My son and I went last year for our first disney vacation and he loved it!! My son is 12 and he too has autism (HFA.) I also was very concerned about sensory issues, lines, crowds etc. There are many tools to use, which will help make your son's vacation enjoyable.
First I have to say that Disney is extremely accommodating to people with ASD. Also, the staff in the parks, hotels, and restaurants were so good to my son! Below I will list some tools we used which were helpful and may be to you as well.
- That is good that you have the Dr's note. When we brought ours to GUest relations for the GAC they did not even look at ours, but I have heard things may be changing with that so, it's good you have it.
- Once you have the GAC, you will use that for all parks. I recommend having it in something that has easy access due to the amount of times you will need to show the pass. We bought a lanyard with a clear pouch and placed it in there. My son loves to pin trading and he placed all his pins along the neck portion of the lanyard. We also placed a card in the lanyard with the hotel name we were staying at, our son's name, and our cell phone number just in case he was to get separated from me.
- For us and again it may be different based on each child's own special needs, we used a separate entrance to wait in line and board the rides. The wait time was sometimes shorter compared to the main entrance but, more important to us was that it was far less crowded. Having too many people close by to my son can set him off. (The GAC can not be used in the water parks.)
- For the times that there are waits, we had either a hand held game player, with ear phones or his IPod with ear phones to listen too music. It kept the loud sounds muffled, which calmed him; and, it kept him distracted. You could also use, mini etch a sketch, silly putty, etc. which ASD kids usually find calming for sensory needs.
- I HIGHLY recommend you take a break mid day for a nap or down time at the hotel.
- Anything you know your son will have difficulty with, you can have your son's school work on creating social stories for. They can then practice those with him to prepare for trip.
- I know that family can enter with their child when using GAC, I'm not sure if there is a limit on how many though.
- I am not sure about Fast Pass. I know that some People on these forums recommend using the FP rather than GAC. I personally would not, there is a reason Disney offers the GAC; and, if it can help your child through the challenges which would arise I say use it! There are some ASD kids who would not need the GAC card, which is great, hopefully my son will be there some day. For us it was so helpful to have the GAC, without it, due to our son's specific needs, we would have missed out on a lot.
- If your trip is not yet booked, I highly recommend going in Sept. It is so much more crowded the rest of the year.
I hope you and your family have a great trip!