Which one park for child with Autism?

[poohbearkris]

Hi,
I have a friend who will be taking his son to Disney, but only for one day. He is 10 years old and has autism. They are concerned about the rides and his reaction. I was just looking for opinions from anybody as to what they thought would be the best park. I was kind of thinking Hollywood studios, but as I do not have a child with Autism (I understand each child is different), I was just wondering if anybody who has taken their child their with a diagnosis of Autism had an opinion of which park their child enjoyed the most. Thanks so much.

[Jenemmy]

Hmmm -- it really depends on the kiddo and what he likes. For my son, I would probably pick MK because there are just more options. I can tell you that we avoid Animal Kingdom like the plague with my autistic child -- for some reason, it completely un-nerves him. He has never had a good experience there (although I love the park).

Remember that a guest assistance pass could make all the difference whether his day is successful or not. I would highly recommend that. There is no way we would last more than an hour or two without it.

[Strmchsr]

I agree that it depends on the child. DHS has a lot of shows that are noisy and flashy. Fun for most, but would that overwhelm your child? Same for MK. A ton of activity. Epcot is probably the "calmest" of the parks. It just depends on how well your child handles stimulus. If he is easily over-stimulated I would suggest Epcot.

[Mickey'sGirl]

Epcot is it for both of my Autistic sons. They like the space and the interactive activities at Innoventions. They love the World Showcase and Test Track.

Animal Kingdom is the bottom of the list for us -- We rarely spend more than a couple of hours there during a holiday.

[CzepielCrew]

My autistic son loved most of the rides, but could have done without most of the shows. The volume is set very loud.

[littlesister]

I would choose EPCOT for one day. There is a lot to see and do there without being overstimulated and more quiet places and food choices. Have fun!

[Briansmom]

As others have stated, since there is such a range of kids on the spectrum, it is so totally dependent on the child. Our son LOVES any of the rides that give him the most motion stimulation.....the faster and more turns, the better. Needless to say, RNRC, EE, BTMRR, Primeval Whirl, Dinosaur, TT, Soarin, KRR are among his favorites. That being said....here is an example of the huge range within ONE child.....he also LOVES small world as well...mostly because of the spinning items and all the movement and HM because of the darkness and the ghosts!! (well, yes, I guess it's my fault....he just LOVES the World in general...lol). Also, shows are not his cup of tea either.

Whatever park you decide on, they MUST get the Guest Assistance Pass as a PP stated....it will make all the difference in the world as to whether it's an amazing experience or the worst thing they have ever done.

Also, don't know how mobile the child is, but we rent a wheelchair for our son while we are there and it keeps him from getting tired and keeps us all at a good pace.

I hope they have fun....we have discovered that DW is an amazingly therapeutic place for our son. Too bad health insurance doesn't cover the cost of the trips as therapy!

[Bob Parr]

My son has aspergers, and while every case is different I would let the boy decide where he'd like to go. let him watch the vacation dvd or check out each park and let him decide on his own. Having some idea of what to expect makes a HUGE difference for my son. That and a GAC.

[Rekenna]

Wow, that's a tough one. DS2 has just been labled Autistic and has been to all 4 parks-twice. He loves everything-at least the rides he was big enough to ride. He likes it rough.

Like the other posters have said all people with Autism are different and react differently to all things. Can you outline some of the things at each park for him, maybe show him park maps and describe the attractions to him? Maybe then he can make the decision-this way he has a little control over what's going on. My DS though only 2 is very indpendent and likes making his own decisions.

Good luck, I hope he has a great time!

[wire0monkey]

I think the idea of having him watch a park planning DVD and maybe some ride videos on YouTube is a really excellent one.

If I had to choose for him, I'd go to Epcot first. It has more room and lots of places to find quiet, "chill out" space in case the kid gets overloaded on sensation. I think Soarin (gentle simulator)', Test Track (intro level thrill ride), Journey into Imagination (animatronics), Spaceship Earth (more animatronics) and the Mexico ride (more animatronics) give a good overview of what Disney has to offer. There is a good character meet and greet.

If the rides go bust, the family could still have a really nice time walking around the World Showcase and watching the live entertainment and having snacks.

I would not do MK before Epcot. It's just too much. It's more crowded. More frantic. More colorful. Louder.

If Epcot goes well, they can come back and try MK and the other parks.

