IN need of some help

[mickeyfan4life]

I am planning our 1st Disney trip, we will be taking the train down to Disney from NY and renting a vacation home . I have two boys I have 10 yr old and a 5 year old. My 10 year old is Autistic and not very verbal , I'm worried about him getting lost in the park.

what is the measurements for rides ? my 5 yr old is on the short side .

I have a thousand questions. any help park related would be a lot of help .

Thank you

 

[sharonabe]

I'm sorry I can't be of much help. You may want to go to this forum to start out planning with your 10 yr old in mind:

http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=20

This is the Disabilities forum.

 

[rainboots]

Stick around here. Read as much as you can, take much with a grain of salt, it is all opinions & yours won't be identical to anyone else's.

I enjoy this board, the families board, and I check the resorts & restaurants boards also.

FWIW, this is our first family trip. There will be 9 of us, my parents, my sister's family & my DH, DD6& DD3. We are staying at port Orleans Riverside. 2 days at magic kingdom, 1 at Hollywood Studios & 1 at Animal Kingdom. We are skipping Epcot this trip.

I also strongly am relying on easywdw.com for touring plans & crowd levels

 

[KatieCharlotte]

I am planning our 1st Disney trip, we will be taking the train down to Disney from NY and renting a vacation home . I have two boys I have 10 yr old and a 5 year old. My 10 year old is Autistic and not very verbal , I'm worried about him getting lost in the park.

what is the measurements for rides ? my 5 yr old is on the short side .

I have a thousand questions. any help park related would be a lot of help .

Thank you

My 5 year old is also pretty short, and there are very few things at the parks that she is too short for, just the biggest coasters that she doesn't want to ride anyway. 40 inches is the magic height for the medium intensity rides, like Big Thunder Mountain, Soarin, Test Track, Splash Mtn, Star Tours, and Tower of Terror. You only need to be 35 inches for the mini coaster Barnstormer.

I would definitely ask on the disabilities board for advice about your son and how to reduce your worries and make your trip the best possible.

There's lots of advice mixed in with debates on disboards, and you can also ask specific questions. I also like the easy wdw site. Don't worry about making a detailed schedule for each day that might be hard to stick to. Just focus on which rides and shows your kids will most like and research the best ways for your family to minimize waiting in long lines. If your kids have no problem waking up early, the best time to be at the parks is first thing in the morning.

 

[SA mom]

Welcome! I am so excited for you and your family. I know exactly how you feel. My daughter with autism was 6.5 on our first trip and she could barely say her own name, much less ours.

I made her and her twin sister name tags out of shrinky dinks. That was about 7 years ago and there are better options for name tags now. I also put our names and phone numbers inside her clothing. I just took a permanent marker and wrote it on the hem of all her shirts. I wrote my phone number inside her arm with orange sharpie. Another friend pointed out that even an average kid will panic and freeze up when separated from their parents so all kids should have something to show if lost.

Our first trip was an AMAZING trip for us. Our girl really started to talk on that trip. All those things people on the autism boards said about Disney being like therapy for their kids was true. She made so much improvement in our 10 days there that we booked the next trip for 6 months later.

Be sure to have your son look at the Point of View videos of the rides. It will really help decide which attractions will work for him.

I hope you have a wonderful trip!

 

[BYC]

I bet the new magic wristbands will make it very easy for a cast member to identify a missing child. Unless the child takes it off.

 

[mickeyfan4life]

thank you all for you wonderful tips. My 10 yr old doesn't like anything on his wrist so a band wont work. we did the great wolf lodge and with in an hour of putting his band on he wiggled right out of it. Not sure how he would do with me writing on his arm, he doesn't like tattoo .

thank you again .

 

[suffieldhockeymom]

I use these for my son's food allergies. These are specifically for autism http://store.safetytat.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_5

 

[mickeyfan4life]

Welcome! I am so excited for you and your family. I know exactly how you feel. My daughter with autism was 6.5 on our first trip and she could barely say her own name, much less ours.

I made her and her twin sister name tags out of shrinky dinks. That was about 7 years ago and there are better options for name tags now. I also put our names and phone numbers inside her clothing. I just took a permanent marker and wrote it on the hem of all her shirts. I wrote my phone number inside her arm with orange sharpie. Another friend pointed out that even an average kid will panic and freeze up when separated from their parents so all kids should have something to show if lost.

Our first trip was an AMAZING trip for us. Our girl really started to talk on that trip. All those things people on the autism boards said about Disney being like therapy for their kids was true. She made so much improvement in our 10 days there that we booked the next trip for 6 months later.

Be sure to have your son look at the Point of View videos of the rides. It will really help decide which attractions will work for him.

I hope you have a wonderful trip!

Thank you I will do that .

 

[mad hatter fan]

thank you all for you wonderful tips. My 10 yr old doesn't like anything on his wrist so a band wont work. we did the great wolf lodge and with in an hour of putting his band on he wiggled right out of it. Not sure how he would do with me writing on his arm, he doesn't like tattoo .

thank you again .

When my husband was training for a marathon he got an id that hooked onto his shoe laces. Maybe that could work. https://www.roadid.com/p/the-Shoe-ID