2 kids in same group with special needs

[anewvance]

My sister and I decided on a very last minute trip to Disney and we are leaving tomorrow. It will be me and my youngest son who is special needs and her and her 4 kids one of which is special needs.

My son (16 months) is currently wearing a head/neck/shoulder brace for severe torticollis, muscles issues in the shoulders and scoliosis.

My sister's son (5 years) has a muscular disorder and can walk but only short distances. She has a doctors note for a GAC for him. Mine is kinda self explained I hope.

Anyway, it will just be the 2 of us and 5 kids (crazy I know). My question is I will be pushing one double stroller with my ds and my nephew with the muscular disorder. Will we be ok using the double as a wheelchair in lines and all? It's a maclaren which is about the size of a larger wheelchair. My sister will have another double with her infant son and toddler daughter.

We've never done a trip with 2 special needs kids. I have read Sue's informative guide but wondering what else I should know. Thanks!

 

[cccdisney]

You should be okay. In July of 2007 we went to Disneyland with my then 4 yr old who has autism. We got a GAC for him and had them stamp that his stroller was a wheelchair. He prefers to be in a stroller (his secure environment) when out and about - he is also a runner. His stroller was actually a DOUBLE stroller because we also had our 18 month old (typical) son with us. We had no problems even though one child in the stroller didn't need the GAC. We have the Inglesina Twin Swift which is similar to the Maclaren.
The only "problems" we had were with ignorant people who liked to give us dirty looks. But autism is a hidden disability so we are use to that by now.

 

[Tissa]

Just a reminder that the Doctor's note is not needed and they will not look at it. Just tell them the children's issues and that you need to use the stroller as a wheelchair.

 

[DannysMom]

Anyway, it will just be the 2 of us and 5 kids (crazy I know). My question is I will be pushing one double stroller with my ds and my nephew with the muscular disorder. Will we be ok using the double as a wheelchair in lines and all? It's a maclaren which is about the size of a larger wheelchair. My sister will have another double with her infant son and toddler daughter.

From your description of the make up of your group, 3 very young children plus 5 year old w/ mobility issues --if your son also needs the "stroller as wheelchair " accomodation, I would suggest *not* sitting the 5 year old w/ your son, maybe the infant cousin instead & getting 2 stickers so both strollers are treated as wheelchairs.

Otherwise, with only 2 adults you could run into a situation where regular strollers are not permitted (like many of the pavillions at EPCOT, the Land & the Seas off the top of my head) one adult is pushing the 2 s/n kiddos & 1 adult must wrangle single-handedly both the infant & the toddler -sans stroller, not easy at best. Easier would be each s/n kid having their own designated stroller as wheelchair, and if it's a double stroller to accomodate a sibling or cousin, so be it.

Hope you have a great trip.

 

[Schmeck]

Will you even have enough adults to ride with all of these children on attractions? Children must be 7 years old (or maybe even 8?) to ride by themselves, and they can't have younger siblings with them. Most ride vehicles hold 2 adults, or one adult and two children. Hopefully your sister has older children to help out?

 

[anewvance]

One son is 8 and can go himself so then the other sitting will be my sister and her 2 youngest and me and my ds and her younger ds. So thankfully that works out ok.

 

[Schmeck]

If the 8 year old is going to be in a ride vehicle by himself, be prepared to explain that to the CMs, or else they will try to put two more people in with him, which I would not be comfortable with if it was my 8 year old.

With that many kids, I'd really want one more adult. What would you do if one of you adults comes down with a stomach bug or somesuch on the trip - can the other one of you handle all the kids by yourself, get them food from the food court, etc?

 

[ireland_nicole]

You're going to be fine; you live close by, so you obviously aren't going to "commando" anything; if an attraction doesn't work for you, you'll get it another time Definitely get the stroller as w/c for both strollers; that's probably going to be the biggest help. Have a magical trip!!

 

[anewvance]

We just got back and pleased to say we had no problems at all. We got a sticker for both strollers and never had any issues. I am so pleased, I was stressing out big time but it was just so easy I stressed for nothing. Disney really does go out of their way to make themselves accessible to everyone. Kudos!

We will be going again in 2 weeks with just me and my family of 4 kids, dh and I. We will definately do this again as it really is a life saver, there were many times with my son when I said to myself that we could never have done many of the things we did without the pass, it was either to hot, he was to tired, he was being fussy and it's so hard to carry him when he's in his brace, ect.

 

[mechurchlady]

You're going to be fine...
Have a magical trip!!

Told you so, lol, well she did.
A lot of people including myself worry over so much that never happens but with great trip planning and a team of experts you can do anything.

Now that you are experience you can go back to the drawing board and see what needs tweaking in your plans. What needs were not met such as overheating or what could you have done differently. A lot of smart people here and a couple of smart-alecs, too, like me.

Glad you had a great trip.