SeaWorld w/ Autistic Child

[Brightsy]

Hi! I have a 3 1/2 yr. old son with ASD and a Nearly 6 yr. old w/ ADHD. We're planning on a day trip to SeaWorld later this year, maybe Sept. ( we live about 3 or 4 hours from Orlando).
ANyways, I was wondering if anyone out there has any advice or info about taking an Autistic child there. How are the lines? The noise? Uhm, does the park have any special things like WDWs Guest Assitance Card for persons w/ non-visible disabilities?
What attractions might chldren like mine especially like?
We've taken the boys to other Aquarium like places, Sea Life park on Oahu, Miami's Seaquarium. But nothing like Sea World.

Sara

 

[Jenny]

i'm hesitant to give advice since I'm not as familiar w/ Sea World as i'd like to be (i last went in 2001) BUT i've been a special ed. teacher for almost 10 yrs so maybe i can help.

I know that there is a play area (Shamu's Happy Harbor) where kids can unleash that restless energy & get wet, climb, etc. I plan to go there w/ my 3 yr. old in a few weeks & will let you know how it is. After sitting through shows, this may be a great idea!

If you go on a weekday in Sept (i'd call that off-season), I would imagine that you can walk into shows pretty close to the starting time & still get decent seats & avoid waiting around on those hard bleacher seats for the show to start. Waiting for shows (& there about 4-5 shows there), can be tough on young kids, esp. those w/ ADHD, etc. I think that the shows can be loud b/c the audience is continually applauding for the animals, sometimes there's loud music, etc. but b/c most of them are outdoors, I'd definitely give it a try. There's an indoor show featuring pets (dogs, pigs, etc) - very cute.

I have found that the park's walkways are uncrowded, peaceful & picturesque. I think it's b/c the people are distributed throughout the park in the different shows throughout the day.

They really only have 3 rides - 2 of which (Atlantis & Kraken) I believe that your children will not be able to go on due to height restrictions (not sure about your 6 y.o.) so that leaves 1 ride - Wild Arctic i think it's called. I'd recommend that you walk through this exhibit instead of riding it even if the 6 yr. old is tall enough (it's a simulated ride - quite bumpy - very stimulating). I think it features polar bears.

They'll love feeding the animals - Sea Lions, Dolphins & Sting Rays. They'll love viewing the sharks, penguins, manatees, polar bears etc. You may find the shark & penguin viewing areas to be dark, if that's an issue, but i don't remember the noise level to be high.

I hope someone on these boards can give you more specific info.

Good luck!!

 

[MarieS]

Jenny,
I am not the OP but I also have two sons with special needs and would appreciate hearing about your trip when you return. My youngest son had a terrible time at the dolphin show at the local zoo due to the noise levels. All the trainers' whistles and the audience clapping seemed magnified inside the building. I am planning on taking headphones for him on our trip to Florida.

 

[Jenny]

Just back & here are things that I found to be challenging w/ my DDs, 10 months & 3 yr old.

The stroller situation. I guess I'm used to retreating to a hotel during the heat of the day. When you go to Sea World, you're usually there for the day unless your hotel is very close by & even then, you'd miss quite a few shows by leaving. None of the indoor attractions or shows allow strollers so you're constantly pulling the kids in & out of the strollers. We even felt the need to pull the 3 yr old out of the stroller to see the outdoor attractions since she couldn't see from her stroller. There was one good meltdown around 2 p.m. when she should have been napping.

Shamu's Happy Harbor. A mistake for us primarily b/c of the timing. We arrived there after the 12:30 Shamu show. even though i didn't have her swim suit, I wanted her to head over to the ships where you can get wet just to cool off. She saw the slides on the climbing nets, went up the stairs, down the slides, went up the stairs again, then headed up the nets which are stories high in the air. My husband went in after her, she didn't want to leave & had to carry her out kicking & screaming. Now, they're both red-faced & over-heated. We ended up seeking refuge at the Seafire Grill just to give the kids some down time in their strollers in the A/C. We had to skip the Wild Arctic walking tour for that reason.

Otherwise, the day went fine. Arrived at 9, rode Journey to Atlantis (2 rides w/ baby swap), observed the sea lions, went to the Clyde & Seamore show at 10, shark encounter, ate at 11 at Sharks Underwater Grill, Clydesdales, Hospitality Center for free beers, Shamu show, Happy Harbor, break at Seafire, Pets Ahoy show at 3:15, saw penguins, then toured the Key West area. We fed dolphins at 4, fed sting rays at 4:30 then viewed the manatees. We peaked in at the turtles & flamingos on the way out around 5:15. It started to rain plus the kids were ready to leave. We missed the dolphin nursery & Wild Arctic but that's OK.

RE: noise. Clyde & Seamore & Shamu are outdoors but the music, clapping, & laughter (the laughter is heard moreso at the Clyde & Seamore show) tend to be loud & overstimulating. You can constantly hear the whistle throughout the Shamu show - I would think that it would be annoying if you were overly focused or tuned in to it. Ear muffs or even a walkman would be a good idea. Just taking in the visual aspect of the shows, sitting in the crowded stadiums, entering & exiting the stadiums, etc may be enough. The Pets Ahoy show is in an indoor auditorium. I didn't think that the noise was an issue b/c the crowd was considerably smaller than the stadium crowds at the other shows. Entering & exiting was more orderly. The animals were great & the show's length is less than 30 min. (i think).

any questions?

 

[MarieS]

Thanks for your report! You confirmed what I thought about the noise levels and I will be sure to have headphones with us.
I was wondering about feeding the dolphins, etc. Was it very crowded at the end of the day? I was thinking about doing it first thing.
Glad to hear most of your day went well. We are looking forward to our fall trip.

 

[Jenny]

We went to the Pets Ahoy show at 3:15 to about 3:45 then headed over to the dolphin feed so we didn't get there until right before the 4:00 feeding. My husband got right into the line for food while we went all the way down to the far end. Even though it gets quite shallow at that end, 1 or 2 dolphins still came by to be fed. We weren't the last spot on the wall but rather right where it seemed that the shallow water became deep (or at least that's what it looked like to me.) I would say it was crowded b/c all of the spots on the wall were taken but I would assume that to be true at all of the feedings. You're probably right to do it earlier in the day b/c the 4:00 may have been the last feeding of the day & we got one of the last spots. We could have missed out all together.