We know all autistic kids are not the same, so it’s hard to say whether Disney would be a dream trip or a nightmare for an autistic family. It really depends on how autism affects your child. You should bear in mind that the parks are busy, crowded places and that the weather is very hot. There is also a lot of sensory overload: bright colours, loud noises and intense rides. That being said, if you go to Disney prepared, there are things you can do to offset these problems. PREPARATION IS KEY.
Doing your research
There are so many great resources out there for doing research. Try to get some maps of the parks to familiarise yourself with the layout and the attractions. YouTube is a brilliant resource for looking up individual attractions, as many videos provide a POV of individual rides and experiences so you can see what to expect before you ride. Does the ride have dark sections? Flashing lights? Animatronics? Some of the rides are quite intense so parents would need to be aware of what they are letting themselves in for and also how their child is likely to react.
A good example would be the Mission Space ride at Epcot. This is one of the most intense rides at Disney and involves being shut in an enclosed space for the entirety of the ride and experiencing various forces. I’d really recommend researching rides like this to see what the experience actually involves. My autistic son actually loved it, but I know some people would feel uncomfortable.
Disability Pass
One of the best things about Disney is the fact that the staff are very kind and caring and want you to have the best experience possible. The parks provide a disability assistance pass to help visitors with additional needs (information correct at time of writing October 2018).
To get the pass, just go to guest services, usually located near the entrance, and tell the assistant why you need a pass for your family. Staff are not allowed to ask for proof of disability, but I think it is good manners to take it in anyway, especially if it details the particular problems that your child may experience in relation to a theme park visit. Staff may want to know why your child needs a pass and you could explain that they find crowds/waiting difficult or have sensory processing issues.
The pass will include all members of the family and will be linked to your tickets or wearable bands.
The pass works as a virtual queueing system. It may not get you on a ride immediately.
For example, say that the queue to splash mountain is one hour. You go to the entrance (standby queue) and tell the staff that you want a return time. They will scan your band or ticket and tell you to come back in one hour, at which point you can enter the fast pass line straight away. During that hour you cannot use the disability pass for any other rides, but you could use the time to take a rest, visit a cafe or check out the shops.
Staff also recommend using the disability pass in conjunction with the fast pass system to maximise the amount of rides you can visit. Each visitor is allowed three fast passes a day, which allow them to access a ride via the quicker fast pass queue. By choosing fast passes carefully and “layering” them with the disability passes, you can go from ride to ride in a more efficient manner.
I should also point out that when staff give you a return time, that time is good for a whole hour. For example, say they told you to come back to ride splash mountain at 2:00 pm but you end up going to meet a character and you overrun your time. Don’t worry! You can still come back as late as 3:00 pm and still use the pass. Staff understand that you are likely to get sidetracked by other things during your visit.
You only need to register for the pass once and it is good for the whole trip and valid in all of the parks except for the water parks. It is also not valid for the character meet and greets.
If you have any questions or if there is something I haven’t covered about the passes, please let me know. I’ll be writing more about the parks soon so if anyone has any suggestions of topics they’d like me to cover, please drop a comment in the comment section. Thanks.
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