Disability/easy pass?

[IsobelJackmummy]

Hi, our son has autism, which as he is getting older is getting more difficult to manage.

On previous trips we have avoided large queues as he would have a complete meltdown, but I have read recently about the passes that Disney issue, I wasn't aware of them before, and when he was younger things were easier anyway.

I was wondering what experience of these people have, and do you think he would be entitled to a pass?

What would we need to take with us to get one?

Also, would all of us be able to use it with him, we are a family of four, and it would also cause him distress if we had to split up to go on rides.

Thanks for any advise or shared experience you may have

 

[Hipster Meg]

I've been looking into this myself as our son has just been diagnosed with high functioning autism. The official website has this to say about disabilities. I *think* autism would be classed as a mental disability - not really very accurate but the closest there is on the list. So he might be able to get a pass that will let him skip queues for rides. I think you need some sort of evidence from your doctor. We had a similar pass when we went to Legoland a couple of weeks ago and it was amazing.

 

[scampbunny]

hiya
yes, u wud b entitled, and it wud be categorised as mental deficiency (lovely lol)
u need a drs letter detailing his problems and this needs to b within 3 months of ur trip - u can use a blue badge, but for autism this really doesnt say alot lol

there will be rides that u cannot 'queue jump' such as parachute drop and rc racer (off the top of my head) but most u can bypass the queues - sometimes u get a time to come back tho...

u 'shud' b ok as a family of 4 - this wud depend on how busy and the cms filling the form out - but usually they dont split up families...

hth

 

[IsobelJackmummy]

Thank you, didn't realise we could do the same in legoland too, we're off there in October! Can I ask what you had to do there to get it? Thanks for your help.

 

[IsobelJackmummy]

Thanks nikki

 

[Vala]

You will be okay with a family of 4. I think I have one of the most recent issued passes and mine says I can bring 4 people with me. The only time they ever questioned that was in the Dreams special area, but that was during Bastille Day so the rules may have been different there.

 

[Hipster Meg]

Thank you, didn't realise we could do the same in legoland too, we're off there in October! Can I ask what you had to do there to get it? Thanks for your help.

We took a recent letter from our pedeatrician with us which outlined DS's condition and took it to the customer services window just past the main gates. They gave DS a red hand stamp and the rest of us black stamps. You were allowed up to 4 black stamps to 1 red one but only 3 people with black stamps were allowed on with a red stamp at one time. Wasn't a problem with us as there were only the four of us but could be an issue with a bigger party. We were given a booklet telling us where to go with the stamps for each ride, usually the ride exit. It came in so handy, we were there on the last saturday of the summer holidays and the queues for some of the more popular rides were 2 hours long

 

[IsobelJackmummy]

We took a recent letter from our pedeatrician with us which outlined DS's condition and took it to the customer services window just past the main gates. They gave DS a red hand stamp and the rest of us black stamps. You were allowed up to 4 black stamps to 1 red one but only 3 people with black stamps were allowed on with a red stamp at one time. Wasn't a problem with us as there were only the four of us but could be an issue with a bigger party. We were given a booklet telling us where to go with the stamps for each ride, usually the ride exit. It came in so handy, we were there on the last saturday of the summer holidays and the queues for some of the more popular rides were 2 hours long

Thank you!

 

[Brummig]

We have used the system several times. Our son has autism too. You need a letter from GP or consultant dated in the last 3 months detailing the nature of disability and why they can't queue. They now have lots of different categories of disability, and the pass is marked up according to what help you need, eg wheelchair access, deaf, 'mental disability', so they may ask for more than DLA letter as this doesn't provide detail.
They have had a lot of changes to the system at the start of this year, and when we went were still ironing out some of the detail, but generally its great. You sometimes have to wait, but normallly not more than 10 minutes, and generally you wait somewhere not as crowded. In our experience the CMs have been very helpful.
You get the pass from City Hall so go there on arrival, and they will issue one for the duration of your visit. They should ask how many you need it for, so you should be fine for a family of 4. We don't use it all the time, and we also use fast passes (ds loves BTM and would be on all day!), and queue is not too bad, but it is great to have the flexibility.

 

[IsobelJackmummy]

We have used the system several times. Our son has autism too. You need a letter from GP or consultant dated in the last 3 months detailing the nature of disability and why they can't queue. They now have lots of different categories of disability, and the pass is marked up according to what help you need, eg wheelchair access, deaf, 'mental disability', so they may ask for more than DLA letter as this doesn't provide detail.
They have had a lot of changes to the system at the start of this year, and when we went were still ironing out some of the detail, but generally its great. You sometimes have to wait, but normallly not more than 10 minutes, and generally you wait somewhere not as crowded. In our experience the CMs have been very helpful.
You get the pass from City Hall so go there on arrival, and they will issue one for the duration of your visit. They should ask how many you need it for, so you should be fine for a family of 4. We don't use it all the time, and we also use fast passes (ds loves BTM and would be on all day!), and queue is not too bad, but it is great to have the flexibility.

Thank you