Traveling with a Diabetic Child.

[Caribbeanprincess]

So we're traveling with my 10 year old nephew this June whom is a type 1 diabetic. We have a handicap permit for him to use at parking lots and such, he can't be out in the heat for very long because he can easily have a blood sugar lowage and such. We're wondering if we could use his handicap permit to skip the line and go in through the handicap line? I'm not sure for whom exactly the handicap line is so I wanted to ask here before instead of just showing up there and having to go back to stand-by.
Just wondering.

Any other tips for traveling to WDW with a diabetic child are welcome.

 

[jewelsangel]

Disney does its best to accommodate guests with disabilities, special conditions. As soon as you arrive to each park you are going to, visit Guest Relations and get a "Guest Assistance" card. You won't be able to skip lines necessarily, but your party will be directed to a place based on the child's needs....which sounds like he can't be in the heat too long. Research rides that do and don't have the separate entrances. For the ones that don't you might want to plan your travel so that you go early in the morning or late in the afternoon when the sun is not at its peak and when lines tend to be shorter (for certain rides).

 

[HappyDznyCamper]

Depending on when you are traveling, the lines may be the least of your problems as far as heat goes. The parks involve a lot of walking outdoors, so plan accordingly. Breaks during the hotest part of the day are a good idea for everyone, EMH, either early or late will also help. A touring plan such as tour guide mike, will also help to reduce your line time. Many lines are out of direct sun and some have fans or even AC, so again, the actual lines may not be your biggest problem, walking between the lines might be.

 

[pudge the fish]

please understand that Lines are normally NOT the problem - take advantage of Fast passes and a GOOD touring plan
the Problem is Florida in June is HOT and can mess w/ sugar his & lows a lot.

even with a GAC you have to wait - my Friend in a WC waited 40 minutes for toy story mania as there were many WC- ECV- GAC's ahead of her
also at jungle cruise the wait was 35 minutes ( or so), we waited quite a bit in lines even tho she had a GAC and was in a WC.
It can take 15 minutes to get from Frontier land to Tomorrow land in a crowd

fast passes worked better- Most lines are under a canopy and there are fans/ misters in many lines.

make arrangements for the day as it is HOT in the sun- places like Epcot have very little shade and it is over a mile around world showcase - very little shade.
Hollywood studios - Very little shade- MK very little shade

Disney is HUGE- Parks are big -Florida is hot in June-
I would suggest a sun shade of some type , BIG hat
one of those neck wraps that keep you cool, lots to drink, early mornings- late afternoons/evenings and a good touring plan and have a wonderful trip

(Maggie & I posted at about the same time

 

[Caribbeanprincess]

Thank you for the advice everyone.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

HI CP!

The GAC will not let you skip the line. In fact, in many cases the wheelchair entrance has a longer wait than the standby entrance. Fastpass is your friend. Use it whenever you can. Get to the parks early and do the "E-ticket" (popular) attractions before it gets hot. Plan to go back to the hotel during the worst of the heat or find something you can do indoors (maybe schedule table service meals so you have a nice long break, of course, this will depend on the type of regimen he is on and whether or not he needs consistent meal times.)

Other ways for him to beat the heat include renting a stroller or wheelchair. The great thing about the stroller is that the ones at the park have a little cover that will keep the sun off of him, although a ten year old may not be comfortable with a stroller. This will cut down on the walking and subsequent overheating. Even renting a park wheelchair would help a lot. If you use a stroller make sure to request the stroller as a wheelchair GAC so that you can bring it through the lines with you. The great about this is that if he goes low in line he has a place to sit and you can treat it there without leaving the line. By the time you get to the front he may be perfectly fine. (Again, that will depend on just how low he is and his particular regimen).

If you do have to leave the line, inform a CM and we will make sure you don't have to go all the way back through the line. I have done that for families for a variety of reasons. A hat with a wide brim, sunblock, a misting fan, one of those neck things that you immerse in cold water, all those can help beat the heat.

