As we prepare over the next month for our spring vacation trip to Disney World, we will be sharing quite a bit about preparing your child with Down syndrome, autism, and sensory sensitivities for a trip to Disney World. In fact, one of our goals for this website is to have a section dedicated to helping parents of children with special needs in preparing for not just Disney World, but travel in general.
As parents of a child with Down syndrome and autism, we have experienced the stress and challenges that come with traveling. Everything from flying and long road trips to wondering how your child will react and behave in large crowds, restaurants, and sensory loaded experiences. I’m sure most of you can agree that traveling and vacations can be stressful and tiring enough without a child, let alone a child with special needs. How many times have you said “I need a vacation from this vacation!” As parents of a child with special needs, we have many extra considerations that we must account for.
Last year, we decided to take a road trip to Florida to visit family. We knew we eventually wanted to introduce our daughter to Disney World, but we weren’t sure if she was ready for it yet. Some of our fears included…
- What if she has zero interest in Disney World?
- Will she be able to handle the crowds?
- How do we know if she will actually enjoy any of the rides?
- What do we do if she freaks out in the middle of a ride?
We ultimately decided to do a short test trip to help us figure out if there is any possibility of a longer vacation at the most magical place on earth. We spent three nights at a Disney resort along with a single day at Magic Kingdom. The trip was a grand slam and completely exceeded our expectations. Yes, our daughter still hand her moments, including one epic meltdown where I felt like Disney security guards were keeping an eye on us (most likely not, but I’m sure some of you can relate to that feeling). But the success of our trip required a lot of planning and preparation.
While we have already been planning our trip for over 3 months, we are just starting the key part of preparing our daughter for the many sites and sounds you encounter in Disney World. We’re building off of what worked well for us last year and also trying a few new things. So stay tuned and be sure to check back often over the next 2 months as we share many tips and resources to help you plan for your own trip to Disney World.
