Value resorts for Asperger's teen?

[persimmondeb]

We are in the middle of planning a trip to WDW for next December for myself, my husband and our teenaged son, who has an Asperger's diagnosis. I am trying to save a little money, especially since I think we're going to go with the DxDP, and was thinking about a value resort, instead of Port Orleans, which is where we stayed last time we were on property. I have heard that they can be kind of noisy and chaotic, especially in the food courts and the pool area.

He's generally a sunny and easygoing soul, if inclined to perserverate on Downtown Disney, and does fine in the parks without accomodations, but he has some sensory issues, and some kinds of noise (like hundreds of excited small children shrieking in an enclosed space) do bother him.

I asked my boss, who always stays on property in a value, and she thought he'd be okay in December, but advised me not to try it in the summer. Since he's so easygoing, it's also not always that obvious that he's having a hard time until he's really, really stressed. He has a lovely time at Disney, and handles the crowds in the park quite well, but I think he does need to know that we can leave and go somewhere quieter (although the DxDP will help with that, since he adores eating in restaurants).

How bad is the noise and chaos factor? I'm less worried about lines and longish bus rides.

 

[MSSANDRA]

We did a room at POP in the 70's building on the back side facing the lake and it was very quite and peaceful. Not a bad walk to the pool or the bus. Bus service was great but this was all off season.

hope this helps.

 

[persimmondeb]

Thanks! We'll be early in December, so it shouldn't be too crowded. I do have a certain fear of school groups, though, both due to noise, and fear that some unthinking kids will make fun of him (he's fairly obviously disabled, despite being very high functioning) and get him upset. This has only happened a couple of times, and I am sometimes astounded by how kind other children can be, but it does upset him, and he has a hard time letting go of things.

I may go with Port Orleans, despite the appeal of saving money, since it's a known quantity, and he really enjoyed it and would like to go back. If it involved Downtown Disney, he would probably consent to sleeping on a park bench, however.

 

[dclfun]

I would suggest requesting either a room at Pop facing the lake or would choose AS Music. I personally found AS Music to be a bit nicer in terms of room accomodations, bedding, and less crowds. They did have activities at ASMusic but there weren't huge crowds attending and most involved either bingo, a dance activity, or movie by the pool. If at ASMusic I'd suggest also a room facing a wooded area/away from the main pool. I cringed at getting a room in a preferred location at ASMusic right across from that pool though and actually heard no noise once the door was closed. I couldn't say the same about our room at Pop one time which was located by the bowling pin pool where I heard people screeching way past midnight. Is your son okay with trying new things? Has he seen the value resorts online and made any comments about which one he'd prefer based on decor or other features? Is the cost difference significant and affecting your overall budget? I know it's too early to think of promos for Dec. 2010 but perhaps a discount offer would allow you to stay at your preferred location or modify to a moderate resort closer to your travel date if that's where you truly feel he'd do best.---Kathy

 

[JESW]

I have a ds15 with Asperger's and he has been going to WDW since he was 22 months old! Headphones and an ipod or a gameboy work wonders to keep all the outside noises out.

Good luck!

Jill

 

[persimmondeb]

Thanks! He's pretty flexible about trying new things, but he's also well aware that there is a difference in amenities and general spiffiness between value and moderate resorts. And a little put off that they don't have a full-service restaurant.

It has been explained to him that the pool doesn't matter that much since we are going in December and there's a good possibility that it won't really be warm enough to swim. I'm not sure he's convinced, and his definition of warm enough to swim and mine are probably not the same, but that's okay. If it comes to that, we can watch him turn himself into a popsicle for a few minutes.

It's not an absolutely huge difference, since it's one room early in the month and only for four nights, so I may bite the bullet. Of course, he has let me know that either the Yacht and Beach Club or the Polynesian would be to his taste, but that's not happening, even with a promotion.

 

[persimmondeb]

Thanks, JESW. It's a good suggestion, and the gameboy has been a godsend many times, especially in the car, but he actually doesn't like headphones/earphones and wouldn't wear them. Sometimes a book helps, especially if we're waiting, and sometimes he'll just suffer for a few minutes. He's actually fine for things like standing in a crowd for park opening, although he'll give us little squeezes for reassurance and say things like "this is going to be so fun."

