Legoland Quiet Rooms

[URMySunshine77]

The Legoland Florida location is offering quiet rooms that include headphones and minimal stimulation for children who might need sensory breaks.

www.romper.com/p/legoland-offers-children-with-autism-quiet-rooms-in-a-move-to-keep-things-inclusive-47618

Have any of you seen similar offerings at resorts or theme parks? I'm frankly terrified of taking DS to someplace like Six Flags or Disneyland.

[mrsbuttinski]

Wow! Call me a cynic. Just in time for Autism Awareness Month!

I think this is a brilliant move given that many on spectrum are LEGOS most ardent supporters. It seems their corporate hearts are in the right place, but I question what happens when several kids hit the "quiet room" in mid-meltdown all at once. I also question the use of weighted vests without an OT to prescribe the weight and time worn and what the protocol will be if a child wants to take it out of the quiet room. Plus shared headphones seem like an opportunity to spread lice.

YMMV, DS handled WDW well the couple of times we took him. We never did the GAP and it was fine.

[akafred]

Dollywood already has something like this but we're supposedly the first to offer it:

www.google.com/amp/wate.com/2016/06/30/dollywood-adds-calming-room-to-help-kids-with-sensory-overloads/amp/

The article mentions that Legoland is developing something similar.

Disney is as overstimulating as it gets but many families with ASD are able to go. They do have accessibility passes that help minimize line waits (they let you get a return time for as long as the ride wait is, so effectively you are standing in line but you're able to do it without actually standing in line). DD has SPD/ADHD (not ASD); we have gone twice with her and planned for lower crowd times, and she has done great both times. We figured we would get the disability pass if needed but the lines were short enough by arriving super early and making full use of the fast pass system that we didn't need it.

[freezorburn]

We just did Orlando in Feb. The disability access passes at Disney were pretty helpful, especially for the attractions with longer lines.

I couldn't find anything at Legoland that would have made our visit any easier -- just some old news articles about partnering with autism speaks to do something. So I guess these quiet spaces are the something? Oh well. DS mostly just liked the Miniland, and the areas where kids could build their own stuff. The rides were not interesting to him.

The other thing we did was Crayola Experience. It's in a mall and maybe not as touristy. It was just the right pace for DS, and there was plenty of interactive things to do.