What resort for Nephew w/ Autism

[cydswipe]

Looking for some advice here... thank you thank you thank ahead of time!!!!!!

We are planning a mega family trip next Nov to WDW. I am dealing with 6 different families. We are staying at seperate places and meeting up here and there. We have a few special circumstances, but I'm only addressing one today!

My sister's family of 6 needs a little bit different sleeping arrangements. We have twin boys that will be 12, a 7 year old girl and 5 year old boy.


My nephew is battling autism. He's 12. He has sleeping issues... doesn't do well in hotel rooms. My sis is worried about him waking the rest of the family up. She is also nervous about his ablility as an escape artist.

I would like for them to stay onsite. She was looking at the cabins @ Ft Wilderness and thought that might work... any other suggestions?

Also, will any given resort lock the doors to the balcony if requested. We were looking into renting DVC, but are worried about the sliding doors...

thanks so much for your time!!

 

[Trekkie]

Me, I've always thought that the cabins were one of the best deals in the parks, and often overlooked. To me, the amount of space you get for the money is vastly better than any other place in the parks.

To me, the fact that there's a separate bedroom would be really convenient if part of the group has a different bedtime from the rest of the group. And I suspect that the bunk beds probably appeal to a lot of kids. Assume that that's much preferred over sharing.

And, again in my opinion, they're by far the quietest place in the parks, too. No "thump thump thump" of little feet running in the room above you, or down the corridor past your room.

The time we stayed there, one of my more pleasant memories was of our golf cart trips around the campground, playing "spot the bunny rabbits" with my nephew.

I think that the restaurants at the campground really help contribute to the quiet, "comfort food" atmosphere of the place, too.

That said, though, you mentioned the words "escape artist". One thing I remember about the layout of those cabins is that our cabin had two doors: One in the dining area, accessible from the fold-down bed in the living room, and another in the bedroom. Meaning that no matter where he sleeps, there's a door leading outside in the same room.

Another possible advantage of the cabins: It occurs to me that if you wanted to get your whole group together in one place for a cookout, a cabin could probably handle it. It's a real, full sized kitchen, with a full sized fridge and a dishwasher and an oven and microwave. And the deck is huge. If you wanted to have the whole gang over to your place for burgers, I suspect you could do it.

Another possible drawback of the cabins: One bathroom. In fact, they are the only place I've stayed at Disney where the potty isn't in a separate room from the bathroom sinks. (Although I suppose people could to tooth brushing and similar activities at the kitchen sink.)

And one other drawback of the cabins: The fact that it takes two bus rides to get anywhere (you have to take a bus, just to get to the bus stop), means that they're more isolated, time wise, from the rest of the parks. We found that renting one of their golf carts really helped with that.

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All of that said, though. To me, the only place you could possibly get that might be better for you would be some kind of suite, or some place at one of the Villas. That's the only other way I know of, where you can get multiple, separate, sleeping rooms.

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Edit: About the patio doors.

Every place I've stayed at Disney, the sliding door has TWO locks. One in the normal place, and then a second one, roughly at my eye level. (I'm 6' 3"). And unlocking them does make some noise.

But I don't know if that's "kid proof" enough for you.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

I would check out Old Key West.........they units have regular doors to the balonies and you will have a kitchen and washer dryer handy in the 1 bedroom and larger units.

The resort is a beauty and qiuet and the pace is a bit slower....

Hope it all works out..AKK

 

[Cheshire Figment]

If it is for November of 2012 the Art of Animation Resort will be open, and that is almost entirely family suites designed to sleep six people.

 

[staceyhzoo]

We take alarms for the doors. Just in case dd tries to escape. They are cheap, I got mine in a kit from the National Austism Assoc. in a big red safety box.

Have a great time!

 

[bookwormde]

I would second the OKW idea, a 2br is hard to beat, although they can be a little pricey unless you rent from a member. if you have a few other "pieces" of the family adding studios and doing it as a grand gathering works well to keep all the rooms together, since you still have a living room for a gathering area and a full kitchen.

