Please help with ? about special needs child About This Page:

[maggie101]

I am sooo pleased I may have found a place where someone can help me!

My 18 month old grand daughter has been diagnosed with a termal degenerative nuerologial disorder. We are bringing the family to DL for a very short visit the first of August. We thought the temperatures might be easier on her in California than Florida. My GD cannot see but she can hear. She has very low muscle tone and has to be held or sit in her special chair. How can I find out about rides that she can go on that her mother can hold her? I really want to have this figured out before we get there because we only have one day in the park and to make it worse it is on a Sunday. What exactly is a Guest pass? Is it something that would help our circumstances? How do I go about getting one? I can find nothing on the Disney website.

This trip is soooo important to my daughter any help you can give me will be greatly appreciated.

[SueM loves WDW]

Sorry to hear about the circumstances of your trip.
I don't know if you have considered or anyone has mentioned Make a Wish, but that might be some thing to consider. Their website is Make-A-Wish Foundation : National Home Page

Originally Posted by maggie101

What exactly is a Guest pass? Is it something that would help our circumstances? How do I go about getting one? I can find nothing on the Disney website.

This trip is soooo important to my daughter any help you can give me will be greatly appreciated.

What you are asking about is a Guest Assistance Card and there is more information about it on this thread

It is not actually a "Pass" (meaning your get immediate access). It is a CARD that gives the Cast Members some information about what the person's special needs are.
In your grand-daughter's case, because her special chair might be mistaken for a stroller, you would want to have the card specify that she can use her stroller as a wheelchair. (There might be a sticker in place of the card).
If she has some sight, you can also request that she be seated at the front of shows. If she has trouble with heat and sun exposure, you will want to mention that also when you talk to the Cast Members at Guest Relations about her needs.

Originally Posted by maggie101

She has very low muscle tone and has to be held or sit in her special chair. How can I find out about rides that she can go on that her mother can hold her?.

Most 18 month old children are held by a parent on rides, so basically, she would be able to go on anything that other 18 month old children go on.
Here's a list. SOME of these spin and I don't know what her limitations might be on motion. I put a note for those that spin. I also did not include the rides with height requirements. Those are generally the 'wilder' rides where someone with low tone would get bounced around too much and an 18 month old would not usually be tall enough anyway.
MAIN STREET
Train
Main St vehicles, like the buses or horse drawn trolley (which she may like because of the motion)

ADVENTURELAND
Magic carpets of Aladdin (spins)
Tiki Birds - lots of music, sit down show
Jungle Cruise - boat ride
Pirates of the Caribbean - includes a drop down a 'waterfall' in the dark

FRONTIERLAND
Country Bear Jamboree - sit down show with singing bears

LIBERTY SQUARE
Haunted Mansion - ride

MICKEY's TOONTOWN FAIR
Minnie and Mickey's House - walkthru attractions (wheelchair accessible); there are some hands on things in Minnie's kitchen such as making popcorn pop in her microwave
Toontown Hall of Fame Tent - character meet and greet
Donald's Boat - a water play area

TOMORROWLAND
Tomorrowland Transit Authority - a ride on an elevated track. She may like the motion
Buzz Lightyear - a ride; there is a wheelchair car for this, but she would be too low if she stayed in her specail chair
Monster's Inc. Laught Floor - a sitdown show with Monster's Inc characters

FANTASYLAND
It's a Small World - boat ride; she could stay in her special chair for this.
Peter Pan's Flight - a ride
Mickeey's Philharmagic - a sit down 3D movie with great music
Snow White's Scary Adventure - a ride; does have some fairly fast changes of directiion
Cinderella's Golden Carrousel - a merry go round. They have both horses and some carriages that might be easier to hold her on
Dumbo - spins
Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh - ride. Her special chair would be too low for the wheelchair car. The ride car bounces in some scenes and seems to 'float' on the water in others.
Mad Tea Party - spins - I would not recommend based on what you have written

[Eeyore Tattoo]

You may also want to go here Disneyland Resort - Detecting Browser Properties . . .
It is the official Disneyland site & gives you info about the rides..
My heart goes out to you & your grand daughter..
Deb

[Sandra Bostwick]

I am so sorry to hear about your GD.

