Any here with special need children.....
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| Wed, 08-30-2006 - 10:06am |
Our son has PDD in the autism spectrum. This is his first year to WDW, and I am wondering about how well he is going to do. We are truly blessed to have a mild version of it. Allears has been wonderful in helping us to plan alot of what we are going to do. The main one being the ADR's, and making sure that his main character list is having a meal as well. This may sound silly to most, but our entire trip is centered around Ariel. Getting to her show in MGM, and meeting her in her Grotto in MK. These two are the main reason for this trip. Ds has such a huge crush on her. How long are wait times for meet and greet, and what time should we start lining up. As a Mom, this is my major goal.
We are at the Allstars Movie hotel, and have been alerted about the main pool being redone. We can swim in the "quiet pool." What on earth is a quiet pool, anyway????
Next are the attractions. Along with a special needs child, comes a special needs husband. Dh cannot ride anything fast or spiinning due to extensive ear and sinus surgery. He has major dizziness and hurl factors. Someone told us to try motion sickness pills, but I am not really willing to take chances. I myself cannot ride roller coaster for major hurl factors. Lucky Ds is very scared of fast rides as well. I am listing the "?'s" on our ride factors. Any help right now would be a great help.
AK: Dinosaur and Kali River Rapids for scary factor listed on allears.
Tricaspin and Primeval Whirl for spinning factors
MGM: Great Movie Ride, Muppet 3-Vision, Fantasmic--all have scary factor on allears
EP: Mission Space for dh factor
MK: Splash Mountain for dh factor as well
Haunted Mansion scary factor for ds--although the movie did not scare him
Mickey's Philharmagic--not sure what this is--allears noted as scary factor
Astro Orbit--spinning
Tomorrowland Speedway
Next question: Can you find King Triton's triton and crown anywhere, and are there Power Ranger stores. My main concern is the money factor. I know that souviners can be overwhelming to most, and I am wondering how much money to bring. I know that this is a touchy subject to most when it comes to money. I have not seen many posts about how much to bring. We are looking at about 300.00. Mostly for shirts for all of us, Mickey ears for Ds, and very few toys.
We have the eating plan, so I am not too worried about food. We are bringing snack food for the hotel, and plenty of water, and some snacks in the park themselves. (If we still can.)
Thanks to everyone for all of your help. This is a wonderful board with great posters. We have already planned our next trip for next year. We are shooting for the Port Orleans since has such positive posts for the second week of November 2007. I am just waiting for the reservations to open up with the dining plan and hotel prices.
Happy planning,
Kari

I don't have a special needs child, but I can answer a few of your questions.
I do not have a diagnosed special needs child (I'm sure the schools would claim them all ADD though! ) You mentioned Allearsnet. Have you visited their page on planning with special needs? http://www.allearsnet.com/pl/special.htm
To answer your questions:
'Quiet pool' basically means non themed, nothing special.
The line for Ariels Grotto can get tremendously long. We usually visit in Dec and the shortest I have seen it (at 10am) is 20 min. Typically I see it around 40+ minutes. It's a great meet & greet though. She spend a lot of time with the kids, her grotto is really cool, but it can be really hard for those with a difficult time waiting. Scuttles Landing is right outside of her line and completely visible . Occasionaly the water sprayers work (again we go in Dec, so they probably work more often in summer) and there is a snack bar & tables there. It is possible for you
My DD hates the going backward part of Spaceship Earth too, and in the Haunted Mansion.
Another vote for the Seabands here too, I used tehm all the way through my pg with DD - they worked really well.
Carole
Carole
*****Haunted Mansion - whole thing is in the dark, lots of black light and special effects, catchy song......oddly I find the scariest thing about this ride the cast members who work it and the stretching room! The cast members are SO in character it's great. Your doom buggies don't really do much, there's no drops, they turn a little here and there but not a spinning around thing.*****
I totally agree with Sonya on this! The CM's are always in character....even when a very scared and crying 6 year old wants to leave through a back exit! (I've BTDT with my DS, and was surprised when the one CM remained in character to let us out the door!)
Marcy
I have a child with special needs (down syndrome) and she does great on most of the rides(loves splash mtn, thinder mtn, goofys rollercoaster) but hates things jumping out at her. She will not wear the 3D glasses in any of the shows, hates the part in Haunted Mansion where the heads pop up at you and screetch, Great movie ride is OK for her-she does not like the Alien jumping out at you but it is very quick and I usually just cover her eyes.
Fantasmic can be pretty intense in some parts since there is a lot of 'evil' in the beginning with all the villians. She is scared of this one, but fortunately she usually falls asleep and sleeps through it-LOL!!
Kali is a lot of fun--I do not do ANY thrill rides and hate drops, fast rides or spinning but I love this ride!
Mickey's Philharmagic is awesome--cant really think of anything scary other than the whole 3-d concept. You should definitely try it--it is great!
Ariel always has a very long line-no suggestions there as to a good time other than finding out when she will be there and getting in line a bit before that time.
Depending how your son is with crowds and noise, the quiet pools may be better for you anyway. Typically they are less crowded and quieter.
Astro orbitor I find to be very intense--the spinnig is very tight and you feel it! I would steer away from this if you get motion sickness!!
PO is our favorite hotel! The grounds are beautiful and the boat ride to down town Disney is very nice.
Not sure how old your son is but something I have learned with my daughter--if she is overwhelmed and overstimulated I wrap her snugly in a light blanket and it really seems to help calm her down (she is almost 8 and uses a wheelchair part of the time)
Have a great time and as you know, let your son tell you when enough is enough. This is especially important with kids who have special needs. They can go into overload so quickly at a place like Disney if you try to do it all.