As any parent of autistic children can tell you. A perfect day is non existent. An event or outing that is trouble free would be a major miracle.
But still when we were offered tickets for the family to Day Out With Thomas, it was an event we just could not pass up.
There were the guaranteed little bumps. Our son is not the quickest to do things sometimes, and so we had to do a couple of double takes on pictures to get what we were after, the staff actually were quite accommodating with us, giving us a chance after every one was done, so that he could get the best chance of getting the shot, without having to rush to make room for the next family (because, everyone wanted their picture taken with Thomas) We got the shot only because of their willingness to work with us.
The amount of things there were to do was fairly good, and the kids took the chance to try all of them they could. From watching the performer to meeting Sir Topham Hat, from the bouncy castles to the big bubbles, the kids tried as much as they could handle.
We went to the event fully prepared for an 8 hour day (knowing full well that he would never make it) and he actually managed to exceed his normal ability to last at an event by making it a full 4 hours before he decided enough was enough and had a bit of a mini meltdown.
We did actually take a drive up to the end of the run and watched the train out on the rails as well which the kids enjoyed.
All in all this event went over the best of anything we have tried.
The kids loved it and enjoyed themselves to the limit.
It was something that given the chance, I think we would all try again another year.
Victoria Gillen says
Our guy also loved Thomas (and he loves ANYTHING train related). BUT it was nerve-wracking for us: there were many toddlers, accompanied by doting (and fragile) grandparents. Ensuring that no one was stepped on, or “walked through” by our nine-year old, socially oblivious son was well nigh impossible. We haven’t gone back. On the other hand, over time we’ve accreted a file of train-related activities and locales for adults; many are particularly aware of ASD and are wonderfully accommodating.