Good places for breaks/rests with elderly visitors

[SFMommy]

We will be taking our next trip to Disneyland in fall 2012 and this time my parents will be joining me, my DH and DD6.

When the three of us go to DL, we usually eat breakfast and snacks on the go...granola bars, cheerios, crackers, etc. as we move through the parks or wait in line. We are not willing to eat a sit-down breakfast and miss our Magic Mornings early entry! We usually only sit-down for lunch in the parks with a dining reservation at a sit-down restaurant and dinner in DTD also with a dining reservation at a sit-down restaurant.

My dad will definitely need to take rests, breaks and eat more frequently. And most importantly, he will need to sit down a lot. Where are some good places to stop and take quick breaks where my dad can sit?

We are not familiar with any of the snack/coffee places, as we have never stopped anywhere to pick-up a snack or drink. We like to bring our own with us into the parks to save time and money!

Thanks for any info!

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

Some of our favorite spots

Disneyland:
hungry Bear (by Splash overlooking the river)
Golden Horseshoe while watching Billy Hill and the hillbillies. You can bring in your own food, food from another location, get food there or just watch the show.
Coke Corner on Main Street (sometimes singers or piano player performs)
Tomorrowland Terrace: eat or watch Jedi Training
Innoventions

DCA:
Animation building
Princess Dot Puddle Park while the kids play in the water
Redwood Creek Trail while the kids explore

 

[Disneyenthusiast]

There are a lot of benches around for a quick, free break.

For food places, the Hungry Bear in Critter country has a nice shaded eating area on the riverfront. Very relaxing and moderately priced. WE also enjoy the Carnation Cafe for breakfast or lunch. Also the indoor ice cream shop that I can't remember the name of.

 

[DizMe]

We went with my elderly mother a few years ago. I decided to splurge on concierge rooms at DLH so that she would have a lounge to hang out in where there were things to do, eat, and drink in comfort. She is not able to handle all day in the parks and with 3 young kids along there were bound to be times we would separate (2 other adults were along as well). It was a great decision! We got switched over to GCH concierge because DLH's lounge was undergoing some renovations. That was fabulous because we went in and out through the CA entry quite a lot. We also ended up renting a wheelchair from Disney and that was a lifesaver. My mom loved being able to go down the hall to the lounge and we got our money's worth in food and snacks with the kids!

However, sometimes the concierge rates are outrageously high. We got lucky because we only paid for DLH concierge and got GCH, and it was an AP rate that made it very reasonable. In fact, we only paid $189/night! I've not seen rates like that since, but I've still stayed concierge whenever I can

My mom liked having her wheelchair in the parks because she could park it and walk when she was able and when tired, it was nice to climb back in the chair. When she was ready to really rest, we went back to the hotel lounge or somewhere to eat.

 

[DizNee Luver]

You will find lots of benches around the parks for taking a break. If they aren't interested in some of the rides, there is usually some sort of seating nearby. There are also food carts, counter & sit down restaurants through out both parks. Main Street offers a wonderful bakery for pastries, sweets & coffees, there are a couple sit down restaurants which both get good reviews (Carnation Cafe & Plaza Inn). Coke corner will offer drinks & hot dogs & fun entertainment. Sitting on the benches around the castle, partner's statue or the flag pole will offer great places to people watch.

Adventureland the seating is a little harder to come by.....but there are a few little counter service restaurants & snacks.
Frontierland will offer benches outside the Golden Horseshoe Saloon (which has counter service food) & also food carts. The mexican restaurant also has a lot of outdoor seating.
The Rivers of America has brick walls that you can stop & sit on & watch the activity of the boats going by.
Up in Critter Country, the Hungry Bear restaurant offers 2 stories of seating where you can watch the boats go by or feed the ducks. The food here is pretty tasty as well.
Fantasyland doesn't have a ton of benches but there is a restaurant that has seating you might be able to use. There are benches over by the Matterhorn.
ToonTown has a lot of benches as you enter into the land & also benches around the fountain by Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin.
Tomorrowland has lots of seating in the Tomorrowland Terrace restaurant area. I'm thinking there is seating in Innoventions....but I've never been in there myself.

California Adventure has so many boards lining the walks right now it's hard to offer exact locations but here goes:

Hollywood Backlots has a stage across from the Monster's Inc ride....if there isn't a show, there will be plenty of seats.
Bugs Land will have benches thru out. Its kind of fun looking around at the oversized stuff.
Paradise Pier will have benches periodically, but there is a new restaurant area over by the Silly Symphony Swings that will offer a lot of seating. During the day, the World of Color area has places to sit as well.
Grizzly River area, has a few benches along the walkways, and I believe you'll find some in the Redwood Creek area.
Condor Flatts doesn't have a ton of benches, but there is some outdoor seating at the Taste Pilot's Grill restaurant you can use.

We also enjoy sitting between the two parks & people watching.

(My MIL went last summer with us & she was not super mobile, but refused to do the wheelchair thing)......I think we found every bench that trip.....lol

 

[Echie]

I think it'll be a bit of a different-than-usual trip for you... at least that's what we found when we took my mom a few years ago. But although it was different, it was still 100% awesome!!

I agree, the free benches really worked well for us! My mom wanted to be with us, and nearby, but didn't want to go on all the rides.

Although perhaps because you have both your parents going, they might enjoy doing some things together by themselves throughout the day too?

Anyway for us what worked really well was we'd leave my mom happily in the room as she did her morning routine/getting ready etc and head to the park early for magic mornings for 1-2 hours and then come back to the hotel and have something to eat (breakfast for her) with my mom and then head out into the parks together. My mom loved going on some rides and otherwise always found a bench near the ride we were going on and watched us or just people watched, she still really enjoyed herself. Then in the afternoon she usually was ready for a rest and went back to the hotel while we soldiered on.

I agree with people who say staying on site works well due to the proximity! We stayed at the GCH which was perfect as my mom could just head back to the room when she was tired and then we'd go get her again in a few hours!