With summer approaching, lots of people are preparing for family vacations. We are a big Disney family, and Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida is one of our absolute favorite places to go- and one of the world’s most popular vacation destinations. We have gone as a family twice, and we are currently planning our third family trip to the parks to celebrate Emmy’s upcoming college graduation and Caitlyn’s high school graduation (I cannot believe they’re both about to be graduating- I am not ready!!!). Before we get into it, let me just say this is NOT sponsored– we are just a Disney loving family and I just want to share our experience with ya. However, the post does include some affiliate links to products I loved on our trip and things we found helpful in planning our Disney vacation, or will buy for our next one. ♥
As any special needs family can tell you, planning trips with a special needs child can present issues. There are a lot of things that have to be taken into consideration when planning a vacation with someone who has special needs; these will vary depending on your loved one’s needs, of course. The wonderful thing about Disney World is that they have made a lot of efforts to make the parks as autism friendly as possible, with things like quiet rooms if you need to take a break from the noise and bustle of the parks, dietary accommodations for those who need them, and companion restrooms for those who may need assistance in the bathroom.
As an autism family, we have always had the mentality that we never know if Sawyer can do something ’til we try, so we decided to take him to Disney for the first time in 2016 to celebrate his 3rd birthday. We had taken the girls on their first Disney trip in 2012, and I was amazed at how much had changed for us in just 4 short years. Planning a Disney trip for our family as a special needs family included lots of additional details that needed to be taken into consideration. I had to make sure I planned for lots of downtime to recover from sensory overload, aversions to certain foods, the possibility that one of us may have to leave the parks to take Sawyer back to the room if he needed it, etc. Since the first time we went, our trip had been an extravagant Princess-loaded experience for the girls’ first time, we planned our second trip with mostly Sawyer’s needs and interests in mind. We knew before we went that there was a real possibility that Sawyer wouldn’t be interested in riding rides, and we knew the girls would want to ride some things he couldn’t- such as Tower of Terror- so we brought my mom with us to make sure that one of the girls always had a riding buddy if me or their dad had to sit with Sawyer while they rode something. We chose our hotel for the trip based on the fact that Sawyer was completely obsessed with all things Lightning McQueen and “Cars” at the time, so we stayed at the Art of Animation Resort in one of the “Cars” themed family suites. Having 2 bathrooms to use and get ready in was a lifesaver, and it was nice for my husband and me to have a separate bedroom to retreat to in the evenings and a kitchenette to prepare some meals in. The bedroom was also good for for Sawyer to nap or rest in- I highly recommend the family suites at Art of Animation if you’re going with a bigger group. The Cabins at Fort Wilderness are another wonderful option if you need a little more space than a normal hotel room.
While planning, I swore by Birnbaum’s Walt Disney World Official Guide (a MUST HAVE for planning a Disney trip!), and I did a lot of research into Disney’s options for guests with disabilities. I was very happy to learn about the Disability Access Service (DAS), which is very helpful if you have a child who can’t wait for long periods or who can’t tolerate standing in a queue. At that point, Sawyer was almost 3. He was still almost completely non-verbal and not able to wait in line for long periods of time, and Disney’s DAS really helped save us a lot of time and headaches.
Right off the bat when we arrived at our hotel, Sawyer was overstimulated by all the exciting sights and sounds around us. He was really excited, though, which we were happy about:
The moment we rounded the corner to the wing our room was in (the Mater wing!), Sawyer saw “Radiator Springs” and immediately dropped into the pose he used to get into when he was overstimulated; Sawyer used to draw into himself in a little squat when he was overwhelmed. However, he quickly recovered and started walking around touching and laying his head against the cars from his beloved movies. He absolutely LOVED the hotel, and all the “Cars”-themed decor in our room. He’s grown out of his “Cars” phase now, and I sure do miss these days and his excitement for Lightning McQueen and the gang.
After we checked into our room, we headed to Magic Kingdom. I was pretty nervous about how Sawyer would handle the crowds and noise. As expected, he was not a fan:
First of all, the ride to the parks on the bus was a nightmare. Sawyer cried and kicked against us the entire time, trying to escape the noise and crowded space. I had to hold him in my lap to keep him from laying in the floor of the bus, and dodged quite a few headbutts on our way to the parks. We learned to take our own vehicle to and from the parks because he could not handle the Disney transportation system (he hated the monorail, too). Once we got to Magic Kingdom, we immediately went to the Guest Services window to get our DAS. It was a fairly quick process for us back then, although it’s changed a lot since our trip almost 10 years ago. Back then a DAS was a pass that would allow you to skip the line for most rides and attractions, and it covered your entire party. You applied for it at Guest Services when you got to the parks, and it was good for your entire trip. Now you have to apply online 30 days before your trip and wait for approval, and it does not allow you to skip lines, but gives you a return time to come ride the attraction, kinda like the old FastPass Disney used to have. It also doesn’t include your entire group if you have a larger group like we did; it only covers a family of 4. There has been a LOT of talk about the new policy, and even some lawsuits filed over the changes… I am seriously dreading having to go through the process for our next trip to the parks and how it may affect our trip. Anyway… Sawyer kept pulling my hand back toward the gate and crying to leave. At that point I was wondering if we had just wasted thousands of dollars on a vacation that would only be pure torture for him. However, once we rented a stroller and got Sawyer situated, he calmed down a lot. He liked riding in the stroller and looking around in the stores, and was content to people-watch as we navigated through the crowds. The sun visor over the stroller was also a huge help, because Sawyer absolutely hated the bright Florida sun. We will definitely be investing in some nice sunglasses for him and maybe a hat, too, when we go back again.
