Best vacation ever with dgd!!!!!

[thumpersfriend]

Well, to all you wonderful people who guided me through this vacation I give so much thanks! We just retured from the Poly with my 4yo dgd and her parents and my single 28yo daughter and my husband. Chloe is autistic and I have been worried about how she would do there and all my worries were washed away beginning with the ride to the airport. She handled the traveling like a champ and loved the airplane ride. I called the Poly 5 days before we arrived just to remind them I would appreciate connecting rooms and a balcony and told them about Chloe. Well, they gave us connecting rooms, 3rd floor in FIJI facing the marina! It was stunning. WE walked in to the room there were 4 helium ballons, a sandpail with coloring books and an autographed picture of many of the characters. I cried, it was just so special and thoughtful. The look on Chloes parents was something I haven't seen before, it was priceless. So anyway, this is how we started our wonderful vacation. Chloe had a sparkle in her eyes that got brighter every single day. The location was so good for her because she watched the boats and for her, speech isn't her cup of tea, she would says boats! She was also saying aloha to people walking by (sometimes). I was floored when we were on the beach and she looked at the MK and said "Cinderella's Castle"!

 

[thumpersfriend]

Guess I wrote so much they cut me off, lol. Anyway, the GAC was a lifesaver for us. At first my dh felt guilty, but when we were in a crowd waiting for more than l5 minutes he saw how distressed she got and it broke his heart. Needless to say he never felt bad again. We got fastpasses as much as possible and that is basically the line we went in for alot of the rides. I never knew it but she is a thrill seeker! WE went on all of the roller coasters at the MK and she loved them so much. My son said that this was the best therapy Chloe could ever have. She woke up every morning absolutely thrilled, she got to see us first thing and it was like she knew something wonderful would happen that day too. She loved Hoop de doo, La Nouba, and the EWP at our hotel. It made me feel so good that we could go where anyone else went. Only thing was she would not eat at the restaurants and her mom brought her ravioli and meatsticks and crackers, her usual fare at this time. It was nice at O'Hana, they didn't charge because she didn't eat anything. I was prepared to pay for her. Anyway, we are already talking about next year maybe. I really feel the Poly set the stage for the whole trip and made it much easier. She was crazy about the characters too. Best part for me was having her reach up to my dh to have him put her on his shoulders. The look on his face said it all. He was so proud.

 

[OneLittleSpark]

That sounds like such a magical trip, I'm so glad it all went well. The greeting you had to your room was a lovely touch! It's the little things like this that make Disney so special. I'm glad the GAC worked for you and that you had such a stress free trip !

Here's to many more !

 

[Arikababy]

You vacation sounds like it was great. It even brought a smile to my face. we leave on our trip to Disney in 12 days and I am very nervous. I don't know what to expect from our 4 year old Ryan. He is also Autistic and we don't ever know what to expect from one minute to the next. Your post gives me some hope that things will go smoothly. Thanks for posting...

 

[minkydog]

your trip sounds fantastic! And I so agree with you about the Poly. We stayed there at New Years and had the most wonderful time. My DH had only been out of the hospital 2 days after a bout of pericarditis, a particularly painful heart disease, and we was able to access everything easily with an ECV. My severely autistic 12yo son was very relaxed there. The staff did everything they could to make things easy for us, including upgrading us to concierge. In the future,we will stay at the Poly if at all possible.

 

[MandM-Mom]

Your trip sounds absolutely magical, it brings tears of joy to my eyes that your family and grandaughter had such a memorable vacation.

 

[KathyRN137]

I am so happy for you; WDW is the absolute best!!

I've often said that the GAC is so wonderful; but I would trade in my son's GAC in a heartbeat and wait on the longest lines WDW could dish up if only he could be normal again.

It is such a blessing to be able to show ASD kids the wonders of WDW with the help of that little card and all those wonderful CMs!

You are a truly loving grandma; I hope that I'll be the same when it's my turn!

Kathy

 

[thumpersfriend]

Thanks everyone, I am still reliving the great experiences we had at DW. There were so many good moments and I really believe it was good therapy for Chloe to go. Her ablility to adapt was really amazing. Whoever said before this trip to take a small dvd player was a genius. It was great for the airplane ride especially, she wasn't bored at all and behaved very well. I take her roller skating with her class and wore a disney sweatshirt with all the characters and she kept stopping and touching the characters and said there name. I really love the Poly for this trip and hope we can go again in the near future. If I had not found this board though I know we never would have attempted it at all, so thanks again.