A little bit is fine, since I think it helps build his tolerance for noise and uncomfortable situations, but if it's noisy and chaotic everytime we leave the room for a snack or try to get on a bus, he's not going to be happy. I have visions of him demanding to be taken home, or refusing to leave the room and insisting that we should leave him and let him watch TV all day.

 

[Marina Del Rey]

Only resort I'd caution against is the sports resort. Football players kept practicing loudly outside my window, and the walls were not insulated at all.

 

[persimmondeb]

The kid he rides the bus with, who is in the post-secondary program at their school, went to All Star Sports on the senior trip a couple of years ago and claimed it wasn't bad, according to DS. DS said he would quiz him a little bit and see what he thought, especially of how it compared to other resorts.

It's clear that this young man would also cheerfully consent to sleeping on a park bench if it involved Disney, but it's an interesting perspective to have. I think we'd probably not do Sports anyway, since the theme is less appealing, but Movies or Pop Century might work, and have more appeal for DS.

 

[mdsouth]

Thanks! We'll be early in December, so it shouldn't be too crowded. I do have a certain fear of school groups, though, both due to noise, and fear that some unthinking kids will make fun of him (he's fairly obviously disabled, despite being very high functioning) and get him upset. This has only happened a couple of times, and I am sometimes astounded by how kind other children can be, but it does upset him, and he has a hard time letting go of things.

I may go with Port Orleans, despite the appeal of saving money, since it's a known quantity, and he really enjoyed it and would like to go back. If it involved Downtown Disney, he would probably consent to sleeping on a park bench, however.

Your son and mine sound a lot a like - especially the part about him giving you little squeezes and repeating this is going to be fun as a reassurance to himself.

I am going to go against the majority here and tell you to stay with the known and go back to Port Orleans. Since he has been there before and likes it, I would not go from a mod to a value. I certainly can relate to wanting to save the money - but knowing that at least my DS is comfortable in the resort surroundings would more than worth it to me!

This summer, we went to WDW and stayed at CSR. We had a great trip. If you are curious, I am still writing my Trip Report and there is a link to it in my sig below.

On our last day, my DS and DH went minature golfing while my DD and I checked out the values. She really loves 101 Dalmations and since I had never been to the values up close - we checked it out. We went to AS Movies. Granted it was summer, but we were there around 10:00 AM when I would guess a lot of the guests were already headed out to the parks.

I am glad I checked it out personally. The maids were cleaning the rooms and had doors to the rooms open so I was able to get a good look at the size difference of the rooms. There is a significant difference between the mods and values that would have negatively impacted our time in the resort. If your son is like mine, he needs his downtime to relax and so we might spend more time in our resort room than others.

The buildings were much closer to each other as well and without the beautiful landscaping and SPACE that we like at the moderates. We have stayed at both CBR and CSR and really liked the wide sidewalks and open space after lots of time in the parks overwhelmed with the amount of people. We previously went in early May, well before the summer crowds and still needed that comfort zone at the beginning and end of our days while at Disney.

We also checked out the food court. It worked much like the food courts at CSR and CBR, but there was just one huge room to eat in like most of the CS places in the parks. I didn't see any areas off to the side that you could go to get away from the crowds. I know that is something that even got to me while we were in the parks - I wanted to find a place to eat where we were not seated right on top of each other. At the mods I stayed in the tables were spread apart and both had areas where you could eat outside. CSR had multiple places to eat and more space between tables which we liked.
As you know, Asperger kids like routines and surroundings that they are familiar with, and so that is why I encourage you to stay put in a moderate for your family's sanity!

 

[persimmondeb]

Thanks, MDsouth. I am probably going to stay with Port Orleans. We liked it a lot, and it was not only quiet, but pretty and almost serene. And DS liked the food court, the restaurant, the lobby, the fishing area, the playground, and the pool, and has been letting us know this in no uncertain terms!

I took a look and your trip report, and yes, I think your DS and mine have a fair amount in common. My DS is absolutely fixated on that Lego store. He likes Downtown Disney enormously anyway, but that Lego store is the crowning touch. I suspect that if I really wanted to save myself some money I could just book one of the DD good neighbor hotels and let him roam Downtown Disney for a couple of days, LOL.

