Advice on taking my Autistic son to DLRP?

[Gray1]

Hi, we're going to DLRP in October this year staying at the Hotel New York. In the party will be myself (Graham), my wife, daughter (11) and son (7) who is diagnosed with Autism or ASD in modern speak.
I have researched as much as possible and think I can get Access passes (?) for all 4 of us by going to some office whose name I can't remember just off Main Street.
The thing is, I'm not really able to find out what these will entitle us to.
My son is almost totally non-verbal indeed almost totally non-communicative and can go from being a bundle of energy and running around like the Duracell bunny to wanting to be carried everywhere. And he's a big,strong lad these days!
We've been to DLRP once before, with no special passes of any sort and he was a nightmare in the queues.
We've tried to organise the trip to be as easy as possible (for all of us). We're taking the train to London then the Eurostar all the way to the resort. Tom loves trains. And we're staying in the HNY so we're nearby but hopefully also far enough away. This time we are taking Tom's special needs pushchair as last time we relied on a Disney hire one and Tom wouldn't even get in it!
So we think we're reasonably well organised and I hope the Disney staff will be helpful & understanding but anyone with any experience or advice please can you let me know?
And thank you to everyone who's read all the way to the end of this very long post. Sorry!

Graham.


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[threegoodfairies]

Hi. We have been to DLP many times with my sisters two children who are on the autistic spectrum. To get the pass you need to take a letter from your doctor dated within 3 months of your trip to City Hall just inside the park. They will issue you with a pass that will allow you to get on most rides without having to queue too much. Different rides have different rules. Some rides only one person will be allowed on with him but most allow four. My sister went alone with her children at Halloween last year and said that there where some rides they could not use the pass on this time. I suppose it depends on the CM on the day. Have a great trip

 

[cherrymarzipan]

The pass is brilliant and will make all the difference to your family. We find CMs and characters very understanding too. Our son is very limited verbally and has some autistic tendencies along with severe learning difficulties and cerebral palsy but he is extremely sociable so we are fortunate that way - although that in itself is tiring! We just go with the flow and if that means going from one end of the park to the other in order to do the attractions DS wants then so be it. We also accept that there will always be sudden aversions to particular attractions for no reason and others will be "flavour of the month". We return to the hotel throughout the day and if there is a new feature coming up that I am not sure how he will react to, I often let him watch a YouTube clip first if possible. Dining in restaurants can be a bit hit and miss - often he will refuse to eat anything put in front of him at the time but then the next day will be desperate to go back to the same restaurant.

Any problems, we have always found the first aid centre very helpful. Have a wonderful trip.

 

[Gray1]

Thanks very much both of you.


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[IsobelJackmummy]

We have an autistic son, and although we have visited dlrp a few times, we did not know we could get a pass! This trip will be our first experience with it, but I will let you know when we get back how we got on. I'm hoping it will be a much easier trip!

 

[moorhunhe]

The pass is a blessing at most times.
You get to go into the rides by using the exit passage or for example with Phantom Manor, a side door that leads you directly into the elevator.

 

[addverbaan]

I just wanted to mention that I have recently seen a post about someone who had her childs special needs pushchair stolen at DLP so I would definatly recommend that yout take a good strong bike chain with you to lock it up when on rides.restaurants etc.

Have a great trip!
amanda

 

[Hipster Meg]

How many people can use the disabled pass? We're due to visit at the end of February with our autistic son. He's high functioning and has coped well with visits made before his diagnosis so we'll probably only use the pass if it's very busy and maybe so that we don't have to stake out our spot for Dreams hours in advance (we're going during the half term). There'll be him, myself, my husband and my sister and I'm wondering if the pass limits how many helpers he can have.

 

[scampbunny]

meg - u shud b ok with that many on the pass

and to answer previous questions - the new pass is designed to be easier to follow, but there r rides that they will not allow u to use it on with autistics.... 2 off the top of my head are the parachutes and rc racer - altho u can queue 'normally' for them.... no idea y u cant use the pass on them - no one has been able to answer that for me lol

it is much easier to get about with this pass, and for us, allows more time to walk and let ds2 burn off energy between rides - sumthin that is impossible if he had to queue all the time....

hope that helps x (my ds is 7 now too)

 

[Gray1]

We have an autistic son, and although we have visited dlrp a few times, we did not know we could get a pass! This trip will be our first experience with it, but I will let you know when we get back how we got on. I'm hoping it will be a much easier trip!

Thanks. Please do let me know how you get on. I hope you have a good trip.



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[Gray1]

I just wanted to mention that I have recently seen a post about someone who had her childs special needs pushchair stolen at DLP so I would definatly recommend that yout take a good strong bike chain with you to lock it up when on rides.restaurants etc.

Have a great trip!
amanda

Thanks for the tip. Can't believe someone would steal a special needs chair. I'll pack a lock.




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[Gray1]

The pass is a blessing at most times.
You get to go into the rides by using the exit passage or for example with Phantom Manor, a side door that leads you directly into the elevator.

Thanks. Exactly what I wanted to hear. Hopefully this pass will make the trip a little easier than our last visit.


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[Vala]

How many people can use the disabled pass? We're due to visit at the end of February with our autistic son. He's high functioning and has coped well with visits made before his diagnosis so we'll probably only use the pass if it's very busy and maybe so that we don't have to stake out our spot for Dreams hours in advance (we're going during the half term). There'll be him, myself, my husband and my sister and I'm wondering if the pass limits how many helpers he can have.

For Dreams they can be fuzzy when the areas get busy. I was there with friends last July. One of them and me both have a pass that says 4 people can be with us. I had packed mine and she said not to bother looking for it, she'd just show hers as we were three people only. Nope, they wouldn't budge. One helper allowed only. No problem as I could dig for my own pass. But families would have been in for a surprise.