Taking autistic kids to Disneyland

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I just read a news article on Yahoo; a group of parents is suing Disney because they claim Disney's recent change in policy discriminates against children with autism.

We had an appalling experience at our one time at Disney World. We didn't know we could get special needs passes. My son has a hard time waiting in lines, but he is not as handicapped as most on the spectrum. We found ways to entertain him in line.

Anyway, we were kinda focused on entertaining him in one line, when I noticed the person in front of us letting in people one by one - probably 8 people right in front of us. I started to get upset and question them. They came back with, "Hey, this is supposed to be the happiest place on earth!" What?? I guess the best defense is a continued offense. They were certainly offensive!! !! !! !! !! !! !! !

I am going to tell you now. There will be times when it is a lot of FUN and times when it is stressful. I don't know anyone with kids, NT or on the spectrum, that doesn't have both of those emotions at Disney. Disney is tiring no matter what for kids and adults. The key to making it mostly FUN is lots of planning. There are websites and apps that have analyzed Disney's anticipated traffic by season, by day, and by hour. They will give you strategies for using the fastpass to the best advantage for our priorities too. Use these sites to make a touring plan based on their advice for when you go and your must see/must do activities. They will help you have a much better time. Even then, things may need to be adjusted.

I have been to Disney World twice. The first time with 7 year old twins (one an Apsie) and 5 year old triplets. The second time the twins were 10 and the triplets were 8. The first time we went to Disney only, went to 2 parks and the beach and stayed only 5 days in April. The second time we stayed 7 days and did Disney and Universal the second week of June. Neither time did we get a Guest Assistance Card and we were fine. We went during Star Wars week at Hollywood Studios in Florida when we went the second time. It was a huge hit.

I have heard people say they can work with the new system. You get a card still and it allows you to be given a time to return to ride the ride much like the fastpass system. You also get to use the fastpass+ that allows you reserve 3 rides for a specific time as I understand it. We haven't been since the new fastpass+ started, but we loved the fastpass system. It allowed us to see much more than we would have otherwise.

I am not thrilled with the lawsuit actually. Universal and the other parks never gave a get on the ride immediately pass, which was really what the GAC turned into. I know people like to say that isn't what it was, and that was the official line you heard, but it usually worked as a get on the ride immediately card. This is why I never got one for my son. No , my son didn't like lines and he complained and worried about them more than the average kid his age in line. We would constantly pull him back from crowding the space of the people in front of us and he was constantly trying to inch the line forward. However, I also didn't think he needed to feel so special that he was basically given a pass to ride before everyone else, and he could even ride it back to back while by-passing a line with people still waiting to ride it once.

Anyway, I have all the Disney World touring plan sites bookmarked, but do a search for Disneyland and you will find some to help you. Use the term "touring plan" as that is what I have always seen it called.

I have aspergers, and we are in the process of having my son diagnosed.

We took a family vacation to Disney World back in November. And I knew it was going to stress me out, and probably our son as well. But what we didn't realize was that there were very few things that he ended up enjoying. But what he did enjoy...he really enjoyed (Tea Cups, People Mover, Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground, Dumbo)

The lines weren't such a big deal, as there was plenty to keep him entertained as we waited. But there were moments of panic each time we got on a different ride. So we would sometimes step to the side and let him see a few people getting on so as to give him a little more prep time. Some rides were easier to do this than others.

Any of the 3D shows were too much - way too many sensory issues (water, wind, noise) for both of us. He had the most fun just feeling like he was free to roam around...and we let him...so long as we could keep up with him.

But my wife knew that when either our son (our myself) said that we were done for the day...it meant it was time to go right then. So we would start our day at the back of the different parks and work our way towards the entrance. Just in case we needed to make a quick get away.

We have taken our children to Disney World several times - the oldest has aspergers and issues with 'strange' food. We solved the problem by shopping before and shipping food directly to the hotel. This allowed us to fix the breakfast they were used to as well as pack a lunch to take into the park. The only meal we ate out was dinner and that was because I knew we would be to tired to fix anything.

I hope this idea helps.