[NoDramaMama]

There has been a ton of great advice given here. It really does depend on their son and what kind of 'stimming' he requires. Some kinds are overstimulated and hyper, HYPER sensitive to noises, crowds, flashing lights, etc. Other kids are persistently understimulated and LOVE spinning, swinging, flipping, whirling-- it's their body craving the proprioceptive stimulation it needs. I think that no matter which park, it will depend largely on his parents and how well they know their son. If they watch him carefully for signs of needing breaks, snacks, etc, he will do fine at any of the parks, but some might require more intervention than others. As lots of people have mentioned, Animal Kingdom seems to be a lot for kids on the Spectrum. I personally think it has to do with how logically and concrete many autistic kids see the world.

Animal Kingdom sent my Asperger's son who is normally very well-adapted into a tizzy. Not literally, he didn't have a tantrum or break down, but he was just BOTHERED the entire time. The animals everywhere, and the safari- he knows that these animals belong in AFRICA and we were in FLORIDA and that was just WRONG, WRONG, WRONG, lol. I can remember him so plainly on the safari- " OH MY GOD. THERE AREN'T SUPPOSED TO GIRAFFES IN FLORIDA, WHAT IS ***WRONG**** WITH THIS PLACE?" Why doesn't the MK bother him as much? Well, because everyone knows the Princesses and Mickey and Buzz Lightyear aren't REAL. But those animals ARE real, and they are SUPPOSED to be in AFRICA, dagnabbit. And they aren't in cages like at the Zoo, they are only supposed to be at the Zoo, these animals are roaming free on a Safari and WE ARE IN FLORIDA, not AFRICA!! I can laugh at it because this doesn't stop our family dead in our tracks, we've learned to adjust and redirect...but for other families, quirky things like this can make for a really long, hard day.

However, at his age and after all the OT and Word finding therapy and me just being very open with him that he sees the world differently and he just has to understand that we all don't see it that way and that doesn't make either way wrong, just different. So he copes well in situations like that. His nervous habit when he's uncomfortable is he rubs the top of his right ear. When we were in AK, he liked to rubbed that thing clear off, lol.

He loved Epcot and I got him a list of what countries are in the world showcase so that he could research them before we went. Of course, he also had to point out everything they didn't get quite right, lol.

I think that at the child's age, and depending on how profound his symptoms are, it would be a great idea to let him watch the DVD and see what he perks up at.

One thing I would ask Guest Services (I don't know if they actually do this or not) is if there is any way they could give them an option to switch parks should they realize that 'whoops, ok, AK was a big mistake." I would hate to see them only get a one day non-park hopper and wind up regretting that because they realized they might have done better in a different park. Because, really, you can plan and plan and predict, but you can never tell what that day will be like.

[BrerGnat]

We just got back from a week at WDW with our sons. One has Autism.

We spent over 80% of our park time at EPCOT. He LOVED it there. There is a lot of sensory stimulation stuff there. Fountains, lights (at night), interactive games, etc. His favorite things were Spaceship Earth, the Fountain of Nations and the jumping fountains at Imagination Pavilion, and the Great Piggy Bank Adventure game at Innoventions. He also loved the playground structure that is set up for the Flower and Garden Festival.

We never even went to DHS. Nothing there that our kids would like, that we don't have here at DLR. Loud shows are NOT cool with our son...

MK really bothered him the first day there. He is used to Disneyland, and he was very thrown off by the differences. He kept saying "it's the same as Disneyland, but different." He was agitated that certain rides were not where he "thought" they should be, and that some things were missing altogether. By the second trip over there, he was better, but the MK was just so crowded that he didn't like being there very much.

He liked AK. I think he liked all the trees, the soothing music, and the sort of claustrophobic feel. He likes hiding under blankets and being in dark spaces, so he actually liked how AK feels sort of enclosed. Some autistic kids would HATE this, though. He also loves flowers and plants, so he found AK very interesting. As for the rides, though, he's not into thrills, so we did the Safari, Triceratops Spin, and he spent a LOT of time in the Boneyard playground.

Oh, and DEFINITELY get a Guest Assistance Card. We got one and it was worth it's weight in gold all week. We have never utilized one of these at Disneyland, and I thought we'd never need it, but being in a new place really caused a lot of anxiety and increase in stimming behaviors that we don't typically see at home to that degree. He would have wanted to spend the entire week at the hotel if not for the GAC.

[Mickey'sGirl]

Nat, our guys were equally agitated by the differences between Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom when we went to California a couple of years ago. So many things were "wrong" to them! I absolutely understand what you are saying.

