Originally Posted by CDTraveler

It's Lego, as in the little plastic toy blocks. There are two Legoland amusement parks in the U.S. One is just outside Tampa, FL, and the other is in Carlsbad, CA. They have no connection with Disney at all.

Legoland parks are much more low key than standard amusement parks. They really are meant for the <9 crowd. They offer a brochure called "What to Do When You're 2" which lists all the calm and gentle options for the littlest ones. Both parks have some water play areas, as in splashing around in a fountain, no swimming required. Often the favorite attraction for very young kids is MiniLand, where there are Lego replicas of famous places.

From what I've seen at Legoland parks, there are more than a few kids there on the spectrum and nobody has an issue if they get stressed and act out.

Disney Parks: 4 in Orlando, FL, 2 in Anaheim (near Los Angeles), CA. Loud, expensive, crowded and these days almost all attractions are tied to movies. In Florida Disney had separate water parks, but I know at least one of them has closed. Every park is a separate admission fee, although you can get combined tickets.

Orlando also has Universal Studios (no way would I take a toddler there), Sea World (which we all love and is very family friendly) and independent water parks, miniature golf and Gatorland (another favorite of ours).

Before you decide on a Disney park, Goggle search on "Disney" and "autism" - a few years ago Disney completely changed their way of dealing with special needs customers and they've been sued several times by autism related groups claiming the new system is not ADA compliant.

If you will be traveling after November, I suggest you get on the email list for any park you are interested in. Last year I got a "2 for 1" on Legoland annual passes and a big discount on Sea World tickets from promos in their Black Friday emails.