DLP with a disabled child?

[mommy2ash]

The photo of your son kissing Minnie sounds adorable.

How old is he?


I feel more confident about taking DS to Disney now.


Thanks everyone for all your help/ input. This is such a friendly forum.

many times with characters i have seen cm bring them over to a particular child, i am sure if you mention it to them or show them your pass they will help you. as for other people dont even think of them. i know that sounds mean but anyone who will give you a dirty look are not even worth thinking of

one time we were in a queue to meet mickey, it was super long, it was for st patricks day so he was dressed up. anyway a family were waiting at the side and the cm brought them over to mickey. they had a boy with them around maybe 9 or 10 and clearly he had a pass, there was obviously something wrong with him. well that boys face lit up and nearly squeezed the life out of mickey, it was really heartwarming to see someone so happy. the guy next to me started complaining. i swear i cant remember the last time i was so mad at someone. my dd pulled my sleeve and said mammy look how happy that boy is to see mickey, isnt it cute. so i just said yep its nice to see people have a good time. if a three year old can get why cant everyone else.

i hope you have a wonderful trip and everything goes smoothly for you.

 

[scampbunny]

many times with characters i have seen cm bring them over to a particular child, i am sure if you mention it to them or show them your pass they will help you. as for other people dont even think of them. i know that sounds mean but anyone who will give you a dirty look are not even worth thinking of

one time we were in a queue to meet mickey, it was super long, it was for st patricks day so he was dressed up. anyway a family were waiting at the side and the cm brought them over to mickey. they had a boy with them around maybe 9 or 10 and clearly he had a pass, there was obviously something wrong with him. well that boys face lit up and nearly squeezed the life out of mickey, it was really heartwarming to see someone so happy. the guy next to me started complaining. i swear i cant remember the last time i was so mad at someone. my dd pulled my sleeve and said mammy look how happy that boy is to see mickey, isnt it cute. so i just said yep its nice to see people have a good time. if a three year old can get why cant everyone else.

i hope you have a wonderful trip and everything goes smoothly for you.

well said sonya!!

my ds is gonna be 5 in dec, we have been going since he was 2 1/2 (didnt know then there were probs, but also we didnt do much as he cudnt queue and was real hyper) but by the xmas (when nearly 3) he suddenly wanted the characters (and this time we had the easy access pass which really helped!).

u really will have a wonderful time, im getting excited for u!!! this time will be our 1st disney halloween, and i have no idea how he will take to it, but he does enjoy his dressing up, and joined his brother trick or treating, so we will just go with the flow (as always!)

if i cud, i wud live at dlp lol

 

[sleepysox]

Thanks for your posts. It sounds like we'll have a magical time, judging by both of your experiences.

Enjoy your trips too

 

[cherrymarzipan]

Just to add, we have a disabled chld (now a teenager) and use the first aid station for changing. Just explain and ask for a cubicle and the staff are always very friendly and helpful.

Have a great time!

 

[sleepysox]

Ooh brilliant. I was actually thinking about DS as an older child last night and was wondering whether they had disabled older child/ adult changing facilities. That's so useful to know for when DS is older. Thank you.

 

[justfi]

Hi there

27 sleeps until our 3rd trip to DLP in as many years My eldest ds has a disability and uses a wheelchair, he's just turned 7. The cm's are great and will help with getting the characters to your son but tbh we now usually go to the more organised meet and greets or Cafe Mickey and soak up the character interaction there. The characters will make such a fuss of all of you, I wasn't expecting that, I thought they'd just focus on the children!

We take a copy of a consultants letter or his DLA award letter and that's always been acceptable at Town Hall to get his pass.

I would say to take a lock for your sn pushchair, some pushchairs do go walkabout and whilst it's upsetting and awful to lose any pushchair it's be disastrous for you guys. We've had our younger sons buggy go missing but never the wheelchair so maybe there is some honour among thieves but they might not recognise a SN pushchair for what it is. The pushchairs disney rent out are larger than regular ones and they often go missing so yours may be more easily mistaken for one of those.

Have a wonderful time.

There are some incredibly rude people who comment and stare but there are lots more lovely ones who will go out of their way to make your trip easier.

fi

 

[sleepysox]

Thanks Fi,
I hadn't even thought of that. We'd be stuck without a pushchair for DS. I'll get DH to investigate a suitable lock- give him something to do while I'm busy planning and researching! LOL!

 

[susannah365]

just wanted to say how emotional i found this thread - really heartwarming to hear how disney can benefit SN kids. i hope you have a wonderful holiday. i would highly reccommend doing character meals as the character interaction is so much better than the meet and greet scrums. cafe mickey at lunchtime is fantastic because it is so quiet so the characters spent ages with us. also we loved lunch with the princesses and at the lucky nugget as well. (but you do really have to book to get in at 12).
as for rides, there will be many you can do. its a small world will be a big hit, as will the storybook boat ride. the carousel is great - and you can sit with your ds. he may also like the teacups and the peter pan ride because of the lights - but he would ahve to be sat on the seat next to you for these? similarly buzz lightyears lazer blast - although i know they do have one 'pod' which a wheelchair can actually go on which may be an option? orbitron would be great. i would also highly reccommend all the shows in the studios. my 2 yr old son loved disney playhouse, stitch live, animagique etc.
have a wonderful time.

 

[sleepysox]

Thanks Susannah,
PP and all the shows are definitely on my list and I think he'll love the carousel, as he loves being spun around- when my back is up to it! LOL. DS will def love animagique as he will love seeing the contrast in colour between the light and dark. I think he'll like the Lion King, as he loves music, if they still have it at DLP. We've been playing him the CD of it ready, to get him used to it. I hope they do still have it!

