Good mail.

Hi, Ali!
When you said "praying that Simon will enjoy the experience" I can tell you - he will.
Through my work (I'm an airline employee), I'm involved in a charity called "Dreams Take Flight" where, for a day, kids (from various cities across Canada) who have a disability or are from low-income familes get to go to either DisneyLand or DisneyWorld. I've bee a volunteer for a few years now and this past Spring I was able to go to DisneyWorld (1st time evah!). I was assigned to help out with a group of 5 girls and 1 of the mom's plus a group leader. These girls had the time of their life! For one day, all their worries or challenges or illnesses did not matter! One of the girls has (severe) Autism and my *favourite* memory of the trip is when she met Winnie the Pooh! Winnie is her favourite character and she would NOT stop hugging him!!!! All of us adults had tears; such a beautiful sight...her reaction will stay with me forever.
So, I am sure Simon will enjoy the experience because he will enjoy it in his own way. And he will warm your heart over and over. =)
Oh, and wait times - read up on that. We (100+ of us) were treated like royalty and so we were able to jump the queues most of the time. I don't know how everyone else did it...some of those line-ups...eek!
*smooches*
C

It sounds like a wonderful, well-deserved vacation is in store for the Edwards' Family - hooray! This Hoosier has been to WDW several times. Our daughter's nursery was all Disney and she knew the songs, the characters, the stories ... and absolutely HATED WDW at the ripe age of 3. In hindsight, we realized that she hated the heat, the crowds, the walking (why in the WORLD we didn't get a stroller is beyond me!) and the waiting. We had simply not thought to tell her what WDW was ... just that we were going to see Mickey and Minnie. She is a gal who likes/needs to know what to expect, and we totally failed her. Every time since, we've had a blast, and I only wish we'd been more thoughtful that first time.
We love having breakfast (schedule now!) at the Crystal Palace. It gets you in the park early and you get relatively quiet time with Pooh and his friends. We also typically spend one day or evening at Downtown Disney. It's free admission, has great food options, the Lego Store is terrific and it's just a leisurely change of pace. And by all means, hop on the Monorail one evening and visit the hotels that are on the line ... the decorations are just phenomenal, and again, a quiet, leisurely, wonderful way to enjoy the season and that special-ness that Disney offers.

Ali,
We went to Disneyworld for the first time with our 3 y/o dd and our 5 y/o asd son. I highly suggest making reservations now for meals at sit down restaurants. They made gorgeous meals for my gfcf son--it was awesome! Also, bring something from your doctor that says Simon is diagnosed. You just present it at Guest Services and they will give you a Guest Assistance Card that helps a great deal. We only had to use our card once, but it was so helpful then. Overall, our experience was fantastic, we stayed on the diet, and had no meltdowns! Can't beat that!
Lisa

Hi Ali,
you can get a letter from simon's physcologist saying that he has autism and can't stand in lines. that will help get your special pass.
cheers
jill

How exciting!!! I went to Disneyworld for my first & only time when I was about 6. If you guys hit Epcot, you have to be on the lookout for Figment. Wow, I didn't realize how much of this stuff was still in my head 25 years later. :) Ohhh, you all will have so much fun!

Ali: We took our girls to Disneyland for the first time last spring and had a wonderful time. I would recommend the Unofficial Guide to Disneyworld book. The Disneyland edition was very helpful. The three of you will have a wonderful experience.
Debbie in Spokane

We took our son when he was 6! It was so much fun, he loved it. It was so fun to see him experience the magic of disney. The kid was fearless when we bribed him with cotton candy! :)

We have learned a trick for going to Disney...we get there as early as we can get everyone going in the morning, then stay until around 1:00-2:00 in the afternoon. We go back to the hotel for a little siesta, then go back around 6:00PM for the evening festivities. Get to the fireworks area EARLY and stake a good sitting spot. IT IS WORTH IT. Mostly just have fun = ). oh yeah - Don't forget to get the EARS.

FUN! Enjoy yourself!
Just one bit of advice - my Jack has special eating problems and everyone I talked to said that you can't bring food into the park. I packed his apple sauce and yogurt anyway - I figured I'd try to explain his eating issues and hope they would let it slide by. Turns out you CAN take food in - I saw people all over the park with coolers and everything. So if Simon is picky about his food like my Jack, you can take whatever he likes to eat in a little insulated bag and heat it up in one of the restaurants. Just a thought! :)

Just a quick note--my husband and I LOVE DisneyWorld, after all we were married there. Word of advice--if you are staying at one of the Disney hotels...you don't need a rental car. Just get a shuttle from the airport to your hotel. Use the free shuttles---they go everywhere, run all the time, and are VERY easy to use to get to everything Disney has to offer.

