Going Jan 5th with special needs???

[cantwait07]

Am going Jan 5th with 2 children and one is aged 2 and has special needs.

Can anyone give me any tips? Am staying in Newport Bay for 4 nights and was hoping to to into Paris one of the days

Will it be busy on these dates? what are rooms like in Newport? Is the pool warm, would it be worth my while bringing swimming gear? what are the cots like?


My child with special needs loves teacups rides and also loved the ghost train at our local fair, will there be many things she can get on bearing in mind I have to get on with her and hold her?

I know it will be very cold and have snow suits etc, is it worth my while bringing a little flasks into the parks for warm drinks?

Thanks for reading and sorry for rambling!

 

[Calumsmummy]

Hi there,
You will all absolutely love Disneyland Paris, they really make an effort with special needs children, as we have found out twice this year.

Our 10 year old has epilepsy and a neurological disorder. He is small for his age but able to walk ok although he has a hip problem which causes him pain so we do not exert him too much. He also has a heart condition, but all pretty much "unseen" as to look at him, you would never know he had a disability.
We do have a "blue badge" for him, but we were worried how he was going to cope if there were long queues/standing etc.

If you have a blue badge or some kind of proof of condition (even a doctors note) You can take this to Disney Guest Services near the entrance of the park and they will issue you with an "easy access pass". Make sure they stamp it with "mickey ears". Having this easy access pass was a godsend to us. You show it to the cast member at the entrance to the ride and they will usually direct you to the exit where you can ride without having to join a huge queue. It doesn't give you priority access but we never waited any more than 5 to 10 minutes and sometimes we walked right on.

If your little one is really into the characters, this is where the easy access pass comes in really handy. If you show the CM the pass, your child goes straight to the front even if there is a huge queue, so no waiting and of course you get access for your child and one other person to the special "disabled" area during the parades.

If I am honest, I was slightly apprehensive about using the pass as it does seem like your child gets special treatment, but you know, our kids have so much to contend with on a daily basis that I quickly thought "why not?"
I have to say that it made our visit all the more special.

We stayed in the Newport Bay Club too, and had admirals floor which was great, no complaints at all. We didnt use the pool but I have heard people say it can be quite cool, you might want to check on that. The rooms were just as they were on the website/brochure and were spotlessly clean with 2 x double beds.
There are lots of things for your wee one- much more than you might think including Playhouse Disney, Casey Junior, The Storybook ride and its a Small World is always good but we particularly loved the character interaction.
Even access on the Magic Kingdom Railroad is easier with the pass- again, we didnt have to queue, we usually went on the train as it came in before everyone else- it was really excellent.

Dont know about the cots sorry, and as were there in Spring & early summer, we didnt take hot drinks in.

I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time

 

[Waddi]

Hi, My Daughter is 2 and has Global Development Delay, we have visited Disney Paris twice this year, firstly in may, staying at the Hotel Cheyenne, and most recently November at Hotel New York.

The Cots that are supplied are normal Travel cots like these;

I would recommend taking a cot matress topper like this, just to add a bit more comfort and waterproofing incase of "accidents". On our more recent stay, my daughter decided to rub her nose back and forth on the mesh walling of the cot, causing friction burns on either sides of her nose.

I assume you will be in the same boat as us, being under 3 usual means she won't have a blue badge yet, but Does she have a specialist that she sees regularly or a Portage Worker, if so, ask them to write a letter explaining your Daughters needs, if she is restricted to a Pram or Wheelchair make sure that they state that she needs it to "Access her surroundings", then take this letter along with her passport to City Hall in Disneyland Park and you can get a Easy Access Disability Pass, which gives her Queue Jump at most rides, special viewing area for the parades and shows, Priority at Character Meets, the ability to takes her Pram/Wheelchair beyond the no prams sign (i.e into restuarants and shows)

Disney went "to infinity and beyond" to make my Daughters holiday as special and as easy as they could, I can not praise them enough. You just need to swallow your pride and tell anyone and everyone about your Daughters needs and they will do anything they can to help.

If you have any specific questions, feel free to PM me and I will do my best, with the help from my wife, to answer them.

 

[cantwait07]

Thanks a million guys

DD has global development delay too. She cant walk or talk and uses a special needs buggy. Its looks like a wheelchair but when I put the hood and raincover on, it looks like a normal buggy

Im in Ireland and we dont get blue badges here??? I do however have a disabled parking card, I will bring this, should I also bring a note from my doctor?

Anyone know if its likely to be busy around Jan 5th?

The travel cot looks grand and the matress cover a great idea. I will be taking grobags with me too.

I'm not sure what she will make of the characters I will also have her sister with me, will the whole group to to front of queues or just the child with special needs and carer? Our group consists of 4 including the 2 kids

 

[justfi]

We went last December and my son's pass allowed all 4 (2 adults & 2 children) of us to use the exit entrance on the rides where wheelchairs couldn't use the regular queue.

fi

 

[Waddi]

Thanks a million guys

DD has global development delay too. She cant walk or talk and uses a special needs buggy. Its looks like a wheelchair but when I put the hood and raincover on, it looks like a normal buggy

A Mclaren?, Ocupational Therapist has just ordered us one of these. The buggy that she is in now, is a normal mclaren pushchair, but when in Disney, we would show the pass to cast members, they would look at the buggy, see Mclaren splattered all up the side and go "OK, in you go"

Im in Ireland and we dont get blue badges here??? I do however have a disabled parking card, I will bring this, should I also bring a note from my doctor?