I didn't realise that they had characters at Cafe Mickey at lunch time. I thought it was only in the evenings. Lunch time would be better for Ds as he'll be too tired by the evening.

Thanks for the suggestions. I hadn't thought of storybook land or orbitron, so there's some more to add to my growing list.

 

[Samf1971]

Just wanted to add to the post really, we've taken DS's blue badge to city hall and that's usually all they've taken from us for the pass.

The disabled area for the parade is lovely, when it stops and the characters walk around, they always aim for the disabled area and it's lovely to see the interaction they have together.

DS (4, nearly 5) doesn't actually go on any rides and spends most of his time in his major buggy, (perhaps he'll ride when he's older) but I have to say that he still gets a lot of enjoyment from just watching the rides whizz around, his usual favourite is Crush, but this trip he really enjoyed watching Slinky dog zig zag spin and would always ask to go to the Studios to sit and watch it, he also likes to sit and watch the ducks, near the castle and also near the teacups - actually he'd also spend the entire holiday riding the hotel shuttle buses back and forth!. He really enjoyed the Pocahontas play area this time, it's the first time we've taken him and he loved playing on the slides and things as you can see, we went pretty much as soon as the rope dropped and it was always quiet so he had plenty of chance to run around a bit without there being too many other kiddies there

 

[susannah365]

Thanks Susannah,
PP and all the shows are definitely on my list and I think he'll love the carousel, as he loves being spun around- when my back is up to it! LOL. DS will def love animagique as he will love seeing the contrast in colour between the light and dark. I think he'll like the Lion King, as he loves music, if they still have it at DLP. We've been playing him the CD of it ready, to get him used to it. I hope they do still have it!

I didn't realise that they had characters at Cafe Mickey at lunch time. I thought it was only in the evenings. Lunch time would be better for Ds as he'll be too tired by the evening.

Thanks for the suggestions. I hadn't thought of storybook land or orbitron, so there's some more to add to my growing list.

unfortunately lion king has not been on at disneyland for a while now - i would have loved to have seen it as well. when we went in june we found that doing our main meal at lunchtime was much better as we were all too tired in the evening. so we did the princess lunch, character buffet lunch at the lucky nugget and lunch at cafe mickey (not the buffet, just ordering off the menu) which were all fantastic.

 

[cantwait07]

To the OP. I 'm in the same situation as you. I have a child with Low tone and phyical/intellectual disability.

I am heading back to DLP in less then 2 weeks. My dd will be 3 while we are there and we are planning on getting a birthday cake at cafe mickey for dd. You just need your blue badge for city hall and they will give you the pass and also a disability guide, dont forget to read this as it has lots of useful info in it. I didnt find too many people staring to be be honest or if they did we didnt notice.
I made sure I brought familar food with me for dd. I found that the characters were very good at giving dd extra attention and also her big sister. At the shows in the studios they also looked after us very well. We used a travel cot in the rooms for sleeping.

We would stay at the parks at long as we could, come back and change dd in her pjs then go for the buffet dinner. Then it was dds bedtime and we could have magazines, nintendo ds etc for us. So we would just relax in the evenings.

We had a fab time.

 

[Brummig]

we wouldn't travel without the portable dvd or laptop. Sometimes ds needs that chill out with of his favourites at the end of the day - he doesn't cope well with late nights so we are usually back in hotel/ van by 8pm. Then when he has gone to bed we watch something for us (last time we were working through Heroes!) and have a glass of wine.

We've had a great time everytime we have gone, and staff have been very helpful.

 

[sleepysox]

SamF
Your son looks so lovely. I love his blonde hair. He looks like he's having a fab time in the play park. I didn't realise that the characters stopped by the disabled area in the parade. I'll try and make sure we stay there. Can the whole family wait there, or just DS and 1 carer? (There'll be 4 of us).

Susannah- I'm so disappointed about the LK What's at Videopolis instead? I'm def going to book CM for lunch time now. We've had a bad experience at the Lucky Nugget in the past, and I'm not sure DS's pushchair will fit in, but I'd love to do the Princess lunch, but I'm the only girl in my family- so I might have to go on my own!!!

Can't wait- bringing the familar food is a good idea. DS can't tolerate lumpy food, so I'll probably have to bring jars of baby food, unless the restaurants will puree food up for us?

Brummig- I'd never thought of bringing a laptop to watch DVDs. last time we went DH and I were trying to read with torches like naughty school kids, as we didn't want to wake our eldest son!!! WE love Heroes too!

Thanks for all your replies. I think Disney is going to be a postive experience for the whole family.

 

[chrisf1961]

Hi thanks for the lovely comments on our son Ben im not sure re the carers and the number of people allowed in the area ,im sure someone with more knowledge than us will come back to you.

 

[scampbunny]

Can the whole family wait there, or just DS and 1 carer? (There'll be 4 of us).

u might be ok - but when its busy, they can limit it to disabled & 1 carer. also, sum cms will try and say its only the above, but most will let u all in together...

 

[sleepysox]

I'll give it a go, as I'd like to have both my sons on our parade video, watching the characters.

 

[scampbunny]

I'll give it a go, as I'd like to have both my sons on our parade video, watching the characters.

do try it, also plead surprise if they say anything, that can sumtimes work!! we have had the kids shoved out of the way for an old person in a wheelchair, yes, they are entitled to see, but surely it is primarily for the kids, and 1 of them had every right to be there!!

anyhow - im digressing lol go along and enjoy, from memory, ull get the princesses up by small world, and toy story i think it was, in central plaza.... we like it by small world, as the characters come out they tend to come straight to disabled area for the kids, and of course the prince & princesses get off there and also come and say hello (my boys loved that lol) depends what ur wanting to see - or do both lol not sure what u get at the city hall disabled area.....

ull have a fab time, and do ask anything - ull get loads of help here and we all love planning and discussing