How are Universal's accommodations for severe autism?

[BeautyBeastAndNemo]

Hi there,

Can anyone tell me how Universal is with kiddos with autism? Disney does pretty good, but I have read some iffy things on Universal.

I would love to hear your experiences with accommodations that the parks make.

 

[kim31kim]

My friend went to Universal this summer with her 4 middle/high school aged kids. One of her sons has autism, but I'm not sure if it is "severe" or not. He is 8th grade age but his behavior is more like 1st grade I guess if that tells you anything. She didn't ask for any sort of special treatment ahead of time and was completely blown away by something that happened while they were there... Her son is a big fan of scooby doo and they happened to see the scooby gang and mystery machine during one of the street performances. I guess one of the characters could tell that her son (who is as tall as an adult) had autism and they went over to the family and specifically interacted with him and let him join in the fun by trying to find scooby with the cast etc. My friend said that this made his whole trip because of how special they made this scooby experience for him. She was almost in tears when she told me about it because it was so special to their family.

He rode some of the rides and liked them once they were over, but mostly I think they did shows etc with him.

 

[skylock]

Hi there,

Can anyone tell me how Universal is with kiddos with autism? Disney does pretty good, but I have read some iffy things on Universal.

I would love to hear your experiences with accommodations that the parks make.

What kind of accommodations are needed. Severe autism doesn't tell anyone much.

What iffy things have you been hearing about?

 

[BeautyBeastAndNemo]

I just want to know what accommodations Universal even offers compared to Disney so I can see if it would work for our family. Their website doesn't really say much!

 

[VacaPlanner2012]

My wife is a paraprofessional in a classroom with lower functioning, nonverbal autistic students, so let me be the first to tell you that you rock! Not an easy thing to handle on a daily basis, but also super rewarding in ways others may never understand...

That being said - I believe the vast majority of people have the ultimate compassion for you, but many just don't know how/what to do. Biggest issue we see with my wife's students is that people want to approach and talk, and use way too many words and speak "baby talk" to them, which is often a trigger for behaviors. Nothing intentional, but autism is not a synonym for stupid.

Universal, in my opinion, has many more triggers than Disney. Their tagline has been "ride the movies", and there is an overproduction of lights, sound, and motion. Disney has many more rides/attractions that are more subdued.

I know Blue Man does a special performance, and many cast members will bless you with extra time and patience to make a Uni vacation special. Only you know the true triggers for your child, and only you know what their true likes as well. There will be a lot of both at Universal.

I wish you the best!

 

[damo]

Have you checked out this website?

http://autismattheparks.com/universal-orlando-resort.html


I strongly recommend staying onsite at one of the three deluxe hotels to get free express passes to minimize line waits.

 

[bobbie68]

Hi I have been going to Disney and Universal for years. My DD has high functioning Autism and does well with both parks. Universal has the same accessibility pass as Disney. You will get a card from guest relations and go to the entrance of the rides and get a time to go back. I have seen 15 20 minute waits just let us on.

However, the past couple of years we stay on site with the express pass, it is so much nicer and we love the resorts. I can tell you just like Disney water parks you can not use the accessibility pass at Volcano Bay. You would have to buy an express pass or go early until it gets crowded.

Outside of getting the accessibility pass there is no other accommodations to get.

Good luck!

 

[imprint]

I don't have any info, but I do wish you the best! If your kiddo(s) are Harry Potter fans, then the experience of being in Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley might be worth the visit itself. There are some YouTube videos of kids (and even adults) first walking into The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and their reactions of joy can bring a tear to anyone's eye.

 

[kathleendsm]

My son has developmental delays. We use DAS at Disney along with FP+, but at Universal we just stay at Royal Pacific and use Express Pass, so we haven’t examined any of Uni’s other accommodations. It has worked fine for us, although I’ll say that on this trip the crowds are high and I don’t think Express Pass is as good as it should be (Uni seems to take a far higher percentage of standby guests than Disney does).