In Magic Kingdom, Sawyer definitely loved the Winnie the Pooh ride- especially the gift shop at the end of the ride. Our boy has always been a fan of little plushies, and he loved getting to touch and see the different Pooh characters.
We learned early on that slower rides were better for him; we did ride The Barnstormer with him and he did ok, but he definitely preferred the dark rides to roller coasters. He also didn’t care much for the attractions like Enchanted Tales with Belle; too much sitting was too long for him and I almost had to leave the attraction early with him. Thankfully he made it through, though! He also really enjoyed Dumbo and Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, and the cars at Tommorrowland Speedway. He also liked It’s A Small World- unlike Emily, who was freaked out by all the dolls. LOL
Another thing we learned early on in the trip was that Sawyer did not like meeting the characters! This is actually pretty common; those big characters are HUGE to little ones and they can freak them out a little bit. Our first character meet and greet was with The Beast in Be Our Guest, and Sawyer wanted nothing to do with him; no amount of encouragement would get him comfortable enough to pose with The Beast! LOL
I was pretty surprised that he wanted nothing to do with Mickey and friends when we visited Chef Mickey’s- a favorite of ours- because Sawyer has always absolutely loved Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto. I thought he would love meeting Mickey, but he was freaked out and scared; he screamed and pushed them away when they tried to come near him. Donald even playfully pushed him back! But it was ok ’cause Caitlyn’s excitement to meet them all made up for it! LOL
For a kid who hates animals now, Sawyer absolutely loved Animal Kingdom back then- so much so that we had our first epic meltdown when Sawyer didn’t want to leave The Boneyard for our FastPass at Kilimanjaro Safari.
The Boneyard is this huge playground over in what used to be DinoLand USA in Animal Kingdom. It’s an awesome dinosaur-themed play area, complete with a huge sandbox where kids can “dig for bones”. Sawyer LOVED this sandbox; it was a wonderful feature for our sensory seeking boy. He and Caitlyn sat in the sandbox for a long time playing with the sand and looking for “fossils”.
However, when it was time for us to leave for our reservation at Kilimanjaro Safari, Sawyer did not want to go. Despite promising him we could come back to play again after the ride, when I picked him up to carry him out, he launched into the worst meltdown he has ever had in his life. To get out of the sandbox area, we had to walk all the way back through the entire playplace, and I had to carry Sawyer out kicking, screaming, scratching, and hitting me. Caitlyn walked ahead of us to try to clear the path for me, and after we finally got him out of the playplace, it took me and my husband both to wrestle him back into his stroller. My mom held the stroller in place as we struggled against Sawyer, who was holding his body rigid and attacking us to keep us from putting him in the seat. People were walking by staring, pointing and laughing, and some people even tried to take videos, at which point the girls began yelling at them to stop.
When we finally got Sawyer into the stroller and strapped in, it took all of about 2 minutes before exhaustion finally set in and he cried himself to sleep. I walked across the park with tears streaming down my face, my mom and husband walking on either side of me in silence. We were all shocked and upset; we had never seen Sawyer have a meltdown like that before. He had hit and kicked and scratched me, and even tried to bite me as I was trying to get him sat down in the stroller, and I remember how his strength and rage had scared me. I can still remember my mom and the girls looking at me with their mouths dropped open in shock; they were worried for Sawyer and for me and their dad. We were worried about Sawyer, of course, and how the rest of our vacation was going to go. Not only that, but we were all incredibly embarrassed and angry at the response from passersby and Disney employees who simply gawked at us without offering any help. And I get it… before I had a special needs child, I probably would have been staring and assuming some kid was just throwing a tantrum, too. I’m sure a lot of people thought he was throwing a fit and chuckled over it. Back then, the world was still pretty oblivious to what life with autism is like for families like ours, and people really just didn’t know what to do or how to react, I think. Still, I sincerely hope when we go back to Disney World again, that things have changed a lot and that Disney employees have received some kind of training for how to help in situations like that. And if you happen to see someone in a situation like that when you’re on vacation, I pray you would offer your help and support to the family instead of trying to record a video for TikTok or laughing at a child who is in obvious distress.
Anytime I travel with my kids for long periods of time, I always allow for downtime to rest and recover. Both times we have went to Disney before, we were there for 8-9 days, so I made sure to plan days where we could chill at the hotel or do something besides going into the parks. This is super important when you have little kids; they are going to need time to slow down and recover from all the overstimulation, so if you can, I definitely recommend planning a pool day or some other more chill activity for every couple of days in the parks. Our typical plan is to do two days in the parks, and then a rest day. If you don’t have the luxury of being able to plan an entire day to rest, then be prepared to leave the parks for a nap midway through your day before coming back later. Trust me- your littles will need it and you might need it too!
