Epcot for 3 year old autistic son?

[shereepie]

What sort of things would a 3 year old enjoy at Epcot? I have sort of looked at the list, but we've never been to Disney before, and I wanted to get some expert opinions.

Plus, our son is autistic, so his attention span might not be that of other 3 year olds.

Any suggestions?

 

[DisneyDreams4P&B]

Last year we took our 4 year old autistic son and we were most worried about EPCOT. Would he like it? would he be bored and stimming out of control? It was the exact opposite. You can have a great time with him, just make sure you do a little extra planning. Does he like trains? In World Showcase, there is a continuous model train, my son was ecstatic. Checkout the shows as well, my son loved the drum show in Japan (we were sure to stay back far enough for the noise - he is sensitive , if your is too, I would urge you to invest in ear plugs). He loved the Living Seas (I would bypass the film) as well as the boat ride in Mexico (the CM let him go 3 times in a row because they could see how much he loved it). I would get a guidebook (The unauthorized wdw guide is my fav) and try to customize what you see to what his likes and dislikes are.

Don't know if you have seen it or not but AllEarsnet.com has a great section on WDW and autism http://www.allearsnet.com/pl/dis_aut.htm
Let me know if I can help or provide any other information so you have a great trip. Our's was so successful that we are doing it again in 15 days!!!

 

[AJKMOM]

Further down the list of threads here at the DIS is a forum called "disAbilities". It talks about the Guest Assistance Card, which you will want to research, and helpful hints. Do a search about autism, and you should find out lots of good ideas. The MOST helpful for your trip will be the card. We found that our autistic son showed such improvement after our Disney trips that we bought into the Disney Vacation Club 3 years ago.

 

[have2getaway]

Our ds is autistic too. We will be taking him in January. Thanks for the tips.

 

[DisneyDreams4P&B]

This post got me thinking..I think I wil post on the DisAbilities thread and ask other WDW vets with Autistic kids to help compile a list of tips and touring plans that have worked well for them. Maybe it will help other parents/care givers who take their kiddo's to WDW.

 

[pershing]

The only problem I had with my autistic son was getting him to move on to a different attraction! The look on his face-I could just see he would have been happy to perseverate on Winnie the Pooh ride all day long. His brothers cured him of that!

We've been twice and he just loved that everything was the SAME when he came back the second time.

Splash Mountain is his favorite!

 

[Jotash]

My 4 year old, soon to be 5, DS is autistic. He loves all things with water, so considering the amount of fountains and such, we're hoping he's fine when we go in Oct. Like others have mentioned, I think our problem is going to be getting him to leave.