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krystaltps

Disney - Florida

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We're just about to book up for 3 weeks in Florida next summer. It's going to be really expensive, so it is the kind of holiday we will only ever do once. So naturally we are planning everything down to the finest detail, unfortunately C is starting to stress already. He says he's not sure if he can come at all, he will miss home too much. He does have a point - we went to the mainland for 3 days a few weeks ago, and even though we did lots of things C loves (like shop for pokemon merchandise) he stressed the whole time, and was not very nice to be around, ruining things for the twins.

I have promised him pokemon shopping and even a swim with dolphins in Florida, but he's so worried about going for 3 weeks. We have looked at the villa, the flight details, the car we will be hiring, the diney parks, etc online to try to prepare him, but to no avail.

I wouldn't consider going for less than 3 weeks, as we will only ever spend this amount on a holiday once and I want him and the twinkles to see and do as much as possible.

We've only started going on holidays within the past couple of years, as before C simply couldn't cope at all. We want to do Florida next year, as the twinkles are desperate to go - they will be 8 and I don't want to leave it much later as then they won't find it as magical.

I don't know how C will handle somewhere as busy as Florida (considering we live on an island) and I know the disney parks over there don't even offer exit passes.

Do I seriously consider leaving him with my parents (I don't think I could bear that), and if not how can I prepare him and help make it as enjoyable as possible, so that the twinkles still have a good holiday (and hopefully, C too)?

Any advice or previous experience would be greatly appreciated.....

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Hi Krystaltps

 

When i9 took my k away it was a nightmare and that was just in may this year we only went for a week to minorca all carefully planned of course, but the changes was just to much for him he made noises the whole time which he wouldnt stop doing ang he physically and verbally attacked me on numerous occasions, so i know how you must be feeling

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Hiya...tricky one this...I took J for two weeks 2 years ago and these were the down points:

 

1. He hated the heat

2. The only park he really liked was the water one..all the disney parks he preferred the open playgrounds and just maybe 2 rides, wouldn't entertain anything else so kinda felt like a waste of money. We did manage to bribe/persuade him to see a couple of the shows and once he was in and settled he did enjoy them.

3. He wanted to come home after a week cos he missed his house, his nanny and her dogs :wub:

4. He really hated having to eat out - we were in a hotel so he had to leave the room for breakfast, lunch and dinner

- we ended up storing milk in the minibar for cereal so breakfast sorted, and room service for a few dinners.

 

We did have a couple of major paddy's while we were there.

 

If I was to go again I'd change the following:

 

1. Book for 10 days into one of the self catering villa's - I have the details of ones my In-laws went to if you want to PM me - they really rated it, and still close to all parks and atrractions, and solves the food issue.

 

2. Make sure I didn't go in high season...we stupidly went in July cos his dad was working in the states at the time and we wanted to surprise J by having his dad meet us there and thats the only time he could get off work - but it was wayyy to hot.

 

3. I'd try to stagger the disney parks and study the maps before we got there so that your boy can identify which rides he might like before you get there.

 

4. Perhaps you guys can split up as a family for a couple of days?...maybe drop you and son off at a water park in the morning and hubby take twinkles to another park etc?

 

For us the main things my son didn't like were the heat, no easy access to fav food, scale of someof the parks (pretty tiring and I guess it all seems so busy etc.

 

We would go again, cos when he enjoyed it he really enjoyed it, but I would definately make changes as above so that it would be less stressful all round.

 

I would also try and book yourselfs on a night flight going over, while their body clock is still in synch at least they'll get some sleep before you land. And it's a long flight to keep them entertained. Wouldn't worry bout the flights coming home as all the sprogs will be out of synch by then so you may as well save you money on the return flight :)

 

Hope some of this is useful...if you want more info pls feel free to PM

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>:D<<'> , everyones experiences are different and so are our kiddies :wub: , we,ve been a few times , the first time when my ds was only a tot and pre-dx, he liked it then.The last time we went he was 9 and it was a big waste of money.Everything was too intense , the whole idea of people in costumes dressed as characters freaked him out :wacko: .The queues were horrendous as was the heat!!What he wanted to go on his younger siblings did,nt and vice versa.It felt very very crowded in the parks , even for me, and you could,nt get any where to sit at any of the themed water parks unless you got there when it opened.Also the plane journey was a nightmare .........nearly had a nervous breakdown we got diverted to washington and delayed for 3 days with no luggage :tearful: .................as you can tell I would never go again my son shudders at the mention of the holiday :( .

