Tips needed for a smooth vacation for one big, wacky family

[hforman]

Where to begin!

My parents' 50th Anniversary is this year and they are celebrating by taking their children & grandchildren to Disney World!

This trip has been in the works for two years. Unfortunately my sister had a recurrence of brain cancer in October and died Dec. 20th. We're all still a little shell shocked. I realized throughout her illness that the way I cope is to "handle things" -- make arrangements, basically boss the family around, which they've generally appreciated.

So since then I've taken on most of the trip planning. It's so important that my parents and BiL, and my sister's kids have a great time. They really need it. Any advice is so appreciated!

***The Cast***
Mary & Jan - parents
Me, son Lucas, 10
BiL and my sister's 3 kids, ages 22, 13, 9
Bro, SiL and 2 kids, 8 and 5
Bro

***The Issues ***
My Dad is overweight, has COPD and a heart condition. He's the stoic type, he'd claim he was fine right up until he collapses. I convinced him to rent a scooter for the week. He's embarrassed, but knows there's no way he would be able to walk around all day. Will we be able to get the scooter on Disney buses? I also requested a lower level room for him. We wouldn't need an accessible room to get the scooter in the door, would we?

My 13-year-old niece has Aspergers. She's brilliant, but very inflexible, very insensitive, and is prone to meltdowns. Other than the sojourn to WWofHP, she could care less about this trip. We have basic itineraries for each day, but other than parks/meals, we'd like to be able to wing it. She does not like it (to put it very mildly) when plans change.

My 5-year-old nephew has epilepsy and tends to seize more when he is overtired/overstimulated. After a seizure he tends to sleep for several hours. His parents are used to this, of course, but they've never taken him any place like Disney, so they're not sure what to expect.

***The Plan***
6 nights, 5 days at the Caribbean Beach Resort!
(I've requested Martinique 22 because it's close to the bus stop & pool. What are the odds I'll get it?)

Considering the large group and number of kids, I've tried to go for mostly buffett/family style.

Day 1 Dinner Biergarten Restaurant 6:35 PM
(We all arrive at different times today but hopefully meet for dinner)

Day 2 Breakfast Akershus Royal Banquet Hall 9:40 AM
(I think the 2 youngest will enjoy the princesses, and my 22yo niece is a Jasmine freak)

Dinner Cape May Café 6:40 PM
(mainly, again for 22yo niece -- seafood nut)

Day 3 Breakfast Ohana 9:25 AM
(for 8yo niece -- loves Lilo & Stitch)

Dinner Whispering Canyon Café 6:30 PM

Day 4 Lunch Rainforest Café 1:00 PM

Day 5 UNIVERSAL DAY
(Me and my 22yo niece are taking the 13, 10 & 9yo to Harry Potter. What's the best way to get there? Rent a car at the TTC?)

Day 6 FREE DAY
(Leaving it open, we all leave at different times.)

So excited!

Any tips are very welcome. Thank you all!

Heather

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Hi and to disABILITIES!

1. All Disney buses are accessible with a low ramp.

2. All rooms have 36 inch wide doors, most ECVs are only 24 inches wide.

3. Have it noted on the reservation that a first floor room is "medically necessary" for your father as CBR does not have elevators and you cannot get an ECV upstairs.

4. Note there are two Rainforest Cafes on Property. One in DTD and the other right outside the entrance to AK; make sure you know which one you are reserved at and that everyone knows the correct one.

5. For the Universal day us a taxicab. Mears Transportation, who runs the taxis, has regular cabs which seat five and vans which seat seven (at the same price). The round trip (two taxis) would be a lot less than a one day rental plus the parking fee at Universal. And they can pick you up at your Resort and drop you anywhere you want.

 

[gilesmt]

My suggestion would be to purchase a touring plan, I like touring plan and ride max. I know you say you like to have freedom to wing it, but with the size group and several different disabilities, you will be able to pick up a lot of different hints to help with crowds and with lines. GAC cards might help but really understanding some of what to expect helps a lot more. Like we have several different disabilities, cerebral palsy, seizures, bipolar, blindness, and knee replacements with four of us. We learn to move early morning and late night, to help with crowds. For us we learned not to use early entrance parks, since they tend to be more crowded and other parks less crowded so we get more accomplished even if we have less time. We never stick to the plan, but we read all the information and know how things work, so we do wing it but we know to do water rides before 10, or to go counter clockwise because most go clockwise and so on. Again, if you are going to spend thousands on a vacation, 20 to 25 dollars for a touring plan is not so bad.

 

[hforman]

Thank you! That is all very good info! The rainforest reservation is at Animal Kingdom.

