Most kids dream of visiting Disney World. As a parent, there are a lot of things to consider when planning a trip to Disney World. When you're the parent of a blind or visually impaired child, there are even more things to consider. How will my child get around the park? Is there any assistance available to us? Will my child enjoy Disney World, if they can't see?
Our son Brady has been legally blind since he was born. He has been to Disney World twice. The first time he went to Disney World he was three years old and had more useable vision, although it was still poor. Shortly after that visit, his corneas failed and he lost more of his vision.
His second, and most recent visit, was when he was seven years old. At the time of that visit, he had no vision in his left eye and some light and color perception in his right eye. He is a cane user and a Braille reader.
It was during the second visit that we needed to take more advantage of services offered to visually impaired guests.
What services does Disney World offer for visually impaired guests?
Disney's full list of services for visually impaired guests can be found here. They include audio descriptions of certain attractions, Braille guidebooks, portable and stationary tactile maps, and Braille menus. Service animals, such as guide dogs, are permitted on Disney World property. Disney's website provides information about what rides service animals will--and will not--be allowed on. For more information, see here.
Brady is too young for a guide dog, so we did not need to worry about the rules regarding service animals, so we cannot speak to what it is like having a guide dog in the parks. Also, because he's still so young, we did not use any of the portable maps or Braille menus--we used print maps and menus and read them to him.
So what services did we use?
Audio description
At Magic Kingdom, audio description devices are available at Guest Relations, which is near the entrance to the park. When we first got to the park, we waited in line at Guest Relations (approx. 20 minutes) before meeting with an agent.
The audio description device is a small, handheld device that comes with a lanyard, so it can be worn around your neck. There is a $25 fully refundable deposit required to rent the device.
Disney's website provides a list of attractions at each park that offer audio description. See here.
We were provided a handout in print that described how to use the device. (Note: I did not ask if the instructions were also available in Braille, as Brady would not have read them.) I noticed that the instructions listed some places where the device could be used, and that that list did not include some attractions listed on-line. I asked the agent about the discrepancy, and he did not seem to know which attractions the device could be used at or why the printed instructions and website did not list the same attractions.
When we went on a ride that we thought had the service, we could not get the device to work in the queue. We asked one of the nearby employees, who did not know how to operate the device. He offered to go get a supervisor, but then came back alone and said we would have to go to guest services to get more help operating the device.
Shortly afterwards, we decided to simply return the device because it was getting fairly onerous for our seven year old to carry it around (it was getting tangled in his other stuff), and we weren't sure how to use it and couldn't get guidance from staff.
(Note: We were later told that the device was supposed to start automatically at the beginning of each ride/attraction that offers the service. We did not try it at enough attractions to find out if it was operating properly.)
While there was likely a lot of user-error on our part (we're still very new to using audio description) and we gave up very quickly, I was a little disappointed that multiple park employees didn't seem able to give us much or any guidance on where the device worked or how to operate it. Even the print instructions were not particularly clear or helpful.
(Note: We went to Epcot a few days after Magic Kingdom. Given our experience at Magic Kingdom, we decided to not even attempt getting the audio description device at Epcot. At both parks, we decided instead to just describe to Brady what we were seeing.)
We will probably try again the next time we go back to the parks, but this is also an area where Disney can clearly do better.
Stationary Braille maps
We did not need to use a Braille or tactile map because we were helping Brady navigate the park. (As we would do for a sighted 7-year-old.)
However, we passed one of the stationary Braille maps at Epcot and stopped to have Brady feel it.
Stationary tactile and Braille map near the back entrance of Epcot.
At seven years old, Brady has realized that being blind is not common and he tremendously enjoys finding representation of blindness. In books and movies, he wants to know if there are any blind characters. He loves hearing about and meeting other blind people. He loves when restaurants offer Braille menus and sometimes asks for one, just so he can feel them.
So when Lauren spotted the Baille map in Epcot, we had to stop and let Brady feel it. He REALLY enjoyed feeling the tactile map and tracing where we had already been. I was really happy that Disney offered this, and it made our son so, so happy!
Disability Access Service ("DAS")
For guests who have difficulty waiting in traditional lines, Disney offers the Disability Access Services ("DAS").
DAS is available for guests who can demonstrate that they will have difficulty waiting in a tradition queue, including due to non-apparant disabilities. Guests can apply for DAS via a live video chat before arriving at the parks or at Guest Relations after arriving at the park.
Because we were going to Guest Relations anyway to get the audio description device, we inquired about DAS at Guest Relations in Magic Kingdom.