I'm sure your sister/brother knows this already, but make sure to have some easily transportable low sugar solutions. Glucose gel is good for when you are feeling nauseated while low and can't seem to choke things down, but the tubes are single serving and take up space, same thing with the little drinks. My personal favorite is glucose tabs because one tube can be 2 and half to 3 servings depending on how many you use to correct. Since he is on insulin there is a good possibility that his parents have Glucagon shots which are another good way to treat.

 

[Selket]

My younger son has type 1 and we've been doing WDW with him since he was dx'd at 2 yrs old.

There is A LOT of info about touring WDW with type 1 in the FAQ for this board. There is one absolute MUST read which is: http://allears.net/pl/diabetes.htm

We have gotten a GAC for our son and it is helpful when it is really hot - we do have quite a few problems with fluctuations in his blood sugar. The absolute best way to avoid problems is a good touring plan and we've used Tour Guide Mike (discount code is offered through the Theme Park board here). He suggests the best days to visit what parks and how to tour the parks without standing in lines no matter what time of year.

There is a lot of info about GAC's in the FAQ also but note that you cannot just say "my kid has type 1" or whatever the medical diagnosis is. An adult would need to explain to the CM what accommodations are necessary - what the child needs to experience the attractions. I suggest getting the GAC at the MK - I've had wonky experiences in other parks (maybe just my luck). The MK staff seem about 2000% more professional.

Have a wonderful trip!

 

[MomofLogan&Evan]

I'm also a parent of a type 1 diabetic (he is 3 years old and was diagnosed at 15 months). The GAC is a must for him to have.

The only other different advice I would give you is that only your nephew and up to 5 people can use the GAC. That's all. Everyone else will have to go through the normal line or meet up with him later.

 

[Belle & Ariel]

When my son was 10, there is no way he would have sat in a wheelchair or stroller. I doubt your nephew will go along with that and he probably does not need one--diabetes is NOT a handicap.
We bring several juice pouches like Capri Sun. They are a great simple sugar. My son does not really like the glucose tablets because he prefers the chance at real sugar. I count/measure Skittles or Starburst into 15 carb servings and put in the snack size Ziploc bags. Gummy worms and fruit snacks are a good simple sugar also. He also has a few snacks throughout the day. It is important to bring your own because you do not want to find a need for a quick sugar fix and find really long lines to buy soda or food.
We have to remind our son to check blood sugar more often as he does not "feel" the lows when the day's activities distract him. Make sure you have glucagon.
You can dispose of used needles at all the parks' first aid locations.
I would also encourage that you do not treat this as a disability or handicap. A diabetic child does not need handicapped parking or to skip lines. If this policy is abused by people who do not need it, people who are truly handicapped might not get what they need.

 

[Caribbeanprincess]

We don't intend to 'skip' all lines. We'd just like to make the wait smaller if possible in the handicap lines when they're outside, we can do indoors lines just find. My nephew won't need a stroller though, first of he doesn't fit in one anymore and there's no way he'd seat in a wheelchair all day. I do believe diabetes is a handicap in some extreme cases, especially when my nephew can be absolutely fine one moment and then be on the floor and extremely tired the next. So in this case I believe a GAC will be needed in certain circumstances.

 

[SueM in MN]

As was already posted, there are no 'passes' that will allow you to skip lines. The Guest Assistance Card can help somewhat, but as was pointed out, the biggest problem is not likely to be the lines, but the walking around from place to place. There is more information about Guest Assistance Cards (GACs) in post #6 of the disABILITIES FAQs thread near the top of this board (you can follow the link in my signature to get there).

 

[Selket]

I would rather not see the thread turn into a debate on whether type 1 diabetes is a disability or handicap. A person with the same medical condition can have very different challenges than a person with the same condition.

