Help me help a family plan trip for special needs child

[toddler]

Hi. I'm new to the forum, thanks for having this place. I figure I need some group imput so here I am. I'm familiar with Disney to the point that I've been several times with my family, and now with my own two small kids. I've helped other families with planning out their "maps" on what to do and when once they're there and have been approached to help a family out that is going
the second week of December, 2007 - 5 day park hopper with no onsite meals due to cost.
They have two small children, one of which is a child who is 5 and has mild cerebral palsy and was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor. She's going to have brain surgery in January.
They are taking this trip in December to try to pack as much family time in as they can before the uncertain outcome of that brain surgery in Jan. I would like to make sure that they have the BEST possible time... and would ask that if you've got any advice for me on how to do this please let me know. I've called Disney several times and have been told that other than getting a Blue ticket, there's not much that they can get "special" and that they recommend the parents contact Make A Wish, etc. One cast member did say he would try to get something done but I don't have much hope.... I know the parents won't pursue the Make A Wish as I think the parents are just trying to accept (still) what's going on and deal with it without the paperwork and pleading of contacting a special group... they're not asking for a free trip. I am the one that's working on this schedule so I just want to make sure that I'm looking out for them as completely as possible.
Advice? Ideas? Anything will be appreciated! Thank you in advance,
Toddler

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

The best thing for you to do is to post this over on the Disabilites Board, there are many families over there that can answer all of your questions better than the Theme Park Board. There is a wealth of knowledge on that Forum that there would be here.

I would recommend that you call Special Request Dept at WDW and requet the set of 4 brochures for Guests with Disabilities, that might also answer alot of you questions. The number is 407-939-7807. They should also get the Passporter's Walt Disney World for your Special Needs, this book is broken down in to different categories depending on the disability and how to handle all situations at WDW.


Are they staying on-site, that would probably be best, so they have the convenince of going back to the room for a mid-day break. Also, it would probably be better if they do eat on-site, The Mcdonald's over near the All Star resorts is more expensive than the CS at the parks. Many of the CS meals can be shared between 2 children, in fact my mom and I share alot of meals, just because we can't eat that much food.

Please feel free to PM me with any questions you may have, If you can't PM me, let me know and I will PM you first.


Suzanne

 

[CanadianGuy]

I'm going to move this over there for the best answers to your queries!

Knox

 

[SueM in MN]

I've called Disney several times and have been told that other than getting a Blue ticket, there's not much that they can get "special" and that they recommend the parents contact Make A Wish, etc.

I'm not sure what was meant by a "Blue ticket", but you should look at the disABILITIES FAQs thread, specifically the section about Guest Assistance Cards (also called GACs).

I would recommend that you call Special Request Dept at WDW and requet the set of 4 brochures for Guests with Disabilities, that might also answer alot of you questions.

You can get the text for those from a link in the disABILITIES FAQs thread, post 3.

They should also get the Passporter's Walt Disney World for your Special Needs, this book is broken down in to different categories depending on the disability and how to handle all situations at WDW.

I'd suggest you look at the book for ideas to help them. The book is rather long and might be quite overwhelming for them at the present time. You could look thru it and try to 'pull out' the information that would be helpful to them. (I say this having been a peer reviewer on the original printing of the book).

I agree with Princess Suzanne that the meals are very large. We often share meals and certainly don't get hungry. If they are staying at one of the Moderate or Delux resorts, they will have a refrigerator. One thing to keep in mind about not eating in the parks is the amount of time and energy it will take to leave the park. That might be more 'expensive' in terms of energy than eating at the parks. You can also bring snacks into the park - eat breakfast at the resort to avoid one meal out.

One thing that is nice to do over Christmas if the parks are too busy or just too tiring is to visit the other resorts and look at their Christmas decorations. GF has a giant gingerbread house that is really cool. For some kids, going on the monorail and boats is just as exiting as the parks.
Also, don't forget the Kidcot spots at Epcot. Those are the highlights of some kids trip. There are special Christmas around the world things going on at Epcot and don't miss the Osborne lights at the Studio.

 

[Michigan]

You can contact Make a Wish it doesn't have to come from the parents or a doctor anyone can make the contact by just using their homepage.

