Wish me luck, heading to WDW with my little Autistic guy...

[snowangel72]

Tyler (he's 6) is high functioning and you would never know, other than the *ahem* screaming and crying when something freaks him out. Last time it was the Nemo ride (screamed and cried because it was too dark) but of course my four year old daughter loves it. We probably won't even go to Epcot this time.

He won't go on most rides that are too dark and BOTH of my kids are petrified of "The big guys" meaning ANY character. They are just too "big" apparently. So character meals are out of the question for us (learned that the hard way two years ago, oops). They hate the parade because of the "big guys" but I make them go because I love it. Last year they both cried during the parade

We are hoping to get Tyler to see Playhouse Disney this year. Caitlin loves it but Tyler was too scared last year. He loves the new Toy Story ride so we will for sure go on that.

So yeah, pretty limiting. But they both love Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon and Daytona which we will hit up one or two days for sure.

Anyway, wish me luck. You just never know what will happen when you are travelling with a child with Autism

Tell me I can do this and that everything will be ok. This will be our third trip with him and we just hope for good days when we wake up in the morning because it's always a crapshoot.

 

[bookwormde]

Enjoy you visit, one thing for sure is that with a child on the spectrum it is never boring.

For the parades you might try to find a vantage point that is further back and preferably higher up, we have found the 2nd floor patio at the train station at the entrance to MK to be an excellent spot (not to mentions a good place to make a quick “escape” from).

Yes you can do it, it actually gets “easier” each time as your child develops more skills and you learn more “tricks”.

bookwormde

 

[teachallday]

Good Luck, I leave in 5 days and have some of the same unknowns, but for us, my little princess has never been before.

As for the fear of characters, be prepared for this to change. Just because they were afraid of them last time, does not mean both of them will be afraid of them this time. Some kids will also find a differnce between full body costumes and face characters. Your daughter may really enjoy the characters this time, especially if she can see some away from big brother, so she doesn't pick up on his fear. Good Luck, and remember deep breaths and going with the flow and interests of the kids will make the trip more enjoyable.

 

[clanmcculloch]

Tyler (he's 6) is high functioning and you would never know, other than the *ahem* screaming and crying when something freaks him out. Last time it was the Nemo ride (screamed and cried because it was too dark) but of course my four year old daughter loves it. We probably won't even go to Epcot this time.

He won't go on most rides that are too dark and BOTH of my kids are petrified of "The big guys" meaning ANY character. They are just too "big" apparently. So character meals are out of the question for us (learned that the hard way two years ago, oops). They hate the parade because of the "big guys" but I make them go because I love it. Last year they both cried during the parade

We are hoping to get Tyler to see Playhouse Disney this year. Caitlin loves it but Tyler was too scared last year. He loves the new Toy Story ride so we will for sure go on that.

So yeah, pretty limiting. But they both love Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon and Daytona which we will hit up one or two days for sure.

Anyway, wish me luck. You just never know what will happen when you are travelling with a child with Autism

Tell me I can do this and that everything will be ok. This will be our third trip with him and we just hope for good days when we wake up in the morning because it's always a crapshoot.

It's pretty remarkable just what will set them off, isn't it?

Will then meet characters that are human sized like princesses? They're no bigger than any other adult. If they can handle people in human costumes then they may enjoy Cinderella's Royal Table (breakfast or lunch) or Akershus (any time) meals. They only have princesses. In China, we met Mulan and in France we met Belle (she wasn't RIGHT next to the Beast; they had separate lines) and Aurora.

I'm not sure why you think it's necessary to skip Epcot. If your daughter loves the Nemo ride then one of you can go on the ride with her while the other parent stays with him looking at the nearby fish (assuming there are 2 adults; I know I'm making an assumption). They may also enjoy Turtle Talk with Crush. Don't forget about all the countries and the fun hands on activities in Innovations plus the interesting things in the Land. They might REALLY enjoy the Kim Possible adventure through the World Showcase and they'll likely also really enjoy the Kodak sponsored activities through in the gift shop in the Imagination area (can't recall the name but it's between the gift shop and the Figment ride). If he had a small flashlight that he could shine on the floor, would he be able to handle rides that have short dark areas between fun stuff (like Figment or the ride)?

I know what you mean about the parades. For me, it's the fireworks that I really want to see, but because we HAVE to keep our kids on a fairly consistent schedule to prevent meltdowns, we can't stay at the parks until it's dark which means I never get to see the fireworks. We did try Fantasmic one night and we ended up with a horrible meltdown waiting for the bus and on the bus. I agreed to do without after that. One of these days I hope to be able to afford to stay at a resort with a Magic Kingdom view so I can see Wishes from my room. Sigh....

Yes, you can do this and yes it will be ok. It'll be better than ok in fact; it'll be great!

 

[KirstenB]

I hope you have a great trip!!

 

[fitzpa]

Good luck!

I find that every trip we take, our DS does better and better. He has low functioning autism.

 

[Tissa]

We just got back from another trip and my autistic ds did so good this time. He is really starting to do more and he was just so happy there that I just wanted to cry tears of joy most of the time. Still that brings the total of things he does or rides to 5. You just never know how they are going to react from trip to trip. Good luck and I wish you all the best!

Oh, we always skip parades and fireworks. They are just too much for him.

 

[zstyles]

Good luck and have fun...we are taking our little one in a few years who is PDD-NOS so look forward to your report!