I just booked Albatross Pirate Cruise for 5 yr old with ASD

[flynnmnstr]

My 5 yr old would love this and he is very high functioning, verbal, potty trained etc. I think he would do well with it and I am looking for activities for us to do while DH is at conference and this works out perfectly. My question is has anyone had any experience with this? I really would like some feedback from someone else with a special needs child.

 

[Family Loves Disney]

I am thinking of doing the same with my ds, he is 6 yo, but will be 7 when we go. He is high functioning autistic, too. But I am scared he will get out in the boat and have a meltdown or worse. I, too, would love to know if any other autistic children did this and how they did.

 

[DisneyDreams4P&B]

We sent our HFA son on the pirate cruise when he was five. I was nervous as can be and I was sure that I was making a huge mistake but we sent him on. Now at first, he was excited and loved getting the Mickey Pirate hat. When he got on the boat however, he did start to cry. The husband, younger son and I toured around the GF while he was on his adventure. When they came back, all singing, he was all smiles (the CM did tell me he cried for about the first 10-15 minutes) but that he had fun. He talked about his "treasure" for the rest of the trip and was very talkative about it. I think it was a good experience for both of us. Now, had I waited another year, he probably wouldn't have cried and gotten upset, but that is an individual thing. If your son is good about being seperated from you and loves pirates than I say go for it. They have had plenty of autistic children but I would also tell you to get in contact with Guest Services and find the number to the person who runs the pirate cruise and talk with them just to make sure that they know your coming. We did and they were anticipating Payton and any issues he might have, they even assigned him a "buddy" (while the buddy was not soley there for him and was responsible for many other children).

Let me know if I can be of any help

 

[flynnmnstr]

He'll either be awesome and have a great experience or it could be a nightmare. I was thinking of trying to get the destinations and follow them around with my DS 2 in the stroller. That way if he ends up having trouble, I am close enough where they can call me and I can get there quickly.

I also heard there is a map. I am hoping they will send me a copy earlier so I can prep him for what to expect. That normally helps. I will definitely try to contact guest services and get in touch with whom is running the cruise. THanks so much for the tip; I was hoping that one of the staff members could be his "buddy". I am so nervous but I need to have him start doing these things. With DH at a conference for 3 days and me alone with the two boys, this will be really good to break up the day and something for a "big boy" to do.

I hope all goes well