Our first day was really pretty successful, and looking back, I don't have any complaints about it. It was a really long day; we got back to the hotel very late. We were out for about fifteen hours that day.
On Saturday, we slept a little later. Stormtrooper went to Hollywood Studios for the parade while my niece, the boys, and I ate breakfast and went to the pool for the next couple of hours. The boys splashed around and enjoyed cooling off in the water.
Once Stormtrooper was done with the parade, he picked us up from the hotel and we went to Magic Kingdom. Since we already had our disability pass, we were able to set-up our Fast Passes for the day. The boys had a blast driving the cars in the speedway and we were able to try out the new seven dwarves ride.
This day I saw a lot of J's symptoms come out. Once his medication wore off, his hyperactivity was in full force. He was also very, very tired, but when he gets cranky, there's nothing to sway him away from it. He reached a point where he stopped caring about the rides and wanted to spend his Disney gift card and go back to the hotel. He was tired, we all were, but he became argumentative and very snappy. I know he had fun, but towards the end, Stormy and I wanted to ride the Haunted Mansion one more time, and Iron Man wanted to ride Thunder Mountain, and J didn't want to do either. My niece took the boys to Thunder Mountain, but J refused to get on so he had to wait until they were done, and my husband and I got to enjoy some kid-free time at the Haunted Mansion - which, coincidentally is both of our favorite ride.
My husband had one negative encounter that day. He was talking in a group of Star Wars folks and it was mentioned about the new Seven Dwarves ride. The Fast Pass was used-up for it, so if you wanted to ride, you had to wait in the line (which was 120 minutes when we were there!) My husband said that we were going to ride and use our disability pass to bypass waiting in the actual line. And someone said they did not think it was fair that we could just walk to the ride for free, no strings attached.
So let's revisit that for a moment. With the disability pass, I walked up to the ride, and asked them to sign us up for a return time. The return time is comparable to the actual wait time for the ride. We didn't get to immediately cut the line. We rode other rides and walked around until it was time for us to return to the Seven Dwarves. It's not a free pass to cut lines, but also if you're a stranger, you don't know what other families go through. You don't know how we deal day to day, our frustrations, worries, fears, or even our strengths. So to make a blanket statement of how things are not "fair" is ridiculous. When J's hyperactivity kicks in, he is so all over the place that waiting in line has the potential to be disastrous. When we walked around the parks, he bumped into people and wandered (never far, because we kept a close eye on him). I was very careful to continually check in on him when we were in a line or in a ride, to make sure he was okay because the last thing any of us wanted was a meltdown in the middle of the park.
I think Disney tries to make the experience the best it possibly can be for every family going. From what I saw, they took disabilities, including food allergies, very seriously. They seemed to try to take the worry away from parents over whether their children would have an enjoyable time. For that, I was extremely appreciative. To the man who wasn't compassionate at all, my husband replied with, "Oh we deserve to use the pass ... we pay for it every day living with a kid with ASD." It can be very difficult having a child with special needs and when a place like Disney wants to help eliminate some of the stress, we welcome it with open arms.
On day two, we got to ride a lot of rides in the Magic Kingdom: Astro Orbiter, Big Thunder Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, Haunted Mansion, Tea Cups, Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, Seven Dwarves Mine Train, Stitches Great Escape, Space Mountain, Speedway, and of course, the train that took us around the park as well as the Monorail. That's a lot of rides for one day, and it's no wonder the boys got tired. We were exhausted, too! We got back to the hotel and finally fell asleep after midnight. Such a long day, but so much fun.
On Saturday, we slept a little later. Stormtrooper went to Hollywood Studios for the parade while my niece, the boys, and I ate breakfast and went to the pool for the next couple of hours. The boys splashed around and enjoyed cooling off in the water.
This day I saw a lot of J's symptoms come out. Once his medication wore off, his hyperactivity was in full force. He was also very, very tired, but when he gets cranky, there's nothing to sway him away from it. He reached a point where he stopped caring about the rides and wanted to spend his Disney gift card and go back to the hotel. He was tired, we all were, but he became argumentative and very snappy. I know he had fun, but towards the end, Stormy and I wanted to ride the Haunted Mansion one more time, and Iron Man wanted to ride Thunder Mountain, and J didn't want to do either. My niece took the boys to Thunder Mountain, but J refused to get on so he had to wait until they were done, and my husband and I got to enjoy some kid-free time at the Haunted Mansion - which, coincidentally is both of our favorite ride.
My husband had one negative encounter that day. He was talking in a group of Star Wars folks and it was mentioned about the new Seven Dwarves ride. The Fast Pass was used-up for it, so if you wanted to ride, you had to wait in the line (which was 120 minutes when we were there!) My husband said that we were going to ride and use our disability pass to bypass waiting in the actual line. And someone said they did not think it was fair that we could just walk to the ride for free, no strings attached.
So let's revisit that for a moment. With the disability pass, I walked up to the ride, and asked them to sign us up for a return time. The return time is comparable to the actual wait time for the ride. We didn't get to immediately cut the line. We rode other rides and walked around until it was time for us to return to the Seven Dwarves. It's not a free pass to cut lines, but also if you're a stranger, you don't know what other families go through. You don't know how we deal day to day, our frustrations, worries, fears, or even our strengths. So to make a blanket statement of how things are not "fair" is ridiculous. When J's hyperactivity kicks in, he is so all over the place that waiting in line has the potential to be disastrous. When we walked around the parks, he bumped into people and wandered (never far, because we kept a close eye on him). I was very careful to continually check in on him when we were in a line or in a ride, to make sure he was okay because the last thing any of us wanted was a meltdown in the middle of the park.
I think Disney tries to make the experience the best it possibly can be for every family going. From what I saw, they took disabilities, including food allergies, very seriously. They seemed to try to take the worry away from parents over whether their children would have an enjoyable time. For that, I was extremely appreciative. To the man who wasn't compassionate at all, my husband replied with, "Oh we deserve to use the pass ... we pay for it every day living with a kid with ASD." It can be very difficult having a child with special needs and when a place like Disney wants to help eliminate some of the stress, we welcome it with open arms.
On day two, we got to ride a lot of rides in the Magic Kingdom: Astro Orbiter, Big Thunder Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, Haunted Mansion, Tea Cups, Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, Seven Dwarves Mine Train, Stitches Great Escape, Space Mountain, Speedway, and of course, the train that took us around the park as well as the Monorail. That's a lot of rides for one day, and it's no wonder the boys got tired. We were exhausted, too! We got back to the hotel and finally fell asleep after midnight. Such a long day, but so much fun.
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