Senior citizen and a first timer - Epcot or DHS

[princesslover]

We are bringing my Mom in December mostly to see the decorations at Disney (although she will go on some select attractions and shows)

I thought I had a great plan. But I keep second (and third) guessing myself.

It’s a short trip (4 nights) the first night not planning on having a park reserved. It’s a split stay with two nights at an Epcot resort (Boardwalk) and two nights at The Grand Floridian. We are trying to time the parks based on location to the resort. We will have one night at MVMCP.

Fiist day (check in) no park is planned. I think it’s best to relax and settle in. Stay at Boardwalk that night.

Second Day: Epcot (with a break in the day). Stay at Boardwalk for 2nd night.

Third day: Relax in am. Switch to GF. Go to MVMCP at night. Stay at Grand Floridian.

Fourth day: Go to Magic Kingdom again but regular ticket.

Fifth day: check out

The problem I have with this plan is I’d love for her to see Hollywood Studios decorated at night for the holidays. Where could I squeeze this in?

1) Maybe make Epcot a half day and hop to studios later (we will still be at the Boardwalk). Epcot is huge anyway and I’m concerned with so much walking.

2). Go to MK in the am of our last day and end at HS. (I don’t love this because the whole idea is to be close to the resort and I’d like to end at MK))

3) Bite the bullet and reserve studios for our arrival day.

4) Skip studios. It doesn’t have much for older people anyway and not worth the ticket.

WWYD?

 

[Selket]

I guess maybe it depends on your mom's age and mobility level to some extent. Hard to tell if mom is 70 and doing circles around everyone or has bad knees, etc? I personally have arthritic knees so I rent an ECV (off-site) to use in the parks and this helps. I couldn't do the parks without it.

I love DHS for atmosphere and music for Christmas. Something like a Christmas dessert party there (if they had one) would make a nice evening. Of course she may want to see Harmonious and it's amazing so I'd hate to see her miss it. I'd go to DHS the first night after check-in just for dinner and decorations - or dessert and decorations. I'd sleep in a bit before going to Epcot the next day just to relax. Have a wonderful trip!

 

[princesslover]

I guess maybe it depends on your mom's age and mobility level to some extent. Hard to tell if mom is 70 and doing circles around everyone or has bad knees, etc? I personally have arthritic knees so I rent an ECV (off-site) to use in the parks and this helps. I couldn't do the parks without it.

I love DHS for atmosphere and music for Christmas. Something like a Christmas dessert party there (if they had one) would make a nice evening. Of course she may want to see Harmonious and it's amazing so I'd hate to see her miss it. I'd go to DHS the first night after check-in just for dinner and decorations - or dessert and decorations. I'd sleep in a bit before going to Epcot the next day just to relax. Have a wonderful trip!

I think that is a good plan since we are so close to HS that first night. I’m just wondering if it will feel like too much and of course there’s always the concern with flight delays etc.

My Mom is 75 and in fairly good shape mostly. She’s walking a lot now to try to lose a little weight which I think would help with the walking.

Thank you!!

 

[loves to dive]

I agree to go to HS the night of check in if you can swing the ticket. It is beautiful at night at Christmas and I love the retro vibe they have going. Maybe ask her?

I'm 65 and have the knees and hips of a 65 year old who jogged too much at 50. I walk around all the parks, I park hop every day of every trip. I walk between Epcot and HS often. If she doesn't want to walk it, the boat between BW and HS might be fun for her. There is a stop at YC and Swan/Dolphin so it's not the fastest way to get there from BW but it's not bad either. Maybe make an ADR at HBD for the night you get there. Boat over to HS and eat and walk around the front part of the park where most of the decorations are.

 

[Selket]

I think that is a good plan since we are so close to HS that first night. I’m just wondering if it will feel like too much and of course there’s always the concern with flight delays etc.

My Mom is 75 and in fairly good shape mostly. She’s walking a lot now to try to lose a little weight which I think would help with the walking.

Thank you!!

I'm thinking it's not too much more $$ to add a 5th day to a park ticket you've already bought. If you have 4 day tickets and feel great on arrival day you could go on to DHS (taking the boat there is a great idea) and then go to guest services at some point before the last day and add that 5th day to your ticket so you have enough for the rest of the trip. That way you're not paying for 5 days and end up using 4.

Sounds like she may not need it but a rental push WC is always an option if it would help her get more out of the parks. If I'm having a good day with my knees I park the ECV and walk (I try to walk as much as I can). You can always park and not use it or just use it for the long distances (especially Epcot). A one day park rental WC is less $ than the ECV if you have someone to push. Possible option if you run into issues with her getting overly tired or sore so she can get the most out of the trip without making herself miserable.

