Just got back and noticed a few things about DFDS advice needed

[disneygirl_wdw]

We just got back from the world and noticed a few things that we weren't really aware of with my DFDS(5) first trip. Mom does have custody so we only see him every other weekend. We always knew he would walk on his toes as he has done this since he started walking. We mainly correct it by saying off your toes and he will put them down. He had to be pushed in a stroller cause he would get tired all the time and say his feet hurt.
There were several things we noticed that we haven't before. It actually started on the first day at the MK. We came into the MK on the first day and he was almost like a deer in the headlights. The Christmas parade was going on and it was almost too much for him. It was too loud and seemed to overwhelm him. We attributed to being tired as we just rode 14 hrs in the car overnight, he did sleep most of the way. We then went on TTA and noticed he didn't like the dark part at all. It did end up being one of his favorite rides but the first time he was freaking out a little. we got him a light toy and that seemed to help on that ride. Never shown any signs of being scared of the dark before this course he does have to sleep with a movie.
The second day we went to AK he didn't want to do too much there. We got him on It's Tough to Be A Bug, big mistake. While he did sit on daddy's lap he had to remove his bug eyes almost immediately. Then the spider scene which we had close his eyes and ears still freaked him out. He is not really scared of bugs.
All the time we had to tell him what was going to happen on every ride before and after ITTBAB. We tried Philharmagic later on in the trip but the 3D he didn't like at all. He kept his glasses off the entire time and still didn't like it. Other things we noticed toilet flushing was too loud, he would hold his ears while it flushed, hated Jungle Cruise due to the dark cave part even though they had a spot light on. He hated Little Mermaid due to Ursula. We tried to get him on Tiki Room but he had a melt down and started screaming before it began. Also took him to LMA in HS and while he did enjoy the stunts and Lightning McQueen he said it was too loud. A lot of what we had to do was tell him what was going to happen and sometimes he wanted to do it others it seemed too scary aka dark. We tried doing the Move It Shake It celebration but when we got out there he said it was too loud so we left. Also noticed he didn't want to get any autographs. During the MISI celebration he kept eyeing MR. Incredible like he was making him uncomfortable, Incredible's is one of his favorite movies. We managed to get Duffy but no one else. He just didn't want to.
He also only eats certain foods. We sometimes had to bribe him with mickey bars for him to try something. He most of the time said it was good, but didn't want it.
Most of the time he loved just being pushed around in his stroller just going around the parks almost like he just enjoyed people watching or something. I have been with younger children before and they never had the problems he had. A lot of what I'm asking is how we could maybe make the rides more enjoyable? We did buy him a pair of headphones from Walmart but he doesn't like wearing them.
Rides he loved TTA, IASW, Winnie the Pooh, Tomorrowland Speedway, Buzz Lightyear, Carousel, COP, Barnstormer, Loved LS but wouldn't go on Nemo, Laugh Floor, the Mexico ride, and Wishes. Many things were too loud or he didn't want to do them. My mom said that we should have just took him on rides and not tell him what would happen that's how she did it with us and he might have been able to do more. He wanted to try Spaceship Earth, BTMR, Test Track, and Splash Mountain, but we didn't get to them. Although I think he would have rethought SM, and TT if he has known about the different parts.
Sorry this is so long, he did say he had a great time and was crying when we left MK the last night cause he didn't want to leave. We just want to know some advice maybe to make it more enjoyable for him in the future.

 

[disney david]

