Things for Grandparents to do in Animal Kingdom

[FSU Girl]

My grandparent trip with my toddler is happening finally! My parents (the grandparents) are going to get to animal kingdom first thing in the morning and we are going to drive up so will meet them around noon depending on traffic. They want to wait to do rides for when we get there. What you recommend they do for the few hours before we get there? It’s been over a decade that they were there last time.

 

[Pooh2]

They can walk the animal trails, do some shows and take photos.
Have a wonderful time!

 

[Anthony1971]

This time of year should be perfect weather (most days) to just walk around find a bench facing somewhere and look for 20 minutes or more. The whole park is actually an attraction there are animals and birds everywhere. I did this years ago by accident or better did intend on but ended passing the entire day when we went in cooler weather and it turned out to be one of the most memorable days we have had at Disney.

 

[DL1WDW2]

Do you think they would like to take the Disney bus from AK to relax in the AK Lodge Lobby Hotel ? I think they would be exhausted wandering around AK waiting for you to arrive . I think there might be a relaxing patio area outside of the RainForest Restaurant . The only other place to sit and wait would be the Starbucks .
I am confused …Why explore the park and then repeat with their grandchild when you finally arrive?

 

[FSU Girl]

They can walk the animal trails, do some shows and take photos.
Have a wonderful time!

Thank you!

 

[FSU Girl]

This time of year should be perfect weather (most days) to just walk around find a bench facing somewhere and look for 20 minutes or more. The whole park is actually an attraction there are animals and birds everywhere. I did this years ago by accident or better did intend on but ended passing the entire day when we went in cooler weather and it turned out to be one of the most memorable days we have had at Disney.

The high tomorrow is 86 so I’m not sure we’ll get to enjoy nice cold weather until Sunday lol. But I think they’ll like walking to look at the animals

 

[FSU Girl]

Do you think they would like to take the Disney bus from AK to relax in the AK Lodge Lobby Hotel ? I think they would be exhausted wandering around AK waiting for you to arrive . I think there might be a relaxing patio area outside of the RainForest Restaurant . The only other place to sit and wait would be the Starbucks .
I am confused …Why explore the park and then repeat with their grandchild when you finally arrive?

We’ll do different things when we get there. Go on the rides and meet characters. They want to enjoy the parks since they haven’t been in so long. And my 2 year old isn’t going to stay a full day in a park anyway so won’t be until close that we are there.

 

[loves to dive]

Definitely walk the trails, do the trail around the Tree of Life, watch a show or two. Find a spot and sit and watch the animals at that spot. There are little pockets of animals just about everywhere.

 

[ironz]

I think the big question is, how active are your parents?? I don't have the impression that you are very old, with a toddler, so your parents might not be super old? I'm a grandma to 3 toddlers and if I had some time in AK, I'd be on FOP, Everest, Dinosaur, and any other food or attractions that the toddler *wouldn't* be doing later when you arrive.
Just finding it funny that people are automatically equating grandparent with low activity. But, yeah, if they want a relaxed morning, there are plenty of animals and walk-throughs they could do.

 

[FSU Girl]

I think the big question is, how active are your parents?? I don't have the impression that you are very old, with a toddler, so your parents might not be super old? I'm a grandma to 3 toddlers and if I had some time in AK, I'd be on FOP, Everest, Dinosaur, and any other food or attractions that the toddler *wouldn't* be doing later when you arrive.
Just finding it funny that people are automatically equating grandparent with low activity. But, yeah, if they want a relaxed morning, there are plenty of animals and walk-throughs they could do.

They are really fit, walk 20 miles a day for fun on a normal basis and I don’t even like doing that lol. I’m not sure if they’d be ok with rollercoasters they haven’t been on one in decades, FOP they would probably like

 

[scrappinginontario]

lol! I’m guessing your parents may be the age I was when I became a parent. there is a fun play area in Dinoland with a toddler friendly area. There is also the Boneyard where your child can dig for dinosaur bones. I agree with trails and shows. Sounds like a wonderful day!!

 

[glocon]

Definitely shows!
And Flight of Passage!
And maybe hang at Nomad Lounge .
And do It’s Tough to be a Bug since that would probably scare a toddler.