But ...............this was only our experience you may find your son enjoys it.I know others who have taken their ASD kids and had a good time.Has your son ever been to a theme park before.......did he enjoy it??Does he like the sun?..Does he like water and swimming?...........does he like chips burgers and fried chicken :lol: ..........you could also take a look at Jackie Jacksons (Lukes mum) book ..multi-coloured may-hem ..a book about her holiday in florida.

Also have you thought about euro-disney?..............instead you,d only need to spend several days there it might be a compromise then your twins don,t miss out.

Sorry if this has sounded negative aswell, ...........We had an awful time so I,m bound to sound like a whinge bag :shame: .........I also agree with what has been said previously , go out of season, try to go when it,s cooler..........the best time is late jan early feb, as it,s very quiet and cool.All the best Suzex

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Just to add re Euro Disney....J LOVES Euro Disney!!

 

I think because it's a lot smaller to navigate, and the weather is never boiling! :)

 

It also never feels too crowded and the queues are not as long as Florida

 

If J had his way we would go back to the same hotel in Eurodisney for every single holiday! - however, he only really likes a certain swimming pool and about 3 of the rides, plus one open playground..so it's an expensive one..

 

Any chance you can entice other family members to go to Florida with you?..that will make it easier to split up and do different things with the kids. But if he's already worrying about spending 3 weeks from 'home' I'd think twice about the 3 weeks. At the time I thought my son musta been the only kid in florida actually counting down the days to go home in excitement rather than despair! :)

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Do I seriously consider leaving him with my parents (I don't think I could bear that)

 

Would he have a fantastic time with his grandparents? Would they be delighted to have him? Would he prefer that as a choice?

Can they handle him almost as well as you?

With my son, the answer to all the questions would be yes. And I would leave him with a plan of what he would do during the three weeks, and funding.

I would miss him every second of every minute, but B would hate Disneyland on so many different levels that I couldn't bear to make him endure it. Watching him go through it would be so much worse than the separation. But all children are different, so I can only answer in relation to my two, not yours. >:D<<'>

And neither of mine would like Disneyland!

Edited by Bard

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For the first time ever next June, the entire family is going on holiday together. We've only ever gone on holidays seperately. Sometimes it would be me, mom and my sister. Othertimes it would be my brother, his girlfriend and their daughter and various other combinations. But next year it's going to be all of us and it's going to be Disney in Florida!

 

 

I'm always excited about holidays, but I don't always enjoy myself. It's largely to do with how much the family seems to *want to spoil everything*. They go out of their way to complain and argue over the smallest things. The last holiday I ever had was in 2001 in Gran Canaria with my mom and sister. I made two suicide attempts because they were each determined to ruin the entire holiday.

 

The heat made it worse. The food made it worse. The resort made it worse. Everything about the holiday itself made it worse. But I would have not only tolerated all that but actually enjoyed it if my family knew how to behave themselves.

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we took our children to Flrida for 3 weeks when C was 10. we had a great time. we spoke to the airline and got proirity check in so we didn't have to queue at the airport. when there, we did get exit passes for all the parks. Once in the park, you go to the Guest services and explain that your child has a disability. Some sort of evidence is required. They couldn't be more helpful. the passes also got us access into the shows before other people queueing. we had a timetable of where we were going to go on what days. This aided us as well as C. The flight was a bit long, but we took plently to do and having the Tv helped a bit, although they weren't on all the time. I am sure you will have a great time once you are there.

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We have booked for florida 2009, my son will be 8. We want to book our flights with Virgin airlines as they have computer consoles and that will be a godsend for my son. My son loves theme parks so i dont think there will be too many problems. We are going in April so hoping it wont be as busy or too hot. Im sure once you go your son will be ok. I think all holidays with kids esp one with asd or as can be difficult at times but you look back and realise they've had a good time which is all that matters in the end!!

Brooke

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Thanks all for your replies - plenty of food for thought.

We will be booking a villa, C would not cope in a hotel. The villas we've looked at all have private pools, so we could stay home some days and let C chill out. It also means he can eat what he wants, when he wants. Thanks for the tip, Lisa.

Unfortunately we have no choice other than to go July/August, as I'm a teacher. Also hubby works on oil rigs so we have to time it in with when he's home. On the plus side C doesn't seem to be aware of temperature, although he won't expose arms or legs unless swimming - so we thought we'd make a lot of the water parks, and buy some light-weight long-sleeved tops and trousers before we go.

