ADHD & queuing

[21jlb]

My son is 9 and has ADHD. He hasn’t been diagnosed, but it has been pretty clear from a young age that he has. His school has made numerous referrals but we don’t seem to be getting anywhere.
We are travelling to Orlando and I am concerned about queuing. I want to try and apply for the DAS pass but I don’t know what to say.
He has the attention span of Dory causing him to get bored and frustrated very quickly. He will then either try to make his own fun which includes running around, climbing, rolling on the floor or becoming argumentative and walking off.
It doesn’t sound like a lot but it causes him stress from being bored, he describes it like his head goes pop, and stress to us trying to calm him and not annoy others.
Will this be enough for them to understand?

@LyndaLaHughes
Thank you. I didn't know this. I just assumed you would need some sort of diagnosis. Il look into it.

You don't need to provide written proof of disability to be given a DAS. But you will need to go to Guest Services to ask for one.
It means you still have to wait though, you don't get straight on.
If the queue time is eg., 60 mins you will be given a time to return to the ride in 60 mins so you can wait elsewhere. You then enter the "fast pass" queue which is generally shorter than the main queue.
The DAS means you don't need to stand in the queue but you still have to virtually wait - but gives you the freedom to do other things - get food, look in shops, play in the playgrounds, go on another ride that may have a very short queue.
But basically you queue for everything - food, character meets, the monorail, buses.
I would recommend going during "quieter times". So not during school holidays if possible.

@LyndaLaHughes thank you for your informative and helpful post, I have fully diagnosed ADHD and I have been scared it wouldn’t even “count” as a disability for places like Disney so it gives me hope that I might be able to take the kids one day if we save up! 💖

If you want to go to universal stay at the hard rock, royal Pacific or portafino and you get fast passes as part of your stay (and early access). If you book ahead it is significantly cheaper than paying for passes per day at the park. Orlando holidays are ALL in the planning.

There is a lot of bad advice on this thread so I hope you ignore most of what has been written. Your child is likely to be eligible for a DAS pass as it affects their ability to queue. They can’t ask for proof of disability but you do need to explain why they have a disability that affects their ability to queue. You get a return time which is equivalent to how long you would have been in the queue.

There are special needs Disney Facebook groups that you can join if you want more information. You can apply for a DAS pass before you go if you have a VPN. I think this is worth doing as you can select some rides in advance.

Try Universal studios instead and stay in onsite hotel with fast pass and early entry. Choose quieter time of year too. Easter is our preference avoiding US doing break

Avoiding Spring break I mean!

Disney queues are terrible now and partially ruin the whole experience even for the NT attendees. I've found Universal with fast pass much more civilised

In the US it’s illegal to ask for proof so a diagnosis is not needed. They will ask you to list is difficulties, but can not ask for evidence.
Paris has different laws and is very strict on what evidence they accept.

I went to Disney in the summer with my two kids (one diagnosed with adhd the other waiting). Guest services were fab and gave us a DAS pass - we were asked why we needed one but didn't have to show proof (even though I had evidence with me).

You shouldn't go because the queues are torture to children, let alone one with ADHD.

It's really overrated.

And also, many children don't ever go to Disney, he'll live.

My 6 year old is diagnosed Adhd and medicated. Before diagnosis I wouldn’t even dream of going to chessington let alone Disney. He has an access card now so we don’t have to queue.

I would get him diagnosed whether nhs or private as that diagnoses is worth it’s weight in Gold. I can access is much more to help my son.

I remember a couple of years ago I was on holiday and we was queuing for the toboggan ride. My son was awful he kept having meltdowns and trying to push in. So I get it it can be awful and upsetting.

But he doesn't have ADHD, at least not officially yet. I don't think her comment was cunty at all. They'll make an adjustment for him with proof, but if you don't yet have that then maybe it's not the most appropriate place to go.

As has been pointed out here ad infinitum, proof is not required for Disneyworld.

21jlb
@Mommabear20 So because he has adhd then I shouldn’t allow him to go to Disney? What child doesn’t want to go.
I’m asking for a bit of advice from others who have been in a similar situation not a cunty comment.

But he doesn't have ADHD, at least not officially yet. I don't think her comment was cunty at all. They'll make an adjustment for him with proof, but if you don't yet have that then maybe it's not the most appropriate place to go.

As those of us who have been have pointed out repeatedly- NO proof is required.

My son has been diagnosed with ADHD. Been to Disney and Universal and both kindly provided a disability pass - no proof needs. I recall you check in for the ride, and return when you have reached the current wait time. It means you can wander around instead of queuing.

You cannot queue jump without an official diagnosis letter. My eldest has ADHD, undiagnosed when we went to Disney but he did ok. You can book 3 free fast passes a day, most queues were 40 mins or less and often there is entertainment and distractions whilst queuing. We also ate snacks and played games. It was much less stressful than any Merlin Attraction (the heat didn't help).

Does he get DLA? Could you use your award letter, and ask GP for a supporting letter explaining that he can’t queue?

😩 🙏…….it’s Disneyworld we are talking about not the one in France!

This is not true for Disneyworld In Florida which is where the post is about. I can state that categorically as I have just been this summer with a child awaiting her formal diagnosis.

Op did you email them and just ask them to save all the what ifs?

If you know it's going to be stressful why book that type of holiday?

I was in a similar situation to you when I took my kids in 2019. I had heard about the DAS pass and although I knew that you didn’t need to show proof, I was so worried about asking and was sure I would be given a grilling about why we needed it. I was concerned about having to go into lots of details about my child’s difficulties with him there. Our first day we went to magic kingdom and tried to make do with the normal queues. It was a disaster - tearful meltdowns in the queues and wanting to leave early. On the way out of the park, I was so upset and worried about the rest of the holiday so my mum suggested I go to guest services and ask which I did. There was no queue at that time, they didn’t even ask me why we needed the pass, just which child it was for and who else needed to be linked to the pass. It made such a difference to our whole holiday and I am so grateful that we were able to have it. Don’t get me wrong, most days my child would have preferred to just stay at the pool but the DAS Pass meant that he was able to enjoy some of the rides and also meant that the rest of us could enjoy the parks without having to limit our days to what he could cope with.
We also visited Universal where they have a different system but we paid for fast passes there which were great so we didn’t need anything else.
Good luck and I hope you have a brilliant holiday.

I’m shocked to read some of the negative comments above.

as a family, we have been 9 times. Our daughter is disabled along with a multitude of serious health issues. It’s the only place in the world that her doctors are happy for her to go (USA) due to health care.

we use the DAS and it’s fantastic. It gives you a return time to enter the ride, so your max wait is 30 mins. Most of the time it’s a walk on.

Go to guest relations in each park, on your first day. Explain everything. They aren’t allowed to see medical records or letters. But explain the impact on dc and the public also in terms of queuing.

We went this summer (end of august) and we actually had a day in Seaworld where we had zero queue. We walked straight onto the rides. The end of august is when the American kids are back in schools so the park’s quieten down.

we will probably go back next year. It gives us the freedom with dd and the rest of the family get to have fun regardless of disability.

Sorry resurrecting this for some advice please, if you get a DAS pass does it apply to the whole group? We are a family of 4 and only my youngest will need it, we are happy to split into 2 for some of it, but lots of rides we'd like to do as a family.