Many people, including purportedly "trained" Disney staff, do not understand the full implications of the ADA when it comes to disabilities such as profound autism; for some individuals, waiting, even in an alternate "quiet" area makes an attraction inaccessible. Asking someone with autism to "learn to wait" is like asking the blind to see or deaf to hear - that part of the brain is just not there, and even intensive ABA from an early age may not make it suddenly appear (we know from experience.) Thus, providing accommodations such as expedited access is "equal" not "superior" access, as it allows for actual access. In our case, it also protects other Disney guests from our son's potentially injurious reactions, which is probably only going to get more serious as he gets bigger (he's only 45" and 50lbs right now.)
Due to recent unethical behavior regarding GACs, e.g, selling them on EBay, you may find people a bit reluctant to discuss the details openly. Please feel free to PM me, or the moderators, if you have specific questions.
Hope you all have a wonderful trip.
I want to point out that the ADA does not guarantee that everything will be totally accessible for everyone with every disability.
It guarantees "Reasonable accomodation". What that means is not black and white. What is reasonable accomodation for one person may not totally meet the needs of another person (or may not meet their needs at all).
And, as many people have posted on this board over the years, what they (or their child) needs as accomodation might vary - for example, if the person with a disability is having a good day, they may be able to use Fastpasses in the same way as a person without a disability. On a bad day (whatever 'bad' means to that person), they may not.
Or, if going when the park is not busy, the regular lines may be only a 5-10 minute wait, so they may be able to get by without using a GAC at all on those days/for those attractions.
The easiest way to illustrate reasonable accomodation is by looking at wheelchair accessibility because that is more black and white. It either is accessible or not. (And, before anyone flames me for looking at wheelchair accessibility, I am NOT saying that people with physical disabilities are any more 'deserving' of accomodation than other people - I am ONLY saying that it's easier to use as an illustration).
The ADA provides certain space and other requirements for the boarding area for attractions where a transfer to a ride car is necessary. For some people, that accomodation is reasonable because they are able to use it to board. For other people, the accomodation that is offered doesn't help them at all because the type of transfer they can do doesn't mesh with the accomodation that is offered. So, even though that ride may meet ADA requirements, it is inaccessible to them.
There are many people who can't transfer at all, so
all the attractions that require tranfers are inaccessible to them, but still meet the current ADA requirements.
There are some ride cars that are wheelchair accessible,
if the wheelchair fits. Many people have posted that their individual wheelchair did not fit the space available and they were not able to transfer to a manual wheelchair available at that attraction, so it was not accessible to them, even though the wheelchair accessible ride car
did meet all the ADA requirements.
If the ADA guaranteed that nothing was inaccessible to anyone, they would not be able to use ride cars that required a transfer and all ride cars would be required to be wheelchair accessible to all wheelchairs.
The reason I'm writing this is to make sure people realize that just because you need a particular accomodation does not mean that it will always be provided. WDW does a pretty good job of making thing accessible to people with a myriad of different needs, but that does not mean everything is always equally accessible or even that the same attraction is always equally accessible on different visits.
For example, people have complained sometimes that "I went on xxxxxx and showed my GAC and the CM let me go thru the Fastpass line. Later in the day, I came back to xxxxxxxx. When I showed my GAC, the CM gave me a slip with a return time and told me I would have to come back after that time. I told him I had been thru the Fastpass line before, but he wouldn't listen." Sometimes people have posted that happened with a wheelchair or other visible disability when they did not have a GAC.
It might be that one of the CMs (either the first or the second) didn't follow the correct procedure.
It might also be that there were other things that were not visible to the guest. For example - the first CM gave expidited access because he knew that there were no other guests with special needs waiting and it met the needs of the guest and the attraction to board that way. The second CM might have known that the attraction was already at the limit for people with special needs (either physical space or fire and safety evacuation rules). Even though there might be someone who needed expidited access, it was not able to be provided right then.
So, my final message is;
- go to Guest Relations and explain to them what needs you have.
If the person you are talking to doesn't seem to understand what you are saying, ask to speak to a supervisor.
- If the GAc you are using doesn't meet your needs, go back to Guest Relations and be ready to explain what happened and why you don't feel it met your needs.
- At the individual attractions, if the CM is asking you to do something different, most will explain why if you ask. (That's how I found out about things like safety needs that I listed above, either the CM told us without asking or we found out by talking to CMs.)
- If the CM is asking you to do something you feel is unreasonable, calmly explain why you can't follow that direction and if necessary, ask to speak to their manager.
This has happened to us and to several other posters at Splash Mountain. There is an area where the main line (Fastpass and regular line) reaches a stairway and there is a chained off area with a wheelchair symbol. We waited at the chained off area since we had a wheelchair and could not go up the steps. When the CM came, she told us we would have to follow the regular line - since that was something we clearly could not do, we told her we could not go up the steps. She said she could not let us into the wheelchair area because we would be 'cutting' the line. We did get the manager to agree that we could not physically go up the stairs and she let us thru.
Did the first CM have a reason that she wasn't telling (like the waiting area beyond the chain and down the hall was already full)? I don't think so, so she was just a clueless CM, but in most cases of truely clueless CMs, the manager will be able to intervene or give you a valid reason for the action.
.) I believe the last thing Disney wants is bad publicity or worse, e.g., lawsuits (civil or ADA enforcement), and will provide appropriate accommodation for your son's needs. If you do not feel the CM at the desk fully understands, then ask for an area manager. 
