Autism at Universal Studios?

[livndisney]

You may be correct - the ADA may not require this particular level of accommodation. But maybe it should - as a comparison consider that establishments are prohibited under the ADA from charging additional fees for service animals but they are permitted to charge members of the general public fees to bring their pets, e.g. airlines, hotels, etc... Why - because the use of a service animal is not a luxury but a necessity to allow them equal access. This same argument could be made here as it relates to ASD.

But I don't want to turn this into an ADA debate or a whine fest about $.

My post was and is intended to share my experience with families who deal with tht impact of ASD on a daily basis and allow them to factor it into their vacation plans -- however they see fit.

My post has the same intent. (Although you lost me with the service animal reference). I am not debating the ADA. As an Orlando local I spend lots of time in the parks, I am well aware of the policies the parks have. Many people read something on the internet and take it as fact. I pointed out the law. People arrive at theme parks expecting FOTL due to a disability. And that is simply not the case. I am sorry you did not get what you wanted.

To put it simply all of the Orlando theme parks provide assistance to those who need it. It may not be exactly what you want, but they do provide assistance. To state otherwise in an attempt to keep people from visiting the area in my opinion is wrong.

 

[Fatherof2boys]

My post has the same intent. (Although you lost me with the service animal reference). I am not debating the ADA. As an Orlando local I spend lots of time in the parks, I am well aware of the policies the parks have. Many people read something on the internet and take it as fact. I pointed out the law. People arrive at theme parks expecting FOTL due to a disability. And that is simply not the case. I am sorry you did not get what you wanted.

To put it simply all of the Orlando theme parks provide assistance to those who need it. It may not be exactly what you want, but they do provide assistance. To state otherwise in an attempt to keep people from visiting the area in my opinion is wrong.

I am not trying to encourage or discourage tourists from bringing their hard earned money into your area to sitmulate your local economy.

No one here is demanding FOTL access.

As for the service dog reference which "lost" you - you previously stated "[p]roviding something for free that others pay for would not be "equal" Thereby implying to consider such accommodation under the ADA is not reasonable when in fact such things are done and in fact required in certain instances and the service animal is but an example. But again I don't want to make this a legal argument.

It is not what parents with children with ASD "want" it is what they NEED to make their family vacation enjoyable. Most of us do tons of research and planning for all of our family trips because we know we will have problems that a family with only "typical" children will not face and we must plan accordingly. We all know that the ADA requires accommodation and we also know some places do it better than others -- some go above and beyond and some due the bare minimum to avoid legal action. We also know that there are many things our family will probably never have the opportunity to enjoy as an entire family unit because of the limits of ASD. Parents of a child with ASD reviewing these posts - particularly this one entitled "Autism at Universal?" NEED to know the obstacles and choices they now face when visiting Universal and that is the intent of this thread and my post.

 

[livndisney]

I am not trying to encourage or discourage tourists from bringing their hard earned money into your area to sitmulate your local economy.

No one here is demanding FOTL access. Forgive me, you asked for the "complimentary express pass option"

As for the service dog reference which "lost" you - you previously stated "[p]roviding something for free that others pay for would not be "equal" Thereby implying to consider such accommodation under the ADA is not reasonable when in fact such things are done and in fact required in certain instances and the service animal is but an example. But again I don't want to make this a legal argument.

Others do not pay to bring a dog, so yes I fail to see how this is a reasonable comparison

It is not what parents with children with ASD "want" it is what they NEED to make their family vacation enjoyable. Most of us do tons of research and planning for all of our family trips because we know we will have problems that a family with only "typical" children will not face and we must plan accordingly. We all know that the ADA requires accommodation and we also know some places do it better than others -- some go above and beyond and some due the bare minimum to avoid legal action. We also know that there are many things our family will probably never have the opportunity to enjoy as an entire family unit because of the limits of ASD. Parents of a child with ASD reviewing these posts - particularly this one entitled "Autism at Universal?" NEED to know the obstacles and choices they now face when visiting Universal and that is the intent of this thread and my post.

