Trip Report ASD and Pooh Sized Dec. 2009

[C&G'sMama]

This is about our most recent trip in December 2009, the 6th through the 13th (at Disney). I'll try to add more Pooh Sized stuff than I did in my May trip report.

Who we are. Me (45) and DP (42) both very Pooh Sized, DD (9) with the attitude of a 12 yo and DS (6) with Asperger's Syndrome.

This trip we were joined by my DB and DSIL both in their 60's and retired. While DSIL had been before DB never had. They flew and used DME (which they raved about). As DSIL said, she's been at La Guardia waiting hours for a shuttle so this was great. And as their oldest son lives in Chicago, she has spent a fair amount of time in O'Hare. They also loved that they didn't have to deal with their luggage.

We live roughly 1,250 miles from the World and we drive. We had one bad flight with DD when she was 18mos old and swore we'd never fly again 'til the youngest is 18.

So that's the background, I'll get started tomorrow.

-A

 

[ireland_nicole]

Look forward to learning more!

 

[C&G'sMama]

Day 1 - Thursday December 3rd. The kids go off to school. As soon as they are out of sight DP takes the dogs to the kennel. At this point they have no clue we are going on vacation. One it's fun to surprise them, two, DS loves to talk about WDW (which isn't a bad thing, but I think we would have needed to pay for his teacher to go on vacation by the time he was done)

I start gathering all of our stuff. I'd been packing for a couple of weeks but had to do it when the kids were sleeping (and another thing DS doesn't sleep that much). DP comes home and I get the Dodge Grand Caravan packed. I mentioned we're Pooh Sized right. And DP is 5' 8" tall. I'm only 5' 2" so this whole leg room thing doesn't matter for me. Before the Van we used to do this trip in a Grand Am. Up until the kids were 3 and 6. It was quite a sight.

We pick the kids up from school. DS thinks we're surprising them by going to see the "Titanic" exhibit that's at the local museum right now. He's quite disappointed to find out we're not. We tell them we're going to visit their Aunt and Uncle in Charlotte which we do on the way down. Eventually he comes around.

We stop in Mars PA on Thursday night and get to Charlotte on Friday. We spend the day with DBIL and DSIL. DS gets a dinosaur alarm clock from Aunt J. I think we could have skipped Disney and his trip would have been made.

We spend the night in Charlotte and then head out Saturday morning. DD finally figures it out when we cross into Georgia as we always stop at the Welcome Center on 95. She can't keep it from her brother. So the Disney talk begins!!

We arrive in Jacksonville Saturday night and head off for "the World" on Sunday.

All in all the trip down went well. We have a DVD player and the kids have a DIDJ and a Leapster. They pretty much only get to play those on long car trips. Sometimes at home but very rarely. There is also homework to be done but we'll get to that later.

 

[SueM in MN]

Looking forward to hearing more.

Had you previously surprised your son with anything? That's the part that would scare me with someone with Aspergers.

 

[ireland_nicole]

I'm so glad the surprise worked! I surprised our ASD kid and SPD kid last year, and let's just say it did not go well- two hours of screaming because they were supposed to be in school and had homework to do LOL. And this is two kids that are just as Disney obsessed as their momma, which is saying a lot. This year I "surprised" them 6 months ahead of time at Thanksgiving dinner. I really wish I could have seen your kids enjoy their surprise, though! Can't wait to hear more!

 

[C&G'sMama]

Re: the surprise. We decided to deal with any ramifications due to changing things up over his perseversation on Disney. We have surprised the kids before to a smaller extent. So he is used to going on "adventures". An adventure could be going to the local ice cream joint or in this case Disney. He initially thought we were going to see the "Titanic" exhibit at the local science museum. He was thouroughly disappointed when we said we were going to North Carolina. But he came around. On day 3 when he found out we were going to Disney he was thrilled. And this is when is planning started.

We try to be aware of the effect of changing his reality. It can't be avoided but at least we are now aware where some of the anxiety and meltdowns come from and are trying to figure out coping mechanisms for him.

 

[GraceLuvsWDW]

Sounds like you're off to good start!

 

[C&G'sMama]

As a reminder of who we are. These are 2 pictures from our May trip. DP hasn't had time to get this trip's pictures uploaded.

