Disneyland Guide for Guests with Cognitive
Disabilities
Are you thinking
about going on a Disneyland vacation but are concerned because one or more of
your family/group has a Cognitive Disability (Autism Spectrum, ADHD, TBI, PTSD etc. . .)?
Well pack your bags and leave a good portion of the concern behind!!!
On the Disneyland
website is a fantastic guide to assist you in preparing. You know with someone
with Cognitive Disabilities planning is key to having a safe, happy and
enjoyable trip anywhere. It does not matter if it is the market or an amusement
park planning and preparing makes it easier. You can print it out and read it
at your leisure or download it to a tablet in PDF format to have handy as you
go.
Here is a link to
the overview of the guide:
The guide walks
you through each and every step of a day at the DLR (Disneyland Resort). With descriptions
and pictures they tell you about parking, going through security checks (Some people
with Cognitive Disabilities don’t like others touching their possessions.), purchasing
tickets, entering the park and what services are available once inside the parks.
There is even a
breakdown of the attractions at both DL (Disneyland) and DCA (Disney California
Adventure) giving check marks on what to expect on each attraction. They let
you know if there are things like drops, loud noises and darkness that might be
of concern and cause problems for the guest. While this is over all very accurate
in my opinion there are a few mistakes.
Mostly the error in
the guide is in the noise level of some attractions. For example Great Moments
with Mr. Lincoln is only marked for darkness but is not checked for loud noises
and flashing lights. There is a part of the show where there is a simulated
Civil War battle and you hear the cannon blast and see the flash. I get startled
at it almost every time I see the show and I know it is coming! I suggest using
the guide as a general overview of what to expect but do not depend on it. Find
someone who understands the needs of a guest with Cognitive Disabilities and
has been there. Ask questions, find videos of the attractions that you feel
there is interest in and check them out. Youtube is full of them!
Some of the other
wonderful stuff in the overview and guide is information on where to find quiet
spots for breaks, family/companion restroom locations and pictures of important
items such as picture of what a Disney Cast Member Name tag looks like. You can
show this to your family/group member with disabilities (or even ‘normal’ young
kids) and tell them if they get separated, lost or need help of any kind go
find someone with a name tag that looks like that and ask for help.
There are many
helpful suggestions in the overview and guide such as things to bring and how
to prepare your disabled family/group member to have an enjoyable time at the
park.
Here is a link to
the Guide for Guests with Cognitive Disabilities:
Here is a link to
information on the DAS (Disability Access System) information:
Here is a link to
my review of the DAS Card usage:
I will also state here I am a Travel Agent with Your Fairytale Vacation and specialize in assisting those with disabilities plan travel to Disney Destinations. I do not charge for my service. You will pay the same through me or booking yourself and I look for all savings I can find for my clients so you may pay less through me.
Your Fairytale Vacation
You can email me at:
Carolyn@YourFairytaleVacation.com
My
Christmas book, “An Angel Remembers 25 Voices of Christmas” is available!!
This is a collection of 26 short Christmas stories that
together bring the amazing events of Christ’s birth alive. It is my hope that
this will help encourage families to spend 10-15 minutes a day together during
the busy holiday season remembering the true reason for the season.
You can
find it for ALL eReader formats and PDF at:
For your
Nook the link is:
It is also
available at the iTunes book store and many other ebook seller sites.
The only
big site not carrying my book is Amazon.
You can
download a Kindle version from Smashwords.com
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