Trip Report (Completed!) This is Autism - When you add a little Pixie Dust!

Hi Everyone!

This will be my first trip report so I am a little nervous. Our family is heading to Disney World in 6 days! It will be myself, my husband and our 2 daughters: Julia who is 11 and Hope who is 4. Hope has severe Autism and SID (Sensory Integration Disorder). Some people think I'm crazy to take Hope to Disney with all of her issues, but I have found Disney to be the greatest therapy for her - she does some amazing things while we are there. This will be her 3rd visit after being diagnosed. I hope I can offer some encouragement (and a little humor) to others who have special needs children and are hesitant to visit Disney.

I have done a pre-trip report on my blog - I don't know if I am allowed to post the link here. I will try to catch up here over the next couple of very busy days! So if any of you are up for the journey with us - welcome!

mary

 

[Figment Forever]

Great report!!!

Thanks for reading!

 

[Figment Forever]

I just got back 3 weeks ago.. and dont go back for 8 more weeks... it can't come fast enough... I love the pictures and the report! Looks like everyone is having a blast!!!

I'm jealous! lol Thanks for reading along!

 

[Tigger19]

An ice-cream cookie sandwich? I didn't even know they existed! I want one
Hope is such a little trooper, it's great she tries everything

 

[ExtinctJenn]

Don't feel bad about Lion King... our last trip in March was the first time we'd seen it too!

I've got to admit, and again this is coming from a mom of a boy with some similar issues, the photo on Dinosaur is hilarious. Poor Hope! If in any photo she expresses her feelings on an attraction, that's the one!

 

[SweetEvangeline]

I LOVE the Lion King story. So Awesome!!

 

[Zipadeelady]

Gotta ask where did you get that Ice Cream Sandwich!!!!?

 

[Figment Forever]

An ice-cream cookie sandwich? I didn't even know they existed! I want one
Hope is such a little trooper, it's great she tries everything

I thought it was something Ross thought up - but he insists it was on the menu board.

 

[Figment Forever]

Don't feel bad about Lion King... our last trip in March was the first time we'd seen it too!

I've got to admit, and again this is coming from a mom of a boy with some similar issues, the photo on Dinosaur is hilarious. Poor Hope! If in any photo she expresses her feelings on an attraction, that's the one!

She may not say much - but she makes her opinion known!

That's one of the main reasons I love the photo pass Plus - you can get all the ride photos.

 

[Figment Forever]

Gotta ask where did you get that Ice Cream Sandwich!!!!?

At the food court at POFQ - the bakery section. They had 3 or 4 different cookie types so Ross was on a mission to try 1 with each kind.

 

[Figment Forever]

Day 4 September 21st - Magic Kingdom

Today was another double ADR day. We had breakfast at Chef Mickey’s at 9:30 and dinner at Be Our Guest at 5:30. By 8:30, we were at the bus stop waiting for the bus to MK.

Chef Mickey’s is always hit or miss – service wise for us. This year it was top notch. Our server was fast, fun and friendly.

This is my favorite family photo of the trip.

I was more relaxed at this meal because we had all the characters signatures already. So I didn’t have to stress about that, I just needed to take pictures. Or so I thought…



Julia reminded me that we had to re-get the signatures because of the acquisition of the new autograph books. That made me realize we had already gotten the bulk of princesses. If Julia wanted them to sign the new book, it would mean standing in a line. Ross was not happy about this. Standing in line for a ride – that is fine. Standing in line for food – that is doable. Standing in line for an autograph – a waste of time to my husband.


But that’s okay – I managed to divert his attention when I announced I forgot the pen at the hotel and needed to go buy another one. Running total: 6 autograph books and (2) $6.00 pens.
The characters were great!

Poor Pluto - Hope just wanted to pull his tongue!

 

[Figment Forever]

Ross was taking no chance - those books were getting signed!

I have a secret for you Mickey...

