Autism Friendly

[Summer84]

Hi from Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 I'm hoping to take my young family to Orlando in the Spring of 2023 or 2024.
There will be 5 of us (3 adults including myself and hubby (daughter at that point will be age 11 or 12) and 2 kids (sons age 8/9 and 6/7).
My daughter is on the autism spectrum and will find the long travel and new environment difficult to adjust to, I fear. Does anyone have any tips or advice for places that would be good for her or that cater to her needs?

[WIGGYSMUM]

Welcome to The Dibb
There are many families on here that will be able to advise you , and put you at ease so that your trip will be a positive and very happy experience
Happy planning!

[Orlando_Kings]

Originally Posted by Summer84

Hi from Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 I'm hoping to take my young family to Orlando in the Spring of 2023 or 2024.
There will be 5 of us (3 adults including myself and hubby (daughter at that point will be age 11 or 12) and 2 kids (sons age 8/9 and 6/7).
My daughter is on the autism spectrum and will find the long travel and new environment difficult to adjust to, I fear. Does anyone have any tips or advice for places that would be good for her or that cater to her needs?

See more...

Hi and welcome to the dibb 🙌

Lots of helpful people on hear so fear not.

My son, is also on the spectrum and our approach was to get him used to short flights first.
We didn't get on an airplane for 7 years and went on short flight holidays (Gran Canaries) for couple of years before being happy/comfortable to go back to Orlando.
For us it took much planning, trips to airports to get him comfortable and lots and lots of planning and reassurances.
The result was he loved the flight (needed lots to keep him busy i.e. iPads and films etc) but it wasn't easy at first.

Hope you find what works and you happy planning!

[BirdsluvDisney]

Hi my Grandson is on the Autism spectrum, He also has ADHA and sensory overload.

We first took him to Orlando in 2018 when he was 9.
We chose a villa as we felt this would give him the space he required, His own private pool to play in and his own bedroom for quite time if he was becoming overwhelmed.

We choice a DIBB villa on Sunset Lakes which was very near to shops, Restaurants and only a 10 min drive to Disney. It was a lovely gated community.

We also contacted the airport so we could be prepared for our travels, My Grandson was given a pin to wear so he thought he was being given a special badge and my Daughter was given a lanyard,
when staff see these they new we was travelling with a person with additional needs and made the pathway very smooth for us.

We also showed out Grandson loads of videos and photos of the villa and all the places we were going to visit and we showed these several times so he was really familiar with everything.

My grandson likes fidget toys and certain snacks, So for the flight my Daughter had several little treats to hand him if he was getting anxious.

We obtained a DAS card from Disney and similar for Universal these were a godsend. We got these on our first day and they lasted our entire stay for our whole party.

My Grandson can be fussy with food and we just broke all the rules and just allowed him to eat what he wanted for the 2 weeks this really helped as he was happy to eat as its what he liked, It may not of been the healthiest but it was 2 weeks of his life.

It was such a successful trip that we have booked again for 2022. At first my Daughter wanted to book a villa again which we did.
But after looking at Cabana Bay ( Universal) Family suite we have now moved to there.
We have shown our Grandson and he loved the look of it, He will be 12 when we travel.
We have already started to prep him, He has watched loads of VLOGS on Cabana Bay.
This time we have decided to fly premier with TUI as we prefer a quieter area for him, Last time we flew Virgin in the bubble so was lovely and small for him.
We have shown him the plane layout, Selected our seats. Shown him the new rides in the parks and will over the next 18 months get him as familiar with everything as possible.

With lots of planning and prep hopefully you can all have an amazing holiday.
Our Grandson also has younger siblings that we also involve in everything we find it help prepare them as well so they are not so overwhelmed.

The DIBB is amazing ask lots of questions there is always someone that will pop on and try and help.

Ive been doing Disney/Orlando for over 30 years and I still ask loads of questions and am always learning new tips.

If I can help anyway please just ask away,

Happy planning and welcome to the DIBB

[Summer84]

Originally Posted by BirdsluvDisney

Hi my Grandson is on the Autism spectrum, He also has ADHA and sensory overload.

We first took him to Orlando in 2018 when he was 9.
We chose a villa as we felt this would give him the space he required, His own private pool to play in and his own bedroom for quite time if he was becoming overwhelmed.

We choice a DIBB villa on Sunset Lakes which was very near to shops, Restaurants and only a 10 min drive to Disney. It was a lovely gated community.

We also contacted the airport so we could be prepared for our travels, My Grandson was given a pin to wear so he thought he was being given a special badge and my Daughter was given a lanyard,
when staff see these they new we was travelling with a person with additional needs and made the pathway very smooth for us.

We also showed out Grandson loads of videos and photos of the villa and all the places we were going to visit and we showed these several times so he was really familiar with everything.

My grandson likes fidget toys and certain snacks, So for the flight my Daughter had several little treats to hand him if he was getting anxious.

We obtained a DAS card from Disney and similar for Universal these were a godsend. We got these on our first day and they lasted our entire stay for our whole party.

My Grandson can be fussy with food and we just broke all the rules and just allowed him to eat what he wanted for the 2 weeks this really helped as he was happy to eat as its what he liked, It may not of been the healthiest but it was 2 weeks of his life.

It was such a successful trip that we have booked again for 2022. At first my Daughter wanted to book a villa again which we did.
But after looking at Cabana Bay ( Universal) Family suite we have now moved to there.
We have shown our Grandson and he loved the look of it, He will be 12 when we travel.
We have already started to prep him, He has watched loads of VLOGS on Cabana Bay.
This time we have decided to fly premier with TUI as we prefer a quieter area for him, Last time we flew Virgin in the bubble so was lovely and small for him.
We have shown him the plane layout, Selected our seats. Shown him the new rides in the parks and will over the next 18 months get him as familiar with everything as possible.

With lots of planning and prep hopefully you can all have an amazing holiday.
Our Grandson also has younger siblings that we also involve in everything we find it help prepare them as well so they are not so overwhelmed.

The DIBB is amazing ask lots of questions there is always someone that will pop on and try and help.

Ive been doing Disney/Orlando for over 30 years and I still ask loads of questions and am always learning new tips.

If I can help anyway please just ask away,

Happy planning and welcome to the DIBB

See more...

Thank you for your reply. What is a DAS card?

[BirdsluvDisney]

This is a bit about DAS (Disability access service) taken from Disney web page.

What is DAS and how does it work?
The DAS Card is designed to accommodate guests who aren’t able to wait in a conventional queue environment due to a disability (including non-apparent disabilities). DAS will be issued at Guest Relations main entrance locations and will offer guests a return time for attractions based on the current wait time. As soon as the Guest finishes one attraction, they can receive a return time for another. This service can be used in addition to Disney’s FASTPASS Service and Disney FastPass+ service.

It wonderful for Guest with Autism or additional needs as it means no queuing, We would not be able to go without one of these cards my grandson would not be able to queue.

You just go to guest relations tell them your need and they ask how many in your party and give you the pass. Hope this helps.

[Trueblue88]

Hi and welcome

[simon]

Hello and welcome to the Dibb.
Enjoy your planning 👍

[Summer84]

Thank you x