World Day of Theatre for Children and Young People 2025 is on Thursday, March 20, 2025: Parents who have been to Disney World with young children- HELP?

Thursday, March 20, 2025 is World Day of Theatre for Children and Young People 2025. Children's Theater Class‎ Dance, Song, and Acting Lessons For Your Child. View Classes Now!

Oh my God, there's this book I have that you MUST get! It'll be perfect for you and your family. It's called PassPorter's Open Mouse for Walt Disney World and the Disney Cruise Line: Easy-Access Vacations for Travelers with Extra Challenges (by Deb Wills and Debra Martin Koma). You can find it on Amazon or at Border's, Barnes & Nobles, etc. It's "the ultimate sourcebook for Disney World visitors with unique problems and needs." It has sections for ADHD, addiction recovery, allergies & asthma, autism, chronic fatigue, cognitive disabilities, dieting, fears, foreign language, hearing, heart health, infants, medical treatment, mobility, motion sensitivity, physical therapy, pregnancy, seniors, size, and vision. It really would be the perfect book for you, I think.

Here's part of the autism section...

"Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)

PLANNING AHEAD

Remember to plan, but be flexible. Have some structure to your days, but also retain the flexibility to change at the last minute if needed. Read and learn about Walt Disney World, and develop a plan before your trip.

Reader Tip: "Make sure to schedule an off day. I always build in a day where we stay in the room, go to the pool, and just relax."

As you begin to plan, watch Disney movies and the vacation planning DVDs. These slowly introduce your traveler with ASD to Disney characters, parks, and resorts. Remember, the characters are large and can be imposing in the parks. Introduce your ASD traveler from a distance. Prepare them with stories, talk about the parks, and show pictures.

UPON YOUR ARRIVAL

Keep your regular routine. If your traveler who has ASD is normally up at 7:00 am, then that's when you should get up (you may want to adjust this to reflect your home time zone). If they are used to eating at specific times, do your best to keep that schedule.

Use FASTPASS at the parks -- we can't stress this enough. It will significantly reduce the time you wait in line! One important note, however -- some with ASD will not understand why they got in line to get a FASTPASS and then left without riding (the FASTPASS gives you a specific time to come back, such as between 3:00 and 4:00 pm). Have one member of your group get all the FASTPASSES.

Be sure all members of your party know that once they are seated in a ride, they must stay seated until the ride is fully completed. They cannot stand or exit until the ride is over and fully stopped. In theater settings, sit at the end of a row in case you need to make a quick exit.

At character meet and greets, show the attending cast member your Guest Assistance Card, if you have one. Ask if you can wait your turn in the shade or away from the crowd.

Ask the Cast Member outside each attraction about noise levels, ceiling fans, flashing lights, or other potential problems. Also ask for seating recommendations. If you want to be near an exit, be the first to go down the row in the theaters.

Reader Tip: "Many autism spectrum children are sensory-seeking, not just defensive. I've traveled with two very different autism spectrum kids and, for both, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was their favorite. Your child's limitations should guide you."

Manipulations found in certain areas of Disney's Animal Kingdom and Epcot can provide wonderful tactile stimulation.

Having dinner in the parks or resort? If it won't disrupt your routine too much, eat early (around 4:00 pm) so you don't have long waits."

The women who wrote this book also have a vacation planning website, www.allears.net.

It has a special section also dedicated to families with children who Autistic Spectrum Disorders...

ASD General FAQ ---

ASD First-Hand Report ---

ASD Other Reader Experiences ---

ASD Tips ---

Here's a few links to some other sections that you may find helpful...

Mobility Disabilities ---

Wheelchair/ECV FAQ ---

Animal Kingdom in a Wheelchair ---

Epcot in a Wheelchair ---

Also, here's the link to the Walt Disney World website where you can order a free vacation planning DVD. It'll be great to watch with the kids so they can see what they'll be experiencing and prepare them for the trip...

I wouldn't let ANYTHING stop you from taking your kids to Walt Disney World. They'll absolutely LOVE it! The Cast Members (employees) are so amazing and helpful, they'll do everything in their power to make your stay as magical as possible, and they're always there to help.

