Vacation planning confusion.

[Avenger9873]

Can I make a suggestion? My kiddo is also autistic with SPD. For a few trips, it was really difficult to manage. He struggled mostly with long lines. THATS where fast passes are helpful. Bringing a SPD child and expecting them to stand in line for an hour is a lot. The whole thing is a LOT.

So the fast passes helped, but you only get 3. so.... theres that. But we found out about DAS and it has made a HUGE difference. A cast member suggested it after my then 4 year old tried to climb over the wall at Small World And then screamed and kicked like a psycho while I tried to hold him for the rest of the wait. Smiling and saying "sorry...he struggles in line" was embatrassing for me- but the experience was miserable for him AND for those around him.

A DAS is an access pass while you wait in a virtual line instead of in person. You can get it at the front of the park and its good for your length of stay. You tell them that your child has additional sensory needs and standing in line may be overhwhelming.

Of course this isnt right for every family, but when you have a child who would not be able to go on rides with long lines bevause of their disability, its a lifesaver.

As far as magic kingdom goes? Anything but space mnt, splash mnt, 7 dwarves and big thunder my infant nephew goes on. Hes 1.

Additionally, haunted mansion is a little ghost-y and pirates of the carribean has some shooting of cannons that maybe loud and a SLIGHT drop (there arent even buckles-its that slight). But both are family friendly. Everything else is whole-family.

For hollywood studios.... torror of terror and rockin rollercoaster are probably out. Star wars is fun and my 6 year old loved it-but it can feel fast, which can be a little intense. Not scary- just intense. Its a 3d ride.

Toy story mania is family friendly. Slinky dog is a small roller coaster. Alien saucers has height resctrictions because hiofow it spins-but not scary and totally appropriate for a 6 year old.

I think thats actually it?

HS is more about the shows. The frozen sing a long is a MUST DO. Do NOT miss it. Its the best thing in the park. they also have a disney jr one, indiana jones (loud!), beauty and the beast and little mermaid.

Dont think I missed any! Good luck!

This was extremely helpful. Thank you. Someone else had mentioned the DAS option and I looked into it. I guess since I have never taken her to a theme park I was not sure what kind of accommodations I needed to ask for. They say ask for specific things based on her needs. I have never had to do that before. I know standing for long waits will be hard and too much sound, color, and lights input will cause her to short circuit. I will bring her headphones and take breaks but other than lines I am not sure what else makes it easier for her. The other recommendations were exactly what I hoped for when starting this thread. Thank you.

 

[Avenger9873]

Some of the blogs I follow will say ‘request a free quote now’ and that’s literally what I did. In fact, I think this site is sponsored by an agency or they do it themselves. I found this site too confusing when I first started planning and reading about Disney. I did not request a quote through this site. I’d give you the name of the woman I use, but I think that’s against rules. Just make sure it’s an authorized Disney agent. Disney pays them, not you. Idk what I would have done without my agent. Yes, I could have done it myself and some of my ADRs I did change myself, but she simplifies things for me. She also answers all of my ridiculous questions lol

Thank you for this. Lol.

 

[Avenger9873]

Also, are there particular characters or movies your kids are into? Star Wars, princesses, Toy Story, etc. We could give you suggestions for rides and attractions based on their interests.

My son is a die hard Star Wars fan. Which is the reason I agreed to this. Izzy loves everything and everyone. Toy story is great. Minions. Anna and Elsa.

 

[Rory607]

My son is a die hard Star Wars fan. Which is the reason I agreed to this. Izzy loves everything and everyone. Toy story is great. Minions. Anna and Elsa.

Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom will
probably be your best bets if you only want to do two parks.

There is Galaxy’s Edge for Star Wars, of course. It is very cool and immersive. We just went with our 5 year old and he liked it. In Hollywood Studios ( NOT Galaxy’s Edge) there is also the Star Tours ride. And you can meet Darth Vader, Chewbacca, BB8. This was the most exciting part to my son. I would definitely recommend it. Look up Star Wars Launch Bay.

The Frozen show at HS is great and your daughter would like it for Anna and Elsa. It’s a very cute show that both my kids enjoy. It is also a nice break where you can sit down inside. There are other princesses at Magic Kingdom you can get fast passes for.

Toy Story land is very fun, but there can be long lines. You can try to rope drop to avoid lines. Or we went right before close one night recently and had almost no wait.

 

[VandVsmama]

My son is a die hard Star Wars fan. Which is the reason I agreed to this. Izzy loves everything and everyone. Toy story is great. Minions. Anna and Elsa.

Minions won't be at WDW. That's only at Universal Studios.

 

[VandVsmama]

I think that you should start off by going to wdwprepschool.com. They also have a podcast and a Youtube channel.

I like wdwprepschool as a starting point because it simplifies the encyclopedia of info that's available on DIS Boards into a Reader's Digest or Cliffs Notes version. Start off by reading https://wdwprepschool.com/planning-and-tips/. The first few steps are:

1. pick when you're going to go
2. pick where you're going to stay
3. make a daily plan
4. pick dining options

The DISAbilities sub-forum here on DIS Boards will have a lot of info about the DAS pass. Your child with sensory processing disorder would probably benefit quite a lot from it.

At Magic Kingdom (MK), it seems like almost everything has a FP (Fast Pass) available...even character meet & greets. A very helpful way to not use your valuable 3 FP+ reservations on meet & greets is to do a character meal instead. You can meet 4 characters usually at a character meal instead of 1 or 2 at a meet & greet.

Dining reservations (ADRs - advanced dining reservations) you can make 180 days beforehand. If you are staying on site, that would mean 180 days before your arrival/check in date, you can make ALL of your ADRs for the entire trip. If you're staying off site, it's only 180 days beforehand, so you'd have to call or login every day in order to make each day's ADR (assuming you have 1 per day).