Getting in shape for WDW Question

[Minnie Lor]

I'm taking my SIL to WDW for the first time in May. Obviously, I want her to have an awesome time.

I always step up my walking before visiting WDW and I've suggested she do the same. She is "pooh sized" and doesn't do any exercise outside of work. She stands on her feet most of the day on concrete but still doesn't do much walking at work. I'm concerned that she's going to be miserable and end up hating WDW.

Do you think the standing on concrete will help her at WDW? Should she still try to start walking after working 10 hour shift? Any ideas on how I can motivate her? What would you do?

 

[Robo]

Just an example of the major walking that guests can encounter.

 

[CleveRocks]

Tell her to get walking, to help her enjoy her time there. Standing on concrete has helped train her for those long waits in line, but not for those long walks between attractions.

I was Pooh-sized before our first trip. My wife and I started walking on the Boardwalk to get us in shape for WDW. Surprisingly to both of us, this eventually morphed into running on the Boardwalk ... we'd never run in our lives!

And even more of a shocker, we became half-marathoners ... me!, at age 40! ... we've done 2 in the past year! All because we decided to get in walking shape to help our then-preschool kids have a great time at WDW because they wouldn't be slowed down by Mom and Dad.

 

[amyhughes]

Yup, tell her to start walking.

I actually used to walk before hand while pushing a two seater stroller with the kids. Just b/c I knew that is what I would have to do in the parks and I had better get used to it now.

I view this as training for anything athletic. You have to build up that endurance or she is going to be out of breath and using those benches quite a bit!

Instead of walking after a 10 hour shift, why not before? This way her body will be creating more energy before she goes into work (at least eventually) and she may not be so tired afterwards. Just a thought. They (the mysterious they) also say if you work out in the morning you burn more calories throughout the day.

 

[gokenin]

The last thing you want to do is scare her with the amount of walking that there is at Disney and to convince her that she will have to loss all this weight or she will be miserable doing Disney. You might also want to let her know that there are plenty of places to stop and take a breather. I say this as a pooh size person and I take things at my pace and stop for a break when i need one. You may want to encourage her to join you to walk with the excuse that you want company because you want to loss some weight before you head down to the park, just a suggestion.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

to give her an idea, I walk 7 to 12 miles a day at Disney. Now granted that isn't the steady walking I do at home but she will feel it at the end of the day is she is not prepared.

I always step up my walking before we go, about 2 or 3 months before hand.

 

[moredisneyplease]

maybe have her check out the WISH section of the Disboards and perhaps the two of you can start doing the "walk to the world" challenge: figure out how many miles it is from where you live to WDW and then try to walk that number of miles before your actual trip to WDW! Its a fun challenge!

 

[jeankeri]

Robo- Love the maps!

 

[Robo]

Robo- Love the maps!

Thanks.

I'm working on more.

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

I'm pooh sized, have flat feet, and an odd stride that makes me walk ever so slightly on the inside of my feet. (I had a fairly common problem that children have concerning having legs twisted from the hips. I was a late walker, and had to wear braces as a toddler, and was extremely pigeon toed. I ran for the 1st time in grade school, and almost repeatedly fell over learning to march and play a band instrument. High mark time was awful. )

Walking at Disney for me quickly goes from carefree to slightly uncomfortable, to excrutiatingly painful. I have considered using a ECV, but have always had an attitude that my weight would not stop me from doing anything that I want to do so I walk. I'm writing this to say that if motivated, a pooh sized person can walk at Disney even in the most trying circumstances.

Until visiting WDW with another pooh sized friend, I assumed that all pooh sized people like me walked around WDW in excruciating pain. I was amazed that my friend had no foot issues at all.

Over several trips, I have learned several tips that help. My feet still hurt by the end of the trip, but I can usually make it through most of the 1st day pain free, and with very manageable pain for the first 3 or 4 days.

After my last trip, I re-ran some of the movements using the maps from above. On our 1st day that included roaming the Atlanta airport I clocked over 5 miles, and for my other days I clocked in at between 3 and 4 miles per day. I had not been in any walking regimen, although I am now.

I know that for the walkers, this will seem like I saw next to nothing. However, over 5 or 6 days, I always tend to see everything I want to see. I like to do everything so I do attend shows and they do give your feet a chance to cool down. (I do go in the low season, and carefully plan around crowds when possible.) I start out great on the 1st day, and progress downwards from there. Towards the end of my trips it always seems like my journeys are almost from this set of benches to that set of benches, etc. My feet hurt a lot, and friends and family wonder how I can be enjoying anything.