The simple fact is Universal does provide assistance, just not the assistance you wanted.

I agree with you that families do need to know the choices they have available. If you "need" the express pass option, you do have options. You can book a room onsite or you can purchase the option.
If you choose not to do those, Universal still provides assistance in various ways. None of which were mentioned in your post.

For anyone planning a trip to Universal who has concerns about them meeting needs, please contact Universal directly, either online, by phone or by stopping into Guest Services. They can go over the options that may work for your family. You can also review the sticky at the start of this thread.

 

[ireland_nicole]

ok, I haven't been to Universal in ages, so I'm speaking from what I hope will happen based on my research, but here goes.

I know that Universal doesn't offer the exact same accomodations, but there are still several options. Our choice was that on our upcoming trip we will be staying onsite at Uni for one night. This gives us 2 early entries to WWoHP which will be very helpful with DD, gives us two days of unlimited express pass, and gives us a convenient spot to rest if/when needed. The room cost $187 for the night, which is less than what a family of 4 would pay just for the limited express pass. We put it at the end of our trip, so it isn't a big deal to stay there the last night (plus, it helps us with our "transitioning" theme of our trip- bonus!)

Would it be great to get it for free? Sure, but I have the same choice everyone else has, and it is an option that I think will work well for us. I understand that most of the world isn't as helpful as WDW when it comes to helping us access as much as possible. And that is one of many reasons that WDW will get the vast majority of our vacation dollars (8 days at WDW, 1 1/2 days at Uni). At the end of the day, Uni isn't as "family friendly/ disability friendly" in terms of their attractions either, it just caters to a different demographic. I think that in offering an alternate waiting area they are probably meeting ADA guidelines, just not in the way that works best for everyone in their opinion. As parents of ASD kiddos, sometimes we need to bend or compromise and think outside the box to figure out what works best for us as well.

ETA: to me, this issue is kind of like transportation around WDW property. They offer bus service that meets requirements for accesability. But the busses don't work for us, DD gets super anxious if she doesn't know how long a wait will be, doesn't have the coordination necessary if standing were required, wouldn't do well with people shouting/singing/etc. around her on the bus... you get the idea. I'd love if WDW offered a private car service with a driver for us, but of course, they don't. So we either drive to WDW or rent a car.
It's another case of having to be creative and willing to pay a little more to do what works the best for us.

 

[buzz for boys]

So following on from this thread I phoned Universal they started off saying that the concept had not changed so I asked them to confirm to me that whilst waiting for a return time we could eneter an express line for another ride. After a quick consult with another member of staff she did confirm hat the information posted here is correct and in fact if you have a return time of 1 hour you will not be able to ride any other ride unless you join the normal line!!

We are reconsidering how we are going to now manage to tour Universal. I really dont think ds will cope with the normal line at all and on the other hand he is so not going to understand sitting outside a ride for an hour either.
All I can thinka t the moment is how many ice creams can you have to pass time??

Hope the information clarification helps others too xxx

 

[lilwhiterabbit]

I think what some of us are trying to say is that Universal's accommodations aren't very, well, accommodating. At least in terms of ASD children, the system they have is very inflexible and difficult to work with, and not really all that beneficial to their particular difficulties. In my opinion, there's no point in getting a GAP for my son at Universal, because it's not going to do him any good. I'd rather just spend the money on the express pass because it's less of a hassle than using the GAP--which defeats the purpose of having the GAP in the first place.

The problem is, by having their express pass system for-pay, Universal's painted themselves into a corner. The best accommodation is the express pass. The reason they can't offer it for free anymore is because they can't deny it to anyone who claims disability under ADA rules, including those who try to game the system, which means they'd lose money every time that sort of accommodation is made. Thus, they stop offering the free express passes and go to the ridiculous and complicated system they currently have which is really neither helpful nor accommodating. What would have been a wiser choice would have been to raise ticket prices by a few dollars and made the express pass free for everyone, which would have eliminated the problem almost completely.