Taking 81 Year Old to Disney

[Yngpreacherman]

My wife and I are planning on taking my Grandmother to Disney World. She is 81 years old in relatively good health and will be in a wheelchair (she can walk, but had problems walking very far because of her knees). My mother is trying to persuade us not to take her saying that there will be nothing for her to do and that she is not in good shape to go. My mother is simply trying to look out for her mother of course, but we are trying to reassure her that it will be fine. So, I have a couple of questions:

1. What all can an 81 year old woman do at Disney World?

2. Is there a way to rent any kind of electric wheelchairs? If so, how much do they run? Are they per day or per park?

3. Should we take her? My wife and I want to take her and my grandmother wants to go but we don't want her to be miserable or not enjoy her trip (which by the way, she would never tell us if she DIDN'T enjoy it because she never complains about anything---that is why my wife and I wanted to do something fun for her).

 

[Yngpreacherman]

bump

 

[Dan Murphy]

Well, I am almost 70, have some mobility issues, and have used an ECV (scooter) my past several visits.

I would recommend a scooter, rented from off site, rather than a wheelchair, assuming grandma can navigate with a scooter.

You might check the disABILITIES board here.

http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=20

This is a great thread.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=595713

If she is alert and somewhat mobile, lots to do. Many relaxed rides and all kinds of shows, etc. Lots of dining, fireworks, plenty to do.

 

[Skywise]

Take her. Show her Mickey's Philharmagic, watch some castle shows, eat at CRT, see the Main Street Electrical Parade, get tickets to the Wishes Dessert Party so she can have a decent view of the fireworks (have her ride Space Mountain! )

If you're not going to do alot of rides with her and are content on shopping, seeing shows, eating at the TS restaurants and touring the resorts, I'd say go for it!

 

[Chuckers]

This woman is/was 78...

First Roller Coaster Ride

There's a lot for your Grandmother to do if she wants to do it. Sometimes just being someplace new is worth the trip.

 

[dvcmom72]

I think it's wonderful that you want to take your grandmother to Disney! If SHE wants to go...take her! I just recently lost my last living grandparent, but they came to Disney with us a bunch of times when I was younger and they loved it. I wouldn't worry about filling up the days with things "to do"...just go slow and let her enjoy being there. Just curious, has she ever been?

 

[Yngpreacherman]

I think it's wonderful that you want to take your grandmother to Disney! If SHE wants to go...take her! I just recently lost my last living grandparent, but they came to Disney with us a bunch of times when I was younger and they loved it. I wouldn't worry about filling up the days with things "to do"...just go slow and let her enjoy being there. Just curious, has she ever been?

Yes, she has been but it was when she could walk (a lot better). She wants to go but she has a tendency to "over do" it so that is one reason my mother (her daughter) doesn't want her going. I told her we would make her ride in a wheel chair My mother responded half jokingly "well, just go ahead and finish her off"

 

[Dan Murphy]

What month are you planning? The heat/humidity of summer can be draining.

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

We took my eighty-year-old grandmother to Disney World in December of 2012. We were going to get a scooter, but we decided that since she hadn't ever used one before, it would just be safer to have her in a wheelchair. We had my two-year-old daughter with us, so that helped us know what all to take her on. If my daughter couldn't ride, neither should my grandmother (except for Soarin'). She rode just about everything at Magic Kingdom except for the mountains. She especially loved Carousel of Progress since she had seen it at Disneyland originally. She also especially enjoyed Peoplemover and Small World at Magic Kingdom.

At Epcot, she absolutely loved Soarin'. She also enjoyed Spaceship Earth and Livin' With the Land. She loved seeing all of the countries and most of the street performers. She did think Off Kilter was too loud, though. We ate at both Akershus and Garden Grill and she still tells everyone about how much she loved those restaurants, especially Akershus.

Hollywood Studios was one of her favorites. She LOVED Great Movie Ride and wanted to go on it multiple times. She was also very impressed by Journey of the Little Mermaid. She loved seeing Streets of America. She didn't go on Tower of Terror, but she wanted to go through the line and watch the video after she saw some things about it on the Disney planning DVD. She said she was glad she went through the line. She did not care for Sci Fi, though. There was a child crying in the restaurant and she was convinced that he was scared of the giant lizard on the television.