This is DD and DS with Dale

This is myself and DP (koolaidmoms)

 

[C&G'sMama]

So, as I said in the first post of this report, I will try to do more pooh sized stuff. In my May report someone commented that I didn't do much and they were right. Part of it is this whole ASD is still new and evolving so we do think of that more. If anyone has any questions about our experience as large women in the parks, please feel free to ask. DP is 6 inches taller than I am and has different experience than me so she is adding tips from her perspective too.


Okay.

So we leave Jacksonville around 9:00 on Sunday morning. As a side note, our hotel of choice is Hampton Inns. As 2 women traveling with 2 kids we always feel safe and the fact that often times (not always) they have 2 queen size beds vs. 2 Doubles is a bonus. We have found our favorites over the years. The one we stay at in Jacksonville is very nice and the staff is great.

Not too much to report on behavior issues in the car. We are very fortunate that DS overall does well in the car. His sister may not always agree. When she's older I can put her up front and ride in back with him some of the way. We do have the 3rd row of seats but we had so much stuff with us I wasn't able to leave one up.

We left Jacksonville around 9am and arrived at POP at noon. Our room wasn't ready so we checked in, picked up the Special Needs stroller that we rented from OSR from the luggage pickup and went on our way to DHS. DS was happy to have the stroller. It's a life saver. When he's older we'll probably rent a wheelchair for him. (As noted before he's 6yo, over 4 feet tall and over 90 lbs.)

The kids both are determined to ride Rock 'n Roller Coaster but the fast pass time falls during our dinner at H&V. I get fast passes for TofT. DP does not do thrill rides, so I'm designated thrill ride parent. DD has no desire to go on TofT but DS wants to. So he and I go. He almost backs out about 5 times in the line and I just say, if you don't want to ride, you don't have to and we can get of line, no big deal. (Quite frankly I wasn't thrilled about going, plummeting however many feet scared me a bit but I couldn't tell him that). However he rode it and he loved it.

I had been on several years and several pounds ago and as bold as I am I do worry about seat belts fitting. But as always at Disney I was fine. I kept my eyes closed the entire time and said a couple of Hail Mary's to myself.

We had 2 more FPs since DP and DD didn't ride so we went again. It was good for both of us. I kept my eyes open this time. After we were done DS looked at me and said "I conquered a fear". I was very proud of him.

One of our themes for this trip was to try new stuff and revisit places we hadn't been to in a long time. So for dinner we went to H&V. It was fine. I'd heard a lot of bad things about this place but it was okay.

We made our mandatory stop at "The Great Movie Ride". This is DP's favorite at DHS. There is plenty of room for the four of us on this and plenty of leg room for DP. And while they could have added a couple of people to our car they didn't. One time when it was just DP and I they squished us in with some other people who were very obnoxious and the lady was making fun of us for our size. How old are we? We shot her look of death and all the people with her were noticeably embarrassed.

We also saw Little Mermaid. DP just said those are little small for her but it works for the short time of the show.

We never made it on Rock 'n Roller Coaster. I had picked up FPs for after dinner but DD decided she wanted to wait another year. We headed out of the park and back to the hotel.

 

[koolaidmoms]

I am the other half of C&G's Mama.

My 2 cents -

When we went to see B&B we were seated in the second row. DS had seen this when he was about 2 but didn't remember so it was all new to him. They get to the song "Kill the Beast" and he starts to ramp up. Uh oh, fire. Totally forgot. He is terrified of fire. Thankfully it is over quickly and I can hold him until he calms down enough.

Just a warning for any parents of kids that hate fire especially sitting that close to it!

Also, I carry most of my weight in my hips and thighs. Very pear shaped. The seats at Little Mermaid (on the end of the row) were a little tight. I fit okay and thankfully the show is short or I would have had more bruises from the seat arm than I did. I also bruise very easily.

The least favorite ride of DS and DD is TGMR. Both children hate this ride but it is one of my favorites so we talk them through it each time. For the first time EVER we were on the car where the cowboy takes over the car. Oh no! They blow up the bank fire shoots out. I start my spiel about controlled fire and Disney magic as DS starts to yell. Ugh.

We let DBIL explain how they make fire when we get off the ride. Ethane, Methane, Butane and Propane are a much repeated theme over this whole trip. We hope knowledge can help overcome fear.

 

[C&G'sMama]

Can you tell I don't feel like cleaning? So I clean a little, write a lot and clean a little more.