It is a very alid back resort and is great for ASD kids with multiple quiet pools.

bookwormde

 

[danjoealexis3006]

You could rent the DVC points from a member and save a considerable amount of money off what Disney charges for OKW. Check out this blog as well as the author just went to Disney a few weeks ago and has a blog of her and her family experience with autism and Fort Wilderness!
http://dawnathome.typepad.com/by_sun_and_candlelight/organization/
If this link doesn't work try googling
sun and candlelight organization
Goodluck!

 

[toodycat]

I think OKW is a good idea. I've never stayed there, but I have friends with a kid on the spectrum who have and they felt it suited their needs. Also, it is quiet which is a big plus for kids with autism and your nephew would have his own room instead of a hotel room. My DS is on the spectrum and we always find GF a good choice---especially if there's a deal or pin code involved. Last time we stayed there, we consulted the manager about which room would be best for our son and he put us in a dormer room which had a little more space, but no balcony.

 

[JACH1976]

I was going to suggest renting DVC points too- we stayed at the VWL last year for a few days, and really liked how peaceful it was, and also the convenience of staying so close to the MK. I'm also thinking that having the ability to prepare at least some of their own meals might be a blessing, a lot of the kids on the spectrum can be picky eaters!

 

[jbetz]

You could always try the Treehouse Villas as Saratoga Springs. They have three bedrooms, two baths, and are individual villas. That means if there are melt downs, you won't have to worry about other guests being rude about it. I think the door alarms are a good idea too.

 

[Reddy]

My younger son likes to escape too - we stayed at ASMo, DH took a sleeping bag & slept right in front of the door so no trouble there
the good thing is they didn't even try to leave - they were woren out so they slept without any problems (DH is still taking the sleeping bag - we really don't trust them)

 

[fitzpa]

My son has ASD and is 13. We've stay at the various DVC, but like the BLT the best. The balcony doors have locks on them. We love being able to walk "home" from the Magic Kingdom when he has had enough. No need to wait in line for the monorail or buses.

 

[ireland_nicole]

I know you are wanting for them to stay onsite, but I would just like to suggest Windsor Hills as a very close offsite option. Each house has a private pool, which was wonderful, and we had our own driveway so a lot less drama getting back home at night. It didn't take any longer to get home honestly then at the onsite resorts. It worked incredibly well for our family, and we will def. stay there again on future trips. (fwiw, we drive whether we stay onsite or not; busses and autism are not necessarily a good mix )

 

[suzanny]

I'd also recommend renting a house in the area. It's amazing how good the deals are for a 4 bedroom house within minutes of the attractions. Just make sure there is a lock for their pool. All houses must have locks to keep the little kids safe, it just depends on whether your child can bypass the baby locks.

Last year we stayed at OKW, and my 10 year old daughter decided to have a meltdown at 11:30 at night! We were in a 1 bedroom with her on the pull out sofa. At some point she discovered the television and decided to turn the volume all the way up. I couldn't calm her down when I turned off the tv and after about 10-15 minutes, took her down to the car and we drove around until she fell asleep.

I was embarrassed, because I know she woke up our neighbors. When we returned to our room, several Disney security guards were there with a supervisor. They said there were reports of a loud party with a bunch of girls screaming. I had to laugh! After putting my daughter to bed I stepped back outside and calmly explained that no, it was just one girl with autism having a party all on her own! I was expecting them to say they heard me torturing my child or something, so the party thing was pretty funny to me...

The supervisor handed me his card and said to call him if we need anything. They were very understanding and accomodating. I can only say wonderful things about the staff.

Even after that experience, we're still going to stay at a 1 bedroom again. This time at Animal Kingdom lodge. Not sure I'll be able to keep my daughter off the balcony with our savannah view, but I'm not really worried about her climbing out, just making a lot of noise. We will also only spend every other day at a theme park, instead of four days in a row like last time. It was definitely too stimulating for her.

 

[kehlyrsmom]

We have 2 children on the spectrum started taking them to wdw in 2006 they where ages 6 and 4 at the timw we have gone every years since. We have always stayed at the various value resorts and just requested a quite area my kids used to be runners as well. Nowbmy daughter age 11 is taller then me so I requested a roll away for my son though we have thought about buying a cheap air mattress. We did bok the family suite this year and later dropped down to a regular room to save some money. My husband and I stayed at pofq on an anniversary trip and would probably had booked there instead of the value but we have another couple going with us and they want to stay at a value resort. But pofq is verynice and very peaceful.