Disney Report

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

We all had a great time at Disney! Here are the details on the special

access pass we received and a little story...

When we picked up our park passes (you can do this at guest relations of the

first park you go to) I told the woman at the counter that my son was deaf

and uses a CI -- what types of accommodations did they have for him? She

mentioned some captioning options, but he can't read yet. Then she gave me

the ASL schedule. The way it works it that each day of the week the

interpreters are at a different park. In that given park they have a

schedule for what they're interpreting (i.e. Saturday a might be Animal

Kingdom with 10am Lion King show, 11:30am Tarzan show, etc.). She also gave

me a special assistance pass card which essential gave Ben handicapped

access. She stamped it with a stamp saying " Use stroller as wheelchair " and

before I could say " it's his ear, not his legs " she said " I know children

with any disability feel more comfortable in familiar places like their

stroller. " She also said that " I know that people who are hearing impaired

do better if they can see the stage and see facial expressions. " She then

asked how many people were in our party. I told her 8 (us, my

mother-in-law, and my sister-in-law's family) and she said there's a limit

of 6 and put 6 on the card.

So, here's how it worked. At each attraction I showed the pass to the staff

working there. They would read it over and allow us to enter in the

handicapped line (usually the same as the fast pass line) and bring our

stroller up to the loading area for the ride/show. At the shows we sat in

front row, in the handicapped seats. Lots of attention was paid to Ben and

his cousins and it was really nice. There were usually a couple of other

groups in the section as well, but the sections weren't filled. (I

personally wouldn't want to take there seats from others that need them, but

given the empty seats and how much Ben was able to see and enjoy it, I'm

glad w did this.) This was a slow time at Disney and no one seemed to

notice or mind that we were 8 instead of 6 (and 1 of the 8 was just 18

months and sat on a lap).

Parades were also great with pass. Normally at Disney you need to line up

on the parade route about 30 minutes before the start in order to see. With

the pass we were able to be in the handicapped viewing area (which never

filled up) and just arrive about 10-15 minutes before the parade start.

Keep in mind for all these things that January is a slow time

Now for a story. Ben loves animals so we stayed at the Animal Kingdom

lodge. We had a room with a balcony overlooking the Savannah where the

animals from the Animal Kingdom park live. The way it's set up, the animals

can actually come quite close to you, but you're pretty high up over their

heads. The first night we arrived late and quickly checked in and went to

dinner. Around 9pm Ben was getting tired of sitting so I took him up to the

room. We went out on the balcony and looked at the view (which was well

lit). In the distance I could see a kudu (they give you a animal guide) so

I tried to point it out to Ben -- " Look way out there at the animal with

horns, by the trees, do you see it? " Ben looked and then said " Giraffe! " I

said " No Ben, it's not a giraffe, giraffe's are tall with long necks, this

is like a buffalo way far away. " Ben said " Giraffe, giraffe! " and finally

grabbed me and pointed right below us, maybe 20 feet away at a beautiful

giraffe that I didn't even see. From then on each day he would look for the

giraffes and I'm convinced that he thought they were sleep right along with

him outside the room. Ben got to see all types of animals and loved the

Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom. We got home Monday and on Tuesday we were

having lunch at home looking out the window at snow and cold here near

Boston and Ben turned to me and said " Mommy, no giraffes in window. " How

right he is in this -4 degree weather!

It's so wonderful to listen to him talk and express his memories and

thoughts.

Stay warm,

Jen

Mom to , born 2/21/01, N24C 3/1/02

jborhegyi@...