'll find it for you. I'm not too sure about eating in the park though, although you CAN take your own food in. My DC are just fussy eaters so I find the buffet restaurants (in the parks,village or at hotels) to be the best choice for us.

Other tips would be to take advantage of the early mornings when the parks are less busy. Not everything is open then but at least there are no big crowds. For rides research them well in advance, some are not what you might think and are much scarier than they look from the outside. I can describe what most are like if that would help. Also the Moteurs stunt show is very loud so take ear defenders if necessary same at the Buffalo Bill show in the village. The Dreams light show at night also includes fireworks too and flame throwers.

Finally it is wise to be prepared for situations where the lack of queues (I'm thinking about shuttle buses in particular) could be a problem. No one queus and its jus ascrum basically. It can be quite stressful IMO but nothing that can be done about it except be prepared to expect it or plan an alternative.

thanks so much for the great suggestions, I will ask for the contact details of SN dept when I book

Are you staying on site? We stayed at the Sequoia and go the bus the first day. A really helpful family pointed out that it was quicker to walk round the lake. Useful to know late at night when there is a scrum for the bus.

Am I going mad (probably...) Didn't Disney say they weren't issu

Sorry...

Didn't Disney say there weren't going to issue passes any more?

Or was that someone else??

Dd2 is gluten free and we found all the restaurants in Disney village and hotels brilliant. There is a company who provides Disney with "allergy" meals, I can't remember the name of it, but the only thing is with those is that it is free from everything, not just gluten and didn't look particularly nice. What we did find though is that all the waiters and chefs were clued up with gluten free and just made something separate for dd2.

The hotel can give you a list of restaurants in the village and parks that will cater for special diets so we stuck to those.