[TexansInNY]

LOL - our youngest is autistic and has Partial Trisomy 7 - hence the 2 year gap in our trips - but heading back - he attends an autistic pre-school which is a Blessing! I love hearing how - even though they are so different - they are so much alike! It really does depend on the child. Our child loves Disney and Stitch, Buzz Lightyear, so that buys us a piece of MK. He also is extremely dedicated to puzzles - smokes me at em and loves to work on the laptop - can't tell the difference between a boy or a girl but understands that Lightning McQueen is in his favorites. Anyway - that buys us Epcot. Etc Etc - just have to tailor it and we use picture scheduling with him - works great. Best of luck and prayers to all of you!

[of2dbeach]

we have 5 children 1 is 17 with autism/epielpsy the other is 7 with major sensory issues . I really dont take my son to the parks much because when we have he flipps out and he loves staying at grams house "Alone" but when we have taken him he seems to like epcot MUCH better. My daughter who is 7 also loves Epcot much more but goes to MK for the princesses, parades etc. She has an autograph book but is VERY shy and we can hardly ever get her up there to get one with the Character. one thing we did diffrent last time we went ( march 2010 ) is bring ear plugs for her and man Oh man did it help.. ALOT!! this is a child who freaked when we got to the top of the train station and she heard someone talking over the loud speaker and did a quick exit stage right ! i chased her down and told her it would be ok we waited for them to stop talking and I got her to go back onto the loading platform with me. there was a CM there and she completely understood because her brother has Autism too
Do the GAS like others have stated another trick we use if if they are getting sensory over load is to hop on the Monorail head to the Contemporary and go all the way down stairs to the game room. it is pretty empty by then and we can have lunch or a snack the kids can play some games and Michael sat watching old black and white Disney cartoons on the tv laying on a bean bag chair giggling his butt off!!
He had more fun watching the cartoons then being in the parks. We are going back this weekend for a "girls Only" Mothers day thing brining 7 yr old with us. Send me a message if you need more help!

[nitingail]

We will be going to Disney with my almost-8-yr-old granddaughter in about a week. She has Aspergers, is very active and excited about some of the more motion-oriented rides but also melts down when bored or frustrated, which we can expect she will be in long lines on a hot, crowded July day. So I definitely got the message that we need to get one of these treasured Guest Assistance Cards - except that I haven't found any post that tells me what they DO! LOL So could someone clue me in on how they work, so that I'll understand why they are so magically indispensable (which I am now SURE that they are!) LOL again. Thanks!

[Rekenna]

We will be going to Disney with my almost-8-yr-old granddaughter in about a week. She has Aspergers, is very active and excited about some of the more motion-oriented rides but also melts down when bored or frustrated, which we can expect she will be in long lines on a hot, crowded July day. So I definitely got the message that we need to get one of these treasured Guest Assistance Cards - except that I haven't found any post that tells me what they DO! LOL So could someone clue me in on how they work, so that I'll understand why they are so magically indispensable (which I am now SURE that they are!) LOL again. Thanks!

Hi! The cards are the GAC cards and will allow you to come through the handicap entrance and get on the ride with minimal wait. We haven't had to use one of these yet b/c our DS with Autism is only 2 and has the capability to wait and we go during Value season. I believe if you just go to Town Hall (on your right when you enter MK) the CM's there will be able to help you and explain the GAC program a little better. I would definetly get one for her. Good luck, have fun!

[BrerGnat]

Guest Assistance Cards are not a "one size fits all" thing. There are several different types, and they each serve a different function. They DO NOT all allow immediate ride entrance, or waiting in the handicap area.

If your child has difficulty with any aspect of the theme park experience, you need to explain what the problem is, and a CM will issue you the proper type of GAC. You do NOT need to provide your child's diagnosis, or even name their condition, but you do need to have a good idea of your child's limitations and be able to explain them.

For example, my two sons on the Autism spectrum (4 and 6) can wait in lines most of the time. However, they get extremely anxious in dark, enclosed spaces, and/or lines where people "snake around each other back and forth" (i.e. the cattle lines). They tend to need to move a LOT, due to sensory seeking issues, and in lines, this translates into trying to climb the poles, hang from the chains/ropes, touching other guests, spinning, flopping on the ground, etc. So, I simply explain to the CM that my kids have sensory issues that make waiting in TRADITIONAL lines difficult for them and the people around them. We got a card designated "alternate waiting area where available". What this meant, most of the time, was using the exit as the entrance, but sometimes there was indeed a separate waiting area (with seats and stuff) where we would hang out for several minutes until a CM walked us onto the ride (Spaceship Earth is a good example of this type).

However, there are so many different types of GAC cards, and they really tailor it to your child's specific needs. You only need to get one GAC for the length of your stay, they will issue it with an expiration date written on it, which is the day you check out, usually.