The point of December was to look at the Xmas decorations, and we may stay with that, but the giftcard promotion they just released is greatly tempting me with the idea of early June instead. Which would make the moderate a complete no-brainer, both because of how they structured the promotion, and the increased importance of a good pool area.

 

[mdsouth]

I am happy to read that you are leaning towards POR again.

The switch in vacation dates along with giftcard promo in early June sounds like a good way to lessen the cost of the trip.
I had not heard about the giftcard in June. We only take a trip to WDW every now and then so I have not been on the lookout for deals. I have also avoided the Codes and Rates board too for that same reason.

I would love to go more often, but my DH only tolerates it every once in awhile, and then of course there is the actual cost of a trip!

We live in Illinois, so a good option for us would be a trip to Chicago to go to the Lego Store there. I was not extaggerating when I stated in my trip report that we spent over two hours in the Lego Store at DtD. popcorn:

In fact, a trip to Chicago and the Lego Store there might be a great idea for my son's birthday in the summer.

 

[persimmondeb]

Fortunately there is a Lego store only about 20 miles from here. He doesn't get to go as often as he'd like, but he does see a fair amount of it. Last time he went they had a Lego trivia contest, which he won, garnering himself a free (if slightly snug) t-shirt, which is the envy of all his friends at school. He keeps trying to talk us into taking him to Denmark so he can go on the factory tour.

Apparently everything about Downtown Disney is wonderful in his eyes, though. However, he's also madly in love with those balloons with the mouse ears, and they only sell those on Main Street at the MK, so an ALL Downtown Disney trip might not quite do it.

 

[TillyMarigold]

My DH has Asperger's and is very high-functioning. He took one look at the decor of the values and said absolutely not, no way, no how, it was too bright and had too much contrast.

He loved both POR and POFQ.

 

[DisDreaminMom]

I say if you can swing it, get a deal on the Family suite at Music. That was nice when we stayed there. For the money, you may as well just go POR, though. The All Stars are just too noisy for my Aspie son. The acoustics in the food court send him up the wall (and me, too). Even CBR is better, and we've been there when it's been super jam packed.

Also, make sure you go in the first week of June. We went the first week this year and it was lovely, temperature and crowd evel wise. We went to Cape Canaveral for a week and then went back to WDW for a few days the next week and the average temp was higher and the crowd levels were insanity. Huge difference in the timing on that one.

We can do crowded. We can barely do hot. But hot AND crowded? Whoooo doggy.

Funny thing, we have to go visit family in Denmark this summer and I'm a little bummed out about it. No Disney trip this year. I didn't know we could tour Lego, though. That would be fun. But not as much fun as WDW. It would double the airfare to fly into Paris to do Disney Paris. That's where my son really wants to go. Grass is always greener, huh?

 

[persimmondeb]

I think you need to make arrangements in advance, but US visitors, at least, may tour the factory. They also have a Legoland park there.

 

[we3are1]

my aspie son (9) and I (plus mom) stayed at Pop in September. We had no issues with noise or crowds and he loved the pools there.
Just thought I would chime in.

 

[AJKMOM]

Make sure you check out the threads about Pop Warner Football week in early December. Sounds like your son would not enjoy that time if they were there. The stay at the All Stars and POR overflow. Could be a nightmare.

 

[persimmondeb]

Pop Warner had been related to some of my school group concern, actually. My boss was there with them, and said they were fine, but after reading Pop Warner comments and complaints on the boards, it's obvious that the conduct of Pop Warner attendees varies greatly from group to group. We're kind of shelving December at this point, actually.

Not only is the promo tempting, I don't think either DH or DS want to wait until December and they have been heavily agitating for June and POR. That'll get us a $500 card, so I'm thinking we'll get the QS plan and use the card for our TS meals.

 

[Ctsplaysinrain]

My 14 yr old with Asperger's did NOT like POP even though it was only for 2 nights. I must say that he had been to a "deluxe" a few times before this and a few times at moderates. He had issues with all the "COLORS" and especially the music that they played outside the rooms through the speakers. He thought the food court was too loud and chaotic also.
I would suggest POR since it is familiar plus it is a more "soothing" resort especially if yours is like mine and likes to take in stuff like the landscaping, ponds etc.