 

[parasail_of_congress]

They are really fit, walk 20 miles a day for fun on a normal basis and I don’t even like doing that lol. I’m not sure if they’d be ok with rollercoasters they haven’t been on one in decades, FOP they would probably like

Wait, they walk 20 miles a day on a normal basis? Or should that read 20 miles a week? If the former, I'm sure they could handle pretty much anything they wanted to do in the parks and still have plenty of energy when you get there.

 

[Miffy]

Wouldn't it be more advantageous if, for example, they did FoP before you got there? Since your 2-year-old can't ride. This way they could watch the 2-year-old while you did FoP. Or maybe I've missed something.

Sure, there's plenty of walking-around stuff to do at DAK--it's my favorite park--but I don't know how I'd feel about being there for 4 hours and not even going on the safari once. Well, I'd be disappointed.

They really walk 20 miles a day? That's amazing. In that case, WDW will be nothing to them. I don't think I've ever clocked 20 miles at WDW even with park hopping.

 

[persnickity]

Wouldn't it be more advantageous if, for example, they did FoP before you got there? Since your 2-year-old can't ride. This way they could watch the 2-year-old while you did FoP. Or maybe I've missed something.

Sure, there's plenty of walking-around stuff to do at DAK--it's my favorite park--but I don't know how I'd feel about being there for 4 hours and not even going on the safari once. Well, I'd be disappointed.

They really walk 20 miles a day? That's amazing. In that case, WDW will be nothing to them. I don't think I've ever clocked 20 miles at WDW even with park hopping.

Agree, and I would never turn down the opportunity to do the Safari twice!

Since toddlers don't have a ton of stamina, you might decide on one trail you'd like to try out, and they can do one of the ones you don't plan to do, Safari, FoP, visit Nomad Lounge and be ready to explore more as a family when you get there.

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

I was going to recommend hitting Kilimanjaro safaris at least once as well. It’s a somewhat different ride every time (and I’d assume that the animals are more active first thing in the day—can’t say for sure since I’ve never made it to AK anywhere near open!). The walking trails are beautiful. I watched a playful tamarin for 30m the last time I was there (they are on the main path through the park). There’s also talented street performers from many cultures performing through the day.

If you also want to do some of the bigger rides (and they don’t want to do them more than once) they should wait until you get there and then you can set up rider switch so you only have to wait in line once.

 

[jo-jo]

Wouldn't it be more advantageous if, for example, they did FoP before you got there? Since your 2-year-old can't ride. This way they could watch the 2-year-old while you did FoP. Or maybe I've missed something.

Sure, there's plenty of walking-around stuff to do at DAK--it's my favorite park--but I don't know how I'd feel about being there for 4 hours and not even going on the safari once. Well, I'd be disappointed.

They really walk 20 miles a day? That's amazing. In that case, WDW will be nothing to them. I don't think I've ever clocked 20 miles at WDW even with park hopping.

Great idea. Maybe grandparents can take child on Navi while waiting . Maybe 5 times over, while waiting.

 

[FSU Girl]

Thank you everyone for the suggestions! My parents really do walk 20 miles a day, they love it lol. All the walking at Disney is definitely a breeze for them. We ended up having a great time. They did all the walking trails and went over on the rafiki train and spent time over there. We ended up getting there earlier than expected which was nice and did a few rides. In hindsight I should have got them FOP I was just worried since they can’t handle intense rides and I wasn’t sure if the 3D and being squeezed into the seat would be ok for them. But it probably would have been fine. Will need to go again lol

 

[jo-jo]

Curious, how long does it take your parents to walk 20 miles a day? Even at 4 miles an hour, that’s 5 hours walking. Not sure what is “ normal” walking speed.

 

[FSU Girl]

Curious, how long does it take your parents to walk 20 miles a day? Even at 4 miles an hour, that’s 5 hours walking. Not sure what is “ normal” walking speed.

They’re retired so they do a lot of traveling and like walking cities in Europe and stuff like that. I’m not really sure I know they prefer a faster pace. I don’t do that kind of walking except at Disney lol