We are so excited to bring you the first part of our video series featuring some not as well known Sensory Break Areas at Disneyland! We teamed up with Mr Cheezypop, an amazing Disney Vlogger, to bring you a video of the lesser known areas around Disneyland to take a Sensory Break.
Most of you who have Sensory Processing Difficulties, or travel with someone that does, know about going to First Aid for some quiet (if you don’t mind the lighting) or going over to Tom Sawyer Island for a much needed break. Whether you are autistic, have Down Syndrome, ADHD or any other Sensory Processing Difficulties, Disneyland can be difficult on busy days. Our video is about where to go NOW when you need an immediate break no matter where in the park you are! The video was created on president’s Weekend, when the Park was as crowded as Ive ever seen it.
Take a look and follow us and Mr Cheezypop along some hidden gems in Disneyland Park, and stay tuned for our Disney California Adventure Video!
The map referenced in the video highlights the old smoking areas, which are no longer smoking areas (hurrah!) and many of which offer shade plus less crowding and more quiet.
Have you used any of these areas? Have more to share? Leave comments down below!
Disneyland is beautiful during the Holidays, but the increase in crowds, lights and noise can often make it less successful for families that include individuals with sensory processing difficulties. Here is a review of Disneyland during Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Christmas holidays.
Times to go: Halloween time during the week is much slower than on weekends, and way better than after Thanksgiving. We went during Thanksgiving, and due to torrential downpours on Thanksgiving day, the Wednesday and Thursday around Thanksgiving were EMPTY. However, due to the rain, many of the outdoor rides were closed as well. Fret not, rain allows you to ride some rides multiple times (hello, Guardians of the Galaxy; note – four times in a row is a bit much.) Times to avoid: We have found that the week between Christmas and New Years is very, very difficult.
Holiday Decorations:
Some people LOVE all the lights and holiday decor, while others avoid it. While it is difficult to avoid all the holiday lights walking down Main Street in Disneyland, Disney California Adventure (DCA) Park tends to have less Christmas decor overland, except for Cars Land – more on that in a different post about DCA during the holidays. . At Disneyland, both Galaxy’s Edge and Tomorrow Land feature no holiday changes.
Holiday Ride Overlays:
Haunted Mansion:
Several attractions change during the holidays, the most notable one being The Haunted Mansion. Themed after “A Nightmare before Christmas,” the entire Mansion inside and out is themed after this award-wining animated Halloween meets Christmas film where the main character, Jack Skellington, tries to take over Christmas by being “Sandy Claws” in a misguided effort to bring joy. Changes to note are that this brings on heavier crowds than usual for this attraction (we saw waits up to 120m minutes over Thanksgiving) and that while noise level and lighting levels are similar, the overall theme is a bit scarier than the cute and funny usual Haunted Mansion theming. If you like the movie, you will love this overlay, but those who don’t know the movie may be confused by the mix of Halloween and Christmas Decor. This attraction begins it’s theming at Halloween and goes through Christmas.
Sensory Team Ratings for Haunted Mansion Holiday:
Sound: 4/5 (wear headphones)
Light: 2/5 (not overly bright, dark in places)
Tactile: 0/5 (you sit in a slow moving triple seat vehicle that moves continuously)
Smell: 2/5 (there is a wonderfully delicious but quite strong smell of Gingerbread part way through the ride)
Proprioceptive: 1/5 (the vehicle tilts slightly backward at one point, and at the beginning the room appears to stretch making some uneasy)
Temperature: Indoors
It’s a Small World Holiday:
It’s a Small World gets a huge holiday overlay inside and out. The outside is one of the hallmarks of Disneyland during the holidays: Not only is there an incredibly detailed display of Christmas Lights, but an animated light-show appears on the face of Small World throughout the evening. On the inside, the entire attraction is themed for the holidays with a Peace on Earth message and A LOT of lights. new this year is the addition of more scents, from “Cherry Blossom” scent in Asia, to the Cinnamon scent in South America and Coconut in the South Seas area (along with lots of bubbles!). Europe still features Pine and Peppermint scents.