We just got back from the world and noticed a few things that we weren't really aware of with my DFDS(5) first trip. Mom does have custody so we only see him every other weekend. We always knew he would walk on his toes as he has done this since he started walking. We mainly correct it by saying off your toes and he will put them down. He had to be pushed in a stroller cause he would get tired all the time and say his feet hurt.
There were several things we noticed that we haven't before. It actually started on the first day at the MK. We came into the MK on the first day and he was almost like a deer in the headlights. The Christmas parade was going on and it was almost too much for him. It was too loud and seemed to overwhelm him. We attributed to being tired as we just rode 14 hrs in the car overnight, he did sleep most of the way. We then went on TTA and noticed he didn't like the dark part at all. It did end up being one of his favorite rides but the first time he was freaking out a little. we got him a light toy and that seemed to help on that ride. Never shown any signs of being scared of the dark before this course he does have to sleep with a movie.
The second day we went to AK he didn't want to do too much there. We got him on It's Tough to Be A Bug, big mistake. While he did sit on daddy's lap he had to remove his bug eyes almost immediately. Then the spider scene which we had close his eyes and ears still freaked him out. He is not really scared of bugs.
All the time we had to tell him what was going to happen on every ride before and after ITTBAB. We tried Philharmagic later on in the trip but the 3D he didn't like at all. He kept his glasses off the entire time and still didn't like it. Other things we noticed toilet flushing was too loud, he would hold his ears while it flushed, hated Jungle Cruise due to the dark cave part even though they had a spot light on. He hated Little Mermaid due to Ursula. We tried to get him on Tiki Room but he had a melt down and started screaming before it began. Also took him to LMA in HS and while he did enjoy the stunts and Lightning McQueen he said it was too loud. A lot of what we had to do was tell him what was going to happen and sometimes he wanted to do it others it seemed too scary aka dark. We tried doing the Move It Shake It celebration but when we got out there he said it was too loud so we left. Also noticed he didn't want to get any autographs. During the MISI celebration he kept eyeing MR. Incredible like he was making him uncomfortable, Incredible's is one of his favorite movies. We managed to get Duffy but no one else. He just didn't want to.
He also only eats certain foods. We sometimes had to bribe him with mickey bars for him to try something. He most of the time said it was good, but didn't want it.
Most of the time he loved just being pushed around in his stroller just going around the parks almost like he just enjoyed people watching or something. I have been with younger children before and they never had the problems he had. A lot of what I'm asking is how we could maybe make the rides more enjoyable? We did buy him a pair of headphones from Walmart but he doesn't like wearing them.
Rides he loved TTA, IASW, Winnie the Pooh, Tomorrowland Speedway, Buzz Lightyear, Carousel, COP, Barnstormer, Loved LS but wouldn't go on Nemo, Laugh Floor, the Mexico ride, and Wishes. Many things were too loud or he didn't want to do them. My mom said that we should have just took him on rides and not tell him what would happen that's how she did it with us and he might have been able to do more. He wanted to try Spaceship Earth, BTMR, Test Track, and Splash Mountain, but we didn't get to them. Although I think he would have rethought SM, and TT if he has known about the different parts.
Sorry this is so long, he did say he had a great time and was crying when we left MK the last night cause he didn't want to leave. We just want to know some advice maybe to make it more enjoyable for him in the future.

maybe a good idea for the next trip is you tube their people who film the ride so he could watch it and if he dose not like it you could turn it off. that why it be a safe way to see the ride sometimes the name of the ride can turn people off like the haunted mansion some kids my think it a scary ride but it not it just a dark ride.

 

[brergnat]

Does this child have an Autism diagnosis? From everything you wrote, he's practically a poster child for the disorder. I have two kids with Autism. They have very specific requirements for theme park success. Vacations are very challenging for us.

Sounds to me like this child has "slipped through the cracks" if everyone in his life is just accepting his behaviors as normal. Toe walking is a classic autism trait, as is sensory sensitivity, picky eating, refusal to try new things, and preferring to be an observer rather than an active participant.

This little boy needs some intervention and support therapies.

For future trips, a GAC might be tremendously useful. Look into that for next time.

 

[kandb]

I know children who have some behaviors this child has and they are not autistic. One thing I would definetely not do is bring the child on space mountain or tower of terror. How would the child feel going on these rides if he was scared of the the dark on TTA? Don't push the child to do things he doesn't want to, let him go at his pace, not all children are the same.

 

[disneygirl_wdw]

Does this child have an Autism diagnosis? From everything you wrote, he's practically a poster child for the disorder. I have two kids with Autism. They have very specific requirements for theme park success. Vacations are very challenging for us.

Sounds to me like this child has "slipped through the cracks" if everyone in his life is just accepting his behaviors as normal. Toe walking is a classic autism trait, as is sensory sensitivity, picky eating, refusal to try new things, and preferring to be an observer rather than an active participant.

This little boy needs some intervention and support therapies.

For future trips, a GAC might be tremendously useful. Look into that for next time.

As far as not being treated or noticed. He lives with his mom most of the time. This is the first time we have spent a lot of time with him more than a day and this is the first time we really noticed it, mom has never mentioned anything before. When he usually visits us he always eats the same meal because his Mom won't cook it for him so again didn't notice too much. He will eat a few different foods, but not very much and doesn't want to try new things. He says he hates anything even though he's never tried it. I had suspicions with the toe walking and such, but couldn't be sure. His older Dr. was aware of the toe walking issue, but said originally it is something he would outgrow. He just moved this past year so not sure if his new Dr. is aware. As far as loud noises just noticed a lot of it, only thing before would be a fan in the bathroom he would have to keep off when he was in there. He is just now in preschool and hasn't been exposed to many people or environments.

