Theme Parks & Your Child with Special Needs

Theme parks are fun, exciting, big, exhausting, and everything in between. Taking any child to a theme park may bring trepidation to a parent. If you are like me, you wonder how your child with special needs will thrive in a new environment and if the experience will be worth all the money.

In the past few years, we have braved a few theme parks with our children and have loved it. Here's some things I have learned.

1. Know your park! Do your homework!
I have a type A personality so this is one of my favorite activities. Even if planning ahead isn't your favorite pastime, you have to do it for a better experience. First, you can look up First Aid areas or family rest areas that you may need for your child. Secondly, check the rules on what you can bring in the parks. Some allow drinks and snacks. If I can bring Jaycee's cup in the park, it will be much easier to keep her hydrated through the day.

Finally, most parks have disability ride access programs. Some are highly publicized and others are not. For the parks that have disability access programs, these will become very important to understand to get the most out of your day in the parks. We have found that all the parks we have been to have had a disability access program of sorts. (This has included all the Disney parks in Orlando, Sea World in Orlando, Six Flags St. Louis, Holiday World in Indiana, and Silver Dollar City in Branson.) Guest relations at the park can give you information if there is not any available online. Most of the access passes allow us to get a return time to bring Jaycee back to the ride so she will not have to wait in line. Usually you can only sign up for one ride at a time, but we find things to do in between. This is not a jump the line pass. This is a modified way to wait for a ride as long as the person with the disability is riding.

Jaycee meeting characters at Holiday World in her wheelchair

2. Use wheelchairs or strollers.
If your child cannot walk long distances, runs off, or is difficult to lead in a crowd, then please consider using a stroller or wheelchair. If you don't own one, most parks have them for rent at the park entrance. I would not dare go to a theme park without Jaycee's medical stroller. The stroller allows her to save her strength for rides and shows. If you have never used a wheelchair with your child, you might feel awkward at first, but please consider giving it a try. This will save your child's stamina, keep your child safer, and most likely decrease some of your stress.

3. Plan your day around your child's needs.
We know that Jaycee's energy declines as the day progresses, so we always get to the parks at their opening time. This will help her get more fun done before she tires. Your child may be the opposite. Maybe they thrive at night. Now is no time to try to change their schedule preferences.

4. Split up.
You may also have to split up with your group to allow everyone to enjoy what they are interested in. Jaycee and I will sometimes watch a music or character show (she loves both of these) to give her a chance to sit and rest while my husband and son do activities that better interest them. There is no way we could do everything all day together as a family, and that is ok. Most of the day, we are together.

5. Bring helpers.
The first time I took Jaycee to a theme park, I was extremely nervous. I brought both of her grandmas with me. They enjoyed spending time with my two kids, and I had more than enough help. I didn't necessarily need two extra people, but it spread the workload out more conveniently. It is also made bathroom breaks and swimsuit changing more manageable with an extra person. Now, that the kids are older, I don't need extra helpers as long as my husband is with me. Do not be afraid to ask for help!

Jaycee and her brother enjoying a ride

You can do it! You can take your child to a theme park successfully. You may not stay all day or get to do everything you want. You may have to make adjustments, but it can be done. Now, go to it!

Wish Trip Part 7: The Finale!!!

Here it is....the end of our wish trip story:

The last few days of our trip were all about slowing down and relaxing before going back to real life. Our hotels and meals were now at our expense since we added these days on. However, we had money left on our debit card to cover most meal and shopping expenses.

We stayed near Cocoa beach so we could see the ocean, a new experience for the children. I didn't know how Jaycee would react. But, she loved it!

The water wasn't warm, so swimming was not a possibility. But, we enjoyed going in a few inches and playing in the sand. Elijah loved collecting sea shells. Jaycee liked laying on the beach. She was very content whenever we were at the beach. I like any place she's laying down instead of running off from me. We tried unsuccessfully to recreate a scene from my childhood.

 

 

This is a picture of me and my dad in '86 during our family vacation to Florida.

Here are some of the failed attempts...