We have been to a theme park this summer and he thoroughly enjoyed it. He did limit himself to the little kiddies rides though, and it wasn't hugely busy the day we were there. I wouldn't be expecting that he would want to go on much, but I know he will love the water parks - he's a bit of a water baby. If we buy the Discovery Cove dolphin swim, we get 14 day passes to Busch gardens, Tampa Bay and Seaworld - he will love the whole animal bit.

I've heard about the Guest Services, Josie, what kind of proof do you need?

As for the flight, C doesn't sleep anyway, so a night flight wouldn't make much difference - even if I dosed him up on melatonin. None of the kids have flown before, and C's a bit of a machine whizz, so the first couple of hours of the flight will be taken up with fascination - engines, airplane toilets, mini TVs on the back of seats, earphones, handy little trays to put your pokemon figures on, complimentary vomit bags, etc - all great stuff! However after all of that has been explored... does anyone know if you can take a Nintendo DS on a flight?

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Hi,

Yes you can, you just can't use them during take off and landing.

Have you thought about a portable DVD player then the kids can watch what they want when they want. I saw the one we bought last year is on sale for 30 quid !

I hope it all goes well,

w.

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Hiya,

 

I'm a big fan of Florida and theme parks despite the fact that they can potentially look like the last place to go for someone on the spectrum :lol:

 

My mum is a teacher and the two times we went to Florida as a family we had to go in the summer hols as well. I would suggest that you go as late as possible and get everything sorted for the kids going back to school (and any work you have to do) as soon as school breaks up in July. Therefore you could possibly get back perhaps 2 or 3 days before term starts again and only have a mountain of washing to deal with :wacko: The reason for going as late as possible is that I'm pretty sure American schools re-start a couple of weeks before British schools so the parks get a little bit quieter. (Incididentally anyone thinking of going to Florida who doesn't have these restrictions I would head for September 5th onwards as the prices shoot down, it's still warm weather and the parks are so much quieter!! The only downside is that the parks start shutting earlier and you don't get the same energy in the shows that you would at the beginning of the season.)

 

My other advice for going to Florida is try to wait until your kids are old enough to cope, unless you are willing to put up with very tired and grouchy kiddies for two weeks (which is usually what most parents are resigned to :lol:). I know the worry is that they won't find it as magical but trust me I went for the first time when I was 14 and it was amazing! I went on all the kiddie rides that I was allowed on and totally embraced my childhood again. This happened the next time I went (I was 17) and the next time (22 hehehehehe). That's what is so magical about Disney...it doesn't matter what age you are. Also Universal and Busch Gardens tend to be more targeted to older children, teenagers and adults anyway. Waiting for kids to be the right age (or the right height) has a couple of benefits as first they can go on all the rides and you don't have to deal with hugely disappointed kids, second they can cope with all that flipping walking! The parks are way bigger than Alton Towers and walking round and round theme parks for two weeks is knackering for anyone. Definately don't even consider this type of holiday if you are looking to get away and have a rest. Also the older the kids, generally speaking, the less baggage they require so you won't be heaving round bags of essentials to take care of little ones or dealing with pushchairs etc.

 

The heat can be an issue, it's hot there is no getting around it but the good thing about the good old USA is that they love air-conditioning so most of the restaurants, cafes and shops around the parks are icey cold. Alot of the rides, if you queue indoors, are air-conned to and most of the queues that are outside are under cover and have fans dotted all around the queues to keep you cool. You can also buy spray water bottles that have fans attached to them so you can spritz yourself with water and then keep yourself cool with the fan. These can be over-priced in the theme parks (of course) so it's worth taking a trip to one of the outlet malls and picking some up there. The other thing to expect is for it to rain. It's perfectly normal in July/August/September and you can expect showers most days. The weird thing is though is that it still stays hot! The rain comes unexpectedly and can absolutely belt it down at times so it's always worth investing in those ever-so-fashionable ponchos. (I have Seaworld ones myself and have to don one on every water ride because I get a reaction to the water in America) It doesn't affect going round the parks too bad as long as you accept the fact that it will probably keep happening and they don't tend to last long. In fact some times in can be a nice relief when it does rain :)

 

If you have reluctant kiddies that are unsure about going to America I would get them online looking at the Disney theme parks (and Universal/Busch Gardens....this usually get the animal lovers/boys more interested). There is also the UK Disney site which offers a link to get a free planning DVD which will help you get a handle on what to do, where to go, how to do it (especially useful I think if you've not been before). Disney UK

 

You can also visit alot of the theme parks' websites and view videos and information about the rides, the last time I went there was a few new rides and it made me even more excited being able to view videos about them online.