Some people coming to the annual Children with Diabetes conference held at Disney World in July get a GAC and they recommend this for its use:


The Guest Assistance Card is for people who require medical accommodations of some sort while in the Disney parks. In the case of kids with type 1 diabetes, hot temperatures can make insulin (particularly in pump cartridges and tubing) less effective or ineffective, plus the heat can cause highs and lows for kids individually. So, it is important to minimize the time standing in long, hot lines. The Guest Assistance Card is not a carte blanche to the front of the line or the disability entrance. Rather, it addresses the specific need to not wait in the heat. The rule of thumb suggested for CWD families in the park for outdoor attractions, is to use the card if the temperature is over 80 degrees and the line is longer than 30 minutes.

 

[SueM in MN]

I would rather not see the thread turn into a debate on whether type 1 diabetes is a disability or handicap. A person with the same medical condition can have very different challenges than a person with the same condition.

Some people coming to the annual Children with Diabetes conference held at Disney World in July get a GAC and they recommend this for its use:


The Guest Assistance Card is for people who require medical accommodations of some sort while in the Disney parks. In the case of kids with type 1 diabetes, hot temperatures can make insulin (particularly in pump cartridges and tubing) less effective or ineffective, plus the heat can cause highs and lows for kids individually. So, it is important to minimize the time standing in long, hot lines. The Guest Assistance Card is not a carte blanche to the front of the line or the disability entrance. Rather, it addresses the specific need to not wait in the heat. The rule of thumb suggested for CWD families in the park for outdoor attractions, is to use the card if the temperature is over 80 degrees and the line is longer than 30 minutes.

I think this brings up a very good point that most people don't think about.

There have been posts where people write about GACs as a 'perk' of having a disability or write about using the accessible entrances as 'perks' of having a wheelchair or ECV (most of those posts are not on this board).

Many people think of the GAC as a 'disability card' that people get just because they have a disability.
That is not what it is at all.

The Americans with Disabilities Act requires that businesses and public facilities provide reasonable accommodations to meet the needs someone has related to a disability. That is what Selket is talking about.

Some of the reasonable accommodations are very visible - things like ramps, elevators, handicapped seating areas for parades, ride cars with ramps like on Small World, sign language translators, closed and captioning.

Some are less visible, like reflective captioning or ride cars like those on Aladdin, Toy Story Mania and Triceraptop Spin that can be used with seats for guests who don't have wheelchairs and with the seat removed for people who need to bring a wheelchair on board.

Some are available for all guests - like using Fastpass, planning boards in each park that tell the current waits for attractions, curb cuts for sidewalks, roofed waiting areas and some of the outdoor attractions even have air conditioned queues (yes, even outdoors).

Sometimes the reasonable accommodation is for the guest to use a wheelchair or ECV since it is not reasonable for Disney to provide seating areas for all of the lines where people walk slowly and/or stand for a while. Disney's responsibility in this would be to provide accessible places where the wheelchair can be used.

The ADA is very specific that it does not provide accommodations based on the disability or condition. That is because (as Selket mentioned,) people with the very same condition can have very different needs.
And, in fact, the same person can sometimes have very different needs
based on things like the weather:
- High temperature will be a problem in summer, but not in February when the temperature is likely to not hit the 80s and that person may not need a GAC in February, but really need one in July.

or their condition at the time:
- My SIL has MS, had a flare right before going on a trip and was actually on IV steroids until the day before the flight to Orlando. He was prepared to use an ECV if needed. On another trip, without a flare, he may not have needed any accommodation.
- A child with diabetes or someone recently diagnosed may not be aware of/able to anticipate highs and lows. After they have more experience in dealing with diabetes in the heat, they may be better able to deal with it and not require any accommodation.

The ADA states that someone can't be asked to prove their disability/condition in order to get accommodations based on their needs. Under the ADA is the responsibility of the person with a disability to be able to explain what they need. If you just say "I am diabetic" or "I have diabetes", there is no requirement under the ADA for them to figure out what that means in terms of needs. If you have needs, it's up to you to explain them so that reasonable accommodations can be made. If you don't, they can't meet your needs and have no responsibility to provide anything other than the obvious things.

