GAC or baby swap?

[ORMom2Four]

Hello everyone!

We are planning a trip in Feb...but I was wondering.....

Our 4 year old has a benign brain tumor, and it is taking up 1/4 of his brain stem. He also has 2 other tumors in the brain that cause him to have issues with balance and motor skills. They have also caused him to be signifigantly developmentally delayed and he has a lot of sensory issues that cause him to have major meltdowns. He does walk on his own, though we use a regular stroller for him and will at Disneyland.

I'm wondering though, we will be using baby swap because we have a 1 year old. Would it be better to just use baby swap and take our 4 year old the 2nd time around? Or should we get a GAC and take the whole family at once? From what I remember, there are a lot of rides that the baby can go on too. We would love to go on rides all together as a family, but I don't think our 4 year old will last long in a tight space with people all around him.

Does anyone know what rides have what accommodations (quieter wait rooms etc.,)? We are not against waiting, lol, but are just hoping there might be some options for some of the family rides.

Thanks for any advice!!
Jennifer in OR

 

[Daydreamer64]

Hi!

Sorry to hear that your little one is having such health problems. My oldest son has multiple health issues and we have been able to obtain a GAC when we visit WDW.

The way it worked last month for us was- we used the GAC to enter the rides together as a family- think Pooh, Peter Pan. When we wanted to ride a ride that the baby was too little for, like Splash Mtn., we showed the CM the GAC to find out where to enter the lines for the ride- depending on your health needs there are a few different places to enter- and told the CM that we were doing the baby swap. We were given a fast pass type ticket to return to the line with the non-riding parent.

The nice thing is, that the parent who waited with the baby, gets to enter through the fast pass line - just like regular baby swap rules-( for rides with fast pass )and can take two other people with them- so Mom and 4YO ride on GAC if issued- then Dad and 4YO get to go into the fast pass line to ride together=== 4 YO gets to ride two times .

Some people obtain a stamp that says "use stroller as wheelchair"- then your son can rest in the stroller, maybe get less stimulated and feel safer in his familiar stroller instead of walking through the lines, he can stay seated while you push him through the lines. This helped us a lot when oldest DS was younger and we were visiting the parks.

HTH- have a great trip!

 

[SueM in MN]

Some people obtain a stamp that says "use stroller as wheelchair"- then your son can rest in the stroller, maybe get less stimulated and feel safer in his familiar stroller instead of walking through the lines, he can stay seated while you push him through the lines. This helped us a lot when oldest DS was younger and we were visiting the parks.

HTH- have a great trip!

A very good hint.

If you haven't already, I'd suggest reading the information about GACs in the disABILITIES FAQs thread near the top of this board.