 

I think visiting Florida is all about being realistic. It's going to be impossible to keep everyone happy, tempers and emotions can run high, especially with all that adrenaline kicking around. Plan, plan plan as much as you can! You should sketch things out in advance so you don't waste time on a morning deciding when and where you're going to go. You also have to give yourselves plenty of time to do the parks...if you are planning on taking in the parks and going on most rides then most parks will take up an entire day. It is possible to do Animal Kingdom and Epcot in one day but resign yourself to it being a long one! The best thing to do is to head to Animal Kingdom as early as possible because it is the least sheltered theme park (aside from Busch gardens) and the animals don't tend to stick around for long once it gets too hot. Head over to Epcot after a spot of lunch and spend the afternoon and evening around there and head down to the around the world section in the evening. Definately book ahead if you want to eat in one of the restaurants and settle down to watch the best fireworks display! (Another top tip, if you don't want to eat in the Worlds section and think the kiddies won't handle how busy it can get around there for the fireworks then make sure you are back north of the lake before the fireworks start. I'm fairly sure there are benches dotted around, we snagged one of these last time and had a fantastic view of the fireworks and we were able to leg it out of the park before the crowds starting heading en masse for the exit.)

 

Busch Gardens is definately an all dayer given that it takes roughly 1hr 30min to 2hrs to get there from Orlando (easy peasy drive though, you just go straight!) and if you want to take in all of Busch Gardens and know that the kids will want to tackle the HUGE rollercoasters again (the best park by far for the scary rides) then I would go twice. Universal and Islands you can easily do each in a day, perfect for the days when you don't want to be up at 7am. Also you can set aside a third day for revisiting these two parks to go back on your favourite rides/do the ones you missed out on. Given that they are on the same site you can flit between the two fairly easily and there are lots of nice restaurants if you stick around in the evening (the Hard Rock cafe is aces).

 

*Racks one brain cell for other useless advice* Oh theme park tickets, I would definately suggest the Disney 14 day Ultimate ticket and for the other theme parks the 5 park Orlando Flex ticket (covering Universal, Universal Studios, Seaworld, Busch Gardens and Wet and Wild) if you're going for two weeks. There is a good site actually which seems to offer the tickets a little cheaper (sometimes it's only 50p cheaper but every little helps or something) though I would try to resist actually booking a holiday with this company as while the transport and hotel deals are fine, the flight (and in particular the state of the planes) were not great. Anyway here's a link thing I'm not advertising for them...honest!

 

Oooo one more tidbit...Disney Quest is ace (it's at Downtown Disney) it's indoors and is all about playing games and interactivity. They have the usual arcade type floors, advanced games floors....3D canon firing, design your own rollercoaster etc etc and retro game floors. It's brilliant anyway and I think included in the Ultimate ticket.

 

Ok I'm going to shut up now, can you tell I'm a little bit obsessed with Disney and Florida??? :lol: I realise that all this advice is useless as I haven't helped you solve the dilemma of whether to take your child or not. It's for you (and him!) to decide ultimately, it's a long way and a lot of money to spend if he's going to hate it and even if he would prefer to stop at his grandparents you are still going to feel guilty. If that's what he prefers to do though then try to brush those feelings aside and go and have a great time with your other kids, you're not letting him down or leaving him out...just spoil him rotten with all the stuff he likes (new video games or books etc) so he has just as fun a holiday doing what he wants to do. It feels strange I know, like when your kids don't want to leave the house either, like they should be outside having fun. But just because they are inside doesn't mean they aren't having fun or living a happy life. I'm 24 and I still hate leaving the house. I'm not missing out and I'm not miserable trapped inside these four walls, I'm much happier and contented than if I try to force myself to do things like go for a walk around town. I know it must seem difficult when they are young and you can feel somewhat trapped yourself but as soon as they are old enough to be left alone I would say do it and take your others kids out and about. Make sure you treat the one that stays at home so that he gets the same money spent on him etc but don't feel guilty, they are probably far happier left playing Simpsons Hit and Run all day than being dragged around shops or taken to a place of interest to visit.

 

Hope some of this ramble has helped, if anyone else is heading to Disney and thinks I might be able to answer any questions then fire them my way if you want, I don't mind helping!