 

[Disturbia]

I wouldn’t change resorts for such a short trip. Everything takes extra long with a scooter now (had to wait several buses). The monorail few mins before fireworks ended took us over an hour to get to the Polynesian (no scooter). Plus if you take a mid day break, during check in/check out you wouldn’t have a hotel 11 am - 4 pm.

I would stay at the Grand as you can take the monorail to Epcot. I would add another park day. We usually visit Epcot on check in day and have a few Genie+ And LLI$ (expected to return to 2 LLI$ Aug 8) passes booked for the evening.

Edit: If you do decide to switch resorts and relax in the am on the day of the change, I think your plan looks solid, except you can add Epcot on checkin day if you’re arriving early afternoon (just eat around the world, watch fireworks, book a LLI$) AND change Epcot day to HS (still at Boardwalk). HS is the most stressful park to deal with btw.

On the transition day you can enter MK around 4 pm for the party.

I would not wait to add the 5th day as park pass reservations are still required and I would expect them to run out for that week.

 

[princesslover]

I wouldn’t change resorts for such a short trip. Everything takes extra long with a scooter now (had to wait several buses). The monorail few mins before fireworks ended took us over an hour to get to the Polynesian. Plus if you take a mid day break, during check in/check out you wouldn’t have a hotel 11 am - 4 pm.

I would stay at the Grand as you can take the monorail to Epcot. I would add another park day. We usually visit Epcot on check in day and have a few Genie+ And LLI$ (expected to return to 2 LLI$ Aug 8) passes booked for the evening.

I appreciate the feedback but the resort plans are firm and it’s very difficult to change anyway, especially over Christmas. For us, I think the ease being closer to DHS and Epcot for part of our stay offsets the hassle of the move. My mom does not use a scooter. We may rent a wheelchair if she feels tired.

 

[Disturbia]

I appreciate the feedback but the resort plans are firm and it’s very difficult to change anyway, especially over Christmas. For us, I think the ease being closer to DHS and Epcot for part of our stay offsets the hassle of the move. My mom does not use a scooter. We may rent a wheelchair if she feels tired.

I edited my response. My mom is in her late 60s and can easily walk 12k steps, so a lot of seniors are still going strong. My dad has had to rent a scooter (even in his late 50s)

 

[princesslover]

I edited my response. My mom is in her late 60s and can easily walk 12k steps, so a lot of seniors are still going strong. My dad has had to rent a scooter (even in his late 50s)

That’s not a bad idea to reserve Epcot for the first night to eat dinner, expire a few countries and watch the fireworks. I usually don’t like to do a park on arrival day but dinner and fireworks sounds low key enough. Thanks!

 

[Disturbia]

I would also not do half park day at HS. We got one pass at 7 am for SDD and booked ROTR. At 10:30 am most passes were already going into the late afternoon (end of March 2022; Dec will be worse). Most likely magic morning would be extended to 1 hr during the holidays but transportation lines get extremely long.

 

[Disturbia]

Here is video from the swan (rope dropping HS)

 

[loves to dive]

The Epcot vs HS half day really depends on if your mom wants to ride rides or see shows or just see the park lit up for Christmas. HS isn't challenging for me since I don't ride most of the Star Wars rides, I've been known to not even step foot in the land during a week long trip. I also don't ride RNRC (it hurts my neck) and could easily skip Aliens and Toy Story Midway Mania in Toy Story Land and be fine. I love all the shows at HS, love to eat at Brown Derby, love the shopping and love it at night during the holidays. The shows don't run all night though so you would need to check the schedule if that is what she is interested in.

If she wants to ride rides, then HS isn't going to be an afternoon/evening park and Epcot might be. The rides at Epcot with the exception of the newest ones (Remy and GoG) are pretty easy to get on without having to pay for Genie+ or buying ILL. She may even want to skip part of the rides there. I don't do Mission Space there and rarely do Nemo but that's just because I prefer to walk around and look at the fish instead. I ride Test Track every now and again but it's not a must do. I've done Remy and again, not a must do. I have not ridden GoG and am not sure if I will when I'm there in Aug.

 

[princesslover]

The Epcot vs HS half day really depends on if your mom wants to ride rides or see shows or just see the park lit up for Christmas. HS isn't challenging for me since I don't ride most of the Star Wars rides, I've been known to not even step foot in the land during a week long trip. I also don't ride RNRC (it hurts my neck) and could easily skip Aliens and Toy Story Midway Mania in Toy Story Land and be fine. I love all the shows at HS, love to eat at Brown Derby, love the shopping and love it at night during the holidays. The shows don't run all night though so you would need to check the schedule if that is what she is interested in.