We get back to POP around 9:30 or so. We have never stayed here before and it was great except the parking. It was so far from the parking lot to our room. If we go back to POP again I will request a building that is closer to a lot. Since DB and DSIL would be riding with us I needed to get everything out of the van. We packed our entire lives in the van and picked up from gifts from Auntie when we were in NC so we had a lot of stuff. I did get a cart from luggage services but it was quite a walk and I was tired and grumpy.

I finished cleaning out the car the next morning and until it was time to leave I enjoyed the resort. The kids loved playing twister and the old lady (me) even joined in one game (I should've charged admission for people to watch).

We were in Building 6 which is one of the 70's themed buildings. The first couple of days we only got to the pool after 10pm but by mid week we spent some time at the resort during the day and the kids loved the squirting flowers of the Hippy Dippy pool.

DB and DSIL got to the resort about 11:00 Sunday night and were real happy with DME and the fact their luggage was taken to their room for them. They are both in their late 60s and retired. They were a lot of fun to travel with. As this is one of siblings that is quite a bit older than me, 19 years, this was a really nice chance to spend time together as adults and get to know each other. Yes, we see each other at home but it's usually with lots of other family.

I think we got to bed around midnight or 1 am.

 

[chell]

Enjoying reading along with both of you!

Even though your daughter backed out of RnR I wanted to remind you that FastPasses can still be used after their time listed, just not before. You can go use it any time after that window.

 

[KirstenB]

I love the photo of your kids with Dale. They both look so happy, and it's neat to see your son likes being with a character. Tell me the secret of getting an ASD kid to look at the camera, I'm still working on this!!!

 

[koolaidmoms]

Kirsten B - As the photographer of the family I have TONS of pictures of DS looking sideways, off into the horizon, he is facing me but his eyes are in the sky or the back of his head.

I have finally gotten to the point where if I say look me in the eyes (I tell him the lens of the camera is my eyes) or do something surprising as I take the picture I sometimes can catch him looking at me. This was the second year in a row we did not have to get school pictures retaken.

It's tough.

 

[C&G'sMama]

Enjoying reading along with both of you!

Even though your daughter backed out of RnR I wanted to remind you that FastPasses can still be used after their time listed, just not before. You can go use it any time after that window.

Thank you. I forget that you can do that. We did give our fast passes to a couple of first timers when we left dinner.

 

[buzz for boys]

Im In your ds sounds just like my ds!! Its great to listen to him talk about a subject but boy after a couple of hours ive had enough amd wish to move onto a new subject

 

[chell]

Thank you. I forget that you can do that. We did give our fast passes to a couple of first timers when we left dinner.

You are welcome. Isn't it such a great feeling giving away the FP? I love doing that!

 

[C&G'sMama]

Im In your ds sounds just like my ds!! Its great to listen to him talk about a subject but boy after a couple of hours ive had enough amd wish to move onto a new subject

As I've said, my brother came with us. My brother is one of the nicest people in the world. He's also very bright and will tell you more than you want to know about any subject. So we had DS ask Uncle J a lot of questions. After awhile DB looked at him and said, Okay, one more question and that's it. DSIL looked at him and said "ah, sweet justice".

 

[ireland_nicole]

Sounds like a great trip so far!

 

[disneydreamer74]

Wow, I am loving this trip report!! I am getting ideas for DD3, who was just recently diagnosed with Asperger's. (no wonder those previous character dinners and fireworks at night were a disaster!) Anyhow.. I can totally relate to hearing over and over again about Disney parks. We live in New Mexico, so we are closer to Disneyland, and have taken DD 3 times so far (will be 4 times in March 2010).She must watch the Disney planning DVD several times a week, and thoroughly enjoys reiterating the complete Disneyland Express train ride to us in full detail! LOL! We are planning on Taking her to WDW for the first time when she turns 5, mostly b/c her father and I are too chicken to experience 6 hours on a plane with a 3 yr old having a meltdown!! I will be prepping her for the plane ride about a year before the trip.. when we discuss things in detail well beforehand it seems to help with the change in routines.
My question is How did you get DS to take a pic with Dale??I am amazed at that! My DD looooves the characters but will completely lose it if they come near her personal space..I have hope now!! lol! Also,, a huge thanks for the note on B&B show.. DD does not like fire either.. we found that out at a Sea World show,,yikes!! Thanks for the heads up! You have a beautiful family and thanks for sharing with us!