I will suggest that you make sure that your friend has good walking shoes. My best experience has been with shoes that are broken in, but still quite new. The socks are much more important. I have several pairs of running socks with extra thickness around the heels and the fleshy part right before the toes. These are expensive. I've also found that wearing 2 pairs of thin cotton socks also helps if not wearing the runners socks. DO NOT WEAR 2 PAIRS OF RUNNERS SOCKS AT THE SAME TIME!! Never let your feet get sweaty. I have also found that rubbing your feet with muscle cream every evening is a life saver, as well as drinking plenty of water, and taking a morning aspirin for pain relief. (Do not take Aleve as it will make you retain water.)

It may work well for your friend to take these precautions and walk it for the first couple of days, and then rent a scooter. I personally wouldn't want to be in a group that walked 12 miles per day as I would always be running to catch up to the point of being out of breath, and my feet would not be able to handle it. DH and I also stay at the BWV and I have not ever seriously considered walking to the studios. We walk to or from Epcot about 50% of the time. It kind of depends on where the boat is at the time, and just how bad my feet hurt. Waiting for the bus from MK back to the resort late at night is the worst and almost unbearable. On my next to last trip, I think I did start slowing my party down on about the 4th day. That would be a good day for a scooter. I'm sure a pool or spa day or non-commando touring in the middle would make this much more bearable.

Frankly, I hope you do not discourage your friend from going to the happiest place on earth. It is something everyone should see. If your friend stands all day, she knows if her feet hurt or not. She is also very used to putting up with whatever pain her feet go through. Scooters are readily available to those who need them. A walking regimen helps too.

I know people frown upon the pooh sized for needing the scooters, and that is imho really unfortunate. I have never been in anyone else's shoes, but I do wonder if those that would criticize the pooh sized would be willing to put their feet through torture without ever complaining that their feet hurt. I am 39 years old, and until recently assumed that my foot problem was 100% related to my weight, even with my childhood problems, and suffered in silence.

I understand that ultimately my weight is my choice, but would like for others to understand that when I am sitting on that park bench it is not because I am lazy, but because my feet are purple, swollen, and feel like they are broken.

 

[merfsko]

Here's a little walking tidbit:

On a normal day, as a student, I walk an average of 6,000- 7,000 steps a day.

On a day at Disney, I often walk over 20,000 steps.

Just a fun fact for the day.

 

[SorcererDonald16]

One thing that I find helpful is riding a stationary bike before my trips. I start at 1 mile the first day, 2 miles the next day, and then slowly work my way up to about 5 miles. I don't do it every day, but I usually start a couple months before vacation. It really helped me not have such awful pain in my legs and feet while hoofing it around in WDW. I think walking or doing something like I do prior to a WDW trip is critical to anyone, unless you already exercise a ton. I think this is true for people of all weights. I'm a measly 112 pounds and I'm ready to keel over after the first day if I didn't do exercise beforehand. I would just explain to her people of all shapes and sizes have a heck of a time walking around down there, so it's best to start gearing up for the walking ahead of time.

 

[EnnEss]

And even more of a shocker, we became half-marathoners ... me!, at age 40! ... we've done 2 in the past year! All because we decided to get in walking shape to help our then-preschool kids have a great time at WDW because they wouldn't be slowed down by Mom and Dad.

Oh wow, thats amazing Cleve, well done.

For OP, I think it will be hard to motivate your friend, its really up to her. I've experienced this with friends who I've gone backpacking with, me being prepared and some of them not all the time. Even with something that rigorous they struggle to do the necessary things to get in shape and often someone really struggles and has an awful time. You think it'd be obvious with something like a 100 mile trip. I think wdw is less obvious but I bet the amount of walking done is similar. Running shoes that are well broken in, for over a month, not a weekend, are probably the most important things and the easiest.

 

[RMulieri]

I'm taking my SIL to WDW for the first time in May. Obviously, I want her to have an awesome time.

I always step up my walking before visiting WDW and I've suggested she do the same. She is "pooh sized" and doesn't do any exercise outside of work. She stands on her feet most of the day on concrete but still doesn't do much walking at work. I'm concerned that she's going to be miserable and end up hating WDW.

Do you think the standing on concrete will help her at WDW? Should she still try to start walking after working 10 hour shift? Any ideas on how I can motivate her? What would you do?

