Special Needs and DCL

[disneyfool_1202]

OK - I'm full of questions this evening but our trip is about 10 wks away and this is our first cruise (then land) vacation with my 4u/o ASD son. I'm not anticipating any challanges on the cruise (probably because I've never cruised with him before so I have no clue what to expect out of him!). Does anyone know if there is anyone on board that can help me navigate challanges should they arrive for my child? I swear I read a while back about there being a "special services" phone number for DCL but I can't find the post and I really don't know if I imagined it or not!

Also, do I need to fill out the cruise medical form because of his ASD? He has nut / tree nut allergies and I figured I'd fill it out for that aspect, but do I need to include his ASD diagnosis for any reason?

 

[Cheshire Figment]

It would probably be a good idea. Especially if you are planning on using one of the Kid's Clubs. They are able to handle special needs children but they need to be able to plan for them.

 

[lucigo]

We have cruised many times with our 4-1/2yo son who also has ASD. We always write a letter ahead of time requesting a secluded table at dinner, preferrably a booth or corner. We let them know that he may or may not wear the bracelet they require but that we will write his muster station on his hand with a sharpie, and that he will be wearing a medical alert bracelet with our names and cell phone numbers at all times. We request that the kids camp be informed of his needs and we are allowed to take him to the room to get familiar with it that first night, before everyone else comes in, so I can take him and show him the bathroom, let him get familiar with the people and the toys etc.

I have not cruised on Disney but on the other cruise lines we have been on the cabin doors are very easy to open and its impossible to lock them from inside, so if your son is a wanderer/runner, be aware of this and bar your door with a suitcase or stroller while you are asleep or in the bathroom.

Another suggestion, the muster drill is no picnic. I let my son bring a train, car, marble whatever the toy of the day is to keep him occupied and get through it. I don't try to put the life jacket on him unless I'm specifically told to and then its just for a brief instant and its back off.

Last bit of advice, bring an assortment of toys for dinner and for the room. Portable DVD, game boy, leapster, cars, trains, etc. Bring yourself a good book and plan on having a little downtime in the cabin. It can be exhausting having to watch your ASD child like a hawk and make him hold your hand every second of the day (because lets face it we worry they are going in the ocean if we don't). If you son is high energy, plan to walk the halls and read off cabin numbers (one of my son's favorite games).

Ok one more thing..be sure to report back to us how it goes!

 

[Cheshire Figment]

We have cruised many times with our 4-1/2yo son who also has ASD. We always write a letter ahead of time requesting a secluded table at dinner, preferrably a booth or corner. We let them know that he may or may not wear the bracelet they require but that we will write his muster station on his hand with a sharpie, and that he will be wearing a medical alert bracelet with our names and cell phone numbers at all times. We request that the kids camp be informed of his needs and we are allowed to take him to the room to get familiar with it that first night, before everyone else comes in, so I can take him and show him the bathroom, let him get familiar with the people and the toys etc.

I have not cruised on Disney but on the other cruise lines we have been on the cabin doors are very easy to open and its impossible to lock them from inside, so if your son is a wanderer/runner, be aware of this and bar your door with a suitcase or stroller while you are asleep or in the bathroom.

Another suggestion, the muster drill is no picnic. I let my son bring a train, car, marble whatever the toy of the day is to keep him occupied and get through it. I don't try to put the life jacket on him unless I'm specifically told to and then its just for a brief instant and its back off.

Last bit of advice, bring an assortment of toys for dinner and for the room. Portable DVD, game boy, leapster, cars, trains, etc. Bring yourself a good book and plan on having a little downtime in the cabin. It can be exhausting having to watch your ASD child like a hawk and make him hold your hand every second of the day (because lets face it we worry they are going in the ocean if we don't). If you son is high energy, plan to walk the halls and read off cabin numbers (one of my son's favorite games).

Ok one more thing..be sure to report back to us how it goes!

A few things on Disney is when you register a child for the kid's club they are given a wristband with identifying information. The parents are given a pager which one of them must have at all times unless the child is with them.

I would not advise using a cell phone. When I went on a Western Caribbean Disney Cruise last year I checked with my cell phone provider (Sprint) and was told that while at sea the charge is $2.99 per minute or fraction, at St Maarten the local fee would be only $1.99 per minute and in St Thomas, since that was US territory, it would be considered part of my normal service plan.

 

[jencav5]

Definately put that your child is autistic on the medical form and kids club paperwork. Then, talk to the counselors when you sign your son in onboard. They will ask you any special things that they should know about him, to keep him happy, etc... We have taken our ds14 on 2 Disney Cruises and 2 other brand cruises, since he was 10 years old. He has taken really well to cruising and we've got 2 upcoming Disney Cruises planned.