We boarded the monorail for the first of three “Hope” meltdowns of the day. This was a mini –meltdown. She just did not like the monorail and struggled through the trip.


She did even want to go on!

(When we arrived back home, my OT said it might have had something to do with the elevation.) But we managed okay and soon we reached the Magic Kingdom.



The park was opened until 10 pm today so we were looking forward to a full day. We started with Peter Pan and then moved on to Small World and Mickey’s Philharmagic. It was amazing that by today, Hope was requesting the rides and had a routine down! She would say “Peter Pan” and when we exited “Small World" and then, “Mickey Magic” AKA Mickey’s Philharmagic. Then it was to the laugh floor but not for Hope we visited the bathrooms and a couple of gift shops.




Then we headed for Splash Mountain to see if Hope wanted to ride again. Now it was time for meltdown #2!



We were walking through Frontierland along the bridge across from Tom Sawyer Island. We still were not sure if she would want to ride or not. All of a sudden, Hope’s feet dug down and she began to call out, “NO!” We realized quickly that she recognized the “path” to Splash Mountain and was in full protest. We knelt down in front of her and assured her that she would not have to ride it again. But we did all need to go to get a ticket so that mommy, daddy & sissy could ride - AKA rider switch.


Hope was not having any of it so Ross picked her up and began to carry her. We both knew once she understood what we were doing, it would be okay – it was the getting there that was to be the challenge. And a challenge it was!


She was thrashing about, screaming, kicking and swinging. As soon as Ross secured her arms, her legs would kick, and once her held her legs, her arms would swing. Julia and I stayed behind, at a safe distance, pushing the empty stroller, and apologizing to everyone who was in her path. (But at times we tried to pretend we weren’t with them.) I felt so bad – this one lady had her bottle of water kicked right out of her hands. I apologize and Julia commented that she was glad it wasn’t a pineapple float. But then, my little one swung her arm and caught the side of a woman’s face. I watched in horror as the woman actually had her face whacked! She looked around for the culprit – if only she realized it was my peanut! I kept the apologies going until we reached Splash Mountain and asked for the rider switch. Julia and I went on and Hope and Ross went off to the Country Bears. We apparently gained her trust after that and there were no more issues when we said we had to get a rider switch card.

 

[Figment Forever]

Julia wanted to visit the fairies again and I had no problem because it was right near Aloha Island – which meant a Pineapple float!

Julia was also on a mission to get ALL of the princess’s autographs so I found myself getting a fast pass to see Rapunzel at Princess Fairy Tale Hall. I was amazed at the wait times for this – and apparently she made the right choice for Rapunzel because the fast passes for her were all distributed by the afternoon!

Snow White was her visiting princess.

 

[Figment Forever]

In addition to Rapunzel, Julia also wanted to get the Little Mermaid’s picture in “fin” attire. I knew Ariel was a favorite of Hope’s too and since we had never met her without her feet - off to her grotto we went.


There was an hour posted wait time. For Hope, waiting for characters is more difficult than waiting for rides or shows. I can’t figure it out. I don’t know if it’s because the characters are always “out of sight” – and therefore she can’t connect what she is waiting for? Anyway, I always do the fastpass when I can. But guess what? No fast pass for Ariel, so on line we went.



I don’t think that we were in line for but a few minutes when Hope began to go crazy. Meltdown # 3! She was screaming, pushing her stroller back and flinging herself back & forth. Ross gave her my phone to play with and she threw it down. (Something she doesn’t do.) I bent down in front of her and told her we were waiting to see Ariel when “pop” she socked me right in the nose. Then it hit me – no pun intended. It wasn’t the waiting that was bothering her - it was the noise in the cave – the acoustics and the echoing. They were killing her.


Now some people may think this is weird. Standing in there for the rest of us was nothing – but for Hope, it is like listening to nails on the chalkboard.


I told Ross I would be right back and left the line. I found the cast member at the entrance and I showed him our GAC and explained that about Hope and the noise. I asked if Hope and I could wait somewhere else until Julia got to the front and then enter another way to bypass the cave experience.