We are off to DisneyWorld in December as well! It is my most favorite place to go in the world and I've been lucky enough to visit many times since I was a child. This is our first family vacation with just the three of us and we are all super excited. I highly recommend picking up a copy of The Unofficial Guide to DisneyWorld. It is worth every penny! There are some great tips and sample schedules to help maximize the fun for families with kids of all ages. Definitely check out Fantasmic at MGM - it is a great show! Also, there is a new Finding Nemo show opening up at ther Animal Kingdom this month, and the Electrical parade in the Magic Kingdom is truly magical. A couple of years ago we went for Thanksgiving and got tickets to "Mickeys Very Merry Christmas Party" at the Magic Kingdom. I think the tix were $35 and included admission to the park from 5-midnight, as much hot chocolate and cookies as you could handle, an incredible parade (with Santa) and fireworks show, and real snow on Main Street! It was a lot of fun - live performers on the main stage by the castle, too, and Christmas carols playing all over. Actually, that's the best thing about going this time of year - all of the parks are decked out for the holidays. If you do go to the party. take a nice long nap in the afternoon first so you can enjoy it to the fullest. You're going at the best time of year - the smallest crowds are between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve and it makes a BIG difference! Oh, one more tip - we've done several character meals and Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary Resort is our favorite. Make reservations now if you haven't already.
Have a blast! Maybe we'll see you there :-)

Ok, there are already 51 comments so I don't know if you'll get here but here goes...we took my 4 1/2 yr. old twins to Disney World in October - stayed at AKL which rocked. One of my twins has some sensory issues (possible Aspberger's). He had a really hard time by the 4th day and was afraid of almost all rides. However, we split up some (which you won't have to do) and he was in such awe of everything (it was wonderful). We would just take breaks often. There are a million things to see and do - we took food to save $ and Jaron is really picky (no one said a word) and we rented a stroller for the whole time. You will want to ride in it by the end. If you are staying at one of the hotels - just a bit of advice - we did this 2 yrs ago and took the shuttles at the hotels. It was a lot of waiting time - you can valet at the hotel for $7 a day and you can park at all the other hotels. Driving to the parks was WAY better because we were on our schedule, not theirs. The whole thing was a WONDERFUL experience - just try not to have any expectations - but you know this, you are a go with the flow kinda girl. Congratulations to Chris and have a great time!

So cool! I used to go to DisneyWorld every year for cheerleading. My suggestion to you is to go to the Rainforest Cafe'. There is SO MUCH for little Simon to explore in that one restaurant. Please go...I promice you it will be one of your families highlights!

He's 4? Yeah, umm, don't go. Just kidding. Take lots of pictures on 2 different cameras. I lost ALL of my Disney pictures. What a set to lose, huh? As long as he's tall enough for all the rides, you'll have a blast.

Excited for you.
And for Simon.
I get giddy and excited every time I read or hear about someone experiencing the magic of Disney for the first time.
We are from Florida so we go often. If you love scavenger hunts, look for the book Hidden Mickeys. It's a fun way to pass sometime in the lines and a great excuse to check out other hotels.
See you in Tampa....I was just doing my homework for class today. Today You, Day #5.

Fast Pass every ride you can! Also, take a look for Birnbaum's Guide to Walt Disney World with Kids...it has great ideas to make the trip easier & more enjoyable!

You've recieved TONS of wonderful advice already!! The only thing I can add is that when we went (3 yrs ago) we had an 8yo, 5yo, and 16month old, and we talked a lot about what we called "Mickey Magic". They knew all about Disney movies...and we wanted to assure them that EVERYTHING at WDW is meant to be magical and fun....even the things that make us jump a give us a little fright! It's all fun, because Mickey would not want anyone to be afraid....maybe jump and screech "ooohhh", but than to laugh, laugh, laugh. So all the rides and charactures are there to have fun with us! It's just all part of the magic.
We're headed out for our next trip in January...this time with an 11yo, 8yo, and 4yo....so it'll be a different experience this time around.
Enjoy your trip!

Depending on which week you are going, December is a VERY VERY hectic time. We were there for Christmas and the park was so busy, the various parks -- animal kingdom, epcot, etc. CLOSED early due to overcrowding. So, if you were "park hopping", you were in effect "locked out".
I think if you took that into consideration, then you will have a good time!

A couple more Disney suggestions: my son was almost 4 when we took him. He wore a pirate costume and got a little special attention from the characters (esp. Capt.Hook and Peter Pan). We let him see the characters the first time at Epcot; there were not many people around so we got great shots of him getting Mickey's, Minnie's, etc. autograph and "playing" with them. Early one AM we headed to the back of Magic Kingdom and went into a little gift shop near the Peter Pan ride. Seth's "magic moment" was that he got to tap on Tinkerbell's box with a plastic sword from the store and "wake up" Tinkerbell (her little light flits around the store). He even got a little certificate. Have fun!

Ali - your bag looks like it is pretty cool! I hope you have a blast at Disney... it is a lot of fun. Someday I hope to take my kids there, too!