Any rides/shows you avoid?

[JohnnySharp2]

Hi,

We have been to Orlando many times , several with our 11 year old son Joshua.
He is autistic, unable to talk and has learning difficulties.

As far as the Disney parks go we get a GAC card, but use it only when absolutely necessary as we feel if he has to queue for relatively short times it improves his patience.

The one thing we kind of miss out on are rides/shows such as Fantasmic, Playhouse Disney Live On Stage etc - he doesn't really understand the characters - so we avoid many of the longer attractions and many with pre-shows too, in case he gets stressed.
Fantasyland with the likes of Winnie The Pooh and Peter Pan he loves.

Anyone with similar experiences?

 

[FFRSPEC]

Our son is 11 and he was ok on all of our trips. Most of the rides he was ok and some of them he could not ride as he was too small. Last year he rode just about everything in the parks. Space mountain and Buzz lightyear are his favorites. He is still not too keen on the character meet and greets. He shy's away as there are usually alot of people at those. GAC can really be helpfull for those situations. Haunted mansion is another that he does not like. But last year we asked if we could skip the movie at the begining and they said ok. He was fine after that.

 

[pilgrimr]

Our situation is similar. Our son, also named Joshua age 6 is autistic. He does not do the shows. He does not like the stage shows. We can only get him into Philimagic. When we have gone into shows like Disney Playhouse or Lion King at AK, it is too overwhelming for him. We have to leave before they start. He will go on most rides and we can do the firework shows and parades. He loves pirates and Snow White. When we go in December we will try again for shows. He does not have a problem with characters. He was most excited to meet the witch from snow white in Disneyland.

 

[KPeveler]

just a note - Carousel of Progress is a RIDE as well as a show. the seats move (well the whole theatre does, so you dont really feel it), but you CANNOT leave once the show starts!! if you leave, the show will stop adn that whole scene will restart... if your son has a meltdown, he will literally be a show stopper...

he may be fine, but you may want to skip this one...

 

[mechurchlady]

WDW is a magic place and there was a thread that went on and on about the miracles and magic that has occured for autistic kids. You should try to pushing him a tiny bit and try things. CMs have chicken exits on rides and shows so if your kid is fidgeting or is distressed you can get out fast the go over to a happy place like peter pan or dumbo.

The FAQs have links to some great info for parents of autistic kids and some cool tricks and tips to help kids adjust to new things, prepare for new things and to wait in line. Some use bits of food, gameboys, walkman radios, beads, and small toys.

It helps if you can discribe your child as autism is a spectrum. One child will meltdown at loud sounds while another will be ecstatic with cacophony. One will love onions and another hate onions.

Have you tried the shows with your son? He may not understand the shows but does he meltdown or become bored with the shows? How about a mommy and son time while dad sees the shows? Sometimes you need to split up a group so that everyone gets to do stuff they want to. That aint so bad.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Thanks for the responses.

To be honest the more we visit Orlando myself and my wife do less rides alone, even if it means missing out on a good ride or attraction.
We try and enjoy as many rides as a family as we can, and also (I know this is a bit silly) but we have got to the stage where we feel odd if we queue for a ride on our own when the majority are couples and families.
Also, we kind of don't mind concentrating on making sure Joshua enjoys everything, he is priority.

We try and increase Josh's patience levels by queuing providing the wait time is not too long - whether he would have the patience for a long show I really don't know. We are tempted to push him a bit more in the hope we find something new he enjoys, but if he hates it or gets stressed we will regret it I know..guess if we don't try we will never know will we?
There are also rides likes Splash Mountain which are more intense than the rides he usually enjoys, that we could consider too.

Pirates, Snow White, Peter Pan, Winnie The Pooh etc he loves........or at least he did in 2006, hopefully he still will in 2009.

 

[BeckyScott]

The only things we really avoided were the coasters (cause I knew he didn't like them) and anything where Justin had to sit by himself. Call me paranoid, but I'm not I wanted to be sure I could keep a hand on him all the time. In case he started to freak. He has a history of bailing out on things he doesn't like.

The one ride that scared me the most with him was Soarin', because it only had a lap belt. I'm sure we weren't really as high in the air as it would seem, but I was really scared he'd try to bail out, and I was sitting next to him but was really having to stretch to reach him. Of course, it wasn't helping that I personally totally on it myself. I would have much preferred to keep my eyes closed during the entire thing.

Justin absolutely loved the 3-D movies, all of them.

 

[KirstenB]

Hi,

We have been to Orlando many times , several with our 11 year old son Joshua.
He is autistic, unable to talk and has learning difficulties.

As far as the Disney parks go we get a GAC card, but use it only when absolutely necessary as we feel if he has to queue for relatively short times it improves his patience.

The one thing we kind of miss out on are rides/shows such as Fantasmic, Playhouse Disney Live On Stage etc - he doesn't really understand the characters - so we avoid many of the longer attractions and many with pre-shows too, in case he gets stressed.
Fantasyland with the likes of Winnie The Pooh and Peter Pan he loves.

Anyone with similar experiences?

I don't have any advice, our younger dd, Zoe is only 3, with mild ASD. I just had to say I love your photo of Joshua, he's a beautiful child. He has the most crystal blue eyes, very unusual. With Zoe, we push her all the time to try new things, but in full disclosure, her meltdowns are pretty brief, so it's easy for us to take chances.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

I don't have any advice, our younger dd, Zoe is only 3, with mild ASD. I just had to say I love your photo of Joshua, he's a beautiful child. He has the most crystal blue eyes, very unusual. With Zoe, we push her all the time to try new things, but in full disclosure, her meltdowns are pretty brief, so it's easy for us to take chances.

Thanks - he does have nice eyes I must admit.

 

[koolaidmoms]

I have a DS (5) who has Aspberger's/Autism - dual diagnosis. He also has never seen Fantasmic, Illuminations, Festival of the Lion King, etc... We are planning a trip in December, his 4th, and we think we might try Lion King if we can sit near an exit. Loud noises really bother him but he knows the music and characters so I am hoping that will distract some. We can also take his noise canceling headphones if it gets to be too much.

Part of our problem is DD (8) loves these types of things and has not been since son was born. We may have to finally split up for a few evenings so that she may enjoy these things while her brother rides the rides in Fantasyland.