My son was diagnosed at 3 and he just turned 7 last week. Obviously there's a huge difference in getting a 3 year old around Disney with the prior GAC vs a 7 year old in the new Disney plan. I understand the GAC was heavily abused and changes needed to be made, but now I feel as though it's not a viable option for us to return to Disney and not incur numerous meltdowns having to get a pass to return some time later. My son can have meltdowns waiting are red lights or when traffic is slow, let alone the idea of walking by an attraction and not getting do walk up to something and go on it as he wants to.
We have annual passes and are at a park frequently. Initially the change was tough for ds. I had to bring his sensory backpack filled with tools to calm him. Now he is accustomed to how the
DAS and FP+ work. I can't remember the last time we brought his sensory backpack with us to a Disney park.
I realize you don't have the luxury of time for your ds to adjust to the new system as my son had. So there is a that uncertainty. You know your son best to know how he will adjust to the change since your last Disney vacation.
Do you think your son would like Sorcerer's of the Magic Kingdom, the Pirate's Adventure game, Agent P's World Showcase Adventure, Wilderness Explorer's at AK? These are "time fillers" my son loves.
When the changes were announced, I emailed Disney and they claimed they would try to accommodate everyone like us on a case by case basis, but that's easier said than done. Have you experienced a drastically different experience under the new plan compared to prior trips under the GAC?
There have been a few times where we've run into a snafu with attractions and GS has been fantastic at helping us sort thing out.
Before FP+ started, yes, we had a significant different experience. DS refused to use the paper FP. He would worry about that return time so much that he'd make himself sick. Also, he felt out of control with DAS alone.
Now he feels much better. We sit down together to choose the 3 FP+ attractions. He knows that if we can't make it to the attraction in time that I can change either change it to a different time if one is available or to a different attraction if one is available. Yes, we have run into situations where an alternate time or attraction was not available.
As soon as we get to a park, one of us will go and get a DAS return time while the other and ds do something else. Also, if there isn't already a return time on the DAS, I make sure there is one before we head to our FP+ return time. Keep in mind that the DAS return time is flexible.
I try to make DAS return times in locations close to the FP+ attraction's location so that we aren't walking all over creation. I do the same with our FP+ return times. Rather than going way over here, then way over there, I keep things fairly orderly.
Here is an example from yesterday. I had a 4:10 dinner ADR at The Plaza Restaurant, a 5:35 FP+ for M&G with Mickey Mouse, 6:35 FP+ for POTC, and 7:45 FP+ for Big Thunder Mt. We arrived around 3pm. I went to Buzz and got a DAS return time. Ds and DH pin traded. We ate at The Plaza. DS has food allergies, so that took a little extra time. After dinner we went to Mickey's M&G, then to Buzz. (After this we could have gotten another DAS return time, but didn't.) Rode POTC and had almost an hour before Big Thunder. He was both excited and anxious about Big Thunder because he hadn't gone on it since 2010. So we went over there so he could see the ride and find out how FP+ works and how it works with the w/c. Once he understood, we still has some time, and he wanted to play Sorcerer's of the Magic Kingdom. Did a couple portals and came back to ride BTM. He loved it, but was exhausted from all the anxiety of anticipation and we headed home.
If the plan is exactly as it sounds, I don't know that returning to the parks is a viable option as I'm not about to return and find misery and meltdowns in a crowd in what is supposed to be the happiest place on earth. If that's the case, I seriously need to weigh my options of selling my DVC membership.
Your thoughts?
You know your child the best.
We stayed at SSR this past summer, and ds did not go to a park, at all, any of the days of our stay. And that was while GAC was still an option. He loved the community center and all the crafts, the campfire, and nightly movies. He was also content at the room building legos and catching lizards on the patio (we were 1st floor).
I know that we'll be unable to get directly in to an attraction and have read how the new plan is supposed to work. That said, the prior GAC along with our stroller as a wheelchair would have us on TSM even bypassing the regular FP lane and on in 10 minutes.
It's hit or miss with TSM and stroller as w/c. It's possible you could get right on, or if there are many people ahead of you, it could take much longer. I'v been timing our waits. The fastest was 5 minutes, the longest was just over 30 minutes.
I was with friends one day of their MAW trip in December. Even for them (and their son is in a very fragile condition), they were directed to the FP+ line of every attraction he could ride.
I think I've just given up on there being any chance it'll allow us to make him be happy no matter how many social stories we have along the way. As far as occupying him on a 16 hour drive, he does great between watching movies on the DVD player or just watching the trees/cars on the road. On the other hand, giving him an iPad to occupy his time is quite a risk as it'd be nothing for him to throw it once he gets upset at waiting.
I may give it a try to take him to a closer park and see how things go, but I'm not counting on it being a success.
And you don't want him throwing it at people in line either. Does he have any calming activities you can bring in line for him? My son loves therapeutic putty and can spend lots of time manipulating it. I buy the strongest strength they have at his OT and it really relaxes him and he enjoys it. Bean Bag tapping is another thing he finds relaxing.
Disney is very different from other parks though. While they may have similar systems, the attractions and experiences are usually vastly different.
I wish you the best in figuring out what to do. I hope things work out for you to visit Disney.