Hi! I have a couple of ???? for you all...

[Laurabearz]

My husband and I are heading to the World in Early December, traveling with his Brother and family. My BIL's oldest daughter has Downs Syndrome.

Emily, is sound sensitve so any heads up on attractions that may be tame, yet have a lot of backround noise, would be helpful. My family and I are DIseny pros, but never paid any attention to things like the volume levels on rides. HELP. I do know they have headphone/sound muffler for her.......

Also her parents are unsure of her tollerence for dealing with lines..... suggestions to help her cope? Would she qualify for a GAC? What exactly is a GAC? I have seen several references on this board to check out Teri's siggy for links to the FAQ, yet I see no link in her siggy......

Thanks for all your help!

 

[SueM in MN]

Welcome.
I think I can shed some light on things for you.
First, teri's been working on her FAQs and moved them to a better site. She removed the link to her signature that went to the old site. Here's a link to a question about GACs that includes a post from teri with a new link.
Many of the rides and shows have quite loud background noise, so I guess you'll just have to see how she reacts to it. I'm sure DIS posters can come up with suggestions for their favorite fairly gentle, not too noisy rides.

A GAC is a Guest Assistnce Card. It is not meant to (and won't) make the wait in line shorter, but will usually let you wait in conditions that are better for you. You didn't say how old she is, but if she's young enough to still fit in a stroller, or if she has a special needs stroller, a GAC might allow her to use the stroller as a wheelchair, bringing it into lines where strollers are not allowed. Having fastpass helps a lot and if you go at a time thet is not so busy, you may find that the waits in line are not actually that long. We had a GAC for our DD in March (over Easter, We are BRAVE!), but we only really used it about once a day. Even if you don't need it, it's sort of a security blanket you can use if you need.

To help us out with suggestions, does she have any mobility, sight or other disabilities?
How old is she and what sorts of things do you think she would like?

 

[teri]

When you look at the Disabilities FAQ, be sure to look at the tips for helping hypersensitive kids have a good time.

 

[Amphigorey]

Hi Laura,

You'll want to use FastPass as often as possible for Laura, which I'm sure you already know since you're a Disney pro. A sound muffler is a great idea, since most attractions are LOUD!

Some attractions may be surprisingly hard for Emily to deal with; really, you'll have to pay a lot of attention to her and what she likes and doesn't like. For example, Living with the Land at Epcot, which you would think is the most sedate, serene ride ever, scares lots of toddlers because the opening scene is a dark, noisy thunderstorm.

 

[SueM in MN]

Just wantet to welcome you, Amphigorey since I notice you are new around here.

Keep in mind too, that kids will become upset for reasons sometimes that are not related to the ride. If they don't have enough language to tell you, you might think it was the ride when it was really something else. On our trip in March, DD began crying during the thunderstorm scene on the Land ride. The driver thought it was because the thunder scared her, but she's been on it at least 40 times and it is one of her favorite rides. She's usually so excited to be on it that we have trouble keeping positioned in her wheelchair. I knew there was something else going on, but I still don't know what. It was either that she didn't like the way the rest of us were sitting (she's the director of who sits where) or she felt the driver had not properly introduced herself. We went back later and made sure both those things were taken care of. She was her usual happy self on the ride. If this had happened the first time she rode it, we might have assumed the ride was the problem.

 

[s&k'smom]

Hey Laurabearz being the Disney pro you are!! I'm sure you already adviced your BIL about taking a break during the day. My DS is also noise sensitive and we plan to spend a lot of time at the resort pool and take the parks in small doses. My DH and I feel that we would rather do a little bit of Disney and enjoy it rather than push it to much.

And welcome Amphigorey!

 

[Laurabearz]

Thanks everyone! I read the FAQ and I think the GAC card that would allow us a quiet place to wait would be wonderful as a back up. We all have high hopes, she will do fine in line. Plus her father is very good at helping her with transitions....

We are going at a very slow time and if FP is available we will use it..... Plus our plan is to hit the parks for 3 or 4 hours MAX in the mornings and then chill the rest of the day at the lovely OKW or tour hotels and see the Christmas Decorations.

Again, thanks for your help!

 

[Coll0610]

I just wanted to reiterate that many of the attractions are very loud. I didn't realize how loud until we took DS for the first time when he was 4. He's never liked loud noises and spent a lot of the trip with his hands over his ears. I think it would be safe to assume that you may need to muffle the sound on almost everything.