Waiting for Fantasmic w/ autistic child

[Nik's Mom]

Hi,
I plan on getting the GAC for my DS, who has an autistic spectrum disorder. I'm wondering what to do for Fantasmic. I'm worried because I know my son will never stand in that line for so long. He will definitely melt down! Will the GAC allow us a seperate waiting area for Fantasmic? Unfortunately, I don't think we can afford doing the Fantasmic dinner package, so that's not an option.
Does anyone have any experience with the GAC and Fantasmic? I know we have to be careful not to give away too much at times on this board. If you are worried about saying something that may get into the wrong hands, can you pm me the information?
Thanks!

 

[MadisonMom]

We just resturned from a trip with our 7yo autistic son. We did the dinner package for fantasmic and I think if there is any way you can afford it, you should do that. Another thing that saved us for the whole trip was to bring along a gameboy or similar handheld toy to entertain during long waits or leisurely dinners.

 

[Nik's Mom]

Great idea about the game boy! I never thought of that. Then now sell mini movies to play in game boys.
Thanks!

 

[SueM in MN]

I was concerned about the long waits the first time we went to Fantasmic with DD (multiple disabilities including attention deficit disorder). It was not bad at all, even with getting there over an hour ahead of time.

People hear about a wait of 1 hour or more before the show and picture it as 1 hour standing in line. Actually, very little of the time is spent in line; during most of the time you will be sitting in your seats. They start letting people into the outdoor auditorium about 1 hour or so before the show and you are quickly directed towards seats (bench seating). There are nearly 10,000 seats in the stadium, so it takes a while to fill it up.
Once you have your seats, he can play his game boy or you can walk around (as long as someone stays to keep your seats and you know where your seats are). There are CMs walking around selling popcorn, cotton candy and pop. There is a also a snack stand in the back along with bathrooms.
While you wait, there is Disney music playing and people do things like "the wave". So the wait is nowhere near as bad as it sounds.

Last March, we had DD, my nephew who has ADD (I'm not sure what his other diagnosis is, but it seems to be something like Aspergers), 2 elderly grandparents with mobility problems (but not with wheelchairs or ecvs), my older DD, DH, my niece and me. When we got there, the line was moving quickly and we got seats fairly fast. Actually, because we had DD's wheelchair, we had to wait for an "escort CM". If we had not had the wheelchair, we would have gotten seated faster. Between having some snacks and DH and nephew playing some word games, the time went very quickly.

The only thing to keep in mind is if there are 2 shows, you want to go to the first one. For the second show, people do line up well before the show starts and will be waiting in line for the end of the first show and while the auditorium is emptied and trash picked up before they seat people.

 

[mbb]

if your little guy has any issues with loud noises, etc,be prepared to leave..It's a pretty intense show.

Our first - and only- attempt at at seeing Fantasmic, ended with us carrying two very upset boys, out, as fast as we could go...we had anticipated that, and told the CM that we needed to sit in the very top row of the seating area. If we hadn't, there would have been stairs to negotiate in the dark...carrying two screaming children.

Just a tip

The best part was being seated early...there were lots of other kids around us and the boys remember playing with them, as the Fantasmic experience..not so much the leaving part

HTH!!

 

[Figment1964]

I also agree with the previous posters. I would add one piece of advice that helped us for our whole trip...Ear Plugs! We get soft, foamy ones that he can keep in his pocket. He would use them whenever he felt the need, sometimes he'd have them in during times that I never would have guessed that he would need them.

I don't have any advice on Fantasmic specifically since this past trip we missed it completely due to Hurricane Frances.

 

[Nik's Mom]

I have another question. Can we pick our seats, or is it like the other shows, where everyone enters a row and moves all the way down. In other words, can I just sit in the back, or will they make me move up to fill other seats?

 

[SueM in MN]

The very back row is for people with wheelchairs and ecvs. There are a few spaces next to the wheelchair/ecv spots for one or 2 members of their party to sit with them. The row right in front of the back row is for people with disabilities.

If you have a GAC that allows you to use a stroller as a wheelchair, you could bring it in and park it in the back row with one person sitting next to it. The rest of your party would sit right in front of that. The stroller as wheelchair optiion might be good - if your child is somewhat upset, he might calm down in the stroller covered with a blanket. If he gets really upset, you'll have an easier time getting him out.

For the general seating, the CMs direct you toward a specific area to try to do an orderly job of filling in, but you can pick your seats and don't have to slide all the way down as long as people can get around. For other shows, they have a limited time to get the seats filled before the show starts. For Fantasmic, it's a lot longer time to fill up the stadium.