Disneyland Paris with autistic children

[Sandieb]

I haven't been to Paris for about 15 years, preferring the USA resorts.

We are looking to plan a trip next year with my SIL and her two autistic children 10 and 11. The younger will not do well in queues for longer than 10 mins and the older could probably cope a bit better but not much. We would use phones and headphones, go very early and later to avoid heat and busier times.

Does anyone have any advice about booking rides, priority access or similar please? Or any advice at all.

Many thanks

[nadya]

We have 4 sons who are on the asd spectrum,(age 8 to 17)we got a priority card for them,each card holder can have up to 4 guests with them.Generally you go to the fastpass type queue (sometimes theres a disabled access)and are on within minutes,we never waited long.You can apply for a priority card online up to a month in advance,and pick it up at your disney hotel(quicker),or at guest services on entrance to park.You need to provide proof of disability via DLA paperwork/access card/disability card etc.All the info is online.We found the boys managed well with short park days and staying onsite was helpful as we could walk back to the hotel for downtime.There are quiet spaces in the park although we didnt use these.Any question happy to help
We did find the food pretty poor generally but did manage to find something,we showed the boys online menus in advance,and frequented the mcdonalds in the village too often!

[Sandieb]

Thank you for all that really great info. The children have all that paperwork so sounds like the priority card for each of them would be a great tool to have. We plan to stay on site so that's covered and we plan to do EMH etc. Showing the kids the menus in advance is a great tip too, we do it here when we are going out as a family, and that definitely helps.
Thanks again

[Graeme1978]

Do you have any of the following…

Disability Living Allowance
Attendance Allowance Award
Personal Independence Payment 
Parking Card for Disabled People 
Armed Forces Compensation Scheme 
National Disability Card ID
Disabled ID
Access Card 
Registration Card BD8
Certificate of Visual Impairment (CVI)
Disabled Student's Allowance

If yes, you use documentation to prove that you have one of the above and can request you Priority Pass upto one month before your visit.

If you do not have anything from the above, you can use your ASD diagnosis letter to get the Access Card which is in the list above. Access Card is a UK scheme and you can apply here..

accesscard.uk/apply/

[nadya]

We also watched youtube of the paris rides,we have done wdw numerous times but as we hadnt been to paris since 2004 it was all new to them.

[wdw-wanderer]

I think I read somewhere that guests with a green priority card and their carers get a discount on the ticket price?

[Figaro]

H, I just got back from DLP with my autistic son.

The priority card is really good. Get one for each of the kids that need it so more people in your group can ride together. The card also let's you go into shows separately and also a space for fireworks and parades. We found this really good because my son can't handle the crush of people. Take a lanyard for the card as you have to show them for every ride etc. You can also skip the main entrance que.

The ticket discount is on on gate prices not hotel/ticket package.

If you are going by Eurostar the web site has a section for autistic people about what to expect.

We looked at menus in advance and lots of videos online. Took it at my son's pace and took breaks when needed. Had a few fidget toys in my bag and took some of his favorite snacks in my case. This all helped keeping him occupied when we had to wait.

Let me know if you have any questions, I will help if I can

[Darge]

I watched this video the other day which you may find useful!

[jlbf06]

Our son is 9 and is autistic. We were there last week and had the priority card, it was amazing. Not much wait for rides and we used it to watch the fireworks.

We stayed at the Relais spa, the price difference from on-site meant that we had a two room suite with kitchen so more space for quiet time when not at the parks. They had a swimming session for kids between 10-12 and 3-5, this have us some structure to come back and cool down in the day. The hotel offers a small shuttle and even a private transfer for those staying in executive suites. They picked us up close to five guys which is closer than walking to many of the Disney hotels. It was our first offsite stay and we liked that we could escape from the craziness.

We also didn’t park hop and found that it made the day more simple.

My son enjoyed the food at Pym Kitchen and the cartoons at Videopolis.