Sensory Team Ratings for Its a Small World Holiday:
Sound: 4/5 (Fairly loud holiday music, headphones recommended)
Light: 4/5 (There is a lot of lighting: most of it is non-flashing Christmas lights, but there is a lot going on which may be overstimulating for some)
Tactile: 0/5 (there is nothing to touch)
Smell: 4/5 (multiple smells, including: pine, peppermint, tropical, cinnamon and cherry blossom)
Proprioceptive: 2/5 (The ride is experience in a small, flat bottomed boat)
Temperature: Indoors
Christmas Parade:
Parades are often Sensory Overload, and this one, while beautiful and festive, is no different. If you have Sound sensitivities (our team rated this as 5/5) or crowd difficulties (also 5/5) , we recommend you avoid, watch from afar or access the parade with headphones in the Disability section.
Believe In Holiday Magic Fireworks
Like all Disney Fireworks shows, this is truly beautiful and spectacular. There are the usual fireworks explosion sounds, so we advise headphones if there are sound sensitivities. The Holiday Magic Show is 13 minutes long and ends with “snow” falling all the way down main street. The show is edited when high winds are in effect. More relaxed places to watch fireworks from are Galaxy’s Edge and Small World.
What are your favorite, sensory accessible holiday events/attractions at Disneyland?
This is a second in our Galaxy’s Edge Series, after our recent trip to review Galaxy’s Edge in Disneyland Anaheim. This new land is a wonderfully immersive experience, and we are excited to share how autistic and sensory sensitive individuals can enjoy this new Land at Disney!
Our first post in this series focused on crowds and the most anxiety-free ways on how to get into Galaxy’s Edge. Today, we are going to talk about some areas to get away from it all if you or you kiddo do get overwhelmed.
There are not any “sensory break” areas in Disneyland, and this is true for Galaxy’s Edge as well. The land does feel quite open and hot, so one of our goals was to find some shady, quiet spots to relax in.
The tunnels at Fantasy Land and Frontier entrances
There are three entrances into Galaxy’s Edge, and the two closer to Fantasy Land both feature short tunnels; despite being thoroughfares these are wonderfully cool and quiet. I would love for Disney to put some benches in here! Great place to take a moment.
By Oga’s Cantina
This little archway right by Oga’s Cantina is right in the middle of a big thoroughfare as well, but it does offer some shade (no seating), we found that people just sat on the ground. Disney in general tends to not have a lot of outdoor seating other than restaurants, so people tend to sit on the ground when they need to rest. If you need a moment to get away from others in a bit of shade, this is place where no one is likely to bother you.
3. By the First Order
In general, this areas tends to be a little quieter. Most people are excited to crowd into Oga’s Cantina, see the Millenium Falcon and ride Smuggler’s Run, or try the Blue Milk, so the First Order area gets less crowds overall. If the First Order Cargo shop is not busy, the air conditions is fantastic and it is not noisy or overly bright inside the store. It might be a good place to distract a sensory kiddo and get away from the hustle and bustle outside. Otherwise, if you are looking for a place to take a quick break, the area to the left of the shop has a tiny alley way that has some shade and goes back a little ways, and may provide some privacy for those who need a moment to decompress.
4. Millennium Falcon – There is some seating to the right of the Millennium Falcon, by the photography area. These orange cargo boxes aren’t cushioned seating, but they do give you the chance to rest your feet a bit. While they are out in the sun, they might be good for a brief place to rest. This is more of a crowded area, but it may help to sit and have a cold drink.
5.Rise of the Resistance Area
This area is very quiet for now, before the Rise of the Resistance Ride opens up. It won’t stay that way, but until it does it makes a fantastic place to take a break.