 

[toddler]

Recommendations on CS places within the parks that do fill up 2 people? I'd like to know that myself, even though I'm helping them! If you had to pick out 2 at each park, which ones would they be? I'm making them a "path" that takes them step by step every day through every park and she's said they'll go where-ever I put them.

Also, the hotel that you mentioned with the gingerbread house, which one is that? What's GF? Thanks!

I will call and order the books and go through those... thanks for advising me that they're long, you're right, I don't want to burden them with ANYTHING.

 

[SueM in MN]

Recommendations on CS places within the parks that do fill up 2 people? I'd like to know that myself, even though I'm helping them! If you had to pick out 2 at each park, which ones would they be? I'm making them a "path" that takes them step by step every day through every park and she's said they'll go where-ever I put them.

Can't think right now, other than the food court at The Land.
I can tell you for sure that the smallest drinks (pop) are huge.

Also, the hotel that you mentioned with the gingerbread house, which one is that? What's GF? Thanks!

Grand Floridian

I will call and order the books and go through those... thanks for advising me that they're long, you're right, I don't want to burden them with ANYTHING.

the Guidebooks for Guests with Disabilities are short. You can get them on the disABILITIES FAQs thread, post 3, the first links. There's a lot of other helpful info in the rest of that thread too.
Also check out mouse on wheels. Between those links and this board, you may find you don't really need the book.

 

[merryweather20]

GF is grand Floridian! The Gingerbread House is too cool

I've only seen it one year so not sure if it is the same from year to year but they built a large Gingerbread House which then functioned selling baked goods during the holiday season. "GF" is on the monorail path too so it should be easy for them to get to

I have no idea about the counter service though I'll let someone else answer that part!

 

[debbiemomto4]

I'm so sorry to hear about your friend and dd. (((Hugs)))
My ds is 5 years in remission from cancer.
You mentioned meals for two at CS. I found that there children's meal portions are big esp for 2 toddlers. Also there french fries are usually big. The Commissary at MGM is good with big portions and Pizza Planet's pizza could feed an adult and child. There are menus over at Debs site allears.net.
At Cosmic Ray you can get 1/2 chicken with ribs for 13.99. Can feed 3 of us.
My dd and I get a double cheeseburger and an extra bun and they have great fixins and Cosmic Ray and Pecos Bill. She has not finished one meal at Disney yet and she is 16!

Is she renting a stroller or a wheelchair for her DD?
Also where is she staying. GF is nice because its easy to get too.
HTH. Ask any other questions- someone is bound to have answers here!
Make sure you check out the GAC info at the top. Very information!
Debbie

 

[toddler]

Thanks and please keep the advice coming, I'm taking notes of everything and looking it all up.

They're staying at the Pop Century Resort, if that helps anyone in advice! Thanks!!!

 

[OneLittleSpark]

If she has any additional medical needs, you may want to look into the Guest Assistance Card (GAC) if you haven't already. These can cover a number of things and are basically a quick way of communicating your needs to Cast Members, without having to go into wearing explanations at every ride. One thing you may want to look into, is a GAC to allow the stroller to be used as a wheelchair, meaning they can take it into lines with them. This doesn't get you through lines faster (and may often mean a longer wait), but will reduce the stress on her body and help her save her strength for the fun stuff. See the FAQ section for more details.

Just a quick note about the kids meals: as part of their health kick Disney have introduced 'healthier' options as standard to the kids menus (e.g. carrot sticks as the side order). You can still opt for fries and cookies to go with the meal instead, you just have to know to ask for it. I think, if they do eat in the parks, going for the fries option might be better, as it'll give her a little more fuel to be getting on with.

Good luck with the planning!

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

a couple of restaurants at MK are Starlight Rays, they have a great half Roitisserie chicken and half rack of ribs combo that includes mashed potatoes and a veggie, 3 people could almost split it. Columbia Harbour house has a chicken and fish combo basket that includes fries or carrot sticks.

The only one I remember at Epcot was Electric Umbrella, mom and I shared some type of Roast Beef sandwich plate.

I can't tell you about MGM.

At AK, when Tusker House was a Counter Service restaurants, mom and I shared a half Rotisseire chicken with mashed potatoes and green beans.

I don't know which resort they are staying at, but the AS Movies has a great food court. Mom and I shared several meals there and some of them weren't even combos. They have a Chicken Parmesan meal with a huge portion of chicken and pasta, there was even a small portion left over.

