Last Thursday, May 29th, my stepmom (whom everyone calls "Grams") came to pick the boys up. Her BFF was also there with her grandson, who is roughly the same age as our boys. They went off to play while Stormtrooper and I got the boys' stuff together. Unfortunately, I had a really bad cold, so I packed the boys' clothes and car-stuff together and my husband set it all up properly in the car while I took a quick nap. We also had to pack Tiny's things because he stayed at my parents' house.
We got in the car, filled up on gas, and went to my parents'. We exchanged Tiny for the big boys and started driving. We told them we were going to a Star Wars event, but they've been to so many parades and things that they weren't upset about being in the car, or too inquisitive about where we were going.
After about three hours, we asked them if they had any idea where we were going. Once we finally told them we were going to Disney World, Iron Man got super exited and bounced up and down in the seat. J was very neutral, as I expected he would be. When I asked them if it was a good surprise, J said, "No, not anymore," since I had just told them. Still, he was excited. Later on in the vacation he told me that inside his brain he is excited and happy, but he doesn't know why his brain doesn't tell the rest of his body to express how his brain feels.
We got to the hotel around 10pm Thursday, went to bed, and got up early the next morning for breakfast. Stormy had to go to Hollywood Studios early since he was part of the parade. The boys and I waited to meet some friends of mine who worked at Disney so we could spend the day with them.
The first Mickey we saw!
The boys in front of the lake while we waited for the ferry.
We took one of the ferries to the Boardwalk and the boys got to see parts of Disney before everyone was awake and at the parks. I got to explain how different parts of Disney work, how some people stay in different resorts/hotels while they visit and how the buses, trolleys, and ferries work. When we got back to Hollywood Studios, I went to Guest Relations. I was originally so hesitant to use this because I always feel there are people who are so much worse off than we are, who need it more, but at the same time, I could envision meltdowns and sensory overload if we were in a line full of people. Also, at the end of the day, J's hyperactivity kicks in because his medication wears off, and he starts to wander, starts to rock back and forth, flail about, and standing in line with people could have gotten really terrible if he started knocking into people because he cannot stand still.
We got the pass and I am really pleased we did. The Disney cast member was very nice and helped with the whole process. We ended up getting a pass that allowed us to wait for a ride without having to wait in the actual line. Instead of waiting for two HOURS for the new Seven Dwarves ride, we were given a time to come back and bypass the long wait. The staff is supposed to write down the time so that we would wait as long as the others in the actual line, but because there's always a small wait to get on the ride anyway, they usually wrote our return time for less than the stand-by line. It was extremely helpful. It allowed us to get something to eat or drink, visit a store, or wait in shorter, more manageable lines.
At Hollywood Studios, we were able to use the pass for almost all the rides we wanted to go on, which was especially useful for the Toy Story ride, which always had a line longer than an hour. Overall, J did really well. He went on Tower of Terror (granted he said he never wanted to ride it again, but he at least gave it a chance). My husband walked in the parade in the morning and joined us in the afternoon for the rest of the day, along with my seventeen-year-old niece who we brought to babysit the boys if we needed it.
That day, everything went pretty smoothly. We didn't have any meltdowns or complaining. Both the boys were happy. I did have to have a conversation about what Autism is with Iron Man; afterwards he looked at me with a glazed look. I don't think he's ready to understand/accept anything about Autism yet.
We ended the day with fireworks and then we all went back to the hotel. All in all, day one was a great success.
No comments:
Post a Comment