Disneyland on Aspergers

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Disneyland



Travelling with an Asperger can be challenging. Travelling as an Asperger can be terrifying. The difference in a great vacation and a total disaster is really small. Planning, organisation, details, contingency plans, and understanding needs are all necessary steps. I traveled to Disneyland twice, once when I was 9 and again when I was 14. The first time I had no idea of the planning that my Mom put into the trip; the second time she involved me in most of it to let me have some experience and start learning to plan for future travel.



Our first trip down we traveled with a friend of the family and her son who was my age. Mom & I had our own room and while we traveled with them there was no expectation that we would spend all of our time together while at Disneyland. Mom’s friend knew about my Aspergers and understood that we needed to be able to be flexible and do what was needed when it was needed. We always have at least a fridge and microwave when we travel, this way I can have foods that I am familiar with. We had cereal, bread and peanut butter, milk, soup, and a few other staples; we could live for a few days on this very bland diet, oh and coffee for Mom.



Avoiding triggers when travelling can be challenging but have to be attempted, Aspergers can get to a point where they are overstimulated by crowds, noise, activities, or just too much change. When they reach the breaking point they are done; no negotiating, no bribery, they are done. You better have a plan in place. We always try and travel earlier and non-stop. If layovers are necessary they are always better at the beginning of the trip when resilience is higher and batteries are all charged. What I wore made a huge difference; I didn’t dress to impress I dressed for comfort, if I had to be in the same clothes waiting in an airport or on a plane all day – they had to be comfortable. We carried every electronic game I owned with extra batteries, we had a portable DVD player, books, snacks, basically everything I might need for 24 hours, including a pillow and blanket.



This was always a time Mom carried extra special treats that I rarely saw but she could pull out if needed. We always did the pre board to get settled and I always had a window seat with her in the center or aisle to act as a buffer if necessary. We always tried to get the exit row as the extra leg room often gave me a comfortable place to stretch out on the floor and read or just to be able to move around if I needed. Mom always knew pretty much exactly how to get us out of the airport in record time and always had private transfers to the hotel. I was probably at the end of my endurance and an extended bus ride that never seemed to get to our hotel would probably have been the proverbial last straw. We also never planned anything for the rest of the day of arrival. I could hang out in the room, go for a swim at the pool, have a bath or go to bed and watch a movie or read.



We got up and had breakfast; met our friends and headed to Disneyland. We had looked at maps and videos of Disneyland before we left Canada and had a good idea of what waited for us; like a fair except bigger and busier. We hit the first few attractions together, looked around and got our bearings. For the next few days we would spend some parts of the days together but would go our own way if we wanted to do different things, for example I had no interest in shopping or going to restaurants. Mom’s friend was great about this and of course cell phones made it easy to stay in touch. We usually headed back to the motel and would have lunch, then a swim, nap, whatever was wanted.



Having no expectations or commitments is the only way to travel with an Asperger. Our trip was very relaxed, there was no stress put on me to keep up or conform so I was able to manage my time in a way that let all of us have a great trip.

My second trip when I was 14 was a little more stressful as we went with family; there were just a lot more expectations of doing things together as a family, everything from going on rides to posing for pictures. I was older and my coping abilities had improved but there still ended up being a few occasions where I had had enough and needed to step back from the group. Travelling with other kids can be problematic, especially if they see what seems to be another kid getting special treatment or not having to do things the same as they do. They do not understand that when you say you need to sit in the outside seat – you need to sit in the outside seat; it’s not about getting your own way or being spoiled. It is literally the only way you can get on the ride. This caused more than one incident as other kids decided it was their turn to sit in the “special seat”.



At times like this Mom would say it was time to spend some time on our own; she usually had something to use as a distraction (anything from a new pack of Pokémon cards to a copy of the newest movie that had come out). She continuously collected distractables (as she called them) to have on hand when they were most needed.



She traveled with no expectations at all, some days we went on the same ride 10 times, other days we tried everything new. Some attractions worked for me some held no interest. Meeting the characters was not the best set up for an Asperger. There would be an information sheet that the Character would be out at a specific time. People could line up prior to that to wait for the opportunity to get an autograph and take a picture. After lining up for half an hour then watching the character sign autographs and pose with other families for another 20 minutes we were still two spots away when their handler stated they had to go back in and would be back out in 30 minutes. That was pretty much it for me meeting Snow White. The rest of the time Mom watched for opportunities, if she saw a character station with only a couple people at it we would duck in and get an autograph. This worked much better.



Food at Disneyland was really challenging as it tasted different than I was used to at home, and I didn't eat a lot of restaurant food to start with. Some things were always good fallback meals like Smitties for pancakes, and there was a McDonald’s fries cart in Disneyland. Mom would carry snacks that she knew I liked so we did fine as far as food went.



Disney was a good holiday for me because there were enough things there that I enjoyed that I was invested in going, all of the advance planning in the world won’t make a difference for an Asperger who does not want to go on rides or see the shows. Matching the person’s personality, interests, coping skills, and abilities are necessary to have a good vacation. I had no interest in touring any of the LA hot-spots like Beverly Hills or Rodeo Drive so we didn't include any of those in our itinerary.

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