Advice

[momeejenjen]

Okay so my family is attending disney world for the first time together (DH and Myself along with our two children DD (age 6) and DS (age 8)... and here is our situation...

1. I have been recently diagnoised with type 1 diabeties (at my lovely age of 27). I am insulin dependant but over the last 2 months have managed to learn a lot and feel I am getting my diabeties under control.

2. My son, who is 8, has severe ADHD.. he is medicated but the medicine he is on is short acting (only effective for 7 to 8 hours of the day). He does NOT do well with crowds or waiting in lines (very very concerned about this). He has wonderful intentions but sometimes can wander off and be on top of high rise before you can blink your eyes, the more time he has to sit the worse he becomes for everyone around him)

3. My husband has extreme anxiety and often has panic attacks (usually in relation to my son's fits of hyper activity!)

I feel like I have researched out the wazoo.. I've purchased many guides... read everything I can... downloaded apps on my iphone that gives us waiting times at each ride through on the day... I tried to schedule our trip at a time I felt would not be CRAZY crowded (we are going in 9 days, sept 3-8th). We are staying on park property. I have made our reservations at the places we are going to eat... I have also tried to tell everyone in my family we are going to go with the flow and possibly take breaks during the hottest and most crowded times of the day.

I have lamanated touring plans from the Unoffical Guide to Disney that I hope will help with wait times.

Is there any advice those that have traveled before us have to offer? I am worried, but I am prepared to take things slow and go with the flow, but I want my entire family to be able to enjoy our vacation.

 

[Schmeck]

Bring some kind of handheld game for son to use when he has to wait - there's a lot of waiting at WDW, and not just in queues for attractions. Waiting for transportation, to be seated at a restaurant, in line at a counter service restaurant, for a show to start, to check into the resort, etc. Having something on hand to distract him can be a vacation saver!

For your diabetes, make sure you keep track of time, and stay hydrated. Always have an appropriate snack available too.

For your husband's anxiety - if he knows his triggers he should start thinking of a plan of attack to deal with them. When I feel a panic attack coming on, I start my 'script'. It involves a few statements I have to think about to rationalize what is going on and what is causing my attack. One statement deals with the physical symptoms of my attack, mainly the rapid heartbeat, the feeling of doom, etc. I tell myself that I am feeling that way because I'm having a panic attack. Other statements focus on me trying to figure out why (knowing triggers really helps) and how to end it (realizing that I need to do something, anything to get out of the cycle).

 

[OneLittleSpark]

Sounds like you've got things pretty well planned already! I'll throw a couple more things at you, to see what sticks, but I think you're pretty much there! I've always found September to be a good time to go (in fact, we'll be arriving the day after you leave!), as the crowds are a lot quieter, lines shorter (often walk-on) and the heat isn't as bad.

You might want to look into getting a Guest Assistance Card (GAC) for your son, to allow him to wait in an alternative area where possible. Not all rides have these alternate areas, but where they are available, they might give him that extra bit of space. The disABILITIES FAQ has lots of information on the GAC, that should help you.

FastPass is a great system for avoiding the worst lines, so definitely make use of that. For lines and waits other than attractions (e.g. for CS restaurants, or waiting for parades) It might be good to leave one parent waiting, while the other one takes the kids off somewhere else.

Might it help him if you 'brief' your son before you go. Make sure he knows what the crowds are like, what the procedure is for going through lines, what happens if a ride breaks down, etc, so he's more prepared. Also, make sure he knows to tell you if he's getting overwhelmed and feels a meltdown coming on. You can always backtrack through the line to get him out before it gets too much; but if he's reached meltdown point, it will be too late.

For yourself, if it would help to look at menus before you go, you can find them on the webpage section of the DIS (just click 'dining' in the light blue* bar at the top of your window). I'd also reccomend you have some snacks with you, in case your blood sugar drops at an inoppertune time.


Oops, I have to go get back to work now, but I'm sure other people will come up with more ideas!


*It may be a different colour for you, I use the Orlando Blue Night scheme

 

[momeejenjen]

thank you so much for your helpful advice, I am getting so excited about our trip.. only 8 more days!

 

[clanmcculloch]

1. I have been recently diagnoised with type 1 diabeties (at my lovely age of 27). I am insulin dependant but over the last 2 months have managed to learn a lot and feel I am getting my diabeties under control.

I don't have any personal experience with T1 diabetes, but from reading this board for a while, it's become very clear that it will be important to check your blood sugar more often than you typically do at home. All that walking plus the Florida head can play havoc with your sugar. Don't go crazy with all the food you can get (if you're on the DDP). Most places have sugar free alternative desserts if you can handle artificial sweeteners. Make a note on all ADRs that you are diabetic and the chef will be able to discuss options with you (though he won't have any kind of carb counts).

2. My son, who is 8, has severe ADHD.. he is medicated but the medicine he is on is short acting (only effective for 7 to 8 hours of the day). He does NOT do well with crowds or waiting in lines (very very concerned about this). He has wonderful intentions but sometimes can wander off and be on top of high rise before you can blink your eyes, the more time he has to sit the worse he becomes for everyone around him)

Read up on some of the posts from people with autistic children. The issues you've described are very typical of autistic kids. Take a look at the stickies regarding the Guest Assistance Card (GAC). For my daughter, having an alternative waiting area is very helpful. It's not always the amount of the wait time that's difficult; it's often being in such close proximity to so many people for that amount of time that leads to the meltdown.

