25% great + 65% good + 7% okay + 3% percent not good at all = 100% successful day

So we trekked off to Disneyland yesterday.  It was a kind of a surprise - a what-the-heck-let's-do-it-cuz-we-can trip.  It was a very long and stressful school year and we were all in need of something fun.  We are blessed to be able to go there as much as we do.

Knowing it was summer hours and crowds we thought, "this time maybe we'll see if we should use the autism-fastpass-thing."  We haven't used it but one time, and then it was only for one ride but we are a different family now than we were then - more complicated - and we didn't have an easy time getting it that first time.  They were sort of...not very Disney nice about it, telling us it was not a "cut the line card"  So we've been reluctant to try to do it again.  Not worth the hassle.  However; this time, once we got past the security baggage check and saw the many really long lines just to enter the park, and Elena started walking around on all fours like a crab while waiting in one of those lines, we decided we were definitely going to see about getting it.

We brought paperwork to prove we needed one, which they immediately told us we didn't need to bring.  They were essentially going to make the judgement based on a discussion we were about to have with a guest services person.  We got called forward for the discussion and it was just me and Nicholas as Jill had taken Elena to the bathroom.  

When I said, "well, uh...we have two, and they're autistic."  The guest services person looked around like, "Okay, and I only see...one...?" when Elena walked up with Jill.  And right when she asks, "And what are your concerns?" Elena starts licking and biting the counter.   Now if we can only get her to do that on cue with complete strangers we can rent her out to those ultra-wealthy "1%" families who take special needs people with them to Disneyland and Disneyworld so they don't have to wait in long lines. (read about it here) 

Actually, having that special "Guest Assistance" pass allowed us to have a very fun and memorable day, which meant we ate more meals and bought more Disney crap than ever before - thus making them more money - while getting us on more attractions than we've ever have been able to go on. 

Even with that pass, it was still hard on Elena on some of those lines - with that amount of people, and the noise and the claustrophobic environment, she was out of sorts at times. It's not a "cut the line" pass, especially the cues of popular attractions with FastPass, so there is waiting involved, only it's shorter.  Which means Elena only touches five strangers butts in line instead of forty.
 

25% great + 65% good + 7% okay + 3% percent not good at all = 100% successful day.

Remember when it used to be the opposite.