I'm So Done With Disney... For Now.

We went to Florida last week, to spend some time with my parents during school vacation.  The time my kids spend with their grandparents is precious for everyone, since we only see them a few times each year.  The days were filled with... well, nothing, actually.  It was great, relaxing and fun and what a vacation should be.

Then Sunday came along, and it was time to go to Orlando.  The last few times we've vacationed in Florida, we have spent most of the time with my parents and no more than a day or two in Orlando before heading home.  The Wonderful World of Disney is overwhelming, and I'm not one of those people who adore everything Mickey.  This year, my husband decided to combine our vacation with the opportunity to complete some of his CME (continuing medical education) credits by signing up for a course held at one of the Disney area hotels.

The course only ran during the mornings, so we figured that I'd hang out with the kids at the pool in the mornings and we'd do the parks in the afternoons.  We spent Monday afternoon at the Animal Kingdom, which the kids had seen a special about and were very excited to experience.  They got to pet a snake, identify birds, and learn about conservation.  The highlight for them, however, was when Mommy got completely and utterly drenched on the Kali River Rapids.  No one else on the raft!  Only Mommy!  Yay!  After squelching our way back to the hotel, we discovered that the lobby barman was happy to give us margaritas in plastic cups to take back to the room.  That was Mommy's favorite part of the day.

The next afternoon, we decided to try the Disney Quest "experience," which we knew very little about.  It turned out to be an indoor arcade extravaganza, including games and virtual rides which were actually pretty fun.  We all agreed that our favorite was the "Pirates of the Carribean" ride, where they usher you into a little room and your group stands on the deck of a ship and fires virtual canons at virtual pirate ships.  My husband has decided he would like to install that game in his basement man cave... which doesn't exist yet.  I tell him it's his "virtual man cave" and offer to bring him a "virtual beer," but he doesn't find me as amusing as I find myself.

Our last day was spent at the Magic Kingdom.  The original plan was to go to SeaWorld, but the kids were kind of animaled out and really just wanted to go on rides.  I took them over in the morning, and we got the Small World ride out of the way first thing.  (I find it's helpful to go there first, so that you can enjoy the earworm all day long.)  We had a pretty good day, but my son started having problems mid-afternoon.  He gets sensory overloaded at times - while it's new and interesting, he can deal with noise and crowds, but after a full day he began to lose his mind.  First he started walking into walls, and by the time the parade came around he was beyond ready to go.

As a result, our exit from Disney was hurried and frantic.  I ended up hauling him down Main Street U.S.A. through the crowds with his little hands pressed against his ears as he cried, "Make them stop singing!"  We even ducked into a couple of stores to escape the singing and dancing throngs, but we could still hear the music.  "Turn off the happy music!" my son begged, and if I'd been able to pull the plug, I would have.  Finally, we made a break for it, scurrying out of the park full tilt. 

As we headed back to the hotel, I sat on the monorail with my son curled up on my lap.  I stroked his back and found myself mentally drafting a post about taking your autistic child to a theme park.  Then I looked around me on the monorail and realized that most of the people had similar dazed expressions and crying children.  One couple actually had two crying children, and they were discussing returning later on in the day!  Not for us, though.  We're officially done with Disney. 

At least for this year. 

Comments

[flutter]

try working there, is all I am saying....

[Fairly Odd Mother]

Poor guy. We're going this fall and I'm sure we'll see a meltdown or two in our family as well.

[Christina]

Aw, poor guy. Someone gave me the advice that when you plan a trip to Disney, tell them if your child is autistic, and they will bend over backwards to accommodate.

A friend of mine had a son who was high-functioning, but had trouble waiting in lines, and Disney gave them a special pass so the family could go straight to the head of the line, and they had a quiet area in each park that they could retreat to if needed.

When we go to Disney again, I'm planning to tell them about Cordy's autism in the hopes that we can enjoy the park without a massive meltdown. (Although you're right - ANY kid is exhausted and frazzled by the end of the day at Disney.)

[Cheap Disney Packages]

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