Ordering ahead...Autism

[avander3]

My son (6) has autism and we tend to have problems when waiting for food to get to our table...He is non-verbal so he tends to just melt down.

We are on the dining package and we have ADR's.

Is it possible to call the restaurants and order ahead? ...so the wait for food would not be so stressful for us and everyone around us!

 

[Schmeck]

If you wouldn't mind cold or dried out food...

An ADR doesn't get you to a table at any set time. If people are staying longer at their tables than expected, you could still be waiting 20-30 minutes past your ADR time. So, to order your food for a specific time could have it sitting under heat lamps or in a fridge for an extended amount of time.

How about bringing a small snack to satisfy your son until the food arrives? Or would that ruin his appetite for the meal?

 

[ducklite]

The best way to wait the least for food is to book your meals for the first table when the restaurant opens. Review teh menu before you go, when teh server comes for the drink order give them teh entire food order and skip the appetizers. If you do this you should never wait more than 10-15 minutes for your food.

Anne

 

[tacomaranch]

We are in the same boat. By the time our food arrives we are gulping it down so we can get DS out and back to being ok.

We have tried a DVD player, toys, interacting as much as he will and yet it is just too long to wait.

I now ask the server to take our order the minute we arrive. I ask the hostess to tell her come over.

We print out the menus posted here and know what we want when we arrive.

I wish you luck and fast service.

April

 

[Tissa]

This is why we do not do very many ts because my ds usually has a meltdown before the food arrives. This is what I did at Kona, told the server as soon as he came to the table our situation, ordered the food all at once and requested ds's food come out asap even if ours is not ready. They were very accomodating and service was quick. At WCC the service was slow but ds kept quiet with a shake for a bit then after that I took him out and we walked up and down the ramp that is there until the food arrived at the table.

 

[solferino]

Would buffet places, or standard fare for all restaurants like The Garden Grill or LTT's dinner be a better alternative than a restaurant that has different menu options?

 

[avander3]

Would buffet places, or standard fare for all restaurants like The Garden Grill or LTT's dinner be a better alternative than a restaurant that has different menu options?

We also have two other kids and they picked out Coral Reef and Sci-Fi. We would like to appease them because everything seems to be about our youngest son's autism. We are just going to have to order as soon as we get there and hope for the best!

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Buffet type restaurants would seem the best option.
Our son Joshua is 10 and Autistic, he cannot talk also.
Must admit we have always been wary about booking ADRs as we never know what his reaction would be , generally he doesn't go in restaurants at all.

Never tried taking our Portable DVD player with us yet.

 

[winniethepoohsmom]

Our Ds16 is autistic and non-verbal I have made early ressies for dinner every night. I'm sending a box ahead with cereal, granola bars and snacks(and probably a few toiletries so I don't have to deal with them in our carry ons.) We'll pick up milk and oj at he Hess station. We do a counter service for lunch a mid-day break at the pool or room and a snack and we have snacks for him in the room while we are getting ready to go out for dinner in case he is getting hungry, (DS does'nt always eat all these snacks but he is a growing teenager). You could always bring a little snack with you to the restaurant to keep him going until the food comes. I printed out the menus so we can pick out what we want before we get to the restaurant and order our food with our drinks. The early ressie helps to avoid DS getting overly hungry and we can get seated quicker. I also agree with another poster about buffets you can get your food as soon as you are seated at your table, we have enjoyed cape may cafe and Bomas. We are trying Ohanas this trip (I have heard they keep bringing the food around) I have also heard H&V in Mgm is good and trails end at the campground. Good Luck and enjoy your trip. Linda

 

[Tinker*Shell*Bell]

Think carefully about SciFi and Coral Reef...

this is my experience only, but...

Sci-Fi was a 20 min wait past our ADR and slow service. They wanted to split up our party to 2 cars (place was only 1/2 full) and them made us wait another 10 mins to get one car (there really were 6 empty cars at the time.)

Coral Reef was almost an hour past our ADR. It was also LOUD!!! Not loud, but LOUD!!! The food was wonderful but before it even got there my 12yo was in a tizzy. Service was slow because it was so busy and Matt did not eat much because he was too stressed from the noise and the waiting.

Buffet's worked great. Kona Cafe and Concourse Steak House we went right at opening and he was fine. Liberty Tree tavern was ok...the wait had him stressed but it was early and he recovered from it...we lucked out and had a quiet corner.

Don't base choices on me alone, but look into other people's experience at your choices...maybe we caught bad days???

Best of luck,
Sheli

 

[JakeAlJennMom]

I have three children, DS 9, DS 7 and DD 4, and I agree, it is almost always about the ASD, my DD has. If at all possible do the dinners your non ASD children want to do, it's important to them. Take turns with your spouse walking your ASD child around outside and let the other children enjoy their meal.

In my experience it is loud almost everywhere in WDW and you will almost always have to wait past your ressie time. Take things you think will make the situation calmer and just hope for the best.

Good luck!

 

[yellowtink]

I am a kid but if you are worried bring food and colroing books of wghatever he likes to do.

tink

 

[Disneylvr]

This is a good thread for us to list restaurants that worked out well for our ASD kids and thus making it a peaceful (or somewhat peaceful) meal for the whole family. On our trip last year we only did 2 ADR, Kona Cafe and Chef Mickey's. Kona was WONDERFUL! The server made sure DD's meal was brought out ASAP, well before our meals were brought out. We will returning to Kona next year. Unfortunately Chef Mickey's did not work out but not because of anything the restaurant did or did not do. We woke DD up from a nap to make our ADR and that was a HUGE mistake. We were staying at the Contemporary. One thing we found to be wonderful (but expensive) was ordering room service. DD could watch TV or play with her toys while DH and I enjoyed a nice dinner.

 

[Schmeck]

Even if a restaurant worked out well for one family, there's no guarantee it will have the same staff/same situation the next time. The kitchen could be short-staffed, the ADRs may be 30 minutes behind schedule, etc. I think the family should just really be organized and have a plan for eating out - someone orders while someone else takes the child for a walk, keeps the child occupied, or even keeps the child outside the restaurant until the food is ready - use cell phones to communicate, if possible.

Most of the angry/disappointed threads on the Dis come from people expecting something that they read about here to happen for them, and it doesn't happen.