Assistance with Elderly Parents

[JulieWent]

We are in the early stages of helping our son and his fiancé with planning their Disney wedding. We will have a number of very elderly guests at the wedding, but most especially the bride and groom's grandparents. (All of the grandparents are well into their 80s but probably healthy enough to make the trip.) I was wondering if anyone here has had any experience with paying for elder care / assistance while in Orlando. We would need some help with getting everyone to specific places and with mobility issues. This sounds very vague, but I'm pretty new at knowing what's out there and what's available. (I've usually been the person providing the assistance, but I'm hoping to be able to focus on the wedding for this.) There are other family members who can help, but I am just exploring here to see if there are services in Orlando that might be helpful.

 

[starry_solo]

Maybe describe the assistance you provide them and what assistance they will need?

 

[lanejudy]

“Elder care” really runs the gamut from significant level of care to just a helping hand. Do these grandparents live independently or in assistive living situations? Do they get out in their own communities or mainly home bound? Do any of them use mobility devices like walkers, rollators, canes or wheelchairs? Where will they be staying and where will the need/want to go for wedding festivities? Are you looking to pay for care like home health? Or just a companion to make sure they know where to be and when and how to get there? This kind of info will help us give suggestions.

 

[JulieWent]

Good questions all around - That's more or less my issue, though. Not knowing what I'll need. But, I generally drive them when they are going places they don't know well. They live in their own homes and get around the community fairly well. They all use rollators and walkers and will definitely have these in Orlando. (My mother says she would be game to try a scooter, but last time she rented one, she ran over several people and put a hole in the wall at Saratoga Springs. LOL) They also need someone to help them navigate in new places. (We are all staying on the BoardWalk. So, for instance, they will need help navigating the property.) We may do transportation from BW to the Wedding Pavilion and back, so that will help. There will be a fireworks party in Epcot, so getting there will require some planning for them. I think we'd like to pay for a companion (or companions) to help them feel like they know where they're going and what's coming up next. My parents have someone who does this for them locally, and one possibility might be to see if she's game for the trip.

I just thought there might be people here who have dealt with similar issues in Disney.

 

[RoseGold]

We are all staying on the BoardWalk. So, for instance, they will need help navigating the property.) We may do transportation from BW to the Wedding Pavilion and back, so that will help. There will be a fireworks party in Epcot, so getting there will require some planning for them.

If this is a mobility transportation question, you could fix this by putting them at a monorail resort instead. They scooter to the wedding pavilion at GF and then monorail to Epcot.

They could also take an accessible Mears taxi from BW to the wedding pavilion and to Epcot. I'm sure your wedding planner has lots of options of all the buses. Every Disney wedding I've seen has its own transportation to other elements of the wedding, like to Epcot from GF.

 

[SteveMouse]

One of the worst things about the Boardwalk is its accessibility. Not that you cant get places, but getting there efficiently while avoiding stairs can be a challenge, especially getting to or from the boardwalk level.

I’d be sure to provide folks with printed msos and your cell phone number.

You might also give each of them an AirTag for the duration. AirTags are Apole products that are especially good at tracking snything, including people.

The “network“ used for tracking tags is every iphone on the planet. So it is hard to escspe detection.

 

[lanejudy]

My parents have someone who does this for them locally, and one possibility might be to see if she's game for the trip.

This may be your best option, especially if she is willing to come along for just the cost of a hotel room and theme park ticket.

Kids Nite Out does offer Elder Care/Companion services. https://kidsniteout.com/additional-services/ I don't know if they may require 1 paid adult per senior, which likely will add up quickly because it sounds like multiple grandparents will be with your party. There may be other local companies as well.

Personally, my choice would be a family member. Maybe sharing that duty across different family members if possible so no one feels "stuck babysitting grandma." In fact, it's exactly what we did for my mom at my niece's wedding. I took care of her hotel reservation and getting her back-and-forth to the events (not WDW but a lake resort); our other sister (not parent of the wedding couple) and adult nephews also helped out.

 

[JulieWent]

One of the worst things about the Boardwalk is its accessibility. Not that you cant get places, but getting there efficiently while avoiding stairs can be a challenge, especially getting to or from the boardwalk level.

I’d be sure to provide folks with printed msos and your cell phone number.

You might also give each of them an AirTag for the duration. AirTags are Apole products that are especially good at tracking snything, including people.

The “network“ used for tracking tags is every iphone on the planet. So it is hard to escspe detection.

Very helpful! So simple, but absolutely would not have thought about providing them with printed schedules, etc. And I love the idea of the AirTags. I've been thinking about getting some for them anyway.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

Very helpful! So simple, but absolutely would not have thought about providing them with printed schedules, etc. And I love the idea of the AirTags. I've been thinking about getting some for them anyway.

also I give this advice to parents but also for your group make sure you have a picture of each one each day with what they are wearing. I second having printed schedule for each day with times and also the air tags. I have never stayed at the resort you are planning but I might reconsider resort if the lot of exits could have steps with your group not knowing their way around

 

[SteveMouse]

typo- should have been “maps.”

