Beware the Ides of March! Thankfully our readers are kinder to us than Caesar’s friends, so we’ve got a friendly group of letters to share with you this week. Our first group of letters are shared by staff writer Jeff Kober in response to his parenting article “Raising a Lost Boy – And Girl – from Neverland.” (January 21, 2010)
Christy C. writes:
Thank you so much for writting such a warm and personal article about being in Disney with your two Autistic children. I felt it was spot on and really captured much of our experience. The wonder of why some things/rides/attractions work for my son and not others always takes a lot of investigating. He said to me as we left Laugh Floor, “Someone’s missing,” and eventually I figured out that Sully was not in the show but in the movie and he was “missing!”
I have a support group for parents of Autistic children and an Autism Awareness and Acceptance non-profit, and I will certainly forward your article to many people involved with both groups!
Andrew T. writes:
I wanted to get in touch with you because of your Neverland article about your WONDERFUL and AWESOME children that are on the spectrum. I have four children (I know, that still makes me an amateur to your six children) and my four year old son has autism. He has been to Disney World twice and it was literally a life changing experience for him. My wife and I still talk about the amazing amount of growth he experienced during the trip and for the few weeks after. I have been writing about it ever since. I just have not found the best outlet for it yet.
George (my brother and co-writer) has planned out some ideas around a downloadable free handbook for children with disabilities. His oldest son is bi-polar and they have had many interesting experiences as well. I would love to communicate with you further as your experiences could greatly add to the depth of a project that may help parents like us take their children to Disney in a way that make their trips life altering.
I had the opportunity to go to Disneyland last year with an adult who has autism. He is married and has two children, one by birth and one adopted. He is the president of a very successful software company and has done this under the continual daily weight of social and learning disabilities. I know you have spent time thinking about how your children will fit into a world designed to ‘accommodate’ disabilities as opposed to embracing them. All parents facing this challenge do. I just wanted to share that experience with you because it blew the limitations of Autism off of our family experience.
Sorry to ramble…you are just happening to be sitting in the sweet spot of my two very important things for me. I guess I don’t have to tell you what those two things are.
George T. writes:
I have always enjoyed your articles about Disney, business and customer service.
The article about your children and their experiences in the Park really struck home. My younger brother has a four-year-old with Autism (and three other neuro-normal kids). His experiences are similar to yours and we both agree that Disney responds much better to kindness, on your behalf, instead of demanding special treatments.
My oldest son (he is 11) has been diagnosed with Bi-Polar Disorder. After eight years of trying to figure out why his ADD was different, we are glad to have a diagnosis and a medication treatment that works. He doesn’t require special assistance, but his medications make him completely fall asleep by 9:00pm. We know that we will not get to see many fireworks on our visit, unless it is winter-time.
A lot of people are not aware of children with special needs, especially ones that might look and act “normal”. Anytime we can create a discussion and engage people, we are doing a great thing. Thank you for your honesty and your compassion. I wish more people shared those.
And on our last trip, I did ride the Gran Fiesta Tour *5* times with my 5 year old. Just because he loves it…and what is Disney for?
Next, staff writer and Mouse Tales author David Koenig shares some letters in response to a couple of recent articles, including “Animation Abomination” (Jan. 21, 2010) and “Roy Genius” (Dec. 18, 2009).
Monica writes:
I was so disappointed to read your article on the [animation building] lobby. I visited Disneyland over spring break and discovered the lobby for the first time. I found the Disney magic that had been missing from Disney’s California Adventure. My family and I sat in there and watched the whole show. When I returned to Disneyland in December the lobby was one of the ‘must sees’ on my list. the songs and the scences played bring back such happy memories. I’m just glad that I was able to see it once more if they really do plan to get rid of it. Although I don’t get to visit Disneyland often, I love reading your columns so I can feel a little of the magic at home.
Thanks for sharing. Hopefully Disney will wise up before it’s too late.
Catrina writes:
Please tell me where to send an email and I will surely do it. This is one of our favorite places in the entire park. We love to go in and lay on the floor and listen and watch the movies. My sister thought I was nuts when we did it, then she did and understood. It’s one of the places that I feel Walt’s magic. I will be extremely sad if it’s gone. Thank you for your article!
Cheryl A. writes:
I also totally love the magic of the animation exhibit at Disney’s California Adventure! My husband has to drag me out of there. I can just sit in that lobby and watch the stories coming on the walls around me. I feel that the “magic” elements are more special to me than the “ride” experience. Who should I contact to protest the lobby remodel?