If the parking card is authorized by the local council and holds a photograph of your daughter it should be fine, this was lifted directly from the Disney pars site
Documents required:
FRENCH NATIONALS: disability card, war disability card, difficulty standing card, disabled person's priority card, European disabled parking badge or medical certificate issued less than 3 months ago.
FOREIGNERS: European disabled parking badge or medical certificate in French or English issued less than 3 months ago and signed and stamped by the doctor, certifying the person's disability and stating whether or not they need to be accompanied by a third party in order to get around.
I would still be inclined to get a doctors note, and remember to ask them to include that she is unable to walk and needs her buggy to ""Access her surroundings", these really are the magic words, so Im lead to believe from someone on the inside.

I'm not sure what she will make of the characters I will also have her sister with me, will the whole group to to front of queues or just the child with special needs and carer? Our group consists of 4 including the 2 kids

On the rear of the easy access pass, there is a list of attractions where you can queue jump and how many can accompany the pass holder, but the special parade viewing areas is meant to be pass holder +1, however, Disney have never left my other Daughter out, everytime inviting all 4 of us into the area, but I have seen older people being refused entry to more than +1.

Another snippet from the Disabled Visitors guide;

Disney characters
Since Disney Characters are very much in demand, it is sometimes difficult to get close. Please don't hesitate to ask for help from the Cast Members (Disney employees) accompanying them.

This is such a help, when Characters are just wandering around the parks, they will get mobbed by people, with no sort of organised queuing system, making it near impossible to get a buggy or wheelchair anywhere close to them without someone just pushing in front, but every Character has a minder, approach the minder, show them the pass and voila, the Character will come to you, also, if your daugher knows any sign language, be sure to tell the minder, I didnt know about this until one English minder asked me, Tigger then proceeded to talk to my Daughter in Makaton. I dont know if this is the norm because it has only ever happened the once.

 

[cantwait07]

Waddi, the buggy I have is called a clip pushchair, you would know it is for special needs when the hood is not on it coz it looks like a wheelchair, But I will bring the hood in case it lashes rain.

Just looking at the great info you provided, Its a european disabled parking badge that I have.

The trip is a pressie from Santa, they dont know they are going

DD cant communicate verbally or do sign language, the most you get is a kick or a prod when she wants something! She can however laugh and when I took her to the local funfair she loved it!

Her big sister certainly will love it

Is there food available in the parks??? I really havent a clue

 

[Waddi]

Waddi, the buggy I have is called a clip pushchair, you would know it is for special needs when the hood is not on it coz it looks like a wheelchair, But I will bring the hood in case it lashes rain.

OK, if it looks like a wheelchair, you will probably have a few less problems than we did, The problem with a 2year old having an "invisible" disability and using a normal pushchair as her wheelchair, is that other people just see her as a baby in a pram, whether that be Cast members questioning whether she needs it or other visitors moaning and staring when you "queue jump" or are in the disabled area for the parades.

Is there food available in the parks??? I really havent a clue

There are plenty of places to eat inside both Parks aswell as in Disney Village. The only bit of advise I can give on this is stay away from lucky nuggets, it is character eat and greet, but the tables are on different levels, which made it hard for us to manoeuvre around, and the disabled freindly area of the restuarant hardly got any character interaction.

I would highly recommend Cafe Mickeys in the village, again a character eat and greet, but they staff there had a great attitude towards our needs. and no request was too much for them. Just advise to pre-book and inform them of your needs then.

We also like to eat at pizza planet in Disneyland park, a pizza self service restaurant based on toy story. lots of space, usually quiet with small queues.

 

[cantwait07]

Great tips!!!!

Do you know what the food is like at the Newport?? we have the kids stay and eat free deal. I will def avoid golden nugget so.

Waddai your little girl looks like my daughter except my LO has brown hair.

Any other tips/ideas??

 

[scampbunny]

hiya
glad uve had such good advice - cant really say any more other rgan have a thick skin as sum ppl can make quite loud 'comments' when u go to the front of queues!!!
we have it harder as ds2 has asd and not much language, but doesnt use a pushchair (at disney - due to the excitment, restraining him wud be torture!!) and he looks nearly 5 - its only sun of his behaviour and his speech which make ppl wonder!!

all i can say is ur kids will have a fab time - disney has actually helped bring ds2 on, and encouraged his love of disney!!

 

[Waddi]

disney has actually helped bring ds2 on,!!

I totally agree.

 

[Waddi]

Sorry, never eaten at newport bay, so can't really comment.

The only other tip I can think of right now is, if you watch the Fantalusion Parade, watch it from the reserved disabled area in front of the castle, next to the stage. once it has finished everyone usually crowds behind the final float and follows it down main street, head for the under cover liberty arcade that runs along side main street, once in there if you get a bit of a shuffle on, you should beat the final float and the mass of people to the end of main street, now head for the exit for trouble/crowd free exit gates.

I waited 15minutes outside the park for my Wife and eldest Daughter who tried to exit via main street.