Tag: walt disney world

Disney’s Disability Access Service Card

On By justmymomsenseIn Travel1 Comment

Back in 2018, I wrote about visiting Disney World with Sensory Processing difficulties. If you’d like to check out that blog, click here.

We just recently returned from a trip to Walt Disney World. As mentioned in that June 2018 blog, I knew that the Disability Access Service Card existed. For this trip, we decided we would play out how ‘J’ would do in the parks, knowing that this was an option.

Looking back, I’m wishing we did it from Day 1.

The first two days of our trip, we tried to wait on lines that were not too long, take our time moving around the park and getting in breaks during the afternoon. However, even on lines that we didn’t feel were too long (15-20 minutes), ‘J’ felt otherwise. He was extremely overwhelmed waiting on line, in a crowd and felt it would take much longer than we were telling him.

If you’re a parent with a child that does not have sensory processing difficulties, you may be thinking: ‘ok but no kid wants to wait on a line in Orlando summer heat.’ And you’re right! And I don’t like it either. But for ‘J’ it’s different and his reactions to it are different. Just like any other day to day activities that may appear easy for us, they’re not always easy for him. This goes under that same umbrella.

So what is the Disability Access Service (DAS) Card? According to the Disney Parks Blog:

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.

On the third day of our trip, we headed to Hollywood Studios and went straight to Guest Relations. I explained that ‘J’ had sensory processing disorder and found the lines to be…and then the Cast Member finished my sentence with: overwhelming? She took us over to the side and set us up with a DAS from her handheld device. We were told that we would need to go to a specific attraction to get a return time and that the pass would be good for the entire trip. We wouldn’t need to go to guest relations each day to have it set up again.

This pass was a game changer! I could see a weight lifted off of ‘J’ as we went to different rides. He was calmer, less stressed and more excited. Isn’t that how it should be at Disney?

I’m so thankful to Disney for accommodating all of their guests and for their amazing service helping us to obtain our DAS.

If you’d like to learn more, visit the Disney Parks Blog or reach out to Disney Guest Relations!

Doing Disney with Sensory Processing Difficulties

On By justmymomsenseIn Travel1 Comment

If you are someone with Sensory Processing Difficulties, the idea of Disney World can seem very overwhelming. I mean, it’s overwhelming for people that don’t have these difficulties.

‘J’ was born with Disney DNA. I worked there for two years and prior to that had already visited Disney World about 50 times. In my final three months of working there, my husband started working there as well, which is how we met. Years have passed and we’ve taken many trips on our own. However, at this point, ‘J’ has already been 7 times and ‘Baby J’ has been 3 times.

We tend to do Disney a little differently. We don’t try to see everything we possibly can for everyday we’re there. Growing up, it was my family vacation spot and it was treated like a vacation. We would go to the parks in the morning and at night, with a stop at the pool and usually a nap in the afternoon. This made the trip way more relaxing.

Since we’ve been so often, we’re happy with the idea of just being there. Anything we do there, any ride we go on or restaurant we eat in is great. But if things don’t go as planned, that’s ok too. This makes being the parents of a child with SPD a lot easier. Before becoming parents we already knew future trips would probably be on their terms and schedule. That’s even more true now.

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The last two trips have been very eye opening. Things we thought would trigger him, didn’t and things we didn’t see coming, did. On our last trip, he was all about the Magic Kingdom and on the trip we took last week, it was completely overwhelming and he preferred the other parks. We try to get Fast Passes to help with lines and stick to a go with the flow mentality. If he’s not feeling it, we don’t do it and it doesn’t affect our trip because we know we’ll be back.

However, I am well aware that this is not the case for most. People take a trip once or twice while their kids are young and want to make the most out of the experience. I’ve been doing some research since we got back and Disney, being the amazing Guest orientated company they are, are fully prepared to make anyone with SPD (or any type of cognitive or physical disability) as comfortable as possible.

Once you arrive in Disney,  visit Guest Relations. They will be able to assist you with any questions you have and ensure your stay is magical! When traveling with someone with SPD (even if it’s just to a restaurant), there are certain item that may help them, should they feel overwhelmed in a situation. Remember to include that on your Disney trip. You can also visit the Guest Services portion of the Walt Disney World website for helpful tips and information. Click here to view the Services for Guests with Cognitive Disabilities page. If you’re visiting a different Disney Park, you’ll be able to find a similar page on their respective sites.

Meltdowns will happen and those with (and without) SPD will feel overwhelmed by some of Walt Disney World. My advice would be: don’t be too afraid to try. That pixie dust has been known to work wonders. Perhaps you and your child will feel a connection to Disney you didn’t think was possible. Disney Cast Members are there to help, be sure to take it!

P.S. If you read my previous blog titled “Feelings,” than you know this picture with Joy was a big deal!