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Happy News from our Disney Trip

Sheila - posted on 03/23/2010 ( 4 moms have responded )

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Hi Everyone,

A while back I asked for any input anyone might have on our upcoming trip to Disney. Got some great advice.

The trip went better then I ever could have anticipated. I bought "extra-strength" headphones that my son initially used all the time. By the end of the trip, they rarely left the backpack.

It started out a little rough. I had asked the service captain at the character break fast to have the characters stay back from our table...he had gotten to two out of the three characters....but Donald was too fast for him! Came walking up and my little guy just threw right up! Donald's reaction was priceless and I wish I had have had it caught on video...anyways, that was the first day...last day, we all had a picture with Donald!

My son, who does not go down regular slides, initiated trips down the water slide (on a tube, the small one at Typhone lagoon and the large Family raft). He also went down the big White Water Rapid ride at Animal Kingdom....again, he initiated the request.

We had a great time on the Monorail, Tom Sawyer's Island, Hollywood studios, Epcot, and Animal Kingdom. Although I loved it, the Magic Kingdom was really too busy/big for my little guy,

He enjoyed the pool, and splashed independently...NO DEATH GRIP!!!

While we say at the dinner table, he would draw pictures of his day (!!!!!) and we could not get over how absolutely connected he was with us. It was absolutely amazing!

Happy Dancing at Disney!!

Sheila

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Amanda - posted on 03/25/2010

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Sheila, that is such great news!! How wonderful that you had such a great experience :-) That's really encouraging for me to hear, because we're planning to take Billy this year. I've never been to the water park -- it sounds like it was good?

Thanks so much for sharing your story ...

Amanda
Blogging for Billy at www.AmandaBroadfoot.com

Ilene - posted on 03/25/2010

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This is so good for me to read!!!! We went to Disney World 2 days after being told that our 26-month old twins were "on the spectrum". The trip went all right, but there were issues because we had no idea what to expect and were totally uninformed when it came to autism. We are now thinking ahead to our next trip to Disney (anticipated 2011 or 2012) and have some milestones that need to be met first (handling shows/parades tops the list). It's so nice to read that your autistic son enjoyed visiting "The House of Mouse" and that everyone was able to enjoy the vacation!!!!!!

Thanks for sharing!!!!
Ilene

Bonnie - posted on 03/25/2010

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We went last September with our son (has high-functioning autism) other son and daughter. We had a good time, but I wish we had more time. We wanted to do everything and had no time to relax. Ryan had a wonderful time on the rides and attractions but was very tired and as a result, had some meltdowns. Over all, he did very well considering. It may have been the only time we could go, I wish we could have stayed longer and had a slower pace!

We had a bit of trouble with characters too. Ryan is 12 and was very embarrassed and wouldn't pose with any of them and got really upset at a character buffet (I didn't realize at first when I made the reservation that it was a character meal, but they told me just to tell them at the door that he didn't want characters approaching him.)Anyway, they did approach him and it was his birthday too, he just wanted to leave the restaurant after he ate, he didn't even get his birthday cupcake. Other restaurants, not on the exact day of the boys' birthday (they are twins) were awesome with them with treats and songs!!

Glad you had a great time!!

Bonnie Spruin
Nova Scotia

Heidi - posted on 03/23/2010

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So glad to hear that you guys had a wonderful trip!! We are looking forward to our second trip to Disneyland soon and I am hoping that it goes well. The 1st, didnt go well at all, but we didnt know then what we know now, so this one should be much easier and fun for the whole family :)

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