DLP and autism

[secionn]

I have 2 sons with autism and learning disabilities. As a family we went to Disneyworld in Florida last year, and had a fantastic time. I was able to go to guest services and get a pass for my family, and my son's special needs buggy was considered a wheelchair. This allowed me to take my son in his special need buggy all the way to the rides, and in certain rides to use the fastpass line.
I would love to take my sons to DLP for a couple of days around Halloween. I was just wondering how accommodating is DLP to clients with autism. Both of my children eat the same dinner everyday, and wont eat any food served in restaurant. We managed in Florida, by staying in a villa, making their food, and feeding them before or after we travelled to the theme parks. Would the Disney Hotels allow me to take their dinners made up from home, but frozen and vacuumed sealed, and store them in their freezers for me? I could defrost a dinner each day, feed it to them, if I can have it heated somewhere. The rest of the family of 4 would be eating in restaurants, normally the 2 sons who wont eat in the restaurant will sit quietly, and consume a soft drink purchased in the restaurant at the table, but play with their DS consoles. I assume for breakfast I could take breakfast cereals that the boys will eat in.
I know for normal families, this all sounds mad. It is the only way we can manage to keep all happy.

 

[DLPdaft]

Hi secionn,

Welcome to the Disneyland Paris Trip Planning & Community Board .

We are a friendly bunch here so please join in on any other thread or if you have a number of questions then just start a new thread for each

If you have not had a look yet, DLP posting rules are here
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1477038,
DIS posting guidelines can be found here
http://www.wdwinfo.com/guidelines.htm

We have a few members here who have been to DLP with children on the autism spectrum, hopefully they will be along soon to give you advice .

 

[gbaz44]

My son has autism too but wasn't diagnosed the last time we went.

I know you can request a fridge in your room but don't know if it has freezer or whether you can get a microwave. My son is happy to eat in McDonalds as at least it is familiar for him. The breakfast cereals will be OK but I know there have been posts about the milk available being UHT or something??? Basically it's not going to be your normal green or blue lid UK milk.

You can get a pass similar to the one in Florida so you should be OK from that respect.

We're doing the Florida and villa thing next year and can't wait, but first we have Xmas in DLP.

Aren't DS's great!! lol

 

[tennisfan]

My son has autism too but wasn't diagnosed the last time we went.

I know you can request a fridge in your room but don't know if it has freezer or whether you can get a microwave. My son is happy to eat in McDonalds as at least it is familiar for him. The breakfast cereals will be OK but I know there have been posts about the milk available being UHT or something??? Basically it's not going to be your normal green or blue lid UK milk.

You can get a pass similar to the one in Florida so you should be OK from that respect.

We're doing the Florida and villa thing next year and can't wait, but first we have Xmas in DLP.

Aren't DS's great!! lol

The only difference is that the milk in Disney is longlife, like we can buy in the UK as opposed to fresh. By the taste of it I would say it was Semi skimmed

 

[riyad1987]

For the most part milk will be longlife UHT, but if you pop over to the Auchan supermarket in Val d'Europe, which is one stop away on the RER, you can buy fresh milk there, which may help in that respect.

 

[DLPdaft]

Hi riyad1987,

Welcome to the Disneyland Paris Trip Planning & Community Board .

We are a friendly bunch here so please join in on any other thread or if you have a number of questions then just start a new thread for each

If you have not had a look yet, DLP posting rules are here
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1477038,
DIS posting guidelines can be found here
http://www.wdwinfo.com/guidelines.htm

 

[tinkertaylor05]

Hi,

How are you planning to travel? If you're driving would Davey Crockett be an option as I believe it's self catering ... may be wrong here? somebody else could confirm if they have freezers? or possibly stay off site and seee if you could find an apartment I know others do it this way.

I hope you can work it out, I think others that have been recently said they were well accomodated x

 

[Ware Bears]

How are you planning to travel? If you're driving would Davey Crockett be an option as I believe it's self catering ... x

I was going to suggest this too ..... and maybe you could consider the Marriott village where you can rent a townhouse with full kitchen facilities? The Marriott is served by a shuttle too, although it doesn't run that frequently it does mean it's possible to stay there without a car.

