Our endo has given us a letter that basically says we should be able to carry her supplies, food, water and juice throughout the park but it also says that waiting on long lines in the heat might be too much for her. Has anyone gotten special consideration(are there medical passes?)at Disney? Probably would not worry about it if we weren't going at such a busy time...
Celeste
YES! Go to Guest Services on Main Street immediately and explain your concerns. They will give you a Guest Assistance Card that will allow your entire party to enter through the exit of most rides and get right on! Show your card to a Cast Member and Voilá - No waiting - No stress!! It makes your day SO much more relaxed and enjoyable. We go often and use one every time. Disney is awesome! Have a wonderful time!! :)
Are you going to Disneyland or WDW? We found a harder time with cast members questioning our need for a GAC at Disneyland than WDW. Having said that, they will NOT read your doctor's note (due to privacy laws). You need to tell them what accommodation you need. To be clear, THIS IS NOT A FRONT OF LINE PASS!!!!!
They will allow things like waiting in a different area for your party because standing in the heat cases lows, etc. It will allow up to 6 people in your party to follow the same entry plan as the person with the GAC.
We are frequent Disney visitors and now that our son is older (11), we find that we don't need a GAC when we visit. I am not suggesting that this is the same for everyone, but it works for us. We arrive early, make heavy use of Fast Passes and carry snacks, juice and all of his supplies with us everywhere in the park. If we are in line and he is running low, he eats in line, If he is running high and needs a correction, we correct in line (he is now on a pump, but we did this when he was on MDI as well. We plan meals on the early side of the crowds (about 11:30 for lunch and 5:30 for dinner) so he does not have an inordinate wait for food. This has worked extremely well for us at both DisneyLand and WDW.
We are going to Walt Disney World. I was wondering too about the "diabetes bag" - she is still little so I imagine most of the rides she will be going on it won't be an issue to have it across my body while on the ride. Have you had any issues? What does he do with his pdm(I saw you on the omnipod forum)?
Daniel's bag stays with him at all times. Even when he was a toddler, we had a child sized backpack that he carried with his supplies in it. His PDM is carried in that bag. We all carry bags when we tour the parks, backpacks and slings, depending on each person's preference and we have never had an issue. I take mine on Tower of Terror even without a problem. I most often put my bag under my leg with the strap up around my leg, if I am concerned that the ride might jerk it loose.
Have a great time!
Just went to Disney (Orlando) in November. Disney will NOT give you a guest assistance card that allows your whole party to enter through the exit of rides any more. They only thing they will give you is a guest assistance card that allows you to wait in shaded areas. This really does little good because most rides are in shaded areas anyhow. Disney wont require you to have a letter for carrying her supplies, food, water etc. They are pretty understanding on that part. I even tried at more then one park and got the same explanation from every cast member. Apparently at one time they were quicker to hand out the assistance cards that would allow you to go in the fast past entrance but have tightened down on the rules to hand them out.
There was just a blog on this topic from www.pumpwear.com. Check out the blog forum and scroll down a bit for their "diabetes tidbits". I took my 5 yr old this past June to Disneyland and I did not know about this Guest Assistance Card but we didn't really need it. There were lines with shaded areas but there was also a lot of waiting in the sun too. There was not a ride we went on that I could not take my backpack and she rode pretty much everything incl Tower of Terror. Some parks (Six Flags, STL) will give you a medical tag to put on your bag and the ride operators will keep that bag with them at their station if needed (water rides, roller coasters, etc...). Have a great time!!!!
When we went to Busch Gardens in November, they said we had to check his diabetes bag in a locker on certain rides. We did this on one ride and then from that point, I explained that if we check his bag in a locker, go stand in a line for an hour, if something was to happen, we have no meter, no supplies etc. That his bag needs to be with him at all times!
Disney has gotten very stingy with the guest service passes. Even wheel chairs are no longer escorted through a different entrance. Most lines can accomodate wheel chairs. I think so many people were taking advantage of the passes.
The best advice I can give since heat can effect blood glucose is test frequently and have stuff to treat lows when you are in a line. With my son, he also has a CMG (he doesnt wear it all the time) but for Florida we had him wear it at all times. This helped so that we caught lows most of the time before they even happened.
I think the idea is to make every attraction accessible to all, hence the WC accessible lines, etc.
Totally agree with you on testing. Test, test, test - it helps get ahead of the lows. We found it a lot more manageable that I expected.
I agree. We actually postponed this trip from a year prior because when my son was first diagnosed, I couldnt imagine doing Disney with a diabetic child. But even with the warm temperatures and the lines, the biggest issue we had was not giving enough insulin for certain meals which were easily fixed a few hours later with a correction dose. As long as you test frequently, even with high temps and long lines, you can have a good time without complications. I think Disney realizes there is no reason to hand out special passes to use the fast pass entrance for diabetics since the majority of their lines are in the shade or inside where it is air conditioned. When at Disney, my son tested I would say at least double what he tests on a normal day and this was with a CMG on.
Make sure your bag has snacks and stuff to treat the lows. While there are concession stands all over the place, you also have lines at them to contend with. My husband, bless his heart, carried a backpack that was stocked with bottle water, sunny d (for the lows and all kinds of snacks. My suggestion with a 5 year old is rent a double stroller. This way you have a place for her to rest and the extra seat to put a backpack so nobody has to endure the weight like my poor husband did!!! We would freeze bottles of water (which made it even heavier for my husband to carry) and that way mid day we had ice cold water for my son to drink.
Its all doable. Just takes some extra precautions.
Thanks good tips! We have 2 other children 8 and 3 so we were hoping to rent one of their double strollers anyway...
We actually took her to Europe 6 months after diagnosis (2 1/2 yrs old) - figure if we made it through that (with a 5 yr old and an 8 month old) this should be easy but I want to be prepared.
UPDATE!
The trip Celeste & I took to Disney went very well. The first day we did not go to guest services since we were going to have a go at it as a normal family. We did reasonably well but it got very crowded! The second day we went to guest services in Epcot, and once I showed the letter from the Dr. we got a Guest Services pass which allowed us to use the FastPass line. Mind you not all rides have a fast pass entrance and when it is as busy as it was President's week , Fast Pass does not mean no waiting.
Thanks for all the advice and suggestions.
One thing someone at the park recommended, which I want to add here is that you can ask the First aid area and have them hold the Insulin in a fridge. When we went, it was not that hot high 70's low 80's so our Ice Pack kept it cool, so we did not need to do that. I have been in FL when it's been so hot, my ice pack was toast by 11am, so if you are going to Disney in the summer it may not be a bad idea to give them an extra bottle to keep in their fridge "just in case".