Animal Kingdom was a bit difficult. The ground is pretty rough and it was hard to push the wheelchair, but aside from that, she really enjoyed it, especially the safari. She did feel like a burden, though, during Pangani and Maharaja. She loved Festival of the Lion King.

 

[Yngpreacherman]

What month are you planning? The heat/humidity of summer can be draining.

The end of August

 

[texasroni75]

We took my mom in her 70s several times to WDW. She, too, had some mobility issues (tires easily, and some joint pain, etc.). She cannot use an ECV/scooter, though, because she is a panicker and technology phobic, and was convinced she'd run people over inadvertently - accidental wheelies and/or hauling a** towards the water at World Showcase! .

While we did not resort to using a wheelchair for her, we did slow things down considerably, asked her often if she needed breaks or to stop and sit for a bit, and she did head back to the resort with one of us a few times so she could rest. Sometimes, when it looked like she was getting rundown, but she insisted she was "fine", we'd have one of the kids say they were tired and then she would stop and sit.

She definitely enjoyed the parks, and it was worth every penny of her tickets to be able to bring her along with us. I think the only rides she didn't go on were the most extreme of the thrill rides. Heck, she even went on Dinosaur and I won't do that one .

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

If you do have any specific questions about our trip with my grandmother, just let me know.

 

[Yngpreacherman]

If you do have any specific questions about our trip with my grandmother, just let me know.

Thanks!

How much does scooter rentals cost at Disney?

And, even if she can't ride a certain ride can she still walk through the Q and then wait on us?

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

Thanks!

How much does scooter rentals cost at Disney?

And, even if she can't ride a certain ride can she still walk through the Q and then wait on us?

I don't know of a single ride that she wouldn't be able to walk through and then exit before riding. She might enjoy this, too. Some of the harsher rides (Tower of Terror, Expedition Everest) really do have fun lines.

To rent an ECV at Disney, it is $70 a day with $20 of that being refundable. You can rent one off site, though and have it at the resorts. It's often cheaper, as well. Depending on which resort you are staying at, you might want to look seriously at that.

 

[madelyn]

We took my parents to Disney World on a family reunion trip in 2009 when my Dad was 84 and my mom was 80. We went the week around Thanksgiving. We stayed at the Animal Kingdom area DVC and my Dad only wanted to go to the parks one day, on the day we went to Magic Kingdom. He and my mom spent some time sitting and enjoying the Magic Kingdom sights and sounds and rode Small World with me and my then 3 year old daughter and watched her ride the carousel. Then they were ready to go back to the hotel. There were 13 family members in all on the trip and each full day of the trip we assigned one of us to "be responsible" for helping entertain them so they wouldn't be a burden or slow everyone down. My Dad was happy spending most of the trip in the hotel watching TV or watching the animals from the balcony. My sister took my mom to Downtown Disney and ate lunch and shopped one day. Thanksgiving Day we ate a Thanksgiving meal together and had a private family photopass photography session. My mom made it to Epcot the day after Thanksgiving but she got too cold so my brother took her back early. 9 years earlier on another family trip we all took together, my parents were much more mobile and active and were able to go out to the parks with us each time we went. Now I don't think we would attempt to take them since neither one is willing to use a wheelchair or scooter.

 

[FeralCatRogue]

My wife and I are planning on taking my Grandmother to Disney World. She is 81 years old in relatively good health and will be in a wheelchair (she can walk, but had problems walking very far because of her knees). My mother is trying to persuade us not to take her saying that there will be nothing for her to do and that she is not in good shape to go. My mother is simply trying to look out for her mother of course, but we are trying to reassure her that it will be fine. So, I have a couple of questions:

1. What all can an 81 year old woman do at Disney World?

2. Is there a way to rent any kind of electric wheelchairs? If so, how much do they run? Are they per day or per park?

3. Should we take her? My wife and I want to take her and my grandmother wants to go but we don't want her to be miserable or not enjoy her trip (which by the way, she would never tell us if she DIDN'T enjoy it because she never complains about anything---that is why my wife and I wanted to do something fun for her).

