Asperger's and Rollercoasters

[RickinPA]

Our son has been blessed with Asperger's Autism. September 2010 will be his eighth trip to WDW.

Without going into alot of detail, he is envolved in a number of activities to help with over stimulation.

He wants to try a rollercoaster during this years trip. He has tried Goofy's Barnstormer but it was way to jerky of a ride for him.

In your opinion, what is the most mild rollercoaster at WDW. You can even throw Splash Mountain into the mix.

Thank you for your input.

 

[CleoPahd]

Unfortunately, in my opinion The Barnstormer is the most mild roller coaster. I'd rank Big Thunder Mountain next, but that is much more jerky than The Barnstormer.

 

[RickinPA]

Unfortunately, in my opinion The Barnstormer is the most mild roller coaster. I'd rank Big Thunder Mountain next, but that is much more jerky than The Barnstormer.

Hmmm,

Interesting. Thank you for your thoghts. We may need to rethink the Barnstormer. Perhaps a solo ride of Barnstormer by me or DW?

 

[kehlyrsmom]

My daughter age 10 (who is also diagnosed with Aspbergers) loves Yeti. While my son age 8 loves Kali River Rapids. The first two years he loved Splash Mountain and would want to ride it over and over then the 3rd year my husband took him on Yeti and now he refuses to ride any rollar coasters, he used to enjoy Thunder Mountain as much as Splash Mountain, I have not been able to get him on either the last two years.

 

[christymarie]

I vote for Splash Mountain just warn him about the roller coaster type part in the dark or it may freak him out. If he like the thrill but not the jerky motion that is your best bet.

The other suggestion is to ride BTMRR and have him sit next to you with your arm around him. It may lessen some of the jerky motion.

Hope this helps.

 

[1stluvispooh]

Love the fact that you said "blessed with Aspergers"!! I think you have to take into consideration his sensory issues as far as are they vestibule? I know my DD who is HFA loves roller coasters even though she will scream her head off. In fact we went to Cedar Point last year and she got on the Magnum I thought I was torturing the child she was screaming so much and holding on to my arm but when it was done she was all happy and thumbs up about it. (Our little signal that she loved it and would do it again.) My question to you is how long ago was it that he went on barnstormer? I might like it this year.

 

[Brightsy]

My 8 yr. old DS (autism) loves coasters! He won't ride any that go upside down but he's ridden a ton of other coasters. He loves the wooden ones the best, lots of of ups and downs are his thing. He's even ridden El Toro (Great Adventures in NJ... 2nd biggest and fastes wooden beast in the world). He screams and holds my hand tight and screams... and then at the end claps and cheers!
At WDW his faves are categorized by park. At AK the king is Splash Mountain. It's smooth, well themed and has a great drop at the end.
At AK it's Kali River Rapids. (He also like Expedition Everest but is somewhat reluctant to ride it each time we go.)
At Hollywood Studios his fave ride is the Great Movie Ride...ok, not a coaster, sorry! LOL!
At Epcot the undisputed thrill king is Test Track. It's a little bumpy here and there inside, but thematically so... and it's awesome for thrill and speed!

For the last few years my DS has been playing with Roller Coaster Tycoon (in the sandbox mode, the real game is too limiting for what he likes to do). The coasters my boy has made are amazing. MAny of them are wwwaaaayyyy to extreme for a living person to ride, but amazing anyways. He's even made credible version of real rides, including ones he's never been on. He'll watch YouTube vids of various rides over and over, then he'll do his best to recreate them on the game... it's pretty amazing really.

 

[persimmondeb]

My DS14 (Asperger's) likes them all, and does not seem to be bothered by the motion, but we haven't put him on Barnstormer because I read that taller people experience a much rougher ride due to the way it's designed. Is your son fairly tall for his age?

My DS particularily loves Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railway.

 

[clanmcculloch]

If you want fast moving but smooth then Barnstormer and BTMRR aren't your best bets. We really do like Splash Mountain. Test Track and Soarin' while not roller coasters are still rides that either move fast or simulate fast motion and are smooth (well, TT has its intentionally bumpy parts but it's not the same as a jerky roller coaster IMO). Rockin' Roller Coaster is VERY loud and even set off my sensory issues not to mention gave me a killer headache. Sum of All Thrills was very smooth but the speed at which you have to make decisions for the creation of the ride could lead to meltdowns an also, the enclosed space of the simulator could be a problem as well (DD12 had a meltdown because it was too tight on her tummy and she doesn't like things tight on her tummy).

 

[JESW]

My ds15 is an Apsie and has been going to WDW since he was 22 months old. That said, Goofy's Barnstormer is tough for him because he is now over 6' and it's tough getting in the seat!

He has been on all the roller coasters and one trip he rode Space Mountain a bunch of times and now he has no interest - but that could change. He has ridden EE and ToT both once and says (for now) he doesn't want to back on either. Splash is iffy as one time he rode it a lot and now he doesn't want to get wet. He likes Dinosaur but only if he is in the mood - it is partly because he is a big fan of the Back to the Future movies so going back in the time rovers is about as close he is going to get to the Delorean in the movies!