Note: Prior to this visit, I had seen some ongoing debate online among parents of blind children and blind people as to whether a visual impairment could or should qualify someone for DAS, with some people taking the position that a visual impairment does not prevent someone from waiting in a traditional line.
When we asked about DAS, the Cast Member asked why Brady could not wait in line. I explained that Brady is a cane user, and waiting in lines when it is crowded and there are other obstacles (e.g. the queue is on stairs, or on uneven terrain, or is very windy) can be very difficult for him to navigate.
The Cast Member then signed Brady up for DAS.
How does DAS work?
Once a guest is signed up for DAS, they can sign up in the Disney World app to wait in a virtual queue for a ride of their choosing. DAS does not allow guests to skip the line. Instead, it will give the guest a return time to come to the ride after the current wait time has elapsed.
For example, let's say that you have DAS and want to ride Space Mountain. At 1pm, you log into your app to make a reservation and see that there is currently a 60 minute wait to ride Space Mountain, if you were to wait in the traditional queue. When you reserve a space in line using DAS, you will get a return time for 2pm--60 minutes from the time of the reservation. You are then free to do other activities while you wait for your return time. After 2pm, you can make your way to Space Mountain and use the Lightening Lane to access the ride much more quickly.
Guests can only wait in one virtual line at a time. Once you have finished one ride, then you can immediately make a reservation for your next ride.
All members of the guest's party may choose to utilize the virtual line as well, but the guest utilizing DAS must board the ride.
For a detailed FAQ of how DAS works, see here.
We agreed that DAS was the most valuable service that we used at Disney. Acting as sighted guide for Brady in a long and crowded line can be difficult and tiring. The ability to minimize that experience was huge. Also, due to both muscle weakness and his visual impairment, Brady walks more slowly than his same-aged peers and need more breaks. As a result, it takes us much longer to simply get from attraction to attraction. With DAS, the extra time it took for us to get to each ride didn't matter, since we were waiting in virtual line while we were working our way over to the ride.
In short, DAS made a HUGE difference to our family while visiting the park! It may not be necessary or appropriate for every visually impaired guest to use DAS, but for younger guests with severe visual impairments, it is definitely very useful!
Character Experiences
In Epcot, we got extremely lucky and just happened to be taking a break near a gate. After a minute, the gate opened and guests were allowed to come in and visit with Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore, Goofy, Pluto, and Stitch.
Brady wanted to see Winnie the Pooh first.
I cannot explain how AMAZING Pooh was with Brady!! Pooh took Brady's hands into his, and gently had Brady feel his fur, then his shirt. Pooh then knelt on the ground and guided Brady's hands to his ears, his nose, etc.
Photo description: Brian, Lauren, Brady, and Darcy pose with Winnie the Pooh. Brady is holding Pooh's hand and leaning his head on Pooh's hand. With his other hand, Brady is holding his white cane.
Pooh spent a lot of time with Brady, who absolutely LOVED it! Other guests stopped to watch. Seeing how good Pooh was with Brady brought tears to my eyes. I thanked Pooh, who hugged me really tight and wouldn't let go for a minute. The characters don't talk, so she/he didn't say anything, but oh man, was there a lot of meaning in that hug!!!
It was a tremendously magical moment and one that I won't forget for a long, long time.
Brady also got pictures with Goofy and Pluto, who were also amazing. When we first got to Pluto, the Cast Member told us that Pluto had to leave to go somewhere else. We were fine with that and started to walk away, but Pluto shook his head no and insisted on staying and seeing Brady first.
All of the characters took their time making sure that Brady felt their costumes and their faces. Goofy would gently have Brady touch his ears, and then touch Brady's ears to let him know that he was touching Goofy's ears. It made Brady giggle.
All in all, as Mom, the character experiences were probably my favorite part of our two days in the parks. Seeing people be so kind and attentive to my son and knowing exactly what he needed meant so much to me. We have been so fortunate to have had countless good experiences. From airports to amusement parks to campgrounds all over the country, we have watched good-hearted strangers go out of their way to be extra kind to Brady. When I first learned that my son was blind, one of my biggest fears as a mother was that he wouldn't be accepted and that he would be bullied. To this day, each and every act of extra kindness that I see strangers give to my son still make me cry.
So, thank you to Pooh, Goofy, and Pluto for giving Brady an awesome experience and for making this Mom's heart a little extra full!
Final Thoughts
While Brady is too young to need some of the services that Disney offers to visually impaired guests, we appreciated the services we did use (except the audio description, for the reasons discussed above).
Visiting Disney World with a blind child requires extra work as a parent, but it is still a magical experience. Brady loved Disney World and cannot wait to go back again!
Do you have any questions about taking a blind child to Disney World not answered here? Feel free to contact us!
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