Due to abuse, GAC harder to get

[PrincessTracie]

Hi everyone! I had never known there was any special pass given to special needs people until I read this board. I am amazed at the wealth of information I obtain by reading here!

My nephew has a very severe case of OCD, ADHD, ADD and Tourette's. He lives with my parents (His grandparents) since he was very little and my parents have custody of him. We are going to be going to WDW this August and taking him with us. We went last Sept. with him and he had great difficulties in lines and especially at dinners. Way too much stimulation for his brain at one time! We have tried adjusting his medication several times (its an ongoing process) but nothing really has been helping. He takes about 11 pills in one day. I heard about this GAC pass and thought that he may benefit from it. Do you think he will have difficulty getting this pass when we get there? Would it be best to have a doctors note in hand just in case?

Thanks!!

[crazykids]

You do not need a Dr.'s note & they probably will not read it anyway. I've only had one occurance where a CM actually read the dr. note & it was at MGM. I would always carry one though just because I think it carries a little more weight than not having one. I always show them that I have the note. There's so much abuse when it comes to this card, that if there are no outward signs of a disability (ex. autism), some CM's may be skeptical.

[PrincessTracie]

Do you need to get a GAC at each park you visit or is it good for all of them? Also do I need to get one everyday or is it good for my entire visit?

[Here we go again...]

Hi everyone! I had never known there was any special pass given to special needs people until I read this board. I am amazed at the wealth of information I obtain by reading here!

My nephew has a very severe case of OCD, ADHD, ADD and Tourette's. He lives with my parents (His grandparents) since he was very little and my parents have custody of him. We are going to be going to WDW this August and taking him with us. We went last Sept. with him and he had great difficulties in lines and especially at dinners. Way too much stimulation for his brain at one time! We have tried adjusting his medication several times (its an ongoing process) but nothing really has been helping. He takes about 11 pills in one day. I heard about this GAC pass and thought that he may benefit from it. Do you think he will have difficulty getting this pass when we get there? Would it be best to have a doctors note in hand just in case?

Thanks!!

Bring a note just incase. The card is designed for just this reason. Disney trips should be Magical and it sounds like a trip with your nephew would be much more magical with the GAC.
Good luck and I hope you have a wonderful trip.

Do you need to get a GAC at each park you visit or is it good for all of them? Also do I need to get one everyday or is it good for my entire visit?

The pass you get will be marked with the park it came from but is valid at all parks and will be good for the length of stay.

[djsharp]

First off I'd like to thank all of you for all the wonderful information about the GAC.

My son's in a self contained special education classroom and his teacher told me about them and I've been researching the boards on a couple of sites about them. She said that she can give us a letter to help with getting a pass.

Has anybody else ever use a letter from their child's teacher? We just moved 3000 miles from our son's previous dr's and haven't gotten any new ones yet. Our son has multiple disabilities due to Shaken Baby syndrome, but the majority of his disabilities fall within the Tramatic Brain injury category. We have waited till now (he's 17) to even attempt to go due to behavior issues, developmental issues, and such, but feel that he'll be able to handle the most of the parks. We plan on using the fastpass system as much as possible and taking a break in the middle of the day when we are anticipating the biggest crowds, but we will be there from 7/10-7/18 (19 days to go!) and do anticipate a busy park. As many of you have said, we want to get the pass "just in case". We don't have time to find a local Dr and everything. He's going to be so excited (when we finally tell him- as we drive up to the Pop Century Hotel!)that we feel that a moderate amount of time in line would be fine (he does well at state fairs and such) He's not in a wheel chair or anything, and he won't have a problem getting around, but like a lot of kids with disabilities, just looking at him you'd never know. The biggest issue is he wants to ride on a ride and there is no fastpass available and the line is real long. He's so unpredictable that sometimes large crowds don't bother hm, but other times they do.

The other question I have is do we need to get a GAC for each member of our party that may need one or can one pass be good for two people?

As I sit here, my back is reminding my of my issue. Standing still for any length of time or walking around slowly (which I anticipate us doing so that we can see everything) makes my lower back give out and I end up walking around hunched over. When I go to a store, sometimes I get a cart just for something to lean on if I know that I'm going to be brousing. Dr's say it's in my head or that I just need to lose weight (i'm 5'5" and weight 170 lbs! I hate Dr's) so it's not like I've overly overweight. But I don't want to ruin my son's time because I can't stand in the line later in the day, because my back has tighten up. I don't feel like I'd need a wheelchair by the end of the day, just some place to sit while we wait our turn.

Again, thanks for all the info.

[tinkerbellybutton]

Hi, When I got the GAC I brought a drs note but they didn't even bother to look. The more documentation you can bring the easier it will be, I've heard they've gotten more strict. With a GAC for your son it will allow your family, I think up to 5 members to use the alternate entrance. The alternate entrance in some rides is a God send, I was able to sit and stand at will while I waited for my turn and that makes all the difference. Since you're staying onsite, they have W/C at no charge at the resorts if you ned one for your length of stay. I bring my own but before that I used tham from the resorts. However, there is a lmited supply so if you think you'll need it for your back, get it at check in. Have a great trip. I'm so excited for you! Especially being able to keep it a secret

[Marilyn Michetti]

Ahhhhhh, the busses ! I HATE them. They load me first because it's the LAW ! The driver cannot leave his seat unattended, so he must shut the front door, load my scooter, then let the passengers on. Frankly, if I were waiting to get on the bus, I'd be "ticked" too, but it is what it is.

