Planning a trip to Disneyland can be a daunting task for any
family, but for a family with a child with special needs, it can be almost
terrifying. My 10-year-old son, Nathan, was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes on
March 1, 2015. Without going into the not so fun details of his diagnosis, I
will say that it has been a pretty big game changer in our home. After the
initial shock and hospital stay, we were all set to go to his first endocrinologist
follow up appointment. Along with the myriad of health questions, I had a big
one that had been plaguing my mind. What about Disneyland?
We had booked our summer family vacation back in December
when the kids started mentioning the mouse more and more often. This is a
tradition of ours to visit the parks every other year. This year was the year,
so we figured we would book early at the Disneyland Hotel for four nights and
five days. This would give us three full days in the parks with a 3-day park-hopper.
It was going to be perfect. Now, everything was changing. I felt guilty for
worrying about our trip when all of my attention should have been on my son,
but this trip was for him too. Thankfully, our doctor gave us the go ahead and
even provided a note for us to be able to “bring our own food and not wait in
line”.
OK, now I realize that his note seems like we were asking a
lot, but the truth is that with T1D, Nathan must check his blood anywhere from
four to twelve times a day. This means that if we are standing in the hour-long
line for Space Mountain, midway through we may be checking Nathan’s blood. If
low, he would then need to eat, drink, take glucose, etc., or even get out of
line. This is no small task in a tight, crowded situation, so the note, we
thought, would be amazing.
Before driving the eight hours to Anaheim from Sacramento, I
first contacted the Disneyland Hotel who assured me there was a refrigerator in
our room to house our extra insulin. They also informed me that I needed to go
directly to City Hall on Main Street once we enter the park. It is at City Hall
where all accommodations are made for people with special needs. In their
Disney way, even on the phone, they made us feel welcome and understood.
Once at the park, we did as we were instructed. At City
Hall, the cast member informed us that they could indeed accommodate Nathan’s
needs. We could not skip the lines altogether, but what we could do was the
next best thing. We could receive return times for the rides, allowing us to “wait
in line, but in a more flexible environment”. Initially, I was confused, but
the cast member cleared it all up. Strategically placed around the park, there
were roughly five green umbrellas. These umbrellas housed cast members who
could check wait times for rides and load one return time at a time onto our
park tickets. This meant that if we wanted to ride Matterhorn at noon and the
wait was 45 minutes, the cast member would give us a 12:45 return time on our
ticket. At 12:45, we would head over to Matterhorn where we could enter the
line and get on the ride within roughly five minutes. We could only get one
return time at a time, so we had to plan accordingly, but this made for a much more
relaxing experience.
On our third day entering the parks, I began to feel like
perhaps we didn’t need the return times after all. Everything was going
smoothly, and we were able to go on all of the rides we wanted. Then it proved
to be worth every second of finding the umbrellas. I went to get a return time
for a ride with my son and husband. While I stood in line to speak to the cast
member, Nathan looked up and me and said, “Mom, can you hold my backpack?”
Before I could answer, he dropped it on the ground and stumbled to my husband.
Immediately, we went to check his blood glucose level. It had dropped to 61,
and Nathan needed glucose tabs. As we found him shade to sit in, he slowly
perked up, but needed some water as well. My husband went to the nearest vendor
to purchase water. The cast member noticed my husband’s “We’re Celebrating”
button and asked about it. My husband explained that we were celebrating being
able to travel with our son who was recently diagnosed with T1D. He then explained
our son’s current condition. Long story short, the cast member “made magic” for
us. He handed my husband three bottles of water for our son to have. No charge.
Nathan recovered quickly and we were able to conclude our
vacation without more incidents. We came home with fantastic memories, and we
are eternally grateful for Disneyland’s accommodations. Without the return
times, I fear what could have happened. More importantly, because of Disney’s
exceptional customer service, my family was able to have an amazing vacation,
and my son was able to enjoy each step of the way without worry or concern.