Many Diser's talk about buying a double cheeseburger and purchasing an extra bun.

If the children don't eat much, each parent could get a meal and share it with one child. One chicken strip meal will fill up me and my mom, so I am sure it will probably fill up one adult and one child.

Definitely suggest they take something easy for breakfast at the resort. We take a couple of packs of the Chocolate covered granola bars. They can certainly take snacks into the parks with them. I always take my small cooler with sodas and water, so we don't have to pay a fortune for drinks, my husband is always wanting something to drink, so this has saved us money. We have been known to take small bottles of water and those single Kool Aid/Hawaiin Punch (sp?) packets.

If I think of anything else, I will post it.

Suzanne

 

[toyota631]

We were there in August I would suggest going to the Guest Services at whichever park you go to the first day and getting the Guest Assistance Card. We have a son with CP that is in a wheelchair. They decide what kind of pass to give you based on needs. So this got us to the fast pass in the shade to wait in the back doors. so it is worth the time to check on what accommodations they will provide.

 

[SueM in MN]

We were there in August I would suggest going to the Guest Services at whichever park you go to the first day and getting the Guest Assistance Card. We have a son with CP that is in a wheelchair. They decide what kind of pass to give you based on needs. So this got us to the fast pass in the shade to wait in the back doors. so it is worth the time to check on what accommodations they will provide.

If you check the disABILITIES FAQs thread, there is a section about Guest Assistance Cards.

 

[toddler]

I wanted to post the tremendously wonderful ) two positive words there to express how Happy I am!) experience I had with Disney regarding this family.

We were chosen out of a random crowd for the year of a million dreams for a private meeting with Cinderella. We were thrilled BUT my kids were set to be spoiled that week and I couldn't help but think about that other family I'd been in contact with that went the same week we did... so I called this family that I'd been helping and offered them our private meeting. I wanted them to have a great time and knew that they were limited in what they could "do" while at Disney because of their daughter's condition while my kids are perfectly healthy and were going on all the rides, we had character meals scheduled ect... (my kids are beyond spoiled!) Well, they couldn't go, so I told the Disney rep what I'd attempted in giving them our spot and why and he asked me a lot of questions and got info on the family and long story short, they made a beautiful day for this family!!! They got them VIP seating for the parade, got them ice cream during it and a drink, they got to meet the princesses and Mickey Mouse (privately) and then got VIP seating for the Wishes fireworks. I was so happy that Disney created such a wonderful experience for them considering the little girls condition!!! I felt like I was going to burst from just the excitement of what I knew their kids were experiencing.... The little girl had been sick the day before and that'd been a damper so this whole surprise experience that Disney did for them was just a wonderfully complete surprise to them and just was a great experience.

So anyway... you can tell how tickled I am. I was a Disney fan before and this just really convinced me how wonderful Disney can be!

Thank you, Disney - Nancy and David at Disney Magic Kingdom (especially) for working so hard to make that family's experience so wonderful. I've talked to the Mom twice since then and she said her kids still haven't come back down to earth since the experience, that it's all they talk about!

 

[OneLittleSpark]

This is why I love Disney, thank you so much for sharing this story with us! They really do go above and beyond what is expected of them, and don't expect any recognition in return (some people might have turned this into a publicity stunt, so it was good of them not to do so). It was so sweet of you to try and give them your 'wish' too, as well as all the help you gave them with planning!

Go you and go Disney!

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Many of us who work there are not in it for the money. I know I spend more money in a month at WDW than I earn there. But I am able to be part of the magic. Most people would be very surprised to learn how much authority the hourly workers have to do something special for visitors, and we are supported by management for our actions. In other words, part of our job (no matter the position) involves issuing Pixie Dust!

 

[Camster0307]

Thanks for updating us - this story made me so teary! I'm adding it to the long list of reasons as to why WDW is always our vaction of choice!

 

[Joanna71985]

Many of us who work there are not in it for the money. I know I spend more money in a month at WDW than I earn there. But I am able to be part of the magic. Most people would be very surprised to learn how much authority the hourly workers have to do something special for visitors, and we are supported by management for our actions. In other words, part of our job (no matter the position) involves issuing Pixie Dust!

Same here. I work at Disney because of my love for Disney- not for the money.

 

[Bugsmom73]

That is totally awesome.