Well we did it. We took our kids to Disneyland! A year ago I didn't think a trip like this was possible. Back in January I even wrote this post called
Disneyland and the Dog about how we couldn't imagine being able to take our kids to Disneyland before learning about Arizona Goldens' Autism Service Dog program. And now, less than a full year later we have accomplished an enormous family goal! We have gone on our first completely non-medical family vacation in 5 years and did the fun kind of things that other families do with their kids.
There were a few hiccups and tough times along the way, the drive was long and mornings and evenings so off schedule caused a fair bit of anxiety for the kids, but the actual time spent in the Disneyland park itself was so much better than I could have hoped for.
We decided not to buy multi-day passes ahead of time because I am so used to the things that we expect the kids to like the most turning out to be too difficult or traumatic. I could just see us getting there and the crowds and noise and motion being too much for the kids to handle for more than just an hour or two. I fully expected to only stay 2 or 3 hours on the first day. But thank goodness we planned ahead and brought Lu's tube feeding equipment and food with us in back packs into the park. We stayed for more than 7 hours and walked more than 5 miles inside of the park for 2 days in a row (thanks fitbit step tracker)!
I need to give some credit where credit is due here and a ton of credit goes to the lovely Madison, Tallulah's one-on-one school aide and one of her home ABA interventionists; as well as credit to the also lovely Dahanna who was a total star! The way we worked things was that Madison mostly was in charge of Tallulah and Dahanna, walking with them both, giving Dahanna commands, holding Lu's hand in one hand and Dahanna's leash in the other, keeping the two leashes from getting entangled and the rest. I was in charge of Myffy and had a back pack with just the feeding pump, bags, tubes, adapters and syringes in it which is not very heavy in case I needed to run after Myffy or jump in to help Madison with Lu. And Stew was in charge of everything heavy and everything else; the stroller, the cold bag with Lu's food in it, and another back pack with all of the other stuff we might possibly worst-case-senerio need.
Dahanna did a great job of navigating the crowds, waiting in lines, keeping our group together like a sheep herding dog and riding all of the rides with Lu but one (that one was the Dumbo ride which I was afraid to put her on because I had this momentary vision of her hopping out of the Dumbo when it goes up and down in that shakey way, it was the first ride we tried and it took me awhile to realize that she can handle pretty much anything we can). The people around us marveled at her calm demeanor and professional air as she hopped in and out of all the crazy shaped ride cars and never even batted an eye when the Pirates of the Caribbean ship plunged down into darkness and water sloshed in, getting her pretty well soaked by Lu's feet.
One thing that I was really impressed with on this trip that I never even noticed as a kid was how alert and awesome the Disneyland Staff are. Maybe this was accentuated by having the service dog which is a very visible sign of a kid with a disability, and maybe it was having the guest assistance pass which put us into the disabled lines, but even when we were just walking around and trying to get food I felt like the staff were constantly watching, ready to help and totally on the look out for kids in distress.
When we went to eat the chefs came out to talk to us about the kids' food restrictions, and even though Lu never actually ate anything by mouth the whole time we were in the park, I so appreciated their willingness to make up special food that my kids could safely eat. We got gluten free rolls, BBQ meats that were not dredged in flour and had a special sauce, pancakes and burritos that were gluten and diary free. It was great. Myffy ate a ton of everything and hopefully next time we go Lu will be interested in eating as well. Normally Lu does not like doing her tube feeding anywhere but in her own bed at night, on her beanbag or on the sofa during the day, and she will let us coax her into feeding at the dining room table with us as we eat dinner for 15-20 minutes usually before asking to move to the sofa. So even though we brought her feeding stuff with us, I was pretty sure she would want to go back to the hotel. But she didn't. She let us hook her up right out there in public at the tables of the Disneyland restaurants. And she hardly even seemed to notice.
On the first day there it wasn't until half way through lunch that I realized that I'd completely forgotten to bring Lu's ipad which is usually the only way we can get her to sit with us through a meal. I felt a moment of panic but then looked around and realized that everything around us was better than a life-sized ipad. All day long Lu's face had the most amazing glow of happiness. And once she got used to the routine of waiting in line and then going on rides, she eventually didn't even seem to mind the wait too much. Especially once she got tired and wanted to sit in the stroller while waiting.
We rented the stroller with Myffy in mind because her legs are so short and she is a pretty slow walker, but she would not go in it even for a moment. She wanted Mommy up and no one but Mommy. So I carried her. All the time. For over 7 hours and over 5 miles a day, two days in a row. And boy was I feeling it by the end of the second day. I was so glad I could look forward to that chiropractor appointment I'd made for a couple of days after we got back. I made a mental note to schedule a massage as well. But aching backs aside, it was an awesome trip and we never even came close to my worst fear of losing a child at Disneyland.
It was a couple of long hard days, and Myffy didn't quite make it without a little nap in line for It's a Small World (which I think we rode 7 times during the two days), but all in all I'd call our Disneyland Adventure an unqualified success!
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