Standing on yuor feet and walking are 2 entirely different things.Walking takes an effort on all of the human body.I recommend that she starts to walk before the trip, even if it is only a little. As a Nurse I am on my feet 12hrs plus per shift( not pooh sized) and I still had a hard time with all the walking in the hot Sun..Hope this helps

 

[centurythree]

Standing on yuor feet and walking are 2 entirely different things.Walking takes an effort on all of the human body.I recommend that she starts to walk before the trip, even if it is only a little. As a Nurse I am on my feet 12hrs plus per shift( not pooh sized) and I still had a hard time with all the walking in the hot Sun..Hope this helps

I was about to protest that I'm a pooh-sized woman who gets around the parks faster than most Rabbit-sized people until I read this post and remembered that I'm doing that in the middle of winter.

Heat and humidity change the equation very, very quickly. It really would be a good idea to encourage her to start some sort of exercise program before heading down. I know I am since I'm headed down in September this year.

I've found that light aerobics tends to help me more than walking. Walking under normal circumstances bores me silly, unless I'm on a treadmill and can watch TV or something. It may be more important that she finds some sort of cardio that she can stick with.

 

[VAN]

Even more than preparing for WDW, she needs to incorporate some type of exercise into her life for her general health!

WDW does require a lot of walking, but if you allow yourself a "down" day in between park days, you will find it much more enjoyable - even if you are not pooh sized.

I always recommend this to others ... especially if they say they are going for 4 days (or less) for a first time visit. I say - whoa - you might want to go for 7-10 days and enjoy your hotel pool, shopping, resorts, water parks in between park days.

Let's face it, even aside from the physical aspects of visit WDW, you have an unending flow of mental stimuli. Just like a baby that has had enough and will close their eyes when overstimulated, an adult needs some quiet/relaxed time to recoup from the stimuli that you find in the parks.

Vacations are for recharging the batteries ... I love to go to WDW for this, but make sure that park visits are spaced out. Thus, it is enjoyable and I always want to go back! (so does DH)

 

[DizzDoll]

I do aerobics, strength training (for all that shopping ) and lots of walking. HOwever, I do this all year long. I have asthma so anything that builds up endurance and lung strength suits me well. I too sit in the shade on occasion but not from weight issues but because when that wheeze starts up its better for me to catch a breeze and relax a bit. Besides, I've met some of the loveliest people bench sitting!!! IMHO anything that will build up leg strength would suit your purposes well because that ties in with other areas as well - such as heart and lung strength - which will just be so beneficial to you regardless of whether you go to WDW or not.

 

[k5thbeatle]

I'm taking my SIL to WDW for the first time in May. Obviously, I want her to have an awesome time.

I always step up my walking before visiting WDW and I've suggested she do the same. She is "pooh sized" and doesn't do any exercise outside of work. She stands on her feet most of the day on concrete but still doesn't do much walking at work. I'm concerned that she's going to be miserable and end up hating WDW.

Do you think the standing on concrete will help her at WDW? Should she still try to start walking after working 10 hour shift? Any ideas on how I can motivate her? What would you do?

Nevermind WDW have her start walking for the sake of her health! Start slow if need be...even just 20 minutes every other day.

 

[ryley26]

I'd tell her to start slow and set goals Half mile today 1 mile in three weeks and so on. I started like Cleverocks by walking to get ready for a trip and now 130 lbs later I'm the one everyone is chasing. I now I'm a runner and have run Marathons excerise is addicting once you get started and catch the bug. This is the perfect inspiration to start a healthy lifestyle and a great goal to look forward to good luck.

 

[DisneyCatMom]

I leave in 2 weeks with my Mom and Dad and my DS 8 and DD 5. My mom is Pooh size and has a lot of problems with her feet; has for years. When she walks her feet start to burn and ankles swell. For the past two weeks we have been meeting (not as often as I would like) about 3 times per week and walking apprx. 2 miles. She wears a different pair of shoes each time. She is trying to find a pair that will work for her feet. Tennis shoes just don't work. They are too confining. Please remember that feet swell when walking distance and especially in heat. Always buy shoes at least 1/2 size larger than normal.
I don't care about her speed, but her short endurance is going to quickly wear her down I know.
She has mentioned getting a scooter a few times. I have not encouraged this, but after reading one of the threads above, I have started really thinking about this. If she is mentioning it, then she probably is rather nervous about the condition her feet may be in after a few days.
Thank you for making think about this issue differently.