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Hidden Needs Advice from Passporter Members

Filed under Disney With Hidden Needs by Pamela Dorr on February 17, 2012 at 5:20 pm {one comment}

Cinderella's Castle on a Beautiful Sunny Day by Tere_WDW

This week, I want to look at some questions regarding Hidden Needs posed on the PassPorterBoards.com forums. First up is a mom that asks about being able to accommodate her son’s dining needs. Then we will look at a grandmother’s question regarding how to help her grandson enjoy Walt Disney World with a seizure disorder. We will finish up with accommodations for a vision issue and older children still in need of changing tables.

 

Recently PassPorter member Tinkblat posted what she felt might be an odd question. Just like in school, NO question is ever odd. Chances are very good that if you have the question, then someone else does too. Tinkblat found out that this applies to questions on PassPorter.com also. You see, what she describes is really a Hidden Need! In short, she tells readers that her son, who has mild autism, cannot have any of his food touching and even needs to use separate utensils for each food item. Her question is: Will Disney provide the multiple utensils and also multiple dishes to ensure that her son is able to enjoy his meal? The answer, as she found out, is a resounding yes. You can read the entire thread in the Feasting and Snacking Forum of PassPorter.com.

 

Dammfam requested a few suggestions to pass along to her daughter’s teacher. The teacher is planning a summer trip with her grandchildren.  The teacher is concerned with how the Florida summer heat will affect her grandson’s heat related seizure disorder.  The first suggestion that comes to mind is to go during a cooler time of the year. However, if that is unavoidable, then a few other suggestions were made. Take a break in touring during the hottest part of the day. Keep him hydrated and try to visit as many air conditioned attractions as possible. These were just a few of the suggestions offered in the thread.   Her grandson will benefit from a Guest Assistance Card while visiting Walt Disney World. They will need to explain that her grandson needs to wait in an  air conditioned area for the ride vehicles.

 

Another member, Coopercw, asks if her husband would qualify and/or benefit from a Guest Assistance Card with Retinitis Pigmentosis, a vision disorder. She states that he has a harder time navigating in the dark. Passporter members replied with yet another resounding “yes.” Other members tell her to make sure to explain to Guest Relations exactly what his needs are. In other words tell the Cast Member that her husband has night blindness and tunnel vision and ask what accommodations can be made. The Cast Members at Walt Disney World and Disneyland are well versed in what accommodations can be provided for various needs.  You can read through the entire thread here.

 

Tabitha34 wanted to know about changing tables for older children. In the Vacationing Your Way: Your Special Needs forum. She explains that her younger child is getting too big for the usual changing tables found in the restrooms. She was offered lots of advice to check out the Baby Care Centers or First Aid Centers at the parks. After her trip, she reported back that the Baby Care Centers were a life (and back) saver for her.  She also said that World Showcase “proved to be one of the most difficult places to find a large enough changing table.” So if your child still needs the use of changing tables, but they have outgrown the size of the changing tables, try for the Baby Care Centers.Check out the entire thread here. Also, for more information about Tabitha34’s daughter and her Hidden Needs check out her blog.

 

As you can see, Disney World can accommodate a wide variety of Hidden Needs and Passporter.com is a wonderful site to find out what you need to do to make sure your family has the accommodations you need for a truly awesome and magical Disney vacation. Check out the Vacationing Your Way forum for tips on renting wheelchairs or ECV’s from offsite, First Aid and Health tips for touring Walt Disney World and information on dealing with the TSA when you have a disability. Thank you to all the awesome Passporter.com members that offer such great advice to each other.

 

What is a Hidden Need?

Filed under Disney With Hidden Needs by Pamela Dorr on November 7, 2011 at 11:20 am {13 comments}

My family enjoying the magic of Disney World

How accommodating is Disney? Well, how accommodating do you need them to be? When most people think of guests needing accommodations at Disney, they think of people with obvious physical disabilities. However, what about those guests with the not-so-obvious disabilities, the Hidden Needs?

 

What qualifies as a “Hidden Need”?

Special dietary needs can be considered Hidden Needs. If you can’t eat anything with nuts or dairy, then your meal needs to have some special care taken with its preparation. Disney chefs are amazing at making sure that you still get to experience some truly fantastic culinary delights.

Physical ailments such as a Multiple Sclerosis, bad knees, back problems, and broken toes (among other things) are all “Hidden Needs” as well. How often do you hear someone complain about not being able to walk very far because their knees are bothering them? Or what about that mom that needs to sit down every half hour or so to rest their back? While these guests do not look like they need accommodations, they often do need some accommodations to fully enjoy their Disney vacation.

Another group of guests with Hidden Needs is the group with mental health issues. Guests that live with issues such as social anxiety, depression, autism, and other mental health issues often need some kind of accommodation to help them get the most enjoyment out of their Disney vacation.

 

What kind of accommodations are available  for Hidden Needs?

For those with special dietary needs, the chefs at the various Disney restaurants are able to make custom dishes. If a guest is not able to eat nuts, the chefs will not only prepare the guest’s meal away from any surfaces that may be “contaminated” with nuts or nut products, but they will also specially prepare the meal without nuts even if it is normally prepared with nuts.

For other Hidden Needs, guests can visit Guest Services at any park and request a Guest Assistance Card (GAC). The guest needs to explain to the Cast Member what kind of accommodation would allow him/her to truly enjoy all that Disney has to offer. For instance, if a guest with social phobia needs a quieter and less crowded place to wait for a ride vehicle then this is exactly what the Cast Member at Guest Services needs to know. This information allows the Cast Member to determine the best accommodation available to the guest. In this case, it may be that the guest would be allowed to use an alternate entrance that leads to a less crowded waiting area. This does not mean that the guest will be allowed to go straight to the front of the line. A guest with sun sensitivity issues will need to explain that they need to be allowed to wait in an area that is inside a building or at least well shaded.

 

What information does the Cast Member need to know to issue a Guest Assistance Card?

The Cast Member needs to know what you need to be able to enjoy your vacation. However the Cast Member does not need, nor want, to know what your disability is. You do not need to give any confidential or specific information regarding your disability. You only need to explain how you can best enjoy your vacation.

 

A Guest Assistance Card will let me get to the front of the line and get right on a ride, right?

No! A GAC will only allow you to wait in an area that is more accommodating for your Hidden Need. In fact, the wait to get a ride vehicle can often be longer when using a GAC. This is because guests that need special ride vehicles, such as wheelchair accessible ride cars, often have longer waits. A guest using a GAC for an attraction may want to take this extra wait into account when deciding if he/she wants to use the GAC accommodation or not for a particular attraction.

 

My family’s story:

My daughter and my boyfriend both have Hidden Needs. In my daughter’s case, she has a physical disability that is very hard to notice unless you are very familiar with it. She requires the use of a wheelchair when doing a lot of walking (like a full day at a Disney park), but she doesn’t like to stay in her wheelchair all day. On those occasions when she wants to walk for a bit, the GAC allows her to use an alternate entrance and wait in an area that has a little more room for her sit for a bit. My boyfriend, on the other hand, has both special dietary needs and mental health needs. For him, we make sure to note his dietary restrictions when we make our advanced dining reservations. When we arrive at the restaurant, the chef always comes out to talk to him about his dining needs. When we go to the first park of our visit, we stop in at the Guest services window. We make sure to tell the Cast member that he needs a quieter place away from large crowds to wait for our turn to ride. With a simple stamp that allows them both to use an alternate entrance, they can both wait for the rides without suffering from their Hidden Needs, and we can all enjoy our family Disney vacation.