Sorry to hear his seizures started again. It sounds like there may be multiple issues involved (including puberty).
I think a wheelchair makes sense in your situation. If he was to have a seizure, you at least have a safe place for him and a way to get him to First Aid or outside of the attraction to recover.
A wheelchair might also be helpful for issues related to autism - especially since you are going at a busy time, it will give him a little more of a place to retreat.
If you’ve never been there at Christmas and New Years, anticipate it being so busy that you can’t stretch your arm out without hitting someone else. A wheelchair would be easier than trying to keep track of him in those kinds of crowds.
The busiest will be the actual holidays - you might want to check into what activities your resort has also.
There is a post in the disABILITIES FAQs thread on page 2 about epilepsy. I copied the general info and the MK INFO from that post for you.
See also post 3 on page one of the disABILITIES FAQs for more information about epilepsy.
Most people think of strobe lights when they think of seizures, but most people with seizures don't have any problems with strobe lights.
This is something to talk to your doctor with, but in for most people with epilepsy, the lights at WDW won't cause any problems.
Things that are very important to be aware of are sleep deprivation, dehydration and getting off schedule with medication. All of those things can lower the seizure threshold (how easy it is for a seizure to occur). It's very easy to get off schedule or forget medication while on vacation. One things we have found that helps with this is to actually use an individual dose medication container and an alarm (on our phone or iPod) as a reminder for medication times.
There are not actually any attractions at WDW that use lights that are technically strobe lights (i.e, fast, regular flashes of light) and they do not have any warnings for seizures and/or strobe lights on any attractions. Where they do have flashing lights, they are always irregularly flashing, which is a different situation.
Most true strobe lights flash many times per second, but slowing to 5 flashes per second or less means that the majority of even photosensitive epileptics are not going to have a problem. Only about 3-7% of people with epilepsy are photosensitive and have problems with lights; of those, only about 5% would have a problem with a light flashing 5 times per second or less.
If you do encounter flashing lights and are concerned, the Epilepsy Foundation recommends covering one eye and turning/looking away from the direct source of light. The reason for covering only one eye and looking away from the direct light is to prevent both eyes from sending exactly the same information to the brain.
This should work whether someone has a problem with epilepsy or has problems with lights for another reason.
This is a list of attractions I know of with light effects of some type. Many attractions have a single light or 2, so it is difficult to list all. But, I am sure that we have included most of them.
MK
- Enchanted Tiki Room - periods of darkness with simulated lightning. The lightning is random and short.
- Pirates - some lightning flashes in the first dark part of the ride. Some random flickering from simulated flames in the last half.
- Big Thunder Mountain Rail Road - there are no light effects in this attraction, but if you are riding on a sunny day, you will go in and out of dark tunnels repeatedly at high speed.
- Splash Mountain - on a sunny day, there are several places where you will go from dimly lit indoor areas to outdoor. The ride moves slowly, so the change is slow. There is a single bright flash when your picture is taken during the big drop.
- Seven Dwarfs Mine Train - no light effects, but on a sunny day, you will be traveling in and out of dark areas into bright sunlight.
- Haunted Mansion - almost at the end of the preshow, there is a flash of lightning at the top of the ceiling. Boarding area includes flickering wall sconces.
- Small World - the end scene includes numerous ropes of white lights that blink on and off in a regular pattern. I would describe it as a traveling pattern - as one light goes off, the next light in line goes on. So, the light travels down or across the strand of lights.
- Buzz Lightyear - just before the last room of the ride, there is a long narrow tunnel room with swirling red lights and flashing white lights. The swirling and flashing are not rhythmic. The last room of the ride includes several very bright random flashes of white light.
- Stitch's Great Escape - Most of this attraction takes place in the dark, but there are some random light flashes at times (while looking for Stitch)
- Space Mountain - multiple flashing lights