Some busses, (front loaders) are really hard, and if there are already passengers onboard, they don't move their feet or knees, and the looks could kill.

I bring my scooter, and this year, bought a much smaller one just for the trip. It's light enough that my DH can lift it into the spot, so I'm REALLY hoping that this year will be easier.

As for the GAC, I don't even ask for one. I can wait in the line better than anyone - I'm sitting down.

There aren't any easy answers re: the bus problem unless Disney builds a four park monorail. The lines? If someone can't wait in the line, there should be an area where disabled or children with ADD and autism, etc. can wait with a ticket that corresponds to the line wait time. Family members can stand in the regular line, hand the ticket to the CM and "claim" the one waiting, and the family member waiting with them? FULL OF HOLES? Yeah, probably, but it's 114 here today.

[tinkerbellybutton]

Ahhhhhh, the busses ! I HATE them. They load me first because it's the LAW ! The driver cannot leave his seat unattended, so he must shut the front door, load my scooter, then let the passengers on. Frankly, if I were waiting to get on the bus, I'd be "ticked" too, but it is what it is.

Some busses, (front loaders) are really hard, and if there are already passengers onboard, they don't move their feet or knees, and the looks could kill.

I bring my scooter, and this year, bought a much smaller one just for the trip. It's light enough that my DH can lift it into the spot, so I'm REALLY hoping that this year will be easier.

As for the GAC, I don't even ask for one. I can wait in the line better than anyone - I'm sitting down.

There aren't any easy answers re: the bus problem unless Disney builds a four park monorail. The lines? If someone can't wait in the line, there should be an area where disabled or children with ADD and autism, etc. can wait with a ticket that corresponds to the line wait time. Family members can stand in the regular line, hand the ticket to the CM and "claim" the one waiting, and the family member waiting with them? FULL OF HOLES? Yeah, probably, but it's 114 here today.

I don't think it's full of holes, I completely agree with you. As I said in another post when I get to the bus line, I and my family wait for a bus to fill and pull off before we even get in line, I think that you're idea of a "claim check" is a good one with the exception of the fact that I want to spend time with my family while we wait. So why don't they have a seperate area and like you said some sort of pass that has the wait time so that fair is fair. I'm more than willing to ALWAYS wait my turn and would love to see Disney make more of the lines accessible like the newer rides but as you said it is what it is.

[djsharp]

Thanks for all the info. I know for sure that I'm going to be bringing alot of ibruprophin (sp)from home. 19 days and counting, I can hardly wait to see Louie's face (husband is going to have the video camera on and ready while I'm driving) once he realizes where we are! I really don't think he'll figure it out till we take the "train" (IE: Monorail) ride after we check in on the first day and he can see the "Cinderella's House". I have been reading the post on this web site all day in various threads and now I think I'm even more addicted! haha

One other question that you all might be able to help me with. Where are the threads/post for the Pal Mickey? I'm still researching if it's going to something that we could/should get for Louie and I was surprised I couldn't find any post on his here.

[Brainiak5]

wow...we're going down next week and i'm going to be using a scooter for the week as i'm recovering from foot surgery and am just off of a wound vac...my wound care nurse had suggested the doctors note, and i had almost put her off- until i read this board.

i've never gotten upset or judgemental if someone without a "visible" disability had a pass for something. i'm 6'3" and 300 pounds and if you look at me without seeing my feet, everything looks fine. i had always assumed those who are caretakers or parents of kids with disabilities wouldn't make that stuff up- they have much more important things to worry about. for those individuals who try to lie to manipulate the system - shame on them. i'd rather have someone "get away" with something than have 1 person who really needed the assistance to enjoy their vacation get denied.

[djsharp]

I told my husband what you all said about the GAC pass for our son. But he doesn't believe that the CM's would care if my back was hurting and I needed to sit down to wait for a ride because the pass was given if Louie was/would having problems. What has been your experience with this? If Louie's doing fine standing in the lines and the pass was given because of him, but my back goes out from all the standing around not moving, and I need to utilize it, wouldn't that be kind of like cheating if I didn't have a pass of my own for if I needed it? I hope it wouldn't be viewed that way.