AS far as planning, I agree with the other comments so far.

I see you only have one day in that park on a Sunday. What are the park hours on that day and how long do you plan to be there?

Depending on the season's schedule and crowds, you can set your priorities for what you MUST see. Take a guess about how long it will take you for lines, traveling, meal or rest breaks, etc. Then, looking at the attractions you hope to fit into that framework, you can inquire about those attractions to make sure your GD can be held safely. Then you'll have your plan all worked out before you even get there!

You also might want to check some of the strategies and suggestions in Open Mouse, though the book is written for WDW, not DL.

Hope your trip is magical!

[SueM loves WDW]

Sorry, I saw the part about Florida and thought Florida, not Disneyland.
many of the attractions are similar, so the remarks about many rides would be the same.

[HeatherD]

Please note that the Dumbo "spin" is different from the Tea Cups "spin". The Dumbos fly in a circle, so you are not spinning, only going forward and slightly to the left (or is it right, can't remember if it's clockwise or not). The Tea Cups actually spin with you in them - making 3 different circles (you spin, you go in a circle with 3 other cups, all of the cups spin on a platform). I doubt that ride is a good choice for someone with poor muscle control.

Even with the drops, Pirates is good (nice and cool, too!). I've taken my infants on that one. I haven't been to Tiki Room in forever, but it's very "audio" oriented, so GD may enjoy that.

[blondie]

I'm sorry to hear aobut your GD. However, I would also suggest contacting Make A Wish Foundation. If they can't help you out now, maybe later you could take a longer trip, perhaps to Flordia when the temps are cooler for her. Best Wishes!

[stonewall]

Maggie, please check your PM's.

[maggie101]

Suzanne,
I tried to reply to your private message but I am so not a computer person - I am not sure that I replied in the correct spot or that you will ever receive it. For that matter I am not sure that you will receive this message. Hope to hear from you.
Maggie

[stonewall]

I found it Maggie! Go to your Inbox and I hope you will be pleasantly surprised by what you find there....

[mrsaboz]

This has NOTHING to do with the GAC but I could not respond to the thread that was posted in the previous one.

Let me just take a moment to vent very calmly about a post. Somone said that they were very angry people were getting on the buses first who were in wheelchairs and they should wait with everyone else. That actually brought tears to my eyes. That is exactly what people were doing to me and Alex when we were there, the whole issue with the stares.

For anyone else out there, I'm sure they were effected by this as well. Is there a way Disney can put up signs at the bus stops that wheelchair people are boarded first? Just to avoid issues like these..

[Laughaholic]

Originally Posted by mrsaboz

This has NOTHING to do with the GAC but I could not respond to the thread that was posted in the previous one.

Let me just take a moment to vent very calmly about a post. Somone said that they were very angry people were getting on the buses first who were in wheelchairs and they should wait with everyone else. That actually brought tears to my eyes. That is exactly what people were doing to me and Alex when we were there, the whole issue with the stares.

For anyone else out there, I'm sure they were effected by this as well. Is there a way Disney can put up signs at the bus stops that wheelchair people are boarded first? Just to avoid issues like these..

I'm sorry that those comments affected you the way they did.

That is a very good suggestion regarding the signage, maybe that is something we should send to WDW's attention!

[mrsaboz]

Thanks for responding Kristen. I know that its posted in the Open Mouse book but not every disney guest has a copy, hence knows about it.

How can we contact Disney to do this?

[Laughaholic]

Let me see if I can find a contact that a letter could be sent to, and I'll PM you!

[DoubleWhammy]

Originally Posted by maggie101

She has very low muscle tone and has to be held or sit in her special chair.

When you get the Guest Assistance Card ask for a hang tag for her stroller. It's similar to a luggage tag but indicates that you will be using the stroller as a wheelcair. That way you can stroll her into attractions that can accomodate a wheelchair. This will help you tremendously.

Best wishes for a wonderful trip.