Hope I could help! Have a magical time! ºoº

the social structure of the theatre in Shakespeare's time?

There were no actresses. Female characters had to be played by young boys. The acting profession was not a credible one and it was unthinkable that any woman would appear in a play. Their roles were acted by men and boys of low estate who made their living impersonating their social superiors in theatrical fictions. Men and women attended plays, but often the prosperous women would wear a mask to disguise their identity.

Profits were shared between members of the company as such and the owners of the theatre (called "housekeepers").

The theatres didn’t just show plays. Some also served as a bear pit, brothel and gambling house.

In December 1574 the Common Council of London, under the influences of puritanical factions, issued a statement describing:

" great disorder rampant in the city by the inordinate haunting of great multitudes of people, especially youth, to plays, interludes, namely occasion of frays and quarrels, evil practices of incontinency in great inns having chambers and secret places adjoning to their open stages and galleries, inveigling and alluring of maids, especially of orphans and good citizens' children under age, to privy and unmeet contracts, the publishing of unchaste, uncomely, and unshamefast speeches and doings . . . uttering of popular, busy, and seditious matters, and many other corruptions of youth and other enormities . . . [Thus] from henceforth no play, comedy, tragedy, interlude, not public show shall be openly played or showed within the liberties of the City . . . and that no innkeeper, tavernkeeper, nor other person whatsoever within the liberties of this City shall openly show or play . . . any interlude, comedy, tragedy, matter, or show which shall not be first perused and allowed . . . "

Theatrical developments since World War II, especially in noncommercial theater, have brought the stage more in contact with the audience. Theater-in-the-round became popular at American universities in the 1930s, and in the 1950s and 60s many "music tents" featuring theater-in-the-round sprang up in American cities. Experimental relationships between audience and acting space have also been constructed. Such groups as the Living Theater of Julian Beck and Judith Malina produced free-form events in which audience and actors mingled, thus removing completely traditional barriers between them.

The theatre in the U.S.A has been through many transitions. From the adventurous, pioneering actor-manager to the star-oriented theatre, the theatre has come a long way and in our own times a theatre performance is a community effort both in casting and performance.

?

Teenage pregnancy is most definitley rising. Whether or not it's because of television influence or just being raised badly is hard to tell. Or is it both? Yes, there is child role models such as Jamie Lyn Spears pregnant and popular movies such as Juno, but is it really the media's fault? I still believe that parents have the greatest impact on their children, no matter what. Raise your children to be how you want them, and they will be! Of course, if you put your guards down and aren't strict with them, they will let the outside world influence them more than anything.

More and more, extremely young people (I've heard of 11 year olds) having sex! This to me, is wrong on many parent's parts & many young girls are pressured by older boys. (An 11 year old shouldn't be dating!) & Parents need to be aware of this. Rules need to be set & dating shouldn't happen until children are mature enough to date. Whether this is 15 or 18! Some parents don't feel comfortable talking to their children about sex but it needs to be talked about! Younger than puberty! Many times, you hear of children asking parents where babies come from & parents refuse to respond! They need to, the moment they ask! AS soon as they are old enough to understand, the issue needs to be addressed and parents need to stop dreading the moment in which it is asked. It is the responsibility of parents to make sure they fully teach their children about this! Many parents feel their child is too young to know about this, but children are growing up SO fast now a days, that even 7 is NOT too young. Ignorance is really a major cause of teenage pregancy. Ignorance within the parents and therefore that ignorance gets passed down to their children.

I remember being young (as young as 7 and already knew about sex from TV, music, friends & other outside influences that my parents didn't even know about. Some parents feel that if their children don't know about sex, they will never have sex, but this is obviously not reality. No matter what they would like to believe, it isn't true & it might happen to their children.

No, an 8 year old should not carry a condom around BUT children should feel comfortable about asking their parents to get them birth control or buy them condoms. (OF course, at a reasonable age). AGAIN, ignorance within parents stop them from doing this because parents think that if they don't give their children condoms, they wont have sex but this is completely untrue. They will have sex with or without a condom! It's nature & their hormones raging and there is no way around it besides educating them about this issue & being there when they talk to you.

This is my honest opinion.

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