Foster Kids and AP's

[tribbleorlfl]

So my wife and I are content with our two wonderful biological children, especially as we're getting into our later 30's and child bearing becomes an increasingly risky proposition for her (and the potential baby). However, we still have lots of room in our hearts and are feeling called to foster parenting.

That being said, we're long-time AP'ers, and I'm just curious if Disney has any AP or ticket programs available for foster kids and their parents. While our intent would be to provide long-term stability to any potential FK's, I know these arrangements can be somewhat temporary. As such, I'm concerned about buying an AP for our foster child, only to have them moved later mid-term; we are blessed to have the means to have AP's in the first place, but we wouldn't have the funds to buy a new AP each time a new FK was placed with us.

Does Disney ever allow for transferring of AP's or multi-day passes in these kind of situations? Since leaving the FK at home while the 4 of us went to the parks is obviously out of the question, I'm afraid if they don't make any accommodations, we'd probably be forced to cancel our AP's.

 

[Mukta]

You could just buy a multi day ticket for the FK for the first trip.

You don't know what kind of life they have had. They might not be interested or able to handle a trip to WDW. I don't think investing in a AP is the right route although your heart is definitely in the right place.

 

[stevehousse]

I personally wouldn't buy it. If u have an upcoming trip, I would just buy regular tickets for now, and after everything has been finalized and the kid has been with you sometime (at least a year) then I would consider getting an AP. They are no transferable and non refundable. That's a lot of money to see go down the drain.

 

[MissingDisney]

I have no idea about your AP question but....
You and your wife are incredible people. Thank you for your kind, generous, non-judgmental hearts and spirits that are willing to open your home and finances to a child or children who have otherwise had a rough start at life by no fault of their own. Not only are you willing to accept these kids as they are, but also forego something you know you love if they aren't able to participate as well. That's truly admirable. These kids aren't use to being a priority to anyone....ever. As you're willing to buy another AP, it's not really all about the money (although it's not growing on trees), it's about making the kids feel like family. Thank you for being so sincere. Any child placed in your home will surely be blessed.

 

[Jabbas]

What an amazing post! I was adopted and my mother made sure I was treated no different than her biological kids. My mother is still doing foster care and has four little ones right now. We live in FL and I think she is just going to do the Florida resident pass.

 

[jakeman]

Just curious, do you live in Orange County?

The reason I ask, we "fostered to adopting" in North Carolina and we had to complete a few forms and provide justification while we were fostering to take the child out of the county. Over state lines was not permitted.

I'm sure you've done your research, but just a friendly heads up that there could be additional hurdles beyond just ticketing at the parks.

 

[mcompanik]

Just curious, do you live in Orange County?

The reason I ask, we "fostered to adopting" in North Carolina and we had to complete a few forms and provide justification while we were fostering to take the child out of the county. Over state lines was not permitted.

I'm sure you've done your research, but just a friendly heads up that there could be additional hurdles beyond just ticketing at the parks.

That is very interesting. We are foster parents in CT and are encouraged to take the kids with us wherever we go, especially to WDW. The only exception would be if the child was a "flight risk". We have to ask permission to take them out of state and fill out a form, but it is very easy.We also travel to northern Maine to see family and frequently go into Canada. We have had DCF get the child a passport so they could go with us.

As far as the OP question, I doubt Disney would allow the transfer. I agree that you should just buy the pass for them. I would also ask if the state would help pay for the ticket. Where we are, there are "WRAP" funds that are set aside for camp, gymnastics, etc. Some of these funds have been made available to us for WDW tickets also. Maybe you could get them to pay the difference between a regular pass and the Annual Pass. It doesn't hurt to ask. We had also purchased a ticket for a foster child for a trip, and she went back with her family before our trip. I was able to call and cancel her ticket and they credited the amount to our account (we hadn't paid off the trip yet).
I hope this helps, and don't forget to take TONS of pictures of them when they are there so they can have them forever. We had a foster child that we brought when he was 5, and after the trip with a visit with his bio mom, he was talking about his trip with her and she told him "don't lie, you didn't go there". He showed her the pictures and she told him they were fake. Thankfully we have copies of the pictures as well as video and hopefully we will be able to contact him in the future to make sure he gets them. (he also went back to a family member, so who knows if they let him keep the pictures).

 

[wishiwere@wdw]

I know this is a fairly old thread but it fits perfectly to our situation and was wondering if someone had additional details to share.

We’ve been very fortunate to have four biological children of our own and now that they are older (older but still under 18 and living at home lol), we began the process of giving back by becoming foster parents.

The challenge here is that we are looking to help children in need by giving them a safe place to live and some resemblance of “normal”; not adopt. Therefore, it’s considered emergency foster care. These situations are sometimes resolved in weeks to as long a few months. That all being said, we love Disney World and go nearly weekly. I do not have any issue purchasing another AP for a potential foster child but certainly cannot do so every few weeks or months. It also isn’t fair to leave one child behind as we need to be there for them and love on them just as we would our own children.

Does Disney not make any exceptions to this rule or allow transfers for this type of reason?

I did already send an email to guest communications but have not heard back just yet and figured I’d check here just in case .

Thanks!

 

[MissingDisney]

A friend of mine asked and was told no as They are non-transferable and was offered the option/proposed solution to buy the child a one day ticket each time they visited with the rest of the family.

 

[Trackmaster]

When are you planning on going? You could always just buy them a M-F Select pass. Those are only like $320. That's barely much more than if you were to buy them at multi-day ticket. And then even if they're taken from you, at least they'd still have the pass for the rest of the year, and hopefully they could still get mileage out of it.

And for those wondering about if they'd be detached and sullen, like in the TV shows. Maybe Disney is what they need to brighten up their lives!

 

[tabby1222]

I inquired about this when I got my boys their AP's. I knew we were headed in the direction of adoption, but always knew in the back of my head that things can change. I was told that there is not an option to transfer passes, regardless of the situation. So they made sure to let me know that if I bought them and the boys moved, I would be unable to transfer them to another child in my home. Luckily we will be done with the adoption within 6 months, so it's no longer a concern!