 

Emily

xxx

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We went to Orlando for 2 weeks last August, and we are going again next weekend for another 2 weeks. We are lucky in that Luke loves the thrill of rides (his usual reaction is ?That was horrible ? can I go on again?) He also seems to cope better with total change that he does slight change. He is all over the place at home at the moment because is usual home routine has been disrupted. If you take him away from home ? where he has no routine to compare with ? he is better.

 

Luke really enjoyed it. He did develop some interesting coping strategies - like counting the number of steps he had taken to get from A to B, reading anything he could find - posters, signs etc, and when we were in parks he insisted on having his own copy of the map so that he could see where we were and where we were going. But we really coped much better than expected. Of course we did have some meltdowns and tantrums, but no more than we usually get at home.

 

He coped very well with the flight ? the opportunity to spend 10 hours playing on his game boy was a real treat for him  And I think there were a couple of in flight films that he enjoyed watching.

 

The guest services in all the parks could not have been more helpful. We got priority passes for everything, and did not have to queue at all. I felt much more comfortable using the passes there than I have ever been anywhere else (been to Euro Disney a few times as well) The staff were always more than happy to help out and we never received any funny looks for not joining the main queue. Luke is not a big fan of the characters ? but he did really enjoy all the all the shows, parades and fireworks, particularly in Disney.

 

Yes - it is hot at this time of year, but most of the parks (with the exception of Seaworld) have plenty of fountains around that the kids are encouraged to use to cool down. Luke thought it was great fun to get soaking wet and dry out again in about 10 minutes.

 

He became fascinated by the language, boring us all rigid with long lists of American words and what they really meant in English :rolleyes: He was also surprisingly adventurous with the food. We have some fantastic photos of him tackling crabs legs and lobster.

 

I know that everybody has different experiences, particularly as no 2 ASD kids are alike. But I wanted to say that we had a really positive experience from it. He has talked about it continuously and is really excited about going back (so am I)

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Hi, Krystaltps, you asked about proof of disability. we took our blue badge, don't knwo if you have one. i guess proof of DLA, again, if you get it, or a letter from the paedatrician would be ok as well. Not oo sure, but as i said, they accepted our blue badge as proof. hope this helps.

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Hiya,

We took J to Disney 3 years ago.... It was great he was great , well we thought so , he loved the water , so we hired a villa with it's own pool, which meant we could do the chill out spend 1-2-1 with him, each day , and have quality time with no rushing around , the only big issue was J's eating habits....

:unsure:

He likes what he likes, we went with my parents who were not tolerant of J at all....

He only wanted to sit down and eat for a few minutes, and he did not like the food.... plan pasta and chocolate milk, was his menu...

 

Me and My Parents had a few words, as they challenged our parenting skills... , which me and the DH think we do ok at?.

 

J ? did have problems sleeping in his own room while we were away, so lots of late nights and him getting in bed with us. Not a big issue.

 

J, loved the rides , but of course the Q's were an issue as he wanted to go on them again and again , spider man at universal studio's was a favourite, we bought the fast pass, which meant we paid well over the top , but at least we did not have to Q for the 1st ride.

J loved the water park, and the space stuff; he was not keen on the walking and hated the heat... but I too am the same?. We did have to keep checking with him if he was having a good time, he never asked for anything, which always made us want to buy him things,

 

But over all he was ace, and we are planning a 3 week trip to the states next year, as my brother gets married out there, J already is wanting to check out places to go, cos he is older (10 ish) - I know if he helps plan it, it will be even better... and our 2 year old will be the worry!!!

 

my advice :thumbs:

Plan ? J is a great reader so books are always an easy occupier for him

Trip to Disney, plan well and think about food, if that is an issue...

Do not take your parents... as they do not understand (well mine did not , cos we only see them twice a year, - saying that have not seen them since we came back from Disney!!! ) :wallbash:

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Wow! Thanks so much peoples, I'm so glad I posted - think will print this out, so I can peruse it at my leisure. You have been so very helpful >:D<<'> .

I don't really want to load the decision onto him, as he is totally incapable of deciding without getting upset, stressed and stimming (and that's just over whether to buy pokemon diamond or pokemon pearl!). Think what I will do is amass as much info and pics and dvds as possible, and let C learn about it in his own time.

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I took liam 3yrs ago he was so lost bless him

But virgin were great when we booked we told them about liam and we got on plane first had an upgrade too for extra legroom for him his meal's come before anyone else's! they were great with him

when we got there we let liam take the lead we went at his pace and we had a great time we are off again this oct as it is quiet not so many quese and not quite so hot.

I hope you have a great time what ever you deside good luck . :thumbs:

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