Another map thing- bring multiple copies and use a different one every day. Set an “emergency meet spot” for every morning and afternoon and mark it clearly on the map. This spot becomes your emergency meetup location in case you get separated and cant find each other in, say, 10! minutes. That way, everyone knows where to meet without trekking all over the park, Springs, or wherever. A map a day makes it clearer what place is correct for what day.

For example, one Mk morning, if could be the sword in the stone or on the curb in front of Casey’s. Somewhere that most people in the park would recognize can be helpful in finding directions.

As an absolute, on one should leave the park they are in without communicating it to other members of the group. constraining the search area is very helpful.

 

[BroganMc]

I traveled to Disney regularly with a severe mobility disability and with elderly family members. just came back from a trip with my 95-year-old uncle at his 60-year-old autistic son.

The Boardwalk is not a nightmare to navigate. You're talking about family members who are going to be using scooters or rollators. They're not going to be using stairs. So they have a room near the elevators. That's all that's required. It will put them in the central location nearest the lobby or ground floor exit.

Yes they would be more comfortable if a family member or friend was with them as a companion to help them navigate, open doors, remember the schedule, and run interference. Disney World is not a third world country. There are a lot of amenities and it is extremely accessible across the board. Don't twist yourself in a knot over this.

My only concern is if you had a family member with dementia. As you know that requires a full-time companion to ensure they don't get confused and lost. But if their entire issues are mobility related and stamina related, you can easily deal with that.

I highly recommend anyone who is using a rollator rent a scooter. Rollators are fine if you're going to go no more than a mile in a day. But Disney requires 8 mi or more of walking per day. There's just no way you can handle that with a rollator. I understand your concerns of scooters and bad drivers. Your best bet is to turn the speed down! It was on turtle, it is far less likely your bad driver is going to have a collision with somebody.

But if you cannot trust them at all with their own power wheels, then get them a manual wheelchair and enabled bodied driver. Don't make them walk it. They will be miserable and you will feel guilty.

The wedding coordinator at Disney will organize all the transportation to and from the wedding venue, the reception and fireworks in Epcot. They do this on a routine basis. In fact I saw several weddings last week being led to the fireworks viewing spot in Epcot between the UK and France. They do this with cast members in the front, middle and the end gathering everybody together and taking them through the park. I have absolutely no concerns they will get your family members to the necessary events.

Now my family uses a combination of Life360 on our cell phones to GPS track each other, and group chats to coordinate.

 

[Lilsia]

If it is general "make sure the grandparents get there" type of thing, with someone probably pushing them in a wheelchair, can't each family take care of their own grandparents? Are there not enough children, grand children, great grandchildren to be able to make sure grandma and grandpa get to where they need to go?

 

[JulieWent]

If it is general "make sure the grandparents get there" type of thing, with someone probably pushing them in a wheelchair, can't each family take care of their own grandparents? Are there not enough children, grand children, great grandchildren to be able to make sure grandma and grandpa get to where they need to go?

Yes, We should be able to cover it with my brother and all my nieces and nephews.

 

[JulieWent]

I traveled to Disney regularly with a severe mobility disability and with elderly family members. just came back from a trip with my 95-year-old uncle at his 60-year-old autistic son.

The Boardwalk is not a nightmare to navigate. You're talking about family members who are going to be using scooters or rollators. They're not going to be using stairs. So they have a room near the elevators. That's all that's required. It will put them in the central location nearest the lobby or ground floor exit.

Yes they would be more comfortable if a family member or friend was with them as a companion to help them navigate, open doors, remember the schedule, and run interference. Disney World is not a third world country. There are a lot of amenities and it is extremely accessible across the board. Don't twist yourself in a knot over this.

My only concern is if you had a family member with dementia. As you know that requires a full-time companion to ensure they don't get confused and lost. But if their entire issues are mobility related and stamina related, you can easily deal with that.

I highly recommend anyone who is using a rollator rent a scooter. Rollators are fine if you're going to go no more than a mile in a day. But Disney requires 8 mi or more of walking per day. There's just no way you can handle that with a rollator. I understand your concerns of scooters and bad drivers. Your best bet is to turn the speed down! It was on turtle, it is far less likely your bad driver is going to have a collision with somebody.

But if you cannot trust them at all with their own power wheels, then get them a manual wheelchair and enabled bodied driver. Don't make them walk it. They will be miserable and you will feel guilty.

The wedding coordinator at Disney will organize all the transportation to and from the wedding venue, the reception and fireworks in Epcot. They do this on a routine basis. In fact I saw several weddings last week being led to the fireworks viewing spot in Epcot between the UK and France. They do this with cast members in the front, middle and the end gathering everybody together and taking them through the park. I have absolutely no concerns they will get your family members to the necessary events.

Now my family uses a combination of Life360 on our cell phones to GPS track each other, and group chats to coordinate.

Thank you so much! We use Life360 as a family, too, but I haven't put it on my parents' phones yet. Might be time to do that.
I agree with your assessment of BoardWalk. We're DVC members, and it's our home resort. I was not too worried about it as a resort. Thanks for the reminder about being near the elevators. I will put that on a request for their room.