The GAC is the way that Disney meets some of the invisible needs that are not easy to meet by the 'visible' accommodations. That's all it is, nothing more.
For whatever type of disability/condition the person has, the GAC is just a way to try to provide some additional reasonable accommodations to meet needs related to the disability.
Because people have different needs, not all GACs are the same. YOUR GAC will have messages stamped on it to meet YOUR needs.

IF Disney wanted to, they could offer a GAC that allows front of the line access for disabilities.
IF they did that, the ADA would allow them to require proof that someone needs that level of accommodation. The reasoning is that it would be over and above reasonable accommodation and/or would be a something of 'value' that is desired by people without disabilities. That is the reasoning behind requiring proof for things like handicapped parking permits and reduced rate entry for things like National Park entry.

 

[tami82]

My daughter will be 5 and we will be going to Disney in August. I do plan on getting the assistance card. What people dont realize with the diabetes is also if the blood sugar is running high that it means very frequent bathroom trips. My daughter is constantly going to the bathroom. I cant imagine having to wait in a big big line and us being in the middle of it and her having to go to the bathroom. We would have to get out of the line use restroom and return to start from beginning. For the most part BS are ok and it shouldnt be a problem if i make frequent stops before going on the rides. Then again if my child is high which is a regular occurance in the mornings after breakfast and have trouble getting them down it can become a real problem especially with the bathroom usage. Low BS is also a problem but i would be prepared for that.
I wouldnt use it all the time but if i see a big line and we have had a bad morning i will not hesitate to use it.

 

[KPeveler]

My daughter will be 5 and we will be going to Disney in August. I do plan on getting the assistance card. What people dont realize with the diabetes is also if the blood sugar is running high that it means very frequent bathroom trips. My daughter is constantly going to the bathroom. I cant imagine having to wait in a big big line and us being in the middle of it and her having to go to the bathroom. We would have to get out of the line use restroom and return to start from beginning. For the most part BS are ok and it shouldnt be a problem if i make frequent stops before going on the rides. Then again if my child is high which is a regular occurance in the mornings after breakfast and have trouble getting them down it can become a real problem especially with the bathroom usage. Low BS is also a problem but i would be prepared for that.
I wouldnt use it all the time but if i see a big line and we have had a bad morning i will not hesitate to use it.

I am not sure how a GAC could help you, unless there is a GAC to allow you to rejoin a line you have to leave. A GAC will not make the wait shorter, so it may be that it is not as helpful as you hope. Have you done disney with a GAC for this before? I ask because i have neuro problems which lead to wonky insulin production, as well as different neuro problems which prevent me from knowing ahead of time when i have to use the bathroom (i get about a 1-2 minute warning). I would be interested to hear how a GAC helps in these situations!

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

A GAC would not help in those situations since as mentioned the GAC does not shorten wait times. The best thing to do is get a touring strategy, take frequent bathroom breaks before getting in line, and use FastPass when possible. If you have to take her to the bathroom, you can keep one person in line and rejoin them. Just inform the CM. We do not encourage this habit, but we do realize things happen. People do this everyday. If there is not somebody who can wait in your spot, talk to the CM and they will make accommodations to get you back in line in some way shape or form so you don't have to start from the end. I have done this many times.

 

[BCholly]

My daughter who is 11 was just diagnosed with type 1 on March 17.
Prior to the diagnoses we had booked a trip to Disneyland (California) for Oct. 4-11.

WE are just learning to cope with diabetes and appreciate any and all info. to help us cope...

I had no idea that high temp could affect her blood sugars and being from the west coast in Canada we rarely have high temperatures so now I am very worried.

I have a few questions.

Is California in the 80's in early october?
Is there anyway to get info. about the carb counts of all the foods at the restaurants in Disney, beforehand?
Can we store her insulin at first aid where it will hopefully be cooler?

