inability to wait?

[dclfun]

A DR's note isn't necessary- just an explanation of what the child's needs are and challenges you might need accommodations for in order to enjoy your trip. Most CM's will not read a letter however some people have posted that they wrote down what they wanted to say just so as not to have to repeat anything in front of their child which might upset them.---Kathy

 

[Tissa]

The GAC and a good TourguideMike plan can make your trip a wonderful one.
One thing to consider is that the GAC can not help with waits for food or the bus but TGM can help there with knowing when and what time to go. My autistic son has a lot of problems with waiting for anything so we drive to the parks instead of worring about the bus times. Also we hit rope drop then are back in the room by 1pm so he can swim and relax. We do not go back in the pm because he can not tolerate the noise from the fireworks. We also do cs or go offsite for fastfood to save on the meltdown that always comes when it takes more than 5 minutes for his food to come.

Just plan to take it easy and do not expect to do or see it all. My ds really doesn't ride anything besides the teacups and the TTA. He is happy just to walk around and look at everything.

Good luck!!!!

 

[NJMomma]

My 9 yr. old DS has PPD-NOS. When we visted the World in May of last year, we got the GAC. Though the pass does not eliminate the lines, it can help. Ironically we waited the longest to get on "It's a Small World", there were many riders with the electronic scooters boarding that ride. Also, I found the "kiddie" rides in Animal Kingdom also had long wait, and those cast members were the least accommodating. The more grown-up type rides - Dinosaur, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Everest and the likes extreme movement of those rides also helped to give him enough sensory input to calm him down for a while afterwards. My son does not have the same issues as yours (he stims if he has to wait, but no violent behavior at all), but we had a great experience. I also tried to plan out as much before hand as possible - my husband made some drill sergent type remarks about that, but I think it helped everything go smoother. Plan ahead, take breaks. I wish you the best

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

I don't have children, but I can relate, because my cousin has a 6 year old son with Autism and he doesn't always wait his turn. She hasn't tried to take him to WDW yet.

I would definitely get a GAC, because it is a big help. My mom and I can't stand for a long time and on most rides, we can ride our ECV's right up to the ride vehicle and we have never had to wait long. Some times we have even gone to the regular line and the CM asks us to use the HA entrance for our convenience. We have learned where the alternate entrance is and if not, just show her GAC to the CM and they direct us. The only time I can really remember waiting with the GAC was at Jungle Cruise and Soarin (we got FP's, but they only looked at the GAC), but it was only for maybe 10 minutes. If we see a long line, we pass by that ride and keep checking back, I don't want to be tied to a FP, if I don't have to. We aren't big thril ride junkies, so we really don't have a problem there and because DH is, he can go through the single rider line, or get his own FP and go back.

We arrive at the parks just after opening so we don't have to wait in line to get in and take a break as it gets crowded around lunch time (eat at resort food court) and go back about 4:00. My mom doesn't handle crowds well, so we find this works well. We usually go the second weekend in June and it is pretty crowded then, but this plan works well, especially at the MK.

Suzanne

 

[JESW]

Does you son play with a gameboy? I have a ds13 with asperger's and we allow him to have his gameboy at the parks while waiting in line and in resteraunts - without them would be a mess. We have found that when he has a distraction then life is MUCH better for everyone!

We have been going to WDW since before ds was 2 years old so he is familiar with the parks so that helps us a lot. We have tried other vacations but all the unknows of new places were too much for him and the rest of us - we also have a dd9.

June is a busy time so you may not get to do everything. How is your son in water? My son finds water to be very calming so we spend a lot of time in the resort pool and at the waterparks.

Pin trading might be something he would like as it would be a distraction and while he is waiting in line he can check out the CM's lanyards for pins to trade. We give ds a certain amount of pins per day - I buy them in bulk on-line from PINCASTLE before our trips.

Hope everything works out for you! I certainly know from YEARS of experience how one child can make an entire trip very difficult for everyone. As a matter of fact, there were many trips when we said we would NEVER go back - but now we are DVC members.

Jill

 

[grumpy&princess]

thank you all for your replies. I think we are going to go ahead and try WDW this year and hope for the best.
He doesnt have a gameboy or anythiing like that as he doesnt really care for them. son is ok in water but wouldnt want to leave a park to go and spend a good portion of his day in the water when he knows he could be riding rides. plus he will have just spent 8 days in the water in Pompano Beach. Never thought about pin trading might give that a try.

all I can do is try and see what happens.