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

I've never been to Disneyland Paris but I do have autism. I was almost 4 when I was diagnosed and I'm now 16.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Hi,

Our son Joshua has severe autism and is non verbal.

We have been lucky to have taken him to Florida 7 times and many of those holidays like you have been in a private villa, you know the advantages of this I can see from your post.

This year we went to Disneyland Paris for the first time, mainly because we find the travelling a bit hard now with him to Orlando.

Up until this years holiday , where we stayed at the Hotel New York , he hadn't stayed in a hotel since he was about 3. I can also relate to the restaurant problem as he has rarely eaten out too.
We took some fruit juice with us as we knew you couldn't buy cordial out there and also planned ahead so we knew we could buy bread, butter, jam, cooked meats etc for snacks/sandwiches for example.

Like you we have to plan every little detail and I have to say he loved it, no problems staying in a hotel room, he even dined out at some restaurants too which we were so pleased about. The food aspect was the one thing that really worried us but he was fine.
We always take a portable DVD player with us so we find that helps him relax a little, it's just a comfort for him.

I am not so sure about taking meals with you, but I know the HNY do have a microwave you could use for heating up food, especially given your special needs. I am not aware any of the hotels rent them or fridges out to guests.

We got the DLRP GAC pass (called the EAC, easy access card), with a black mickey stamp on, they have different passes for the needs in question.
Overall the pass was invaluable, we wouldn't have got on many of the rides without it and whilst there are slight differences in the way it works we found the CMs friendly and helpful. If you need me to go into more detail on how it works and which rides have particular differences in the way they operate just let me know.

I did phone up the hotel direct to ask a couple of questions, to be honest that is where it became a bit confusing as I got different answers whoever I spoke to - but it might be worth a try anyway once you decide upon where you are staying. As already mentioned the likes of the Marriott have full kitchen facilities but are also further away from the parks, so not sure what your thoughts are on that?

If you have any more questions please ask.

 

[IsobelJackmummy]

We got the DLRP GAC pass (called the EAC, easy access card), with a black mickey stamp on, they have different passes for the needs in question.

Sorry to jump in on the thread! our son has autism, and I know we will have problems queueing etc when we go in Feb (it wasn't so much of a problem on our other trips when he was younger, but is getting worse). I was wondering what we need to take with us to get one of these passes? Thanks

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Sorry to jump in on the thread! our son has autism, and I know we will have problems queueing etc when we go in Feb (it wasn't so much of a problem on our other trips when he was younger, but is getting worse). I was wondering what we need to take with us to get one of these passes? Thanks

We took our blue disabled car badge and a doctor's note , though the latter wasn't needed.
As our son was present it was clear to the CM at Guest Services of our genuine need for the special pass.

 

[IsobelJackmummy]

We took our blue disabled car badge and a doctor's note , though the latter wasn't needed.
As our son was present it was clear to the CM at Guest Services of our genuine need for the special pass.

Thanks

 

[Brummig]

We also have a ds with autism and are now planning our 11th trip to DLP! I'm afraid I don't know about the food - our ds doesn't have those issues. However we have found restaurants are quite good. I have been dieting the last 2 times we have been so have sometimes sat in with the boys and just had a drink, and they have been okay with that.

Nothing sounds mad to us - we all have to find our own ways! We are normally back in our room (or now campervan) by 8pm (ds bedtime, even now he is 8), and we watch a film and have a glass of wine -no bars or late dinners for us! When we stayed in the Cheyenne we used the spare bedding to make a den on the bottom bunk because otherwise ds would only go to sleep if we were all in bed, lights off, and even then it took nearly 2 hrs!
We've used the Easy Access Pass too, and its been great. Staff are very understanding. Make sure you read the guide for guests with disabilities though, because some of the exit routes take you odd places, and can be dark - ds doesn't like the one under Crush!


Have a great time!

 

[secionn]

Thank you everyone for your replies.
I am glad to know the UHT milk is only available for the breakfast, that would have been disasterous if I did not know in advance!
It has given me lots to contemplate, and to decide would it work. It is great to hear the disability pass is available in DLP also.
Again thanks everyone.