The only consistent ride like that he likes is BTMR. For a while he would get upset if he couldn't get a seat near the back, but he has gotten over that and will ride in any seat no complaints.

The thing about Aspies is sometimes you just never know how they are going to be. We are fortunate that we get to go to WDW a couple times a year. Some trips we have had to sit through Carousel of Progress many, many times until he could recite most of the lines....other times it's the TTA over and over...or the monorails...whatever floats his boat that trip. We mostly don't mind as I also like doing things over and over.

How old is your son? Some of the things that have helped my son during trips would be pin trading - good for making eye contact and talking to strangers. His gameboy and ipod have been trip savers. Lately he likes carrying around a camera and taking various pictures - sometimes he will take a plushie or a toy down (one time we brought Ken, Barbie's buddy) and plan some pictures - it keeps his creative juices going.

Life is never dull with the Apsies...

Jill

 

[TillyMarigold]

My DH, obviously an adult, has AS and his favorites are Splash and Soarin'; he likes TT, EE, and BTMRR, and tolerates Dinosaur, but won't even try RnRC because he hates going upside-down.

 

[mommatomase]

I would like to thank everyone for their reply to my husbands original question. Here is some additional information about this great kiddo... he will be 10 on our next visit, his sensory issues include sensory avoidance to movement that he cannot control, loud noises, and "busy" visual things. He is a totally grounded kinda guy...
In the past seven years we have gone from no movement at Disney to Indy 500, monorail, MKtrain, BuzzLight Year, sourin', ... and all other really SLOW moving things... huge accomplishments! We have been working with his SPD OT on goals for Disney... pin trading is GREAT for the social "stuff" and this last trip we went on Pirates and the Great Movie Ride... this mom was soooo proud!
He is somewhat interested in maybe trying a rollercoaster again... he HATED BarnStormer a few years ago... it was too jerky and too fast... that is forever engrained in his brain. So, that is why we are trying to figure out what "fast" ride should be our goal for Sept.
We did get him to go on three water rides at TL and he absolutely loved the one that we went on as a family and the slower of the two small single rides... but Dad went first to catch him at the bottom...
Sorry this is so long but I think the more info about what we HAVE done will help with what our next "thrill" ride will be...
Thank you again so much for your input...

 

[brergnat]

Are you going back to TL? You could try Crush & Gusher water coaster. It's about as tame as you'll find as far as roller coaster type experiences at WDW. You ride two to a raft. It's mostly ups and downs and fairly predictable.

I'd stay away from Barnstormer. I have a five year old with HFA. He used to love riding the Matterhorn at DL until I took him on the Gadget Coaster in Toontown (same as Barnstormer). He hated it. I think due to the high speed curves. Since then, he will only ride "slow rides" even though he is a sensory seeker and loves to swing high and fast at the playground as well as spin really fast and hang upside down. That stupid kiddie coaster scared him away from all "fast trains". We're going on a year of him holding firm on that.

 

[SueM in MN]

I would agree that Barnstormer is jerky - short, but jerky.

Splash Mountain is fairly smooth, but some things to be aware of:
- there are several small drops before the one big one that you can see from outside
- just before the big drop, you go up a steadily darkening area with some vultures and a sign that says something forbidding
- at the end of the big drop, there is a sort of sudden turn. You can also get splashed by the next log coming down.

RockNRoller coaster is a smooth ride, but very loud and it does go upside down (although my DH insists it does not). Even if it doesn’t feel like it does, it is fast.

One that looks tame I would advise against is Primeval Whirl at AK. from the ground, it looks like a fairly tame roller coaster, but it spins at the same time as it is ‘roller-coastering’. The spinning is random and is somewhat related to which side of the ride car is heavier.

 

[scojos]

.

One that looks tame I would advise against is Primeval Whirl at AK. from the ground, it looks like a fairly tame roller coaster, but it spins at the same time as it is ‘roller-coastering’. The spinning is random and is somewhat related to which side of the ride car is heavier.

i hate that ride, and i dont have ASD!!
ds 10 has asd and he is sensory seeking, loves roller coasters and the such, crusher gusher however, is not a "good" first call, ds hurt his butt on the bristles that drag you back up, so be aware of that, nasty scratches nothing major, but bad enough for an asd kid
what about space mountain? thats not jerky and being in the dark removes some of the speed/rushing elements...
we are lucky, ds is desperate to get on the "big" rides, thank god for rope drops and baby swaps lol!!
ps. the only ride ds doesnt like is dumbo, something to do with the spinning, he ll do the teacups, just to watch me go green!! hahha

 

[mommatomase]

I am not sure what he will decide to do... He loves water so we will definitely be going to TL again.... and again... and again....

Maybe we should just stick with "slow" rides, darkness, noises and spinning before moving onto rollercoaster type things... no need to rush... like all else... this to shall move forward...

Thank you again for all your input... I will keep you posted on his decisions...