Disney is really great with the kids clubs. They were very accomodating in putting my son in a lower age level. They also never forced him to participate in any activities. He actually loved to just stay aside and build with the Kinects (i think that's the name). Or he would love to just lay on the bean bags and watch movies. They will beep you a message if anything comes up. There were times they would message me and I could just pick up a ship extension and they would put my son on the phone and I could deal with what he needed right then, or I would determine that I had to drop everything and pick him up.

My son really loves to swim. He loved to just hang out in the goofy pool and then get pizza at pinochio's pizza. That made it nice to just lounge by the pool. There is also a smaller mickey pool for the younger kids. Part of the draw of the goofy pool is the big screen tv, though. Mine loved to watch that and float around, making his noises. No one seemed to mind!

 

[mazz1]

hi there i have two ASD chilldren my dd is 14 and my son is 11yrs we go for our first ever disney cruise in just under 8 weeks

we have done the medical forms and also requested a table to ourselves in the dining room pref in a quiet corner or similar, if such a thing exists

i did email disney to ask about the clubs as mine have never done anything like a club before, the strong message that i got back was that they must be able to interact appropriately within the counsellor to children ratioi think it will be hard going for mine especially the older one as she is old enough for the teen area but needs consistent supervision as she is highly vulnerable

we also have issues with the youngest, no one can get close to him without him begining to meltdown so we think that the childrens clubs will struggle to accomodate him too

with all that said i have read great things about the counsellors and we are going to try to participate in the family time that the clubs are open for and see how it goes, we are so very independant and also isolated as a family we will continue to do what works for us no matter what, regardless of the clubs suiting the children or not we intend to have a great holiday onboard the disney wonder and i'm sure you will too

i will try to do a mini trip report when we get home

 

[lucigo]

i did email disney to ask about the clubs as mine have never done anything like a club before, the strong message that i got back was that they must be able to interact appropriately within the counsellor to children ratioi think it will be hard going for mine especially the older one as she is old enough for the teen area but needs consistent supervision as she is highly vulnerable

Please reply on this thread when you get back with at least a link to your trip report, I really want to hear how this works out for you. I'm not too impressed with the response you received! I have a friend who is a travel agent working on putting together an autism cruise and both RCI and Carnival have expressed a desire to take this on.

We have taken our son on 8 carnival cruises and every one of them have been positive, even surprisingly more positive than I expected. On one particular cruise (Elation), one of the counselor's mom was an autism therapist in Australia and she was absolutely wonderful with my son. She asked me the first day what types of things he liked, and I told her numbers and letters...when I came back to pick him up they were playing Uno! I didn't even know he was capable of playing a card game!

I really hope you have a great experience. I would love to take a disney cruise in the future, but hoping they will be understanding of the accomodations that special needs kids need both for their safety and for them to have a good time!

 

[cdhheidi]

We took a 4 day last May, and were SO impressed with how well Disney did with our son. I imagine it depends on the needs, but we truly had no trouble at all. Sean does not eat at all (tube fed and IV nutrition through a port) and thus had no interest in going to meals with the club. They ended up having counselors stay behind in the club so he could play during meal times. Also, he is probably a few years younger emotionally than his age group, but they really worked well with him. He is SO looking forward to going again this fall... is planning on spending LOTS of time "on my OWN like the big kids".

We homeschool, so he is not used to large groups of people other than cub scouts and some homeschool gatherings, we were concerned, but he did great!

 

[mazz1]

Please reply on this thread when you get back with at least a link to your trip report, I really want to hear how this works out for you. I'm not too impressed with the response you received! I have a friend who is a travel agent working on putting together an autism cruise and both RCI and Carnival have expressed a desire to take this on.

We have taken our son on 8 carnival cruises and every one of them have been positive, even surprisingly more positive than I expected. On one particular cruise (Elation), one of the counselor's mom was an autism therapist in Australia and she was absolutely wonderful with my son. She asked me the first day what types of things he liked, and I told her numbers and letters...when I came back to pick him up they were playing Uno! I didn't even know he was capable of playing a card game!

I really hope you have a great experience. I would love to take a disney cruise in the future, but hoping they will be understanding of the accomodations that special needs kids need both for their safety and for them to have a good time!

i will come back and reply to this post or with a link to a brief report

it's never plain sailing (no pun intended ) with my two but with a smile or a grimace we manage one way or another

we are so looking fwd to this holiday