Grandparents....what are your favorites?

[escriven75]

We'll be heading back to WDW in November for the Wine and Dine Fest and Half marathon. My parents will be going with us and they haven't been to WDW since there was only one park and Epcot was being built!! I was wondering if there are any rides, attractions, restaurants etc that I may be overlooking because I don't normally do them when my kids (10 & 8) and I go but that my parents might really enjoy? Perhaps a good spot to rest and people watch while we ride something or an attraction that may not be a favorite among the kids but that grandparents might really enjoy.
Any advice and suggestions is appreciated!

 

[agavegirl1]

Ahem, as a grandparent myself, I would hope my adult children know that I can ride just about anything in the park they can and more. (A couple of them are prone to motion sickness). Unless they have health issues you need to accomodate, there are plenty of things to do. My favorite ride is Everest for example.

As for things you don't want to overlook, Living with the Land and Flights of Wonder are great attractions that may not appeal to kids but everyone can enjoy.

 

[Vijoge]

My favorite rides/attractions are BTMRR, SM, Peter Pan, Kali River Rapids, Spaceship Earth, Oh! Canada, Impressions de France, Festival of the Lion King. . .There are probably more but those are what come to mind. However the most wonderful thing for me personally is just sitting somewhere on Main Street watching the faces of both children and adults as they enter the park for the first time. Priceless!

 

[SillySallySews]

My parents almost always join us at Disney since they live in FL. They love to do everything. My Mom is not a thrill seeker, so she usually skips ToT, Everest, SM, BTMRR, etc. But I know their favorite part of coming to Disney with us is just being with our kids and watching them take it all in.

 

[KristinU]

My parents live in FL and we frequently meet up with them. They are 60-something grandparents. Mom's favorites: Soarin' Splash, Pirates, ToT. Dad's favorites: RnR, Space Mt, Everest, Soarin'. My mom has some back issues that prevent her from enjoying the coasters. They also love the small acts and "streetmosphere" that we really didn't stop for when DS was younger and less patient for that type of stuff.

 

[PSUGuy]

Ahem, as a grandparent myself, I would hope my adult children know that I can ride just about anything in the park they can and more. (A couple of them are prone to motion sickness). Unless they have health issues you need to accomodate, there are plenty of things to do. My favorite ride is Everest for example.

Saved me the trouble of all this typing.

Bill From PA

 

[Mikie]

Last trip was my parents (grandparents of the trip) and two sub-families totaling 5 more adults and 5 grandkids. Like @agavegirl1 and @PSUGuy, they did and enjoyed just about everything! Things they particularly liked that weren't "for the kids" were: movies/shows in Epcot Canada, France and America; Hall of Presidents; Boma dinner. . . That's about it. Tower of Terror was their favorite ride because of the great theming.

Things they loved particularly because they were doing them with the grandkids: anything that was a first time for a grandkid - finally tall enough or brave enough; Enchanted tales with Belle and Jedi Training because the kids were in them; classics like Dumbo and Peter Pan; character dining; fireworks from their Grand Floridian room; Fantasmic dining pkg because they felt it gave them good seats with less time sitting on backless bleachers than they might have spent if they had to stake out a spot standby.

A long ago trip, we took the other set of grandparents and grandma liked only dark/slow rides, grandpa didn't even do all of those. They were happy to watch our toddler so we could ride a thrill ride, or often found a bench to have an ice cream and people watch and wait for grandchild to come running back with "grandpa, guess what I just did!" They only stayed in the parks about half-2/3 as long as we did each day and enjoyed wandering the resort (grandpa found a hammock!) while we were still in parks. They enjoyed meeting back up with us for table service dinners.

 

[Pmlocke]

As a grandparent and great grandparent let me tell you what I told a young couple who asked me one day while standing in line to head to the Magic Kingdom, "Just what do guys your age do here?" We do everything you do but without those kids slowing us down. Ride participation is only limited to a persons health and I can go on anything they have there. My wife and I do like to head back to the resort during the heat of the mid day and laze about the pool but other than that, we do it all and we do it every year. I call it getting "My youth back".

 

[gwynne]

Ahem, as a grandparent myself, I would hope my adult children know that I can ride just about anything in the park they can and more. (A couple of them are prone to motion sickness). Unless they have health issues you need to accomodate, there are plenty of things to do. My favorite ride is Everest for example.

As for things you don't want to overlook, Living with the Land and Flights of Wonder are great attractions that may not appeal to kids but everyone can enjoy.

Yes indeed. And I would also add there is a huge age range in "grandparents."

 

[married2mm]

Yes indeed. And I would also add there is a huge age range in "grandparents."

Indeedy-I know a couple of ladies who became first time grandmas at 39 & another at 82..

We are going next week with dmil for her second 'once in a lifetime trip ' at 86 years young.
Before we arrived she was insistent rides weren't part of the deal-just to take in the atmosphere and enjoy the sunshine.
I was thrilled/delighted & amazed she rode star tours,Soarin and the haunted mansion.

She really enjoyed cop & small world.

There were sooo many rides & attractions I thought we would experience together & they didn't happen-so hopefully we shall in May.

