Reassurance about ASD riding the monorail

[thumpersfriend]

I have posted here before and I am taking my son and his wife and my granddaughter who will be 4 and has autism to WDW next April. I took her last week to Joanne fabrics and took the elevator and she was terrified! She didn't scream but clung to me like never before. This leads me to of course (my nature) to worry about staying at the GF and her riding the monorail. The reasoning for staying and paying extra was for this convenience . Has anyone had problems with your children riding the monorail I was hoping that she will love it but will be very dissapointed to pay high dollar if she has a problem with it. Thanks for any input.

 

[OKWMom]

My DD8 with autism has just gotten to the point where she is not terrified and screaming on every elevator she rides in. We did not try anything special to get her over it, I think she is just getting older and has grown more accustomed to it. That being said, she loves all of the Disney transportation, monorail included and her earliest trip to Disney was over three years ago. I position her so she can see where she is going as opposed to riding backwards and she hand flaps during the entire trip.

I know all children are different, but I hope this bodes well for your granddaughter’s experience. Good luck.

 

[jbird327]

My daughter, who is now 14 and has Fragile X, will not ride the monorail after her first trip at age 8. At that time she just started crying. She was there last Dec and would not get on, in fact, she was concerned about the Monorail before going and the entire time we were there. We stayed at the Polynesian and either drove to the parks or took the boat to the MK. She will ride the train, in fact we took the Autotrain down but even on our upcoming trip, she still insists that she will not ride the monorail.
Since you can see where you are going on the Monorail, it may be different than on an elevator, where she would have to interpret movements she can't see, she may have felt like she was falling. The ride to the MK from the GF is pretty short by monorail so it may be worth a try, then if it does not work out, you have the boat to take back.
I think you will enjoy the GF which is still a boat ride away from the MK. If you will have a car there, the drive to the other parks is not bad at all. There is also the nighttime water parade and the view of the fireworks over the MK.

 

[Schmeck]

I would think the sensation would be different - an elevator has a vertical pull/push, while the monorail is pretty much horizontal (small inclines on the way to EPCOT, right?). How does she do in a car, on a moving sidewalk (like in the airports) an escalator? Also, elevators are ve!ry confining and small, compared to a monorail!

 

[thumpersfriend]

Thanks for the reassurance! She loves to ride on a bus and has never been on an escalater yet but the more I think of it, I think she will do okay. I am hoping that when she sees all the other children doing things she will relax and have fun. Now have to think of something else to worry about, lol.

 

[Earstou]

My DS with ASD had balance problems when he was younger, so something like elevators or escalators challenged him. Vehicles were always okay, possibly because he could see outside. Sometimes he would squeal a little when the vehicle first took off, but would quickly regain his balance and be okay.
I suggest you talk about the monorail before you go, describing what it looks like and feels like. Get her accustomed to the idea of riding it and how much fun it is. If she could see it on tv or a video it might help also.
Preparation helps these kids tremendously!!!!!

 

[mom_of_5]

I have posted here before and I am taking my son and his wife and my granddaughter who will be 4 and has autism to WDW next April. I took her last week to Joanne fabrics and took the elevator and she was terrified! She didn't scream but clung to me like never before. This leads me to of course (my nature) to worry about staying at the GF and her riding the monorail. The reasoning for staying and paying extra was for this convenience . Has anyone had problems with your children riding the monorail I was hoping that she will love it but will be very dissapointed to pay high dollar if she has a problem with it. Thanks for any input.

My son, although older 11, did not have a problem he has Asperger's Syndrome. If you do run into a problem however the GF has the boat launch that is always nice and relaxing of course that is if she is ok with boats and water. Good luck.

 

[thumpersfriend]

Thanks for the great infomation and ideas. Of course I forgot about the boat launch. I will have to get out my old pictures of the monorail and prepare her for this. Thanks again.