 

 

 



It really wasn't a hard pose but we couldn't pull it off. Besides the beach and visiting our hotel's water park, we went for an air boat ride. The kids loved that as well. It was pretty neat seeing the animals and zooming around the water. We saw several gators. Other than that, we did some shopping, ate at some nice resturants, and went to a dinosaur store. The last few days of the trip were nice. But soon, it was time to fly back home. The magic was over, but we'll hold these moments forever. We loved this time together and cherish these positive memories we have.

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read about our trip. The bottom line is that Make-A-Wish and Give Kids the World are amazing organizations! Any family who chooses a Disney wish with the GKTW village will not be disappointed.

Enjoy some final pictures I like that didn't make it in anywhere else.

 

Jaycee hiding at the village.

Mayor tucking Jaycee in at the village.

All smiles on the tea cups at Magic Kingdom

Jaycee's doodle on her star for the Castle of Miracles

Wish Trip Part 2

Our first full day in Florida for our Make-A-Wish trip was busy. We knew this was a once in a lifetime experience so we were determined to do as much as possible since Jaycee was in good health at the time. We visited the characters from Disney at the village first thing. That day it was Mickey, Goofy, and Pluto. Jaycee was in heaven already. After breakfast, we drove to the Animal Kingdom. We have been to the Disney parks before, so we had a good idea of what we wanted to do and not do again. There is no way you could ever see all the Disney parks in just 3 days, so we were glad this was our second Disney experience.

Being with Make-A-Wish gave us a pass at all the parks to be given access to the front of almost any ride and character line. Depending on the ride or the park, sometimes we entered through the exit, the disability wheelchair entry, or the fast pass line. This saved time everywhere!! It was the best part of the trip, skipping all those long lines. We also wore our Make-A-Wish shirts or buttons and the pink Give Kids the World button so we were easily identified by park staff. Jaycee was supposed to be the one wearing her pink button to identify her as the wish child, but she hated having something pinned to her shirt. She kept taking it off, so I wore it. Elijah was given a special Lightning McQueen ribbon by the village. He called it his special ribbon, and he was pleased to wear it everyday.

We enjoyed the Animal Kingdom until lunch when the rain started. We darted into the Rainforest Café to stay dry. Jaycee's meal and drink were free since she was the wish child. That was a nice surprise!

After lunch, the rain stopped and we headed to Hollywood Studios. There are so many great rides and shows here that we had never done before. The wish pass allowed Jaycee to sit in the front row in most shows. After the Frozen show, Jaycee was asked to stay around and meet all the characters. It was amazing. She loved it! They were genuinely sweet and caring to Jaycee. It was an unbelievable moment!

When we were walking through Hollywood Studios, one the green army men (from Toy Story) spotted my shirt. He literally waved us down and gestured to follow him. I didn't know what we were doing but we followed. We were soon surrounded by 2 more army men who danced with Jaycee and acted silly. Again, didn't know what we were doing since the army men didn't talk.

 

Then we were taken to a room to meet Buzz and Woody. The picture we got was awesome!! Jaycee felt so special and so did we!

 

 

 

We finished up our day there and headed back to the village. It was Halloween that night, which we don't celebrate. Still, there was plenty to do with the rides and ice cream. There was a volunteer with his big telescope that the children were able to look through. There were neat surprises like that all over the village all week. And of course, there were gifts for the kids waiting for us in the room when we got home.

 

On this day, we started paying attention to the volunteers that serve in the village. They come from all over the country and some were outside the country. It was neat to see so many people joining together to make this place run. There are volunteers that help run the rides and volunteers that carry your meal trays for you. They make the place special. What can I say? -Give Kids the World is neat!

 

We went to bed that night completely exhausted from all the walking and activities but ready for the next day! 

 

To be continued.....

 

 

Walt Disney World Tips For Families with Special Needs

A few months ago, we ventured down to Florida to visit the magical world of Disney. For months, I planned, worked with a travel agent, and made preparations. It is a little different traveling with a child with special needs, so I wanted to share some things I learned.

