Was asked if I had a card by a CM....

[MomRN]

My 3 1/2 yr old child has anxiety issues... his "scared of" list is a mile long. We have a drs appt in a few weeks to discuss this, but I was curious about something...

He has to be prepared for certain things. He has to understand them or he'll be afraid. So when we went to character spot at Epcot, before we got in line, I got on his level and explained to him that we would wait in line and then we would go see Mickey, then Minnie, etc. I explained they would be tall like mommy, would not talk, but may want to hug him or shake his hand. During our little talk, the Cm asked if we had a disability card. We did not, as it wasn't necessary; as long as he knows what to expect we avoid any potential periods of anxiety.

My question is this... if we did have a card, what would that have changed? Would they have "talked" to the characters so that they knew not to be (what's the word I'm looking for?) "too friendly"

BTW, the first time we went through he was skittish, and mommy, daddy, or sissy was in every picture- typically between him and the character. By the end of the trip he loved the characters and wanted to see Chip and Dale.

 

[kmgt]

Hmmm - I'm not sure. Maybe they would have talked to the character first. Told them not to touch your son? I know sometimes kids with autism have to be warned that they are going to touched so they can be prepared for it. Maybe they thought it was the type of situation?

 

[jmartinez1895]

I don't know if it is just they newer way of doing things, but our first trips before we needed a GAc, we would have the Cms just tell us when it was our turn to meet the character, but every year that we have had the GAC we get asked by the CM if ther is any thing the character needs to know. Our son has immuno issues and one year his levels where low so when he meet the princess we told the Cm that he could give them a fast hug, but no kisses this time. That Cm took our son over to them and introduce "Prince Noah " and told them that he would love to get some fast hugs, but because he's not a frog he will not be needing kisses from them.

 

[MomRN]

I thought it may be something like that, but I was just curious. The Cms were extremely friendly and encouraging. I also have to say that the characters did a wonderful job of gauging my sons willingness to be near them. I was slightly disapointted that the Pooh characters at CM didn't make much of an effort- they were all to willing to walk away when he backed up from them- but I can certainly understand why they do that. However, what started out as just reaching a hand out... like Minnie and Buzz did... moved on to him accepting holding a hand, to going up to them alone, to even hugs.

 

[PatMcDuck]

We were told years back by several CMs that our GAC would get us FOTL for character meet and greets. We were surprised, but never even tried to do that. it seemed too unfair, because my son could wait, and I was worried people in the line would FREAK out on us too. We have had characters give us a little extra time, though, or see us even though they were headed out for a break and we were next. (my son's disability is obvious).

I understand some children perhaps needing FOTL for characters, like some MAW guests, of course, this was just not the case for us.

 

[Oglet]

Disney doesn't even have a consistent rule on Characters with cards. Generally speaking, a lot depends on the attendant.

As a general rule, it is regular line however depending on the captain, attendants or management this can and does vary from area to area.

 

[livndisney]

The GAC is intended for attractions and is not intended for use in Character lines. It is not intended as a FOTL or immediate access.


That being said, MAW GAC's/pins have their own set of rules (as it should).


If you have a child who needs to approach a character in a certain way, it is best to speak directly with the handler. They will have a word with the character.

 

[Oglet]

As a Character Attendant I have been instructed in places such as Camp Minnie Mickey to accept them. This has been told by Captains and Management. The exact wording given was "You can either accept them or we can because if they complain we will do it anyway" (within the last month)

With that said its not like it everywhere it depends on as I said before who is running the area at the time and if they can be bothered enforcing the rules.

 

[SueM in MN]

We were told years back by several CMs that our GAC would get us FOTL for character meet and greets. We were surprised, but never even tried to do that. it seemed too unfair, because my son could wait, and I was worried people in the line would FREAK out on us too. We have had characters give us a little extra time, though, or see us even though they were headed out for a break and we were next. (my son's disability is obvious).

I understand some children perhaps needing FOTL for characters, like some MAW guests, of course, this was just not the case for us.

That may have been true many years ago, when you were told that information, but is not true now.

I have been told by Guest Relations CMs that Guest Assistance Cards can be used in the permanent character greeting areas. They are not meant to give front of the line access, or access without waiting, but to provide assistance with waiting. That might be things like being able to wait on the side, outside of the line. I (and other people) have been told GACs are not used for the non permanent character interactions - such as when Beauty and the Beast appear out in the open in France.

For the original poster, there is more information about GACs in post #6 of the disABILITIES FAQs thread near rhe top of the board.
I personally don't see anything that you have mentioned that a AGAC would help with. It sounds like you handled it well and took care of your child's fears.
Even if you had a GAC, that would just alert the handler that there was more about your child than meets the eye. You would still have to explain thst he was fearful, or they should approach him slowly.

 

[Brightsy]

The last time I was at WDW was summer 2009. I took my younger DS to the Epcot Character Station. The line was simply ginormous. I showed the CM our GAC, hoping we could have an alternate waiting area, somewhere I could entertain my child w/out him getting freaked by the long line. It wasn't to be, instead the CM asked me to wait right there. He let three families go, then asked the 4th family if they'd be willing to let my DS go next. The dad glanced over at us, saw my son rocking on his heels and bouncing. He took in my DSs earmuffs. He smiled and told his kids that they were going to let a special Prince go in front of them. The kids were amazingly OK with it. We had a good time thanks to that family and the CM.

 

[ratlenhum]

The last time I was at WDW was summer 2009. I took my younger DS to the Epcot Character Station. The line was simply ginormous. I showed the CM our GAC, hoping we could have an alternate waiting area, somewhere I could entertain my child w/out him getting freaked by the long line. It wasn't to be, instead the CM asked me to wait right there. He let three families go, then asked the 4th family if they'd be willing to let my DS go next. The dad glanced over at us, saw my son rocking on his heels and bouncing. He took in my DSs earmuffs. He smiled and told his kids that they were going to let a special Prince go in front of them. The kids were amazingly OK with it. We had a good time thanks to that family and the CM.

Same for us over the summer. After showing our GAC we waited outside the doors for 5 minutes or so. We heard a CM ask people if they would mind if a "special boy" came in and had a turn? Who is going to say no?? Yeah people may have waited an hour online but at that point, you're 2 minutes away from the goal of meeting the characters. A CM walked to each character with us. We saw Minnie and moved over to the next character. The kid behind us was still busy one character back so Minnie came over and tapped my son on the shoulder. He turned and she put out her hand. He took it and she started dancing with him. It was so spontaneous and so cute.

 

[blessedmom4]

Ratlenhum~ Those pictures are adorable and priceless, Thanks for sharing! I needed a smile this morning.

 

[aduck126]

That Cm took our son over to them and introduce "Prince Noah " and told them that he would love to get some fast hugs, but because he's not a frog he will not be needing kisses from them.

haha, that is amazing! one of the many reasons why disney is the best.

 

[MomRN]

Thanks for all the replies. I didn't even think of FOTL privileges...truthfully one of his best times was watching the cartoons at the Epcot Character station. As I mentioned he does really well when things are just explained.

However, I got the horrible mom of the year award for TOT. I knew he would love the drop- and he did- if we could get past the "scary" part of the hotel. All prepared, no breakdowns... until I realized there were the Twilight Zone scenes before the drop, and that there was more than one drop. Oh he handled it okay, but I never heard the end of it. I should have done more research on that ride, had I known...

Seriously though that ride should be 40"+ and at least 5. Maybe 50. But that was the only issue we had the whole time at WDW, so I can't complain.