Hi Gina,
Welcome to planDisney!
Well, since your arrival date is in 2026, I am relieved to see that you have plenty of time to plan! The good news is that, with planning, you can create a magical experience for your daughter. First things first, review the
Services for Guests with Disabilities, particularly the
services for neurodivergent guests.
Second, since one of our girls struggles with crowds as well, we learned early on that deluxe or deluxe villa resorts worked well because we have not encountered large groups with school-aged children at those resorts. Several of the deluxe resorts we prefer are also within walking distance to one or more theme parks and a few have access to Walt Disney World® Monorail Transportation. Our daughter who struggles with crowds does better with the monorail than with Walt Disney World® Bus Service.
Our favorite
Disney Resorts Collection hotels are Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, Disney's Polynesian Village Resort, Disney's Contemporary Resort (Garden Wing rooms are lovely), Disney's Beach Club, and Disney's Yacht Club resorts. Deluxe and deluxe villa resorts also have more dining options including table-service dining. With table-service dining we always book
advanced dining reservations which will allow you to plan your dining times. We usually make quite a few advanced dining reservations because the structure and breaks help our daughter. And, as much as we love character meals, we only do one or two because they can be a little loud. For character meals, we love Cinderella's Royal Table, 1900 Park Fare, and Topolino's Terrace - Flavors of the Riviera. Before I had experienced some of the character dining, I used to check YouTube for videos before making a decision about character meals so that we could get a better sense of crowd and noise levels.
Of course, there are a few other ways our daughter manages during our park visits. She brings a set of headphones in case the noise gets to be too much. We take advantage of
Early Theme Park Entry for Disney Resort Hotel Guests and
Extended Evening Theme Park Hours for guests at Disney's deluxe, deluxe villa, and other select hotels. The crowds have typically been more manageable for us at these times. We also usually head to the park in the morning, do a few attractions, eat lunch, and then head back to the resort hotel in the afternoon for a break. We return to a theme park in the evening or continue to relax at the resort hotel. My daughter loves the fireworks, but we have our favorite viewing spot that we get an hour before the show, and we stay there so she really does not see the massive crowds gathering behind us. If you do not think your daughter can handle the fireworks inside the parks, consider dining reservations with a view. We love dining at
'Ohana and
California Grill for dinner during the
Happily Ever After fireworks.
Gina, I hope this helps you get started. We cannot wait to welcome your family to the Walt Disney World® Resort!
Magic and memories,
Donyell