1st Character Meeting at Disney

 

1. If you are booking your room in a Disney World resort, do your homework. You'll want to read up on the amount of walking involved around your resort. We stayed at the Art of Animation because my son loves the Cars movie. There wasn't large distances to walk on this resort but you did have to walk for everything: catching the bus, going to the cafeteria, the laundry area, the arcade, the pool. There was "nothing" in the building with our room except other rooms. So, if you just wanted to fill your resort cup up with soda, you had to make the walk to the soda machines in the cafeteria. Still, I had read up about the resort and was prepared.

2. Usually when I vacation, I ask for a room on the first floor to make it easier for Jaycee and us. A bi-pap machine, nebulizer, vest airway clearance system, and distilled water are just some of the extra stuff we have to lug around. I forgot to ask for a first floor room at Disney and I wish I would have. Don't make my mistake. Every step counts at Disney!

3. Strollers or wheelchairs are a must if your child cannot walk long distances. My child cannot walk too far or stand in one spot for very long, so our stroller was a necessity. The walk from our room to the bus stop would have done Jaycee in if we made her walk it! Jaycee has had a "medical stroller" for a few years now, so we didn't have to buy anything extra for the Disney trip. Again, there is a lot of walking on a Disney trip so keep this in mind. There are stroller rental places in Orlando that offer free delivery or you can rent something at the park as well.

4. If your child has a disability or conditions that make it difficult for he/she to stand in line, you can get your child a Disability Access Service Card. When we went in Feb. 2014, it worked like this: We went to Guest Relations within the first park we visited in order to sign up for this card. We were not asked for any documentation to prove a disability existed. But Jaycee does have Down syndrome and was sitting in her stroller, so this may have been enough proof. They took her picture which printed on a card we carried around for the rest of our stay. When we found a ride or a character meeting that we wanted to do, we presented the card to the ride attendant. The ride attendant wrote down on the card a time for us to return back so that we could get on the ride without waiting. Usually, they cut the wait time in half. For example, if the current waiting time was 1 hour, then they would instruct us to be back in 30 minutes. When we returned, everyone in our party was allowed to "cut" the line using the fast pass entry and go straight in.
There are a couple of rules. First, the person with the disability must ride the ride to use the card. In other words, my husband couldn't sign up to ride a roller coaster with this pass since Jaycee couldn't ride it. Secondly, you can only sign up for one ride at a time. This was not a big deal for us since we used this card in combination with the 3 fast passes we were allowed with our package each day.
Disney has made a lot of changes to this program due to abuse of system. I found this process to be extremely helpful and accommodating. Before we stopped for lunch, we would sign up for a ride. Or, we could sign up for a ride and take a restroom break or do a little shopping. We appreciated the fact that we didn't have to wait in line with Jaycee. She truly couldn't have stood it and it saved us some stress.

5. If your child does use a medical stroller, you will want to get a special tag for it while you are at Guest Relations. This red tag indicates the stroller is the equivalent of a wheelchair. There are a few places where strollers are not allowed, so this tag will allow you to take your stroller everywhere. Otherwise, you will be stopped! After the first day, Jaycee was tired so we started keeping Jaycee in her stroller in line. This tag allowed us to do that. Jaycee in lines=us wrestling her to either stay with us or to stand up  The stroller red tag was a necessity for us!

6. If you make reservations at a Disney eatery, expect delays. I wrongly assumed that we would be taken to our table at our reservation time. The buffet reservations were usually on time. The rest of the reservations were 15-30 minutes off. I wasn't expecting this. Some days, I planned later than normal meals but they ended up being really later than normal meals.

7. Don't be afraid to try new things. I wasn't sure if Jaycee would hate the character meetings or love them, but I gave it a try. Success! I wasn't sure how the evening electrical parade would be received either. Success! My husband wanted the kids to try a water ride for the first time. No success there for either kid but it made a good story! We tried a 3D movie for the first time at a Disney park. Jaycee sat in the floor with her face covered but Elijah liked it! Petting a snake? Jaycee did that too! As for the fireworks (which Jaycee cries at every 4th of July), we weren't brave enough to try that. Still, we found that Jaycee was really willing to try new experiences at Disney. We left with so many special memories.

Overall, I found Disney to be very accommodating of those with disabilities. We are hoping to get back there one day!