Immediately he asked how many was in our party and told us to come out to him. He led us around the cave on the outside and handed us off to another cast member and explained the situation. We were then brought right to Ariel. I couldn’t believe it! I didn’t mean for that to happen, but I was so glad it did – I started to tear up! Hope was so excited and happy to see Ariel and her fins. “Mermaid!” she said. There was no photopass person so I trusted Ross to snap a picture.

It was truly a magical experience!



Although our bellies, craved a little snack during the afternoon, we held off until dinner. Part of me really wanted to share something at Columbia Harbor House, but I fought it off - I was really looking forward to Beast's Castle!

 

[Figment Forever]

Soon it was time for our dinner at Be Our Guest. I was very excited, I was waiting 180 days for this meal! The rest of my family – not so much. We took a few pictures while we waited

.

Thrilled to be here...

The wait was very short and soon we were led in to our seat in the grand ballroom right next to the window where it was snowing outside! It was so beautiful!

The view of the snow falling was magnificent.

Ross was not impressed...

Hope not liking the "darkness" of the place...

I was excited... (Scary Picture!)

The view of the dessert cart wasn’t too bad either!

 

[Figment Forever]

The food was excellent. It was so nice to have a sit down meal that was not a buffet. I like the buffets for the characters, but this was a nice change. Hope was very happy with dinner she got the grilled chicken, pasta and broccoli. The waitress was super careful and made sure the components of her meal did not “touch”. If sauce touched the chicken, she would not eat it. Julia and I both had the salmon and finished every bite. I forget what Ross had but he ate every bite too. Dessert was even more memorable.

The gray stuff was delicious!

Of course, then we got to meet the Beast. So cool.

Hope was done and we didn’t want to chance meltdown # 4 so Ross took her outside while Julia and I checked out the other rooms. I was so glad we did not get seated in the West Wing. It was dark enough in the ballroom – I don’t think The West Wing would have been a good choice.

 

[Figment Forever]

We went on more of our favorites and then went back to Princess Fairy Tale Hall. They still had Fastpasses for Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty and I was happy to use them because the standby wait was still an hour long!

Hope however had her fill of princesses. When she saw Cinderella she tried to crawl under her dress and take off her glass slipper! Ross and I, still trying to avoid that 4th meltdown, put her back in her stroller and let her chill out while Julia had her photos. Good Call!

We lasted to park closing, but managed not to see fireworks, and then headed back to the resort and even though it was closing time, the bus wait was not too bad. We let the first one leave so we could have seats and then hopped on the next one within a few minutes.

Once we were back at FQ, Ross got his ice-cream cookie sandwich and our refills.

Mousekeeping was really great this trip!

The coolest toothbrush holder ever!

Is our trip really half over?

Up Next: Pool, Pizza & Princesses

 

[ExtinctJenn]

I applaud you for this... I really do. I think the way you anticipate and can ready what Hope needs is incredible. I am also impressed by the fact that you try, when you can, not to take advantage of the GAC. Oh and I love the story of Hope trying to take off Cindy's slipper too.

 

[jenluvswdw]

I am really enjoying your report! Hope is such a cutie! I teach children on the spectrum and LOVE that you are getting her to try things out of her comfort zone!!!! I see so many parent unintentionally feed into their child's issues. Your family seems to have a right balance. You are an awesome Disney Mom! Can't wait to read more!

 

[Tiggerish]

Lovely photos of the girls with the princesses! Looks like a good interaction with Rapunzel. The "thrilled to be here" shot made me laugh.

 

[jdnetone]

I have enjoyed your report and understand what you are experiencing with Hope. Our Grandson turns 4 on the 21st and he has autism. My son and his wife are planning a WDW trip with him next year and we are planning to go with them. Thanks so much for sharing this it means a lot to us. You have two very beautiful daughters and a very nice family.