Beaches Resort, The Best Autism-Friendly Vacations for Families

I want to do a little bit different video today. If you have a family member or child with autism and you want to go on vacation, I know it can be super, super stressful. So that's what this whole video is about. I'm going to cover what to do on vacation, how to take a successful vacation. Specifically, I'm going to talk about Beaches Resorts. They are the first autism-certified resort chain that's out there, and I absolutely love it. So I'm going to go through all the different steps to plan a Beaches Resort vacation and what the autism program offers. So if we haven't met before, I am Steve Griswold, Grizz for short. I am autism certified, but I'm constantly learning every day. My wife and I own a travel agency called Pixie Vacations., and we have Pixies that love beaches, resorts, uh, as well as being autism certified. So if you have any questions, go to the description in the video or the comments. Uh, I've got a bunch of links, a bunch of useful information there. Uh, so just reference that throughout the video. Take a lot of notes. Again, questions, just leave a comment or link in the description. We're happy to help you out. So I want to go over some key points about Beaches Resorts. So first off, all front of house members, I guess, or team members over at Beaches Resorts are all autism certified. So they've been through the program. They're constantly staying up to date with training as well. So how does this actually work? So I have 3 steps for you. So we're gonna go through everything you need to know before you plan your Beaches vacation. We're also going to go through the steps about what to do once you're on site at Beaches Resort. So step number 1, I have this in the description as well, is the pre-arrival form. So you're going to fill this form out and Beaches is going to go through this form with you. They don't just file it away. We're going to go through it with you at Pixie Vacations as well. So there's a phone call, We go through all the different items that you list in this pre-arrival form. Okay, so again, step 1, fill out the pre-arrival form. Step 2, phone call with us at Pixie Vacations as well as Beaches Resorts to go through the form. Step number 3, uh, we have a sensory guide. So there's a Beaches sensory guide that has the whole layout of the Beaches Resorts. Uh, we're recording this in 2025, so currently there's 2 Beaches Resorts. There's more on the way. So Turks and Caicos as well as Negril in Jamaica. Amazing. Both of them are absolutely amazing. I'll tell you, if you talk, if you email or send us a comment, I'll tell you my favorite one. But they're both good. Anyways, so step 3, again, sensory guide. It has the quiet places at all the resorts and all the information you need to know about that specific Beaches resort. So when you arrive at Beaches Resorts, there's an included transfer because it's all inclusive. So when you arrive, you go ahead, you get on your transportation, you go to the Beaches Resort, and then you check in at a check-in area. One of the resort staff members, uh, one of the managers from the kids programs is gonna be there to meet you and go through everything you need to know about the kids programs. So they're right there from the very beginning, from when you arrive at the resort. So if you've been researching Beaches Resorts, you might have heard about their signature program, which is absolutely amazing. So this is called Beaches Buddies. So this is a level of service that's above and beyond the existing service. So in just a minute, we'll talk about Beaches Buddies. Let's talk about the free included service as well at Beaches Resorts. The free service that's included with all Beaches Resorts, uh, is this kind of kids club area that they have. So right now in 2025, the hours are 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM. They do have breaks, so check when you get to your resort for the actual hours. One thing that's nice is there's a one-time sign up, so you're not having to register every single time you drop your kids off. At the club, uh, just the first time you sign up. And then again, it's inclusion-focused, so your kids are in activities with other kids that are there for the regular programs. Okay, so let's talk a little bit more about the Beaches Buddies. So this is the extra program. Right now it's by the hour. It's $20 an hour extra to have a one-on-one Beaches Buddy, uh, The buddy can be with your child during the activities if you want them to be there with them then. The buddy could be with you and your family when you go to dinner to help out with things or when you go to the beach or you go snorkeling. So you can use the buddy kind of anytime you want with your family or one-on-one just with the child. A couple other things with the buddy is What happens is people love Beaches Buddies, so they come back to beaches again. So you can request the same Beaches Buddy again. I have a list of popular Beaches Buddies. They're all amazing. But again, get with us, we can help you out. And then what happens is everybody falls in love with their Beaches Buddy and then they end up going back again. So book early and request your Beaches Buddy early. Uh, and so we can figure out when they're going to be there and we can get that all that set up for you. So let's go ahead and address the elephant in the room. This is the number one question I get all the time about when you're traveling with kids with autism for the first time. I know it can be scary, worrisome. Uh, the number one question I get is, are my kids going to have fun? So again, all the front of house staff is autism certified. The second thing is, is when any child comes to the program, they're going to introduce them to the rest of the kids in the room. So when your child arrives, they're going to introduce them and they're going to say, this is so-and-so. Hey, they might do things a little bit differently. Let's go have fun. So I don't think there's any difference than any other program. We've always had great reviews. Okay, question number 2 that I get often is How can I contact someone? How can I find someone if there's a problem or a concern? So the first is by phone. So they're gonna give you a phone or use your mobile phone when you arrive so they can contact you and you can contact them at any time. The second is a thing called Gina. So Gina is a WhatsApp, I guess it's like a chat. So you can type into Gina