We are headed to WDW for Halloween! We are yet to book our flights, landing either the 29th or 30th. We are a party of six. Two of our party are children with sensory problems. We have 5 day passes.
We will not be attending
MNSSHP. We are thinking about going to the MK until 7 then head over to Fort Wilderness for campfire and trick or treating.
According to "research" the crowd levels will be low. How would you plan the rest of this trip?
I was thinking 2 days in the MK 1 decorated for Halloween, 1 decorated for Christmas.
1. I wouldnt plan on crowds being low on 10/31. Myself I would make MK my first and last day. So definitely 2 days at MK, with one at the others. If you have hoppers I'd be more inclined to do: 2 MK, 1.5 AK, 1 HS and .5 EP. But thats just me - we have Star Wars and animal lovers.
We went last summer with our daughter with ASD and our son with SPD. A few things we learned to help with sensory issues:
- Wear ear plugs at all times in the parks. The constant noise is overwhelming.
- Wear sunglasses and hat ( protects from glare for sensitive eyes, but the hat also provides proprioceptive input)
- (If old enough) Allow them to wear a backpack and keep a couple "heavy" items in it like a bottle or two of water. Again, proprioceptive input.
- Take breaks. Seek out some calmer quiter areas to rest (Tom Sawyers Island is great) But ask a CM - they have quiet rest places available in all parks.
- If watching fireworks, use heavy duty headphones on top of the ear plugs.
- Things you may want to avoid: Test Track, Stitch, Dinosaur, Its Tough to be A Bug, Indiana Jones. Those all have sudden loud noises, or are in dark environments with sudden startles etc...
- Google Disney Cognitive Guide for a comprehensive guide on every ride/attraction to get an idea of anything else you might want to avoid (it tells you if its loud, dark, scary, bumpy etc).
- Get to bed on time. Being over tired makes sensory issues worse, and leaves children less able to cope. So as much as possible - make sure you're sticking to a routine. In our 7 days in park we only did two nights. And we made sure they were followed by a day off so they could rest. Every other day we had a routine: same wake up, same breakfast time, same supper time, same bedtime. What happened between breakfast and supper always varied but we tried to keep a few things fixed. It helps.
- If they're anxious about a ride, don't push them into riding it, thinking they'll be fine once they're on it.