 

[hforman]

My suggestion would be to purchase a touring plan, I like touring plan and ride max. I know you say you like to have freedom to wing it, but with the size group and several different disabilities, you will be able to pick up a lot of different hints to help with crowds and with lines. GAC cards might help but really understanding some of what to expect helps a lot more. Like we have several different disabilities, cerebral palsy, seizures, bipolar, blindness, and knee replacements with four of us. We learn to move early morning and late night, to help with crowds. For us we learned not to use early entrance parks, since they tend to be more crowded and other parks less crowded so we get more accomplished even if we have less time. We never stick to the plan, but we read all the information and know how things work, so we do wing it but we know to do water rides before 10, or to go counter clockwise because most go clockwise and so on. Again, if you are going to spend thousands on a vacation, 20 to 25 dollars for a touring plan is not so bad.

Thank you! I didn't know these existed. That's a great idea!

 

[Piper]

For the nephew, you may want to either bring his stroller or rent one and use the stroller as wheelchair GAC. That would help him not to get overtired and also give him a place to rest. The ECV and stroller will be allowed in lines (with a stroller as wheelchair tag.)

Also each park has a first aid station if either your nephew or dad need a quiet, cool place to rest.

Check out the FAQs at the top of this board for some really great and accurate information (including where to rent strollers.)

 

[peemagg]

Something that I have found useful for planning is the book Open Mouse by Passporter's. It talks about all sorts of disabilities and what is available to help.

 

[hforman]

For the nephew, you may want to either bring his stroller or rent one and use the stroller as wheelchair GAC. That would help him not to get overtired and also give him a place to rest. The ECV and stroller will be allowed in lines (with a stroller as wheelchair tag.)

Also each park has a first aid station if either your nephew or dad need a quiet, cool place to rest.

Check out the FAQs at the top of this board for some really great and accurate information (including where to rent strollers.)

Thanks, good idea about the stroller. That brings up another question. Can we just park the ECV outside of a ride? My Dad would be fine standing in line, it's just walking any significant distance and stair climbing that are a problem.

P.S. Love the name! My son would have been Piper if he'd been a girl.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

That brings up another question. Can we just park the ECV outside of a ride? My Dad would be fine standing in line, it's just walking any significant distance and stair climbing that are a problem.

Not really a good idea unless you are very familiar with the attraction. Some queues are actual ¼ mile long from entry to load and from unload to exit and these are not really recognizable from the outside.

As well as there is generally no seating in the queue areas and often, especially when you are going, some wait times can be over an hour.

 

[bedogged]

What size is your niece? I ask this because the Harry Potter ride is not very friendly to people of size. Not just overweight people, but anyone who is big, tall or has a large bust. They have recently changed policy regarding the attendant pushing the bar down into place so even more people are having a problem getting to ride. I only bring this issue up because I would hate to see her disappointed.

 

[hforman]

What size is your niece? I ask this because the Harry Potter ride is not very friendly to people of size. Not just overweight people, but anyone who is big, tall or has a large bust. They have recently changed policy regarding the attendant pushing the bar down into place so even more people are having a problem getting to ride. I only bring this issue up because I would hate to see her disappointed.

The 13yo niece is a lanky little thing. My 22yo niece is kind of a big girl (and also a HP devotee). I'd guess 5'7", 175lbs. Hard to believe that would be too big.

 

[hforman]

For the nephew, you may want to either bring his stroller or rent one and use the stroller as wheelchair GAC. That would help him not to get overtired and also give him a place to rest. The ECV and stroller will be allowed in lines (with a stroller as wheelchair tag.)

Also each park has a first aid station if either your nephew or dad need a quiet, cool place to rest.

Check out the FAQs at the top of this board for some really great and accurate information (including where to rent strollers.)

I'd never heard of a GAC before. I just looked it up. That will be so helpful! Thank you!

 

[bedogged]

The 13yo niece is a lanky little thing. My 22yo niece is kind of a big girl (and also a HP devotee). I'd guess 5'7", 175lbs. Hard to believe that would be too big.

My 180 pound 5'5" daughter with a large bust was unable to ride last weekend.

 

[Reddy]

are all of the kids verbal?? I ask since my boys are non-verbal
I used an iron -on transfer paper & put their first name, what is wrong with them, then my cell phone number on the back of their shirts - the size of a label (actually used the form for the return address label)
that way if they get lost - that info is where people can see it & I don't have to worry about it being torn off or water ruining

I would have the seizure boys parents talk to that doctor & see if he wants to up the med for the vacation or have a special instructions for you while their (maybe a phone number for a doc he would sugguest in that area)

don't forget the photopass plus card - get it asap - I don't think everyone will do this again & you never have enough pictures according to me

 

[aggordon2]

Something that I have found useful for planning is the book Open Mouse by Passporter's. It talks about all sorts of disabilities and what is available to help.