your questions and then they can respond. So if you're at dinner or something and you wanna check real quick, you can use Gina on WhatsApp. And the third is if you have a Beaches Buddy, so one-on-one service with the Beaches Buddy, and you can contact the Beaches Buddy. And the third question I get a lot is, when I arrive at the program, can I stay with my child for a while to kind of help them with the transition? And that's fine. That's perfectly fine. If you want to stay 5 or 10 15 minutes and help your kid get used to where the surroundings are, meet other kids, get set up with one of the activities, uh, just, you know, so you feel good about leaving your kid in the program. So for this next part, I want to get into a couple things about other ways that we can help support you and your family to book a Beaches vacation and make sure everything is all set up perfectly for you. So if you have allergies We work with the allergy specialists over at Beaches Resort. We also can talk to the chef or have conversations, make sure the chef comes over to your table if you have questions about allergies or specific foods when you're at Beaches. The second is about just travel in general. So we're gonna talk about airports and if your child hasn't been to an airport before, what they can expect and some tips about airports in the US as well as Turks and Caicos. Uh, this also goes for Jamaica as well. So you can contact us about Jamaica and we have specific tips there as well. And then I want to go over, uh, some basics of the overall beaches, resorts, but we can get into that later as well. But you know, things to do, things to book, when to do those things to make sure you have everything set up for your beaches vacation. So talking about airports and a little bit more, uh, information on that. TSA, so if your child hasn't been to an airport here in the US, TSA does have kind of a trial program. So that lets your child kind of experience the airport, experience security, and you can kind of get them used to what that is gonna be all about. Now, if you're going to Turks and Caicos, Turks and Caicos, of course, not US. So no TSA, but they have something called Fast Track. And it just like the name, it fast-tracks you right through all the steps of arriving at the airport. So I've used this service myself. Uh, it's great for families. We have a discount because we book it a lot. Uh, I use it myself because they meet you at the gate. So as soon as you get off the flight, there's a sign there that has your name on it. Uh, they walk you to customs, they walk you to immigration, they walk you to your luggage, they get your luggage, they take you to the Beaches check-in desk. And you get on the transportation and it's a 10 to 15 minute super easy ride to the resort. So they handhold you the entire way and they take you through this special Fast Track line. So it's super quick. So you're not waiting in the normal customs line, immigration line. You get right through all that very fast. So that's Fast Track. If you need more information, again, we have a discount. Just leave a comment or contact us and we can go ahead and get you set up with that. So for a pre-travel checklist, 3 things to get you started. First, research beaches, resorts. We're happy to help you with that. There's no cost with working with the Pixie at Pixie Vacations. So just give us a call, send us an email, or go to one of the links in this video and we can help you, handhold you the whole way through it. TSA PreCheck, we talked about that. So if that's a concern, go ahead and get that set up. We can help you set that up as well. So you understand what the TSA process is going to be like. Then we have, oh, the pre-travel form. So we can get you that. That's the form that you fill out that has all your questions, concerns, information that comes to us and also goes to Beaches Resorts. And then we do a phone call and Beaches does a phone call after that. And then the sensory guide. So take a look at the sensory guide. So those are the 3, 4, 5, 5, there's the things I recommend to start planning your Beaches vacation. So I also have 3 tips for when you're at Beaches Resorts. The first one is to try the standard program. So that's the program we talked about at the beginning of the video. And then if you want to add a Beaches Buddy, you can always add a Beaches Buddy. Later. So see how that works out. And then if you want to add BeachesBuddy, we're happy to help you, or at Beaches they can go ahead and set that up for you. The second is use Gina. That's the WhatsApp that we talked about. You can download WhatsApp on your mobile device. It's free. It's kind of like a chat. And then use Gina. You can talk to pretty much any staff member you need with the Gina app. And the third thing is have a great time. And if you have any questions, just ask the staff there for help. One more question that I get all the time, because it's all inclusive, and I mean all inclusive, like I put my wallet in the safe and I never touch it. So there's no tipping at Beaches Resorts. There are exceptions, and this is what they are. So if you have a butler, a nanny, or a Beaches Buddy, they do accept tips. I've had a butler before, so I'll tip them. I have a video here all about butler services and a whole article on tipping. You can tip whatever you want, cash, or they do— you can pay on your room account as well. Yeah, so tipping. There's also the Sesame Street characters. I always forget to mention this. So there is like a breakfast with them that is extra. That's super cute. There is a parade, there's meet and greets. Uh, and then there is— now I can't remember the name because I'm— I grew up with Elmo. There is the character that, uh, has autism. Oh my gosh, Zoe! So Zoe is there as well, as well as all the ones that you grew up with and I grew up with. So all the Sesame Street characters are there. So if your kids love that, there's all kinds of fun things. There's a water— amazing water park at both Beaches Resorts, really great water park, lazy river, all kinds of fun activities. So have a great time. Again, my wife and I own Pixie Vacations. It's free to work with us. Uh, when you book your vacation, we book and travel all to all the Beaches Resorts, uh, Sandals Resorts as well. Uh, Disney, Universal, you name it. But Beaches for Autism is absolutely amazing. So just reach out to us. We're happy to help you have an amazing time, have an amazing vacation. I hope this helped you out.