 

[fla4fun]

The best advice I can offer is when you are using Fastpass, try to go kind of in the middle of your time "window". Sometimes there are lots of people who are anxious to get on the ride right away when the window opens, and that makes for more of a wait. If we wait 20-30 minutes into the window, we've found we have a better shot at just walking on to most rides.

 

[brenalexacamp]

can you get a dr's note with a diagnosis on it and give it to guest services-they can issue you a pass-you'll have to use the wheelchair entrance but the wait shouldn't be too long and definitely a quieter area
toys to play with, snacks and drinks

 

[KPeveler]

can you get a dr's note with a diagnosis on it and give it to guest services-they can issue you a pass-you'll have to use the wheelchair entrance but the wait shouldn't be too long and definitely a quieter area
toys to play with, snacks and drinks

Actually guest services will not look at a note - it is illegal for them to require it, and most places are concerned about looking at it for HIPAA reasons.

There is no "wheelchair entrance" for most rides, and those rides that do have one, it is just to bypass stairs, like on Splash Mountain - it is not intended to bypass lines. the only people who skip lines are Make a Wish kids... check out the FAQs at the top of the page for a better description of the GAC, the "pass" you mentioned...

 

[daneenm]

Following TGM is going to really help your day. We have a totally different health situation that had me very worried about long waits, particularly in the sun, for our trip last August. Got lots of good advice here and on the TGM boards about GACs and how best to plan for 'what might happen.' I am happy to report that because of our TGM plan we did not even have to get a GAC because we had such short waits. We would have happily gotten one at any point we thought we needed it, it just turned out we did very well without needing one.

This is not to discourage you from getting a GAC, if I were you I would get one the minute I walked in the door as added insurance, it is only to help you feel better about your ability to somewhat influence the length of the lines you might face by following the great TGM suggestions. We visited for 11 days and had less that 5 waits of more than 10-15 minutes.

Good luck!
Daneen

 

[Ms_Butterfly]

Actually guest services will not look at a note - it is illegal for them to require it, and most places are concerned about looking at it for HIPAA reasons.

HIPAA has nothing to do with Disney. It only applies to health care facilities/companies. And it doesn't apply to a patient volunteering their own health information.

It is illegal for Disney to require a note under the ADA, however, since they do not require medical notes from every guest.

 

[SueM in MN]

can you get a dr's note with a diagnosis on it and give it to guest services-they can issue you a pass-you'll have to use the wheelchair entrance but the wait shouldn't be too long and definitely a quieter area
toys to play with, snacks and drinks

That is not correct information.
You don't need a doctor's note. You can choose to bring one if you want, but the CMs may not want to see it.
It is illegal under the Americans with Disabilities Act for them to require you have a note to prove your disability.

As KPeveler mentioned, most of the attractions have "Mainstream Access" for people traveling with wheelchairs, which means that the lines are wheelchair accessible and there are not special wheelchair entrances.

Actually guest services will not look at a note - it is illegal for them to require it, and most places are concerned about looking at it for HIPAA reasons.

As Ms_Butterfly, HIPAA is not the reason that WDW CMs don't want to look at the doctor's notes. It's illegal because of the ADA for them to require you to have one to prove a disability. If you want to bring a note, that's up to you.
Most CMs don't want to look at doctor's letters or have a diagnosis because they are not usually very helpful. Many of the letters just say something like "My patient has xxxxxx. Please extend him every assistance."
That doesn't tell much about what assistance is needed. Some patients with xxxxxx may need yyyyyyy assistance, but some may need oooooo assistance and some won't need any assistance at all.

 

[KPeveler]

As Ms_Butterfly, HIPAA is not the reason that WDW CMs don't want to look at the doctor's notes. It's illegal because of the ADA for them to require you to have one to prove a disability. If you want to bring a note, that's up to you.
Most CMs don't want to look at doctor's letters or have a diagnosis because they are not usually very helpful. Many of the letters just say something like "My patient has xxxxxx. Please extend him every assistance."
That doesn't tell much about what assistance is needed. Some patients with xxxxxx may need yyyyyyy assistance, but some may need oooooo assistance and some won't need any assistance at all.

I should have typed for privacy reasons - if you reveal health information from your doctor, there may be a reasonable expectation of privacy of that information.... i didnt mean to type HIPAA (stupid brain fog)!