Besides this board, I think this book is one of the best resources for people with special needs that are going to WDW. We bought it 3 or 4 years ago and read it from cover to cover. It really has alot of usefull information about many different disabilities.

 

[hforman]

are all of the kids verbal?? I ask since my boys are non-verbal
I used an iron -on transfer paper & put their first name, what is wrong with them, then my cell phone number on the back of their shirts - the size of a label (actually used the form for the return address label)
that way if they get lost - that info is where people can see it & I don't have to worry about it being torn off or water ruining

I would have the seizure boys parents talk to that doctor & see if he wants to up the med for the vacation or have a special instructions for you while their (maybe a phone number for a doc he would sugguest in that area)

don't forget the photopass plus card - get it asap - I don't think everyone will do this again & you never have enough pictures according to me

My 13yo niece is very verbal--usually about 100 decibels or so.

The 5yo with epilepsy is verbal, but not very communicative. He gets "stuck" on one meaningless sentence and says it over and over. If he got lost, I'm not sure he could be much help to whoever found him. And he is a bolter. I'll talk to my SiL about your idea. Thanks!

 

[hforman]

don't forget the photopass plus card - get it asap - I don't think everyone will do this again & you never have enough pictures according to me

I love that idea! That will make a great 50th anniversary present. And we're doing Pirate's League, Ohana breakfast & Akershus, so it makes sense. But you can't preorder Photopass+, right? Just the CD?

We leave in 22 Days!!!

 

[hforman]

My 180 pound 5'5" daughter with a large bust was unable to ride last weekend.

That's awful! How do any adult males use the ride? Thanks for letting me know, I'll prepare Angie for the possibility. At least it's not Elise (my Aspy niece). If she couldn't get on a HP ride everyone within a square mile would hear about it!

 

[bedogged]

That's awful! How do any adult males use the ride? Thanks for letting me know, I'll prepare Angie for the possibility. At least it's not Elise (my Aspy niece). If she couldn't get on a HP ride everyone within a square mile would hear about it!

A lot of people were being turned away including a large number of adult males. It was really difficult to pull the bar into place yourself if you were close. I also didn't see the place that the light is supposed to be green so I couldn't tell that it wasn't closed enough. I will say that the attendant was a very sweet boy whole handled the problem with sensitivity. He explained to me the rules and admitted that HE could not ride the ride either.

 

[Zhoen]

My 180 pound 5'5" daughter with a large bust was unable to ride last weekend.

I am 5'5, 188lbs, and I rode HP and the Forbidden Journey last week with no problem at all. My stepdaughter is also heavy, but extremely busty also had no problems. I would say prepare for the worst but hope for the best.


For your Aspie niece, I would suggest talking to her about hidden mickeys. We have a huge range of "interesting" in our family as well, and all our spectrum relatives are amazingly good at finding hidden mickeys. I found that just suggesting a search was a great way to head off a meltdown in the lines... as soon as the build-up started, a quick "hey, look around this place, there's GOT to be a mickey hidden in here somewhere!" could cut the tantrum off mid-whine. There is a book they are selling for $12.95 in all the parks, but there are several websites that are FREE
I'd also suggest that you sign her up for Sorceror's of the Magic Kingdom in MK as soon as you go in the first time. If you bring the whole group in together, everyone can get a pack of cards, even if they don't intend to play the game. The kids (of all ages) will end up with lots of cards, and people are starting to trade them (like the pins, but free), which could be fun for them all.
Both the hidden mickeys and the sorcerors game can be an easy source for casual conversations in the lines, which is so hard for so many spectrum types.

For you epileptic nephew, I second everyone's recommendation to bring a stroller and get a stroller=wheelchair GAC. It made all the difference in the world for us, and you can get a similar provision at Universal, with no problems, though it seems to be less familiar to the employees. At MK you will have a sticker for the stroller, plus a card you carry. At Universal, it's just a card. We took our 8 year old all the way through the line for "forbidden journey" in the stroller while she slept off the effects of fit... then she woke up and really enjoyed the ride. We got a few curious glances over the course of the week, but nobody said anything or gave us "stinkeye".

Using a stroller for an older child is not uncommon even for healthy children at these parks... the parks are big and the kids get exhausted. While there are lots of places to rent from, I bet you can get by with a $20 unbrella stroller from any walmart-type place... within two days you've saved money over a rental, and they are easy to fold down and take along. With the park strollers, you have to give them back when you leave for the day, but it's Soooo nice to be able to take it with you on the monorail/ferry, across the parking lot to that spot in Guam where you parked...