Transportation to/from parks

[lisaedog]

Our family of 3 (mom, dad, 6 year old son with Asperger's syndrome) and my cousin's family of 3 will be visiting Disneyworld for the first time next month. I've been reading the suggestions concerning GAC's and intend to get one for my son, who gets very anxious and upset waiting in long lines. Does this GAC apply to your whole party, or only the person accompanying the child in question on the ride or attraction?
My main question is about transportation. We are staying at the All-Star Movies Resort, and had planned to take Disney transportation, until we began to think about it. While we expect to wait for rides and attractions inside the park, we are wondering if it would be more convenient for us to rent a car to get around than to have to wait in long lines to board buses, then ride around for hours waiting to get back to our hotel. We plan to arrive at the parks as early as is possible, and mostly likely take a break and go back to our hotel in the middle of the day, then return to the park later in the day. What are other people's experiences with transportation and kids with ASD's? Any ideas or advice is greatly appreciated!

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Hi and to both DisBoards and disABILTIES!

Normally a GAC is given for the person with the disability plus no more than five additional people, so your party of six can be covered.

Normally it is not more than about 20 minutes between any park and any resort by bus. During the "rush hours" (around park opening and around park closing) All-Stars will have separate buses for each resort. During slow times, such as midday there may be one bus covering all three resorts.

My opinion is generally having a car is more convenient except for Magic Kingdom. For MK you have to park at the TTC and then take the monorail or ferry to MK which the buses park very close to the MK gates. For the other parks it can be quite a hike but there are trams.

If you are planning to eat (especially breakfast or dinner) at a resort other than All-Stars having a car is extremely useful, as there is no bus that goes directly from one resort to another; you would have to change buses at a park ot DTD.

 

[SueM in MN]

If you haven't read it yet, I'd suggest checking out the GAC information in the disABILITIES FAQs thread.

One clarification about the GAC, it is issued to the specific person with a disability, so if there are any attractions he will not be going on/in, the GAC could not be used on those.

About transportation, I agree with Cheshire Figment about MK - it is pretty much always easier to use the bus to go there. For the other parks, it is not as important to use the buses, although if you are going to a park for early opening, I would check to make sure that you can get into the parking lot that early.
As for how your child will do with the buses, some kids really like the transportation because it is different and interesting to them. Some kids don't like it because it is different and unfamiliar to them. Many kids on the autism spectrum seem to like the monorails even if they don't like the other means of transportation.

 

[Earstou]

We just got back and my teen ASD son informed me part way thru the trip that he "really, really hated taking the buses". When he was younger, he loved buses, so this surprised me.
We were able to use the boats (at the Dolphin) and monorail (at the Contemporary) alot, which he was fine with. But he wasn't happy with the buses at all.

 

[dclfun]

Another issue to consider is how crowded the busses can become. Often in early morning or at park closing, or after a parade, etc the busses are standing room only with people packed in the aisles. For someone who becomes anxious in enclosed spaces or when they're too close to another person, riding the bus at those times could be a problem.---Kathy

 

[MisMikiNikiLynne]

Your GAP will not get you to the front of the bus line. You will wait in the regular line unless you have a w/c, then you will wait in the accessable line. You will be allowed on the bus as there is space, w/c or not. Sorry.
DD is in a w/c and cannot walk (even to transfer) and we have had to wait for up to 3 busses to get to where we were going, especially at night.

 

[pugdog]

You will be allowed on the bus as there is space, w/c or not. Sorry.
DD is in a w/c and cannot walk (even to transfer) and we have had to wait for up to 3 busses to get to where we were going, especially at night.

Were there 6 wheelchairs in front of you?? Or why did you have to wait for 3 buses? And wheelchairs are always loaded first as long as there are not already 2 on the bus.

 

[MisMikiNikiLynne]

There were scooters in front of us. Yes, that is why we had to wait.