First off its awesome there regardless of age, I went with my grandparents when my grandpa was in his 80s and my gramma her mid 70s and they had a ball.

1. Tons of things, we went to all the parks, we sat in the shows, enjoyed some of the rides, just browsed shops, there didn't seem to be anything they wished to do that they couldn.t

2. We rented ECV for my grandfather for entire time via a company, and at door of park rented one for my grandmother a few days. Was easy to operate and fun, was great the pics of em in them.

3. I'd say if she wants to go and theres nothing medically wrong to make a trip bad then do it. There's really tons there to do, I'm sure this'll get posted may have already, but theres lots of info here about ecv's and the park:
http://allears.net/pl/ecv_faq.htm

Regardless, I hope you all enjoy your trip.

 

[shocker]

I laughed when I saw the OP title. My mother (now 65) brought us up inside theme parks. She used to point at elderly visitors and tell her children 'do NOT bring this Grandma to the parks with you' so I know exactly her wishes.

 

[Itinkso]

The end of August

Do you live in a location that is hot and humid? Would your grandmother be able to tolerate that type of weather? Today it is 94 degrees here in Central California with less than 20% humidity ... there is no way I would allow my adult children to take my 81 year-old mother outside let alone to WDW.

Because your grandmother doesn't complain, you may not know when she is getting dehydrated or not feeing well due to the heat. If your plans were for anytime between November - February, I would say go for it. But for an August trip, I do agree with your mother.

 

[disnut8]

My wife and I are planning on taking my Grandmother to Disney World. She is 81 years old in relatively good health and will be in a wheelchair (she can walk, but had problems walking very far because of her knees). My mother is trying to persuade us not to take her saying that there will be nothing for her to do and that she is not in good shape to go. My mother is simply trying to look out for her mother of course, but we are trying to reassure her that it will be fine. So, I have a couple of questions:

1. What all can an 81 year old woman do at Disney World?

2. Is there a way to rent any kind of electric wheelchairs? If so, how much do they run? Are they per day or per park?

3. Should we take her? My wife and I want to take her and my grandmother wants to go but we don't want her to be miserable or not enjoy her trip (which by the way, she would never tell us if she DIDN'T enjoy it because she never complains about anything---that is why my wife and I wanted to do something fun for her).

My dad was 83 years old the last time he went to Disney World. He was in a wheelchair with a disease (MSA) that left him unable to talk and in pretty bad shape. He had a blast.

The time before that, he was still in a wheelchair but the MSA hadn't been diagnosed yet and we all were at a family reunion. We had a total of ten people and my grandson (my dad's great-grandson) was the youngest at the age of five. My dad was 81. My dad did everything he could do and we all assisted him in and out of his wheelchair but the stubborn old coot just wanted to do things on his own most of the time so we watched him take his time boarding and unboarding many attractions. Watching him seeing his great-grandkids enjoying the same things at Disney World as he was, well, it doesn't get any better than that. And if he couldn't do something (coasters were not going to happen), he was content waiting for others because he was, *gasp*, with his family.

Any 81 year old who can get in and out of a wheelchair will have a fantastic time at Disney World. Even when my dad couldn't talk, he could communicate with my stepmother so she knew what he wanted to do (they had a hand gesture thing going). My stepmother said he enjoyed those later trips so much.

So, even though my father was in a lot worse shape than your grandmother, he had enjoyable trips. Age is just a number. It's not considered a way to live your life.

 

[ZoZo]

Do you live in a location that is hot and humid? Would your grandmother be able to tolerate that type of weather? Today it is 94 degrees here in Central California with less than 20% humidity ... there is no way I would allow my adult children to take my 81 year-old mother outside let alone to WDW.

Because your grandmother doesn't complain, you may not know when she is getting dehydrated or not feeing well due to the heat. If your plans were for anytime between November - February, I would say go for it. But for an August trip, I do agree with your mother.

I agree with this - any chance you could take her during a cooler time of year? The heat and humidity of August can be hard for lots of folks to handle if they're not used to it - and I think that would be even harder for a person in her 80s.