If she wants to ride rides, then HS isn't going to be an afternoon/evening park and Epcot might be. The rides at Epcot with the exception of the newest ones (Remy and GoG) are pretty easy to get on without having to pay for Genie+ or buying ILL. She may even want to skip part of the rides there. I don't do Mission Space there and rarely do Nemo but that's just because I prefer to walk around and look at the fish instead. I ride Test Track every now and again but it's not a must do. I've done Remy and again, not a must do. I have not ridden GoG and am not sure if I will when I'm there in Aug.

I agree with everything you said. A couple of important points:

My mom does not care one bit about Star Wars. We won’t even go over there.

She will not ride RNRC. Too risky with back issues.

She *might* do TOT. Twilight zone is from her era and she might be curious enough to try it. Maybe.

For shows, She would probably like Beauty and the beast. Probably not Indy. She doesn’t even know the characters from Frozen so not sure about that.

I can see her enjoying MMRR. Toy story mania would be fun and slinky too.

She would LOVE Prime Time.

So given that, we have one (two at best) shows. Four rides (TOT, slinky, TSM, and MMRR). Plus Prime Time and soaking up the atmosphere.

My best guess is we could do that in a 4:00-9:00 timeframe comfortably. Does that sound right?

I’m still not sure about Epcot in a half day. But I’ve been thinking that Epcot on arrival night might be good to just explore a couple of countries and watch the fireworks. Then do FW the next day in the morning. Take a break, and do DHS at night.

 

[Disturbia]

Fantasmic should be opening soon. They need to bring back more nighttime entertainment at HS

 

[scrappinginontario]

Fantasmic should be opening soon. They need to bring back more nighttime entertainment at HS

A reopening date for Fantasmic has not been announced. ‘Soon’ is hopeful until a date has been announced. People have been saying ‘soon’ for a number of months now.

 

[Lisa_lvspplmvr]

If you only have two day tickets , adding a hopper is about as much as a full day ticket. I would do HS the first night and keep everything as is . It’s a good plan .

 

[Selket]

That’s not a bad idea to reserve Epcot for the first night to eat dinner, expire a few countries and watch the fireworks. I usually don’t like to do a park on arrival day but dinner and fireworks sounds low key enough. Thanks!

I just wanted to add that I agree with @Disturbia that if you wanted to add that 5th day so you can go that evening to DHS or wherever not to wait since you need a park pass and may not be able to get in where you want to go. I keep forgetting about the darn park reservations lol! Gosh I dislike having to make park reservations.

You may be able to get all the DHS stuff mentioned in the 5 hour window if you're getting Genie+ and whatever else access you can pay for - plus depending on crowds, weather, and the usual. Whatever you decide I think you're gonna have a great time!

 

[scrappinginontario]

I agree with everything you said. A couple of important points:

My mom does not care one bit about Star Wars. We won’t even go over there.

She will not ride RNRC. Too risky with back issues.

She *might* do TOT. Twilight zone is from her era and she might be curious enough to try it. Maybe.

For shows, She would probably like Beauty and the beast. Probably not Indy. She doesn’t even know the characters from Frozen so not sure about that.

I can see her enjoying MMRR. Toy story mania would be fun and slinky too.

She would LOVE Prime Time.

So given that, we have one (two at best) shows. Four rides (TOT, slinky, TSM, and MMRR). Plus Prime Time and soaking up the atmosphere.

My best guess is we could do that in a 4:00-9:00 timeframe comfortably. Does that sound right?

I’m still not sure about Epcot in a half day. But I’ve been thinking that Epcot on arrival night might be good to just explore a couple of countries and watch the fireworks. Then do FW the next day in the morning. Take a break, and do DHS at night.

If she has back issues as you say, I would not recommend ToT. When it drops you go weightless then it goes back up and compresses you back into the seat. Cannot be good for someone who already has back issues.

 

[princesslover]

If you only have two day tickets , adding a hopper is about as much as a full day ticket. I would do HS the first night and keep everything as is . It’s a good plan .

Thank you!! I thought of that but the panicky/anxiety part of me says what if we arrive late? As it is our flight arrives at 1:30. We won’t get to the boardwalk until 3:00 at best. And I’d need to be stacking rides all day which will be difficult in flight.

With the Epcot plan the first night, we’d just be doing dinner and fireworks. Probably exploring countries near the IG. Maybe I will shoot for Remy Genie+ but that would be it. It just seems like a more laid back first night.

That’s my thinking anyway. It’s like a puzzle putting this together.

 

[princesslover]

If she has back issues as you say, I would not recommend ToT. When it drops you go weightless then it goes back up and compresses you back into the seat. Cannot be good for someone who already has back issues.

Interesting perspective. I’ve never considered TOT particularly problematic for back issues but it probably depends on the seriousness of the back problem. My mom doesn’t see a chiropractor or anything and she doesn’t have a diagnosis. Just typical issues from being older and somewhat sedentary. Like she will hurt after sitting for long periods of time.