[bkfree]

I have a son who is 9 and has autism. We will be making our 3rd trip to Disney the first of Dec. While we have always gotten him the GAC, I am happy to say we have never had to use it.
We try and stack the odds in his favor in other ways.
We always go during low crowd value season so the lines are very managable.
We take advantage of EMH, especially early morning at Epcot.
We always get FP when available.
We always opt for waiting in line and then play it by ear. Usually if he has a snack or drink he is occupied during the wait. Other times the wait gives his the chance to check out the ride and surroundings before we get onboard and this helps him.
He has to wait his turn at school and in life in general, there are no GACs in the real world and we try and prepare him for that.
After being the parent of a special boy for the last 9 years, the number of tricks up our sleeves that we have to entertain and distract him are innumerable.
BUT, if ever he truly does become agitated or stresses beyond control then I will quickly whip out that GAC as fast as I can.
WDW has always proven to be a magical place for him and he returns home sprinkled with lots of fairy dust.
I did see many that I thought was abusing the GAC system, that just gave us more incentive to not use ours unless totally needed.
We visit other places on vacation in similiar circumstances and they don't offer GAC's. If he can do it there, he can do it at WDW.
SO far so good.

[Here we go again...]

Bkfree,
I applaud you for teaching your child that the park is not different than the real world.

There are so many people that want the GAC because their children are difficult to handle.

A child with Autism can function in the real world. But for those times that they are overwhelmed or do have a complete meltdown it is nice to have other options so that you do not have to end your day.

I would really like it if you could share some of the things you do in line to help keep your son distracted. There are many famlies with Autistic children that would love some help in this area.

[bkfree]

Here are some things that help when we are in a waiting situation.

Play back some video we have taken at the parks on our small Sony Handycam that we always have with us.

Take goofy pics of him with the digital camera, let him see them,delete them and do some more. It is amazing how long this keeps him occupied.

Get him a frozen coke. He loves them and it takes a while to **** through the straw.
Ditto with popcorn. He will sit and eat it and people watch for a long time.

A few small matchbox cars I keep in my bag will also entertain him in line.

A YoYo also keeps him occupied,(Us too)

We also keep a small pair of binoculars with us and he loves to sit and look around the park with them.(Us too)

Stickers . Sticking them on our face, his face,his sister and anywhere else deemed entertaining.

He loves Blues Clues so we get a pen and a very small spiral notebook and he looks around and tells us where the clues are and we draw a picture of it.

A small personal battery operated fan also keeps him occupied. Those really small cheap ones.

The month before we go I start collection small things and keep them hidden from him and that is our "line bag of tricks". I also pick up a few things from the parks during our trip.
ALso the great day after Thanksgiving sale at the Disney store gets me a big load of small stuff.

[bkfree]

P.S. I can't believe I forgot our #1 most useful and successful tool with our son, his MP3 player.It is tiny and fits easily in his pocket with ear buds.Bought it at Walamart for about $30 and it is fantastic.
We have it loaded with all of his favorite songs, mostly country. In the car, restaurants and waiting in line he just plugs it in and is a happy and patient boy.

I can't imagine what we would do with out this invention.
FYI= We have the one that uses a AAA battery so that we do not have to worry about it running out of a charge. It is so easy to slip an extra battery in my bag or pocket.

[DigitalDaredevil]

I learned something from this thread. Thank you to those who have posted. My girlfriend's mother is very ill of cancer and amazingly she has been a survivor far beyond her prognosis. She has never been to WDW and stated that she would like to go. I told her that I would take her so that she can enjoy all of the happiness and joy that WDW offers .
I was unaware of the GAC but she definitely applies to its rules in many ways. I appreciate the Intercot community as I learn more and more about WDW even though I have been there many times.
Are there any more suggestions that people can give for me in my situation? She has been attacked by cancer horribly but still fights it like no other. I just want to make sure that she has the best time that she can.
Thanks Intercot Community!

[ElenitaB]

DigitalDaredevil, this thread has lots of useful hints in it.

Have a magical trip!

[dizneegirl]

It's not just that its difficult to handle my child when he has a meltdown. Its the fact that we put everyone around us through hell, we have to feel embarrassed that our child is causing a scene, and the fact that he may be done for the day. Now what do I do with my daughters? Do they have to sit in the hotel all day because I was trying to teach my son to be better at waiting? I'm sorry, but we only can afford to come to Disney about once every two years. Its our vacation, not a chance to do more therapy with my sons, no matter how motivating the ride might be.

I, too, am angry that people abuse the GAC. But for some of us, its the difference between enjoying our vacation and wishing we had just stayed home.

I completely agree with you. I, too, agree that the GAC should not be abused but my child is a threat to himself and others around him (hitting, biting, screaming) when he is in a crowded and overstimulating situation. Because of his condition, he does not understand the concept of waiting and while we are addressing this in therapy he should be able to enjoy Disney just as much as anyone else without having to go through meltdowns everytime we have to wait in line.

I am sure Disney will work something out that will be in the best interest of everyone.

[murphy1]

Kim, don't feel like you shouldn't use the card, I was in line behind a lady and her son at TT and they had one, I was pretty sure he was autistic (just b/c of a couple of things that happened in the line), we had FP. I am still healing from a June surgery and thought about getting one, but didn't, I had one before b/c of a vein problem during pregnancy which was a lifesaver. I think definitely parents of special needs kids deserve to use the card.

[DigitalDaredevil]

Thank you Elenita for your thread direction. We leave in a few weeks and she is very excited about the trip.
Not only do CM's make Disney a great place, it is the Disney Community that makes it so special also.
Thanks again!