Autistic children and Value resorts?

[Nik's Mom]

Hi,
Anyone stay at a Value resort with their autistic child? We're planning our next trip for May 2007. We are tossing around the idea of getting one of the new family suites at the AS Music Resort. Normally we stay at a deluxe, but we want to keep the cost of the trip down this time. I'm worried because I've read how terribly long the check-in lines can be at the All Stars. Anyone have experience with this? If we had to wait in line that long, ds would explode. Even if he's off to the side with dh, just him knowing that we are waiting for our hotel room (his "safety zone"), will make him very anxious. How long do those check-in lines get? If it's like an hour, forget it!

How did your autistic child handle the values. They don't seem very relaxing. Is it swarming with kids running around and screaming? My ds would go nuts. I thought the AS Music would be a good choice because less kids go there. And if he wants to see Buzz and Woody, we'll just walk over to the Movie Resort.
Any experience with the Value Resorts?
Thanks!

 

[Apothecary]

We stayed at AS Music our first trip (2002) with our twin autistic sons who were 4 at the time - the line up at check-in wasn't outrageous, but then again we went in september - less busy. The rooms are small, but the pool area and food court are good. There is a big-screen TV shoing Disney movies, so your ds may be entertained by that. There is also a video game arcade in the main check-in building, if that is of any help. The only other thing I would suggest is to pack swimming trunks in an easily accessible place, and get dh to take him to the pool.

 

[mamaminnie]

I don't think the values are any more stimulating than any other hotel type. I've waited 45 minutes to check in at the Contemporary too. My advice , if DS wouldn't be happy watching the TV in the lobby, would be for one parent to check in, one parent to wait in the car (if you're driving) or walk around and find the playground.

 

[JenJen]

My son is very high functioning and we stayed at AS resorts twice. The last time I took the kid was when they were 5 and 7 1/2. He was 7 at the time and the only thing that was a problem is the pool. It was January and there was steam coming off the top of the pool and he was a bit obccessed about that so almost every night he had to ether go swiming or stare at it. The last thing I wanted to do after running all over the parks all day is swim but his cute little puppy eyes won 95% of the time.
Oh, another thing is they gave us refillable mugs and both the kids wanted hot coco all night long and they were a bit high on sugar. But we had a blast no matter what. I can't wait for the day a can afford to take them there again. We had so much fun.

 

[Tissa]

Swarming with kids running around screaming? I think you just described most of Orlando. Seriously I stayed at Movies and POP with my autistic ds and things were fine. It wasn't scary quiet and I'm glad because ds can be a little loud himself especially when he has a meltdown, as far as the check-in line again we didn't have a long wait and our trips were during Spring Break and the summer. It depends on the time of day, and as someone else mentioned you can have a long check in line at a Deluxe too. I never have ds wait in line with me if I can help it. I have my mom take him to look around at the pool or get a snack from the gift shop just something to entertain him.

I wouldn't be so worried about staying in a Value but if it will keep you up at night then go with the resort your ds is used to.

Hope you have a great trip

 

[Nik's Mom]

This is why I came to the DisAbility board, because the resort board always gives the impression that the values are a zoo. I'm glad to hear that isn't the case. In all honesty, we don't use a lot of the services at a deluxe resort, other than the bigger room and queen bed. And we've never had to wait more than a few minutes at check-in. I hope our luck continues with this trip. After traveling on a plane for 5 hours, ds is always desperate to get into the hotel room for some quiet time. Are there some nice quiet areas that dh can take the kids, or walkways to enjoy a nice stroll while I check us in?

With this trip, we would either book 2 connection rooms, or one of the new family suites, so that takes care of the room size issue. I've heard that it gets crazy at the All Stars with groups of kids (cheerleaders, etc). That is really what I am concerned with. The larger groups tend to not be well supervised, and that is a recipe for disaster.
Thanks for the advise, as always!

 

[riu girl]

We have stayed at both ASMo as well as POP.
I found the pool/restaurant areas the same as far as stimulation.
BUT:
totally preferred POP since the rooms (colours, wood etc) seem much more subdued and better for those who may have issues with high stimulation environments.
Also: at POP there is a beautiful lake with benches all around that you can sit , watch birds and RELAX. We live on the water at home, so this was great for DD.
Also, the playground at POP seemed very quiet compared to ASMo. Perhaps because it was out of the way and hard to find, perhaps people didn't know it was actually there.
I also like that at POP you can watch (but hardly hear) fireworks every night (if you are in certain buildings). That was such a plus. The kids could actualy sit in bed and watch the fireworks. It was so great.

 

[ducklite]

I've stayed at the All Stars three times, and all three times they were SWARMING with kids. It was LOUD and crowded. Once we walked right up to check-in, once we waited for about 10-15 minutes, and the last tiem it was over an hour and everything was wrong with our reservation once we got to the counter--then they assigned us to an occupied room--I never went back.

Anne

 

[Nik's Mom]

Ducklite, if that happened to us, ds would have freaked. I don't care if he was not waiting in line with me or not. For him to have to sit around outside for an hour while I checked us in would have caused a major meltdown. I guess the time of year really plays a big part of whether the All Stars are a good choice for us or not.

 

[ducklite]

We were there the last week of January, first week of February, and first week of December--hardly peak times.