I’d contact Disneyland Resort Guest Relations, although the person with creative control over Disney’s California Adventure is Bob Weis. Most of all, any noise we can make on discussion boards or other online communities can only help show that people actually care about the Animation Building Lobby. It’s one of the few things they got right!
Bradley B. writes:
I had been keeping up with Disney’s decline since I read your hypothesis back in 2001 regarding warning signs up to then. You were the very first to predict a recall of Roy’s 1984 campaign.
It can be noted that Roy’s “street smarts” was a secret ingredient that Walt himself might’ve had. Throughout his life, Walt always had the know-how to keep in touch with his audience. That was gone in the first 18 years after his death, and again in the last half of Michael Eisner’s tenure. Roy seemed to know more about the “Disney spirit”, even from a hands-off, behind-the-scenes approach than anyone in the time his uncle and dad departed.
It seems now would’ve been a more appropriate time for Roy to depart than say, several years ago during his second “Save Disney” campaign as I had feared. But now that there are no more Disneys actively involved with the company, who will step up should the company once again lose its path?
Hopefully, an answer can be found in Pixar’s star power.
A cast member writes:
The Castle is looking a little better since the holiday overlay was removed. Much of the bent and broken pieces are still there, but at least the majority of the flag poles on the towers are straight. Last week’s rains did some damage to the ADA room for the Sleeping Beauty Walkthrough. Water leaked in and damaged the large TV that projects images of the attraction.
Finally, staff writer Lani Teshima provides advice to a reader who is planning a trip for the Walt Disney World marathon.
CJ B. writes:
Does your book offer vacation booking advice, like the Birnbaum books do, only focused on people running and volunteering at the half and full marathon?
My daughter, her friends and I plan to run together in a Disney Marathon in 2012. At that time, there will be a total of twelve in my party, and at least 9 runners: one 46 year old half-marathon runner, three 18 year old girls (two who run half marathon distances, one who runs shorter distances), two 1 year old girls who may be running their first half marathon, two 65+ grandparents (spectators and chaperones for non-runners), 40+ Aunt and Uncle (one runs half-marathons now, the other will run her first), one 14 year old nephew.
What an exciting trip you are putting together!
Although MousePlanet itself does not provide travel booking services, I think you’ll get some really great information by visiting our MousePad discussion forums. There are a number of MousePad members who have participated in the Walt Disney World marathon events who can give you a lot of good tips, such as which Disney resort hotels would work out best for your situation. For example, would it be better for your entire party to splurge and stay at a Deluxe hotel such as the Polynesian so that you are close to the Ticket & Transportation Center, making your trip to the event starting area easier? Would it be better to stay in one of the Value resorts to stretch your dollar and perhaps fit fewer people in per room? Since there are so many of you, though, my general suggestion would be to look into staying on property. The logistics of shuffling people around in personal vehicles will probably be a big headache.
One thing you mentioned has piqued my curiosity. You mentioned in your email that there are two one-year-olds who may be running their first marathon? If you mean that they will be riding in strollers with moms pushing them, you need to know that baby joggers, strollers, baby carriers, baby backpacks are strictly prohibited from the course for safety reasons, and they will pull you off the course. The course is very crowded at the start, the surfaces change depending on the part of the course you are on, and some places, like the path through Animal Kingdom park and the back road behind the Grand Floridian, are very narrow, and a stroller or baby jogger could easily cause collisions and people getting knocked off their feet. If your family members were contemplating taking your little ones in a baby jogger, please find alternative arrangements, such as grandparents.
I hope I didn’t misunderstand the information, and you didn’t mean for the one-year-olds to actually complete a 26.2-mile course on their own. But if that was a thought, please be aware that Disney requires all participants of the full marathon must be at least 18 years old and at least 14 for the half-marathon. The Disney Family Fun Run 5K (held on Friday morning) has no age limit, and the Mickey’s Marathon Kids’ Fest (held on Friday and Saturday) is perfect for the young ones. There is both a diaper crawl for those 12 months and younger, and a 100-meter dash for those ages 1 to 3.
For volunteer information, keep an eye out at this Web page. This is the official volunteer information page for the 2011 WDW Marathon. As the year progresses, they should post information there and provide a form for people to fill out.
Finally, for actual booking assistance, you might wish to contact MouseEarVacations or Small World Vacations, both of whom are MousePlanet’s preferred Disney travel providers. You can always contact Disney directly as well.
By the way, registration is already open for all marathon events for January 2011. If you are certain you are going (since they provide neither refunds for cancellations, or registration transfer), you can go directly to their registration page and select which event(s) your family wants to sign up for.
Have a wonderful time!