Would your son be willing to sit in a stroller? That works well for some kids as the stroller kind of cocoons them and provides a barrier between them and the rest of the world. You can even rent special strollers (they look like regular strollers but they're designed for greater weight). The stickies above give a few suggested reputable companies. If it is something that would help him then you can even have a GAC marked with a stroller as wheelchair stamp to allow you to bring the stroller into lines just like a wheelchair.

A good touring plan is VERY important. Many people recommend purchasing a plan such as Tourguide Mike to help you best plan your day so you can hit the most rides and attractions with the least amount of waits.

3. My husband has extreme anxiety and often has panic attacks (usually in relation to my son's fits of hyper activity!)

It might help for you to come up with a plan with your husband for when your son has a meltdown or hyperactive moment. Maybe something like coming up with a "safe" place and a signal for him to head there when you first see the signs of your son heading towards a meltdown and then you can take the necessary time to calm down your son and then you meet up with your husband after. This obviously only works if you typically can calm him down when he's heading towards a meltdown. If not, you're probably better off with a family code that means lets get the heck out of the parks before this gets bad.

I'd tell you to try to relax, but it would be hypocritical of me to do that since I know I never do. LOL

One thing that I'm going to do with our upcoming trip is to have everybody list all of their must see attractions. This way, as long as everybody has been able to get to everything on his/her list, we can feel like anything else we see will be strictly bonus. We always make the mistake of trying to do just one more thing before leaving parks. As long as we've hit the must see things then we can let anything else go. I'm hoping this helps.

 

[Sandy321]

also, know where the first aid stations are! It really helped us - dd has low blood sugar issues, and we've spent quite a bit of time at First Aid - they are friendly, helpful and its a nice a/c quiet place to rest!!

Having quiet places to retreat to may also help you - for instance at MK - right at the Kodak building in the back is a place where they have the first Mickey Mouse Cartoons, and cutouts for photo ops - it is so restful, quiet back there - wonderful!

Know that you have a plan, but dont plan to follow it!! Allow for back up plans, you cant see it all - you cant do it all - NO one can!! It was hard for me a cammando type tourer to have to give up rope drops on days dd sugar problems were challenging!!

At DHS - we did Toy Story, Little Mermaid, ToT, Beauty and Beast, Muppets, then had to leave.... we had adr's and we were all looking forward to spending more time - but we retreated to First Aid, rested and decided the resort was a better choice (we came back later to do the Animation Studio, again, sitting thru the movie was nice - but going into the theatre and waiting to do the animation was perfect - quiet peaceful - its what worked for our family!)

 

[LockShockBarrel]

As far as the diabetes and blood sugar is concerned, remember that if you find that your sugar is rapidly dropping and you don't have anything sweet with you to bring it up, you should be able to tell a cast member, especially at counter service restaurants and things like that, the situation and you should be able to get either some juice or sugar or whatever you need for free. Obviously you can't go up and say "My sugar is low, I'll have the double cheeseburger meal with fries and a large coke", but they should be able to help you out with something quick.

 

[OneLittleSpark]

Just a thought, does the diabetes give you any problems with your feet and / or circulation? There is a lot of walking at Disney so even if you don't normally have problems, you might find things getting a bit rough later in the day.

If you do start having problems, stop before they become big problems! I've learnt this lesson the hard way, by trying to push on 'that little bit more' and ending up useless for the rest of the day . Take regular breaks, don't try to do too much in a day (whatever 'too much' is for you) and head back to the resort if things get too bad. These general pacing tips will help for all of your family, as pretty much all issues, disabilities and problems are flared up by being hot and tired!

If you do find you're having some issues, you might want to consider getting a bit of extra help, such as a walking cane. Someone here said they bought one in China, Worldshowcase for about $5, and I'm sure other parks will sell them too (AK would be a fairly safe bet). You can also rent a wheelchair or ECV if things get too bad for you to walk much at all, but I understand that that might be tricky with some of your family's other issues.

Also, get a really comfy pair of shoes! I find my Crocs are wonderful, but everyone has their own favourites. If you do go for Crocs, you can get specially designed ones for people with diabetes, to aid circulation and relieve pain. Comfy shoes would also be a big help to your son and husband, as everyone tends to get more stressed and tired when their feet are aching, which is really bad news for those with pre-existing issues.

Do you need to inject insulin during the day? If so, there are links to useful threads in the FAQ thread.

You're not far off now! Have a wonderful time

 

[momeejenjen]

You are all awesome, thank you!!!

Luckily I am very athletic so I should be okay with all the walking and for now my sugars are in check but I went and bought a little mini glucometer to keep in our pack along with some hard candy incase my sugar drops to low

Great suggestions everyone, I really appreciate it!

 

[OneLittleSpark]

Don't know if you'll see this before you leave, but I hope you have a really great trip! Enjoy!