Anne

 

[Nik's Mom]

That's bad news, then. Looks like it will narrow down my choices to FW Cabins or a suite in CSR.

 

[ducklite]

The cabins are going to be nice and quiet for him. I've never stayed in one, but have friends who did and loved it. They have a special needs daughter, and they liked that there was space for her to play outside the home that was a little more "private."

They also enjoying grilling--my friend said she doesn't cook on vacation, but her DH loves to grill, so they did--wrapped potatoes and corn in foil on the grill, added steaks and dinner was served without a pot or pan. AFter they put the dishes in the DW and were done with it. They did that a couple nights on their trip.

Anne

 

[jodifla]

That's bad news, then. Looks like it will narrow down my choices to FW Cabins or a suite in CSR.

How lonw are you going for? If you are doing a Sunday through Thursday stay, renting points and staying at OKW in a one or two bedroom could be really comfortable for you.

The rooms are very serene, I find. Lots of space. Pastel colors.

 

[Nik's Mom]

We will be there for 8 days. I'm worried about renting points, though. If we had to cancel a trip due to an emergency, we would be out all of that money.

 

[LisaBi]

My son is 12 and has Down's, not Autism. But he can't handle long waits and does get overstimulated. We stayed at Movies twice - Nov. 04 and Sept. 05. Neither time did we have a bad line. He LOVED the movies showing in the lobby, as well as the TV playing old cartoons in the corner of the food court dining room. He could sit in either place for hours. When he's watching TV, he just zones everything else out.

LisaB

 

[ducklite]

How lonw are you going for? If you are doing a Sunday through Thursday stay, renting points and staying at OKW in a one or two bedroom could be really comfortable for you.

The rooms are very serene, I find. Lots of space. Pastel colors.

With six people they'd need a two BR.

Anne

 

[jodifla]

With six people they'd need a two BR.

Anne

from her tag line, it looked like there were four of them....DH, her, and two boys....

 

[Disneylvr]

I have stayed at All Star Music and Movies on 4 occasions and all were very good experiences but that was before dd was born. She has autism and most likely the All Star resorts would be fine for her because she is hypo-sensitive to sights and sounds. All of the activity and movement would most likely distract her from inappropriate stimming behaviors (flicking objects, in front of her eyes, spinning etc.) It all depends on the individual child and their hyper and hypo sensitivities.

We are going to WDW in May and have chosen Port Orleans Riverside because it has busy areas (food court/check-in/gift shop, main pool) AND quiet areas (quiet pools, pathways, courtyards). The best of both worlds because mommy might need some quiet time!

 

[minnie61650]

I've stayed at the All Stars three times, and all three times they were SWARMING with kids. It was LOUD and crowded. Once we walked right up to check-in, once we waited for about 10-15 minutes, and the last tiem it was over an hour and everything was wrong with our reservation once we got to the counter--then they assigned us to an occupied room--I never went back.

Anne

I am sorry you had such a bad experience at the All Stars Anne.

I had a similar experience AT CBR several years ago.
It does sour a person.
I will never stay at CBR again because of the horrific memories it would bring back to me.
Lots of people on these boards cannot say enough good things about CBR and just love it. I think that is wonderful and wish everyone a great stay
which ever resort they choose. Even so I will not stay there again.
But that was just my bad experience.

Bad experiences can and do happen at all levels of the resorts. I have read thread where posters have had bad experience at the deluxe resorts.
Just because it is a deluxe does not guarantee things will not go wrong.

Please do not let Anne's bad experience keep you from enjoying the All Stars.

Our dear grandson is also Autisic so I do understand your concerns.

He was three and a half when we took him , dd and dsil last October for his first trip to Disney.
It only took about 10 minutes to check in and he watched the Disney cartoons on the big TV in the lobby with his dad. He had a great time at the All Stars and Disney with no bad incidents until we went through security at the
airport on the way back. But that is a story best left untold.

In the end it is your choice where to stay.

I actually think you might be better off renting a condo offsite so you
don't have to stress so about checking in.

Relax and have fun at Disney.

 

[DisneyDreams4P&B]

Hey, you and I always see each other posting around these boards and our experiences with our children have been similar (your youngest was just diagnosed with SID too), we just took ours to WDW last August when Katrina hit and we stayed at ASM in the Toy Story section, we had a quiet room (0726) which was on the first floor and in the back but still close to the pool. The boys did great! Yes, the pool got a little crowded once but they never seemed to notice. I was very dilligent about calling the resort and preparing them for our visit. I told them that he was autistic and had specifically requested (although they cannot guarentee it) the Toy Story section. Our check in was quick and painless and the CM's were tripping over themselves to accomodate us (and we were there during the first few weeks of the "free dining plan") I was so impressed. Payton (our autistic 6 yr old) made huge strides in speech,was swimming across the pool and loved seeing his favorite movie characters. Everday he would point out the Bucket of Soldiers (hiding the stairs) and we would take walks at night and he would point out the 101 dalmations and the Fantasia themes. We went the year before that in May and had no problem at all (we were at Shades of Green though).

We did have friends who just came back last week and stayed in the FW cabins and liked them, but they were really expensive. I am not sure if I helped but let me know if you have any other questions or I can help in any other way.