I haven't been on in a while, but it's starting to get close to trip time and I'm back to glean as much information as possible!
We're heading to WDW in January with our 5 kidlets. DD1 is a former micropreemie who is blind with significant developmental delays. DS1 has a HGH deficiency, other endocrine issues, high functioning autism, celiac's disease and a dairy allergy, DD2 was born with multiple congenital heart defects and has had two open heart surgeries this year with another upcoming, DS2 is also a former micropreemie who has ataxic CP (he is mobile), chronic lung disease w/aspiration issues, g-tube fed. The newest baby is due any day now. No known issues other than being a newborn at Disney.
We are planning to stay at the Bay Lake Towers. It cost us a whole lot of extra points but I thought it would be worth it to have the ease of travel for every one.
We are planning on attempting two double strollers for ease of mobility. I don't typically consider my kids as having mobility issues, but my three year old daughter with the heart issues really can't do those kind of distances without tiring, and neither can my son with CP. My oldest daughter's developmental delays on top of her blindness means she can easily get confused in a crowd and just start wandering off in a random direction without any warning if she hears something that piques her interest, and at that point why not add the extra seat for my five year old son, lol.
Does anyone have any good recommendations for double strollers that are easiest to use and transport around Disney? I'm hoping for ease of folding down/setting up, light and compact as possible? We're hoping to rent them there...any recommendations on a rental company? My kids are all very light--- my oldest just turned 8 but only weighs 40 pounds, so I don't *think* we'd need a specific special needs stroller that holds higher weight limits...at the most in one stroller would be 73 pounds? My daughter is definitely average height for her age--- right around 46 inches. Does height matter when considering a stroller?
My only other real question comes to g-tube feedings. How do you get all the formula you will need for a trip from point A to Disney? We will be flying there and staying for 12 days and will need several cases....those things are *not* light! Do they count against your weight limit? Do you check them as baggage or can you carry them on the plane? And how does it work in terms of character meals? I know they charge a set fee for the buffet to include the character experience. If your child can't eat any of the food, do still pay for them the same way because of the character aspect of the meal? I am hoping to make meal reservations this week and I wanted to ask here first in case my question is a dumb one. :bag He will have *just* turned three before we get there, and I know that is the age they start to charge for children.
My one final question is how can I find out how many people are allowed on one "ride" at a time. For example, Peter Pan's Flight--- can you have three people in a row if two of them are children and one adult? If I have a newborn in a sling and try to sit with two of my kids, is that o.k.? None of our kids can go in a ride vehicle independent of a parent, so if there are rides that absolutely do not allow three across then we will have to avoid those rides because of the time it would take to go through the line 4 times to allow each child a chance on the ride. We're not looking at doing any height restricted rides as a family because of medical conditions and a newborn who can't do height restricted anyway. We might try and finagle so that daddy can take our oldest on a few of the "thrill" rides like Splash Mountain/Thunder Mountain, since she is the only one tall enough and she loves that kind of motion.
Otherwise I think we're o.k. We're deliberately going at this time of year hoping for the lowest crowds possible. We expect it will take us a long time to do much, we're sticking to the "tame" stuff, and we know the kids will be thrilled over the moon no matter how little or how much we accomplish, so
we pretty much feel like we can't really "fail." Just want to make sure we're covering all our bases as we're prepping to go!
We're heading to WDW in January with our 5 kidlets. DD1 is a former micropreemie who is blind with significant developmental delays. DS1 has a HGH deficiency, other endocrine issues, high functioning autism, celiac's disease and a dairy allergy, DD2 was born with multiple congenital heart defects and has had two open heart surgeries this year with another upcoming, DS2 is also a former micropreemie who has ataxic CP (he is mobile), chronic lung disease w/aspiration issues, g-tube fed. The newest baby is due any day now. No known issues other than being a newborn at Disney.
We are planning to stay at the Bay Lake Towers. It cost us a whole lot of extra points but I thought it would be worth it to have the ease of travel for every one.
We are planning on attempting two double strollers for ease of mobility. I don't typically consider my kids as having mobility issues, but my three year old daughter with the heart issues really can't do those kind of distances without tiring, and neither can my son with CP. My oldest daughter's developmental delays on top of her blindness means she can easily get confused in a crowd and just start wandering off in a random direction without any warning if she hears something that piques her interest, and at that point why not add the extra seat for my five year old son, lol.
Does anyone have any good recommendations for double strollers that are easiest to use and transport around Disney? I'm hoping for ease of folding down/setting up, light and compact as possible? We're hoping to rent them there...any recommendations on a rental company? My kids are all very light--- my oldest just turned 8 but only weighs 40 pounds, so I don't *think* we'd need a specific special needs stroller that holds higher weight limits...at the most in one stroller would be 73 pounds? My daughter is definitely average height for her age--- right around 46 inches. Does height matter when considering a stroller?
My only other real question comes to g-tube feedings. How do you get all the formula you will need for a trip from point A to Disney? We will be flying there and staying for 12 days and will need several cases....those things are *not* light! Do they count against your weight limit? Do you check them as baggage or can you carry them on the plane? And how does it work in terms of character meals? I know they charge a set fee for the buffet to include the character experience. If your child can't eat any of the food, do still pay for them the same way because of the character aspect of the meal? I am hoping to make meal reservations this week and I wanted to ask here first in case my question is a dumb one. :bag He will have *just* turned three before we get there, and I know that is the age they start to charge for children.
My one final question is how can I find out how many people are allowed on one "ride" at a time. For example, Peter Pan's Flight--- can you have three people in a row if two of them are children and one adult? If I have a newborn in a sling and try to sit with two of my kids, is that o.k.? None of our kids can go in a ride vehicle independent of a parent, so if there are rides that absolutely do not allow three across then we will have to avoid those rides because of the time it would take to go through the line 4 times to allow each child a chance on the ride. We're not looking at doing any height restricted rides as a family because of medical conditions and a newborn who can't do height restricted anyway. We might try and finagle so that daddy can take our oldest on a few of the "thrill" rides like Splash Mountain/Thunder Mountain, since she is the only one tall enough and she loves that kind of motion.
Otherwise I think we're o.k. We're deliberately going at this time of year hoping for the lowest crowds possible. We expect it will take us a long time to do much, we're sticking to the "tame" stuff, and we know the kids will be thrilled over the moon no matter how little or how much we accomplish, so
we pretty much feel like we can't really "fail." Just want to make sure we're covering all our bases as we're prepping to go!
Be sure to stop by Guest Services for GACs for your kids that need accomodations. For my son w/ mild CP (also mobile, but not near as much strength or stamina as same age peers) being able to use his stroller as a wheelchair & haviing it in line was key to our enjoying our trips.
but I think we're waiting til the twins are 2. There are other more immediate needs to be spending our money on.......
