Families with Autistic child

[SueM in MN]

I came across a link somewhere that had the letter for the doctor to sign or what the letter should look like to get the Guest Assistance Pass. I thought it was in allearsnet but I can't find it now.Any help would be appreciated. Our first night there my 15 yr old DS wants to do DQ and I know my DD,my DSIL,& my DGD will love it too. I think my DGS & I will hang over at Legos for a little while & depending on how it goes, he & I will take a ride maybe on the monorail.

When we told DS Dr. that we were going to Disney the first thing he said was to go to Tomorrow Land and get a pass that lets him go to the front of the line. Has anyone done this with your child? DH and I feel funny doing it but the Dr. and our friends say that DS deserves a great time and if this helps him then do it.

It is a Guest Assistance Card (we call it the GAC to avoid typing so much) and you can request one in Guest Services in any of the parks. It will not give front of the line access, as rie'smom posted in her explaination. What it is meant to do is provide accomidation, like a quieter place, being able to bring a stroller in line, etc. There is information about the GAC on the disABILITIES FAQs thread, on post 6.

A letter from the doctor is not required to get one.
Some people do bring a letter, just because they feel more confident having one. The form letters I have seen online are generally not very helpful. Most of them suggest having the doctor write something like "My patient, _____, has _______(fill in the condition or disease). Please give him all the assistance possible." If you do take a letter, the diagnosis is not really important; information about needs is important because different people with the exact same diagnosis might have very different needs. It is very possible that the CMs will not want to see the letter, so the most important thing is to be able to explain the needs of the child as tacomaranch explained.

We got one for one of our group (5 yo autistic boy) but never needed it. You don't necessarily go to the front of the line-but you do sometimes get to go through the FP line. We were there at Thanksgiving and I subscribed to TGM,followed his least crowded days chart and his advice. This way we avoided the dirty looks and snarky comments.The FPS helped us to avoid lines.

What exactly happens when you have a GAC depends on things like how busy it is at that attraction and how many other people with special needs are already waiting. You may end up going thru the Fastpass line, you may end up being given a slip of paper by the CM with a return time on it, you may be directed to wait in a less busy place, outside of the regular line.
Because conditions change, you may find that the GAC is handled differently even at the same attraction at different times.

Using Fastpass is a much more consistent way to get into attractions if you have someone in your party who can go get Fastpasses (only one person needs to go to the Fastpass machine with the park passes from everyone in your party).

Tourguide Mike (TGM) has been mentioned as very helpful by quite a few people besides rie'smom. A GAC only helps with the attractions, it doesn't help you avoid the large crowds and general busy-ness of the parks and doesn't help with things like avoiding crowds in restaurants, which can be just as much of a problem. TGM can help you to know where to be and when to be there to avoid crowds. Knowing that can help you to not need to use a GAC (or at least). We have been to WDW during Easter/Spring break and also between Christmas and New Years and only needed to use the GAC a few times because we know how to avoid the crowds.

 

[Schmeck]

Yes, my DGS is in a public preschool handicapped class all day program with therapists,aides,and teachers. I came across a link somewhere that had the letter for the doctor to sign or what the letter should look like to get the Guest Assistance Pass. I thought it was in allearsnet but I can't find it now.Any help would be appreciated. Our first night there my 15 yr old DS wants to do DQ and I know my DD,my DSIL,& my DGD will love it too. I think my DGS & I will hang over at Legos for a little while & depending on how it goes, he & I will take a ride maybe on the monorail.

Just to let you know, the monorail at WDW is nowhere near the Lego store. It only runs between EPCOT and MK, with a loop around the resorts at MK. The Lego store is in the Marketplace area of Downtown Disney, and DQ is way on the west side of DD.

 

[hollyb]

Thanks for clearing up the information regarding the "GAC"

 

[punky'smom]

Thanks SueM./ I was trying to tell my DD what the note would need to say. I know the GAC is not for us to go to the front of the line. This will be our DGS first time, our DGD has been there with us every year for 3 yrs now. Believe me he will not let her out do him. When he sees her with the characters he will go with her she's 7 now. I know the monorail is in the loop but I was just trying to figure out what he & I could do while the rest of our party was at DQ. I don't think he would get anything out of DQ.