welovedis
Disneyland here we come!
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2000
- Messages
- 3,440
Hope it is ok to post this here, but wanted to pass along some info on our recent trip to Busch Gardens, Williamsburg Virginia. My son is 14 and has Asperger's Syndrome along with a heart defect that was recently discovered. My DH is deaf but utilizes bilateral cochlear implants and I have some pretty severe food allergies....just some background on our "normal" family! 
Contacted BG in advance to see if I could get an actual park map, DS does so much better when he has something tangible and tactile and the internet version of the map wasn't cutting it. Not only did they send me 6 park maps, they also sent me version of the Water Country maps (water park associated with but not attached to BG), maps of surrounding Colonial Williamsburg and local driving maps.
The assured me on the phone that we would have no trouble getting a Guest Assistance Pass and we did so at Guest Relations. The only things DS didn't like was having to come in line when I got up to the front and they had him wear an obvious disability armband. They discussed his needs and printed out a sheet for us to take along to various ride. It basically showed the rides he was allowed to partake in and if something wasn't listed we wouldn't have been able to ride. We would enter through the ride exit, the attendant was supposed to mark a time to come back & then we would be allowed to ride. I say supposed to because each time they allowed us to just enter the ride at that time. On a few rides they allowed us to stay on for 2 or 3 turns.
All the ride attendants were very nice to DS, nice to us all really, asking if we were having a good time and how our day was. I noticed they did it with pretty much everyone so it is good to see that kind of attention to details and good customer interactions.
DH requested signed English interpreters for some of the larger performances and each time he had terrific luck with someone he knew from his days at Galludet & George Washington university. The best was an interpreter for both the BeBe & CeCe Winans and TobyMac concerts....they interpreted the talk between songs but not the songs themselves..DH told the interpreters he was fine with that.
I had a little more difficulty with the food allergies, especially because of my egg allergy, but did ok overall. I had to make some arrangements in advance but all in all we were pleased with the way things turned out. It isn't Disney when it comes to dining but they did try very hard to be sure I was safe..if they didn't know they would just tell me that straight out so I could make my own decisions.
Anyway, again, hope it is ok to post something non-Disney here but I know how stressful it can be when traveling outside of my "comfort zone" of WDW and hope this helps. If anyone has any questions I will do my best to answer them.
Contacted BG in advance to see if I could get an actual park map, DS does so much better when he has something tangible and tactile and the internet version of the map wasn't cutting it. Not only did they send me 6 park maps, they also sent me version of the Water Country maps (water park associated with but not attached to BG), maps of surrounding Colonial Williamsburg and local driving maps.
The assured me on the phone that we would have no trouble getting a Guest Assistance Pass and we did so at Guest Relations. The only things DS didn't like was having to come in line when I got up to the front and they had him wear an obvious disability armband. They discussed his needs and printed out a sheet for us to take along to various ride. It basically showed the rides he was allowed to partake in and if something wasn't listed we wouldn't have been able to ride. We would enter through the ride exit, the attendant was supposed to mark a time to come back & then we would be allowed to ride. I say supposed to because each time they allowed us to just enter the ride at that time. On a few rides they allowed us to stay on for 2 or 3 turns.
All the ride attendants were very nice to DS, nice to us all really, asking if we were having a good time and how our day was. I noticed they did it with pretty much everyone so it is good to see that kind of attention to details and good customer interactions.
DH requested signed English interpreters for some of the larger performances and each time he had terrific luck with someone he knew from his days at Galludet & George Washington university. The best was an interpreter for both the BeBe & CeCe Winans and TobyMac concerts....they interpreted the talk between songs but not the songs themselves..DH told the interpreters he was fine with that.
I had a little more difficulty with the food allergies, especially because of my egg allergy, but did ok overall. I had to make some arrangements in advance but all in all we were pleased with the way things turned out. It isn't Disney when it comes to dining but they did try very hard to be sure I was safe..if they didn't know they would just tell me that straight out so I could make my own decisions.
Anyway, again, hope it is ok to post something non-Disney here but I know how stressful it can be when traveling outside of my "comfort zone" of WDW and hope this helps. If anyone has any questions I will do my best to answer them.