 

[Indio]

My parents are in their early 70's. They ride everything except Space Mountain. They say it's too jerky and they don't have to do that anymore. Their favorite rides are TOT and Splash. We took my 76 year old aunt for her 1st trip last summer. Before we got there, she too said that she would just wait on us while we rode the rides. She got on everything except SM and Everest. She absolutely loved everything. Soarin' and TOT were her favorites. Don't think that they might not want to go on something because of their age. It's just a number!

 

[KristinU]

Oh, and my dad WON'T do Small World. No way, no how...not even if we try bribing with a Dole Whip or Mickey Bar...and DS is following in his footsteps

 

[Linleedo]

We did an extended family trip with our children, and grandchildren when they were 3 & 7 years old. We loved a character meal to see the reaction of the children . The Ohana meal was also entertaining for everyone. They had the coconut races and musical instrument parade. Even riding the monorail was a fun experience for the grandson's love of trains. Riding anything with the grandkids was a blast. One unexpected fun activity was at the aquarium in The Seas building. They did dolphin training sessions ( stimulus/ response) to different pictures being held up by the trainers . Check the times for the shows. Everyone loved it. I'm sure your parents will be amazed at Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios too. Lots has changed since they were last there. Most grandparents also love swimming with the kids at the resort.

 

[escriven75]

Ahem, as a grandparent myself, I would hope my adult children know that I can ride just about anything in the park they can and more. (A couple of them are prone to motion sickness). Unless they have health issues you need to accomodate, there are plenty of things to do. My favorite ride is Everest for example.

As for things you don't want to overlook, Living with the Land and Flights of Wonder are great attractions that may not appeal to kids but everyone can enjoy.

Thank you.......I should have mentioned that my father has heart issues and cannot ride the thrill ride and my mom isn't crazy about them. They are 75 (dad) and 68 (mom).
The others are great suggestions of things not to overlook....in fact I don't know if we've done them either.

 

[escriven75]

We did an extended family trip with our children, and grandchildren when they were 3 & 7 years old. We loved a character meal to see the reaction of the children . The Ohana meal was also entertaining for everyone. They had the coconut races and musical instrument parade. Even riding the monorail was a fun experience for the grandson's love of trains. Riding anything with the grandkids was a blast. One unexpected fun activity was at the aquarium in The Seas building. They did dolphin training sessions ( stimulus/ response) to different pictures being held up by the trainers . Check the times for the shows. Everyone loved it. I'm sure your parents will be amazed at Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios too. Lots has changed since they were last there. Most grandparents also love swimming with the kids at the resort.

I will check on the dolphins training, we've never seen that either!
We do have a whole non-park day (aka a "recovering from a half marathon day") planned because we all love relaxing by the pool!

 

[escriven75]

I'm sure your parents will be amazed at Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios too. Lots has changed since they were last there. Most grandparents also love swimming with the kids at the resort.

Animal Kingdom and HS didn't even exist when they took us as kids! There was only a Magic Kingdom. They are going to be wowed at how much there is to do and see! I feel like they took us as kids and now I'm taking them back as grandparents. I'm sure I'll be all teary eyed and nostalgic when we all walk in together....3 generations!!

 

[agavegirl1]

Thank you for the clarification @escriven75 . Let me add a few more in that case...

Magic Kingdom:
I always enjoy the Hall of Presidents
Riding on the WDW Railroad is relaxing as is the Peoplemover

Epcot:
The previously mentioned Living with the Land
Impressions de France is a really good movie.
The American Adventure has great animatronics
Don't forget to visit the Aquariums after the Nemo ride.

DHS
Visit One Man's Dream
This will be the most difficult park I think

AK
The previously mentioned Flights of Wonder
The two animal trails
The Wildlife Train out to Rafikis Planet Watch and back

These are all things everyone can enjoy.

As for where they can wait while others ride, there are many choices but it will depend on where they are waiting.

 

[lovethattink]

My dad's last trip was last April. He was 81 years young. Mom is in her 70's. That was the first year they didn't go on Test Track which was always a favorite for them. My dad had a difficult time with the boat rides. Getting down into and out of the boats was difficult for him.

But on Dad's 80th birthday, he rode 7DMT!

My parents have always enjoyed the F&W concert series. The only people watching they did was while eating a Pineapple Dole whip at the Pineapple Promenade.

Cherish those moments and enjoy the things you can all do together too.

This year, neither of them are well and they were unable to make the trip.

 

[SnipsNSnails]

My parents and grandma always come with us. We love WDW so much because they will ride so many of the rides and they love all the shows. My mom is prone to motion sickness so she stays away from the coasters and things that go in circles. My dad rides it all. My grandma doesn't ride if my mom doesn't and she didn't care for 7DMT even though my mom rode it a few more times. They have been many times, even before I was born, back when it was just MK so they love the originals for the nostalgia like CoP, Tiki, HoP, Country Bears....

 

[Betty Rohrer]

being a grandparent in her mid 60s I ride everything but rides that spin or go in circles and I have never been able to ride those with inner ear problems. with my bad knees will most likely one do Space Mountain once this trip. I plan in riding most everything this summer when we are there