How can a GAC help us?

[wire0monkey]

I have a 9 year old who was diagnosed this summer with high functioning autism. We've been to WDW with him several times before and managed the line issue by going in the off season and using fast pass at every chance we could.

What would getting a GAC for him do? Does it shorten lines or give us alternate entrances?

We've only had a problem at WDW twice without GAC. Once he wandered off at Blizzard Beach and was "lost" for about 45 minutes. The other time he had a full scale ASD meltdown at Jedi Training Academy.

So... is a GAC worth the trouble?

[Strmchsr]

GAC does different things depending on the need of the guest. They don't have a "one size fits all." You could certainly talk to Guest Relations and see what they recommend, but from what you described it doesn't sound like GAC would provide much benefit for you. It sounds like you have handled things very well already.

[BrerGnat]

I'm not sure how getting a GAC is "trouble". We consider it insurance of sorts. It takes all of two minutes to get one. Just explain what your child has trouble with and they will help you out. For us, last week, it was an absolute necessity. Our son becomes very panicky and anxious when he's surrounded by a lot of people. Our GAC let us use an alternate entrance, so we could wait away from the larger line of people.

Get one. If you need it, use it. If not, don't. You only need to get it once each trip. It will have "valid" dates on it to correspond to your trip dates.