At our hotel, we had access to three wonderfully themed pool areas. The Finding Nemo pool was our favorite, for its splash pad and larger pool, but The Little Mermaid pool was amazing, too. Sawyer absolutely LOVED the pools; he has always been a water baby, and pool time was exactly what he needed after two days of sensory overload in the parks. He’d play and swim until he was tired, then come sit with me and cover up with his Lightning McQueen towel when he needed to rest.
After a few days of Disney fun, we took a break from Disney and headed over to Universal Studios to see The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Emily and I both love the movies (she loves the books, too!) so we were totally geeking out over all things Harry Potter and thoroughly enjoyed immersing ourselves in that “world” for a little while. I was also super excited for the Jurassic Park section, but sadly the rest of my family was not. I didn’t get to ride the ride or anything, but I did make sure to get my pic with the T-Rex! One thing I will say is at that time, Universal didn’t really offer many accommodations for guests with disabilities, so we were forced to wait in a lot of lines, which Sawyer could not handle. Just getting into the park was challenging, with Sawyer having a meltdown in the middle of the line. There were also not as many places to take breaks from the hot Florida sun, so hopefully that has changed.
Eating at Disney World was not nearly as tricky as I thought it was going to be for us. Sawyer has always had a very limited food palette, so I worried it would be hard to find things he would eat, but it wasn’t at all- if we went to restaurants where their menu was more upscale, all I had to do was ask for something he’d eat and everyone was happy to accomodate us. Of course the girls were excited to try the fun snacks sold all over the parks, too.
Overall, it was a great trip and everyone had fun- including Sawyer. We definitely had our challenges, but for the most part we were able to work through and around them. Here are some takeaways from our trip and tips that I will implement next time we go:
- Always make sure you plan time to rest. Not even the most resilient of us can withstand multiple days of the fast-paced Disney parks without needing to take breaks, and little kids especially need time for naps or slower-paced activities.
- For those who can’t handle the hot Florida sun, maybe try to plan to bulk of your day for the afternoon and evening hours in the parks. By then, a lot of the crowds have died down, the temperature has cooled down, and the lights are not as harsh and bright. This may not work with your kids’ sleep schedule, but it’s a thought.
- Don’t be upset if your child wants nothing to do with the characters you thought they’d love. Those characters can be huge and intimidating for little ones.
- Also, consider visiting Disney during the off-season. While Disney theme parks don’t have a true “off-season,” there are periods with fewer crowds and potentially better weather. Generally, the first few weeks of January, May, September, and the week after Thanksgiving tend to be less crowded than other times of the year. These periods also often coincide with cooler weather, making them ideal for visiting.
- Want to snag some awesome Disney souvenirs at a great price? A lot of the local Walmarts and other stores have the same or similar merchandise as sold in the parks for a lot less! That way you can save more of your hard-earned vacation money on stuff like Dole Whips or amazing vacation experiences like building your own lightsaber, and your kiddos can still snag a cute Stitch plush or a tshirt.
- Speaking of food, pack a backpack with some small snacks and maybe freeze a couple of bottles of water to go in there, too. You’re allowed to take in small snacks and if you have a child who will only eat certain things, this can be a lifesaver AND a budget saver.
- While you’re at it, pack some Dramamine, too. Nothing kills the vacation mood for everybody like somebody getting sick on a ride!
- Have a plan in case someone has to leave the parks with your special needs family member. That way other members of your group can still stay and enjoy themselves while the one who needs to escape can go.
- Also create a plan for in case your special needs family member elopes or wanders off. It didn’t happen to us while we were there, but it does happen that a parent turns their head for a moment and looks back to find their child gone. Disney employees are trained on how to handle lost children, but you should also talk to your group about how the rest of you would handle a situation like that. I highly recommend these awesome temporary tattoos for your child, and maybe designate one or two family members to search while the others wait in the location the person was last seen in. But always ask a Disney employee for help.
- Fireworks can be scary for those with special needs. Noise-cancelling headphones are a must, but also consider finding a place to watch the fireworks from windows or far away, or leaving the parks before the fireworks shows start.
- Disney now has quiet spaces you can take a break from the crowds and noise in– just ask a cast member to direct you to the nearest one!
The bottom line is this: special needs families absolutely must plan for anything and everything that could happen to you while at the parks. Sawyer is a lot older now, and next time’s visit will be a lot different than before, but he still has certain issues that I will have to plan around when planning this next trip. When you have a loved one with special needs, you can’t just “wing it” or expect that they will be able to cope with the fast-paced, hypersensory environment. Before taking a trip to Walt Disney World, there is a lot that should be considered. It’s not like when I was a kid when you could literally just show up at the gate with no plan, ready to have the time of your life on a wing and a prayer. Even “normal” families have a lot of planning to do when going to Disney, such as dining reservations, park reservations, etc.
I could go on for days about Disney World and planning a trip there, but I think this is a pretty good start for families like mine. I hope this blog was helpful to you in some way!