This area also offers no shade, but there are rock seating areas along the path. There are no sensory break areas, but at least a spot to rest physically. For sensory break areas you are best off in the alleyway by the First Order, or in other places in Disneyland, such as the old smoking areas, described in this post.
photo via @stephishappening
6. The restaurants were all fairly crowded, and between the crowds and noises, they may not be an ideal place for a sensory break. This land does not feel like a place where one might have a full sit down meal, which means all of the restaurants are fairly busy throughout as people have snacks and quick counter meals.
7. The shops were all very busy and crowded, with a lot going on, except for the First Order Cargo. I would avoid these if you need a sensory break.
Overall, while our team found Galaxy’s Edge less overwhelming sensory wise than other parts of Disneyland, there also weren’t as many places to get a break. Here is a map which includes shady spots (blue circles) and sunny spots (red circles) to take a break:
Where did you take a sensory break?
We recently went to Disneyland to review Galaxy’s edge for all things Sensory! We love to review Disney experiences for those that are autistic or have Sensory difficulties, as there are many sensory experience that can create barriers. Knowledge is power! It was a wonderful experience overall, and we highly recommend visiting this new Disneyland experience.
Our Review Team included: An Autistic Teen, A Neurodiverse Teen and a SPD Psychologist
Disney did an impeccable job with crowd management for the opening of its first new land in a long time. From a “soft opening” that required reservations and four hour limits, to an excellent wristband system and then a Boarding Pass System once the land fully opened, the crowds have been super manageable. We visited Galaxy’s Edge on the last day reservations were required, and on the first fully open day, and to be honest, crowds were lighter on the day without reservations! We never felt like it was too crazy, and even our autistic team member who does not like crowds, found the crowds to not be an issue.
It was quite crowded at Oga’s Cantina, for which we needed a reservation. It was very noisy (as expected for a cantina atmosphere), but we will review that in another post. Besides waiting in line for Oga’s (even with a reservation!) crowds were not a problem for our team members.
Here are the current ways to get into Galaxy’s Edge:
A) If Galaxy’s Edge is “Open” you can just go in like any other land. You can see the status of GE on the Disneyland app or on any of the new digital Kiosks around Disneyland
B) If a Boarding Pass is required, you can sign up for a Boarding Pass on the Disneyland App on your smartphone; make sure you enable notifications so you will be notified when it is your time to Board! Otherwise, you can also keep checking the app, but we like to save that battery! Once your time has started, you have two hours to enter the land. There are no restrictions on how long you can stay. If you prefer not to use the app or don’t have a smart phone, you can access the boarding passes at FastPass locations in Space Mountain. Digital Kiosks will tell you what Boarding group is currently Boarding:There has not been a need for the boarding pass system since we were there June 24th.
C) If the land is using this virtual que and you can not get a boarding pass, another work-around is to get a reservation at Oga’s Cantina or Savi’s Workshop (lightsabers). Once you have a reservation at one of these two locations, you will be admitted into the land one hour before your reservation time. Be aware you do have to put a credit card down for your reservation just like all other Disney reservations.
So many ways to travel – Fabulous Road Trips, magical train rides and of course, Air Travel. For me, just going to the Airport is a huge mix of excitement and Anxiety. Excitement that I get to leave behind the drudgery of laundry and washing the dishes, and anxiety about getting to where we want to go, if I have forgotten anything, and how I’ll make my kids comfortable during the trip. All US airports have mobility accessibility by law, and many are working on services for those with vision or hearing difficulties. More rare yet is accessibilty for those with multiple sensory difficulties, Autism or Cognitive/Developmental difficulties. Some Airports are beginning to recognize the need for quiet spaces (Go Seattle!), while others barely mention anything (Looking at you, New York!). Europe is so far ahead of Sensory Accessibility in comparison to the United States, with full Sensory rooms at some airports and at minimal, full accessibility guides on their websites. In our Airport Accessibility Series, we will feature different airports and discuss their Sensory/Developmental accommodations, as well as link to all accessibility options at each airport. If you’re traveling soon and want us to feature an airport, or know of some cool accessible services, let us know in the comments below! For now, head to our
Airport Accessibility Guide for links and descriptions!