 

[disneygirl_wdw]

maybe a good idea for the next trip is you tube their people who film the ride so he could watch it and if he dose not like it you could turn it off. that why it be a safe way to see the ride sometimes the name of the ride can turn people off like the haunted mansion some kids my think it a scary ride but it not it just a dark ride.

We tried doing this some once we realized it unfortunately we went during New Years so for that whole week the internet connection and our phone's data were of very little use. We couldn't get much to pull up. This was our idea for next time though. He did see short clips of haunted mansion and wanted to do it but when we actually got there he said no way.

 

[disney david]

We tried doing this some once we realized it unfortunately we went during New Years so for that whole week the internet connection and our phone's data were of very little use. We couldn't get much to pull up. This was our idea for next time though. He did see short clips of haunted mansion and wanted to do it but when we actually got there he said no way.

okay sometimes that happens you see it but then when you get their and see the outside and the theming and then you decide not to ride it. well it worth trying for the next time they even have videos of some of the characters.

 

[disneygirl_wdw]

I know children who have some behaviors this child has and they are not autistic. One thing I would definetely not do is bring the child on space mountain or tower of terror. How would the child feel going on these rides if he was scared of the the dark on TTA? Don't push the child to do things he doesn't want to, let him go at his pace, not all children are the same.

We did a lot of this too, hence why we went on COP 6 times and TTA 8 times, he just didn't want to try anything at all really. For awhile me and daddy just wanted to get out of Tomorrowland so we just walked though the other lands for a change in scenery we were in Tomorrowland so much My mom also watched him for a few minutes so we could do POTC since pirates were scary. Even though we would tell him it's not scary or all the machines were robots he was still having problems. We knew from the beginning SM and TTOT would be out and be too much so we didn't even try them. Daddy won't even ride them. I think a lot of it's going to be to try to condition him and see what he wants to do and he may eventually outgrow it. It has made us much aware of some sensory issues he might have and to look into it, now it's just trying to get Mommy on board.

 

[lucifie]

My first thought was to wonder if he's been evaluated for sensory processing disorder. If I were you I'd go to the library and check out The Out of Sync child by Carol Kranowitz. If you think that sounds like him, DF should talk to his ex about having him evaluated by an occupational therapist.

 

[lanejudy]

OP, I'm assuming you are asking for some general assistance more so than specifically how to make a WDW vacation enjoyable for this child.

There are some classic signs here of SOMETHING, but then again many of these are items that might be overlooked if only noticed once or twice, and/or could be explained. Picky eating - that's so common it really can't be used as a determining factor but could add in with other issues. Toe walking in a very young child (new walker) is also not so uncommon and as the "old" Dr. indicated will usually correct on it's own. If this child is now 5 and still toe walking, that definitely something that should be reported. Loud noises, lots of activity - indicates a possible sensory issue. Scared of the dark (or rides that have been light and suddenly enter a tunnel), villians (like Ursula) and rides like It's Tough to Be a Bug can scare many children, so that's hard to use rides as any determinant some children will loves these things at a very young age and others are elementary school before they find such rides enjoyable.

However, none of us are doctors - or while some on here might be nothing can be diagnosed on an Internet posting board. There are enough areas of question that makes it worth bringing to his pediatrician's attention. I'm assuming your friend is the child's father. While there may be custody issues involved, he is still the father with "rights" as far as the child's medical needs. I strongly recommend the friend accompany the child and the child's mother to the next pediatrician visit and bring these concerns up. If only to be re-assured by the PED that all is fine and he/she will continue to watch the child. If it's not possible to accompany the child to an appointment, he should contact the PED's office with these concerns and request that they be addressed at the child's next well visit.

Good luck!

 

[mistysue]

OP, it's really hard to judge this sort of thing without people meeting the child because this could: A) be a sign of a disorder or B) be a completely normal child who is anxious about strange places. My daughter has always been picky about loud noises and gets scared of things. There are thousands of people online who immediately jump in and say she is a poster child of autism (heard it a million times) but if you see her in person it is obviously NOT what is going on. Don't forget that you did take a child to a huge, overwhelming, vibrant new place without their regular caregiver. Is he usually a little on the introverted side? With the exception of toe-walking nothing sounds immediate more unusual than just a quirky child.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

My first thought was to wonder if he's been evaluated for sensory processing disorder. If I were you I'd go to the library and check out The Out of Sync child by Carol Kranowitz. If you think that sounds like him, DF should talk to his ex about having him evaluated by an occupational therapist.

I was wondering the same thing. Although it's impossible for any of to know for sure, what the OP described sounds like a good possibility of sensory processing disorder.