I have seriously mixed feelings about this

[jeriendhal]

So on the advice of one of moonshadowed 's Weight Watchers buddies, she called Busch Gardens to see if we could get a Special Needs pass to go to the front of the lines for the rides on account of Thomas' autism. Turns out that we can. Soooo....

1. We're going to zoom through the lines of the park in August.

2. Because my son has an incurable mental disorder.

3. And Busch Gardens wants to A) look good to their customers by b) Avoiding children having screaming meltdowns while they stand out on the hot asphalt.

Okay, so I'm a "Half Empty" sorta guy sometimes...

Comments

[ladysmith.livejournal.com]

You can do the same thing at any Disney Park. They want you to enjoy yourself so that you will come back, and will do everything up to and including bend over backwards to make sure it happens.

Every time we eat at at a table service restaurant at Disney, we meet the head chef, because we have a variety of food allergies. Even if we have eaten there a million times before, and know what food is safe, and they don't serve any of our allergens in that restaurant anyway, we still meet with the chef.

There's actually a book on traveling to Disney parks with people who might need extra help (the list includes the elderly, pregnant women, those with small children, people with phobias, and people of size). The book is called "Open Mouse" and it's put out by Passporter.

[kodi]

How would you distinguish between 3. and:
3a. And Busch Gardens genuinely wants to make the experience they provide available to everyone they possibly can
?

[jeriendhal.livejournal.com]

Because I've worked for a corporation (and a relatively 'nice' one at that) too long to believe any of them have their consumers' best interests in mind.

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

We totally did that when we go to Disneyland as kids. It was awesome. Especially in the summer and the crowds.

[seawasp]

I can see absolutely no downside to this, except for the people who are fortunate enough to not have any disorders, who then have to sit in the hot sun longer.

Which isn't your problem, and wouldn't be mine, either.

[archangelbeth]

*wanders over from the jaguar's LJ, and waves*

My kid's on the spectrum too, though extremely high-functioning. There are times for Learning Experiences for how to cope with a world of neurotypicals -- and there are times to make the world bend because she's got Asperger's. Whatever the motives, if you're getting the world to bend so y'all can have a fun time and not a stressed-out "we are never coming back here again" time? Go for it, and enjoy.