We've been planning a trip to Walt Disney World later this year. We've put a lot of thought into this trip, trying to make things as easy on Ari and ourselves as possible. Of course with Ari's muscle, back and sensory issues we need to make sure we have as much help as possible once we get to the parks. Research has been a big part of that. WDW seems to be a great place for people with special needs. There are plenty of books and references if you know what to look for. Our first stop after getting to the park will be to Guest Services. At Guest Services we can talk to the Cast Members there about Ari's needs. There are two things we are hoping to get there. First is a Guest Assistance Card (GAC). This will be a card that basically explains the issues Ari has and any special considerations she will need on the attractions. The second is a tag for our stroller that will allow us to take it into the lines with it is possible. This is due to how quickly she gets tired because of her hypotonia. Last time we went we just carried her in line. Nowadays she's much heavier and we can't carry her through all the lines.
Disney's web site has a pretty good resource, but a little sparse. It's a good place to start, but not everything you will need. I've also been reading a book called "Open Mouse" by Deb Wills and Debra Martin Koma. It's been a help in out prep research as well. There are plenty of other resources such as a couple of forums on the web and other books that I'm just starting to get into. Also Disney has their Moms Panel where you can ask questions about the parks.
So far, we have our flights, hotel and rental car booked. We have our park tickets and tickets to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. We have reservations to several restaurants (Hollywood & Vine for the Disney Jr breakfast, Le Cellier, Cape May Cafe character breakfast, Hoop Do Doo, and Biergarten for the Candlelight Processional package).
I always tend to do a lot of reading before any vacation. I like to know what's around and what to look for. Even if I don't have a plan for vacation, I can at least have options for when I get there. For this trip I've been getting everything as scheduled out as possible so that we can keep Ari to a schedule as much as possible. She does much better when her day is more organized. I realize that 80% of the schedule will probably change on the fly as we go, but I think everyone will still do much better knowing what is going on each day and what our expectations are for the day. We're not being too aggressive with what we want to do each day and have actually cut back from our original plans. If we get more done, then that's all a bonus. It we don't get as much done as we want, then at least we'll hit our highest priority stuff out of the way.
We'll be there for a total of seven days, and we're planning on being in the Magic Kingdom at least part of four of those days. At this point, Ari's getting to know all the big Disney characters. She know Mickey and the gang, the Pooh characters and many of the princesses. She also knows a lot of Pixar characters as well. She's excited about the airplane ride and can't wait to get to what she calls "Mickey's House". By that she means Cinderella's Castle. She refuses to believe anyone but Mickey would live there, so it's Mickey's House now.
Other things we've found is that it costs about $10 per day for a car seat or booster at the rental company (it's around that at most of them). So we're packing a booster in the suitcase and got a cover for Lily's car seat so we can check it at the airport. The bag cost us under $20 and we're flying Southwest so we get a total of 6 bags we can check (10 if you count my parents allotment). That's one bag each for us, the kids and my parents. One pack-and-play and the car seat. We're only up to half of what we can check. Plus, since we have the kids we get to go onto the plane right after the first group, before all the numbered passengers.
We're flying out fairly early in the morning and we'll be getting there in the morning. After getting our luggage and getting the car, we're heading off to the supermarket. Our room has a kitchen. (It's more of an apartment. Two bedrooms, a living room and an eat-in kitchen. We've been staying here for the past few trips. It's off property, but it's not far off at all. It's only about 5 minutes or less to Downtown Disney and no more than about 20 minutes to any park. We'll be eating most of our breakfasts in our room and we'll have plenty of snacks for when we get back after the parks. Also, it's not too far that we can't stop back for a rest in the middle of the day. The pools are great and should still be usable when we're there unless we hit a cold spell which is possible that time of year.