Thanks for telling me about GAC, I will need to explore exactly what it is and what it means...

I guess I will avoid lines in the sun if it is hot...

 

[buffettgirl]

My responses are in red:

My daughter who is 11 was just diagnosed with type 1 on March 17.
Prior to the diagnoses we had booked a trip to Disneyland (California) for Oct. 4-11. big hugs. It's a strange weird place to be, but you'll find your new normal soon enough. I would suggest you hop over the childrenwithdiabetes.com biggest support group out there.

WE are just learning to cope with diabetes and appreciate any and all info. to help us cope...

I had no idea that high temp could affect her blood sugars and being from the west coast in Canada we rarely have high temperatures so now I am very worried. Not all kids have trouble with high temps. This isn't a given, and truthfully, usually it means that you just let the child do a little extra snacking. Line waiting was always a good time for us to relax, check bgs, give snacks if needed, for us though, the excitment always made my son high, so we gave more shots in line than sugar.

I have a few questions.

Is California in the 80's in early october?
Is there anyway to get info. about the carb counts of all the foods at the restaurants in Disney, beforehand? Disney is notoriously bad about carb counts. Your best option is to just get a book like Calorie King, or a program for your iphone or palm pilot that has carb counting info.
Can we store her insulin at first aid where it will hopefully be cooler? You can store it at first aid but do you really want to walk back to first aid any time she needs a shot? You want a spur of the moment mickey bar? it will melt by the time you get to first aid. Look into getting "frio" packs. They're water activated and they'll keep your opened bottles of insulin from getting over heated. They don't actually make things COLD but opened bottles don't need to be in the fridge anyway. This way YOUR insulin is always with YOU. Not in the hands of strangers.

Thanks for telling me about GAC, I will need to explore exactly what it is and what it means...

I guess I will avoid lines in the sun if it is hot...Again, that's not a given. We have a saying Your Diabetes May VAry. You're going to just have to play it by ear and see how your child does.

 

[BCholly]

My responses are in red:

Thank-you for all your help and advise.

Right now anyways she is on prescribed schedule of insulin...two shots a day. Before breakfast and before dinner with a combo of short and long insulin doses...

IF it is the same program in October it wouldn't be too bad to leave the insulin somewhere else.... I am just worried about carrying the stuff onto rides or leaving it somewhere and it going missing that would not be good!

I was hoping Disney would have someplace where I can look up how many carbs are in a Micky Bar, Dole whip etc...

I am no where near anyplace called normal yet...... in fact I am close to freak out mode usually..

 

[Selket]

My daughter who is 11 was just diagnosed with type 1 on March 17. .

I'm sorry about your daughter's diagnosis.

I second the suggestion to visit the Children With Diabetes website: http://www.childrenwithdiabetes.com - there are forums and a chat room there. Lots of Canadians too.

My son was dx'd at 26 months of age and started on an insulin pump 6 months later. I HIGHLY recommend it - research it when you get the time and things settle down a bit. I just got a CGMS (continuous glucose monitoring system) called the Navigator in the mail today (oh boy am I thrilled!!!) - I am looking forward to getting him started on that. He is 7 now and doing well but there is room for improvement.

I can imagine you're in getting from one day to the next mode - it is very, very hard the first few weeks and months but does get better. Children With Diabetes has an excellent, wonderful, magnificent summer family conference - this year held at Disneyworld in Orlando - July '09. Check that out: http://www.childrenwithdiabetes.com/activities/orlando2009/

They are holding one in Vancouver next summer 2010. Look on the main page and follow the conference links. The Orlando one is worth scrapping your Disneyland trip for - believe me. It is amazing. Tons of kids with type 1 and families, siblings, grandparents and special sessions for the newly dx'd parents. The kids program is wonderful. I cannot say enough good things about it. Feel free to PM or email me if you want more info.

I can't speak to DL - haven't been there since I was a teenager! I'd love to go back!