Tour Guide Mike

[Disneylvr]

My parents are joining us for part of our birthday/spring break trip and that changes our itinerary a bit... We will have a GAC for our daughter with autism but my father has issues of his own; a very bad knee, some heart problems..... He will refuse to use a wheelchair or an ECV so we will just take it slow and try to avoid long lines as much as possible. Do you think there is any benefit in using Tour Guide Mike's services as a time saver for our family? Can his plans be specific for families with special needs?

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I'm going to come in a little harsh on this one.

I would suggest that you pick a place that he is familiar with at least a mile from his house. Ask him about walking there....and back.....three times. When he asks you if you are crazy let him know that is at least what most people do per day at WDW. Once around the World Showcase Lagoon Promenade is over 1¼ miles.

Then ask him the following questions: Here are the suggested answers to go with them.

1. Are you disabled (even temporarily)? Yes.

2. Do the people you are traveling with, such as your family, know you are disabled? Yes.

3. Do you expect to meet anyone you know during this trip who may not know you are disabled. Probably No!

4. Do you expect to meet a bunch of people who you will probably never meet again in your life? Probably yes!

5. Is there any reason at all that you should care what these people think about you? Absolutely No!!

6. Will using a wheelchair or ECV make for a better vacation for you and your family? Absolutely YES!

Let him know that his being in pain and uncomfortable is bad for the rest of the family, but that you do want him there.

 

[Selket]

I agree with CF about having your dad get a scooter - it is *so* much walking even for those without issues.

That being said, we have used TGM for many trips and with great success. His advice is easily adaptable to on-the-fly situations - it does not have to the touring plan where you run from here to there to there and if you get thrown off the track you can't get back on. His site takes time to learn and navigate and his offers advice that is very sound. He does have touring plans (go here and here and here) - but he explains in detail WHY you are doing that....so if you get off track you can pick back up cause you know the reasoning behind it all.

I would think it would help minimize wait times for the whole family - fewer people in line usually leads to better situations and more fun whether you have a GAC or not.

Good luck!

 

[Disneylvr]

Dad can walk (and he is still very physical for his age) it is more of a problem with stairs, steep hills and stuff and he does need to rest the knee frequently if he is having a flare up. Mom and dad bought a treadmill for Christmas and he is already using it and building up more distance each day. They live on 100 acres of land and he still hikes in the woods on days his knee isn't too painful. He just has to rest the knee sometimes. He would rather cancel the trip than rent an ECV. I know my dad and he is VERY stubborn. As for World Showcase, we will not walk all the way around. We would probably use the Friendship boats to get to other areas and minimize the walk. We will be pushing a special needs stroller so none of use will be moving very quickly.

As for the heart...he had bypass 20 years ago and 2 stints put in this past fall. He just isn't supposed to do strenuous work or be outside working in extreme heat or cold.

Believe me in saying, my husband and I are NOT Disney park commandos. We always stroll around at at leisurely pace so resting for dad will be no problem and probably more likely welcomed. I am more concerned that the crowds/lines will stress him but he will be prepared for this in advance as much as possible. DD doesn't much care for the crowded lines either and we usually have an alternate place to wait at some attractions.

I just thought maybe with all this information, Tour Guide Mike could come up with a nice leisurely itinerary for us to minimize walking and line times. But maybe not!

 

[mechurchlady]

You can rent an ECV in park if he gets tired and finally gives in. Get him a GAC for no stairs. He is set in his ways and it will be hard to make him cave in and get an ECV which would allow him to still be in control. It will take some persuasion and trickery but you might get him to compromise and do it at one park like AK. Should you do Tourguide Mike? If you can afford it then try it as who knows if it is your thing. The secret to doing any park or fair is to plan ahead and have 30 back up plans and like train tracks you just keep switching track until you get where you are going.

Check this site as he lists all the streetmosphere shows and other stuff that you might want to take in while he parks and rests.
http://pages.prodigy.net/stevesoares/

Good luck on your trip.

 

[SueM in MN]

Since you are using a stroller as a wheelchair, you will be using the accessible entrances for those few attractions that have stairs. So, I would not be too concerned about stairs in attractions.

My FIL had very bad knees and hips and would not rent an ECV for many years (stubborn, I guess). The first time he ever rented one, he said it was the first time in years that he ended a day in the park without pain. Without the ECV, he took it slow and did a lot of sitting on benches while others were doing things. One of the things we found helpful for my FIL was having him push DD's wheelchair sometime - it sort of acted as a support like a rolling walker, but it was acceptible to him since he saw it as 'helping us'. I'm not sure if he would be able to push your DD's stroller (either because of the size or whether she would let him), but it might be worth a try.

I think Tour Guide Mike would be helpful because it would point you toward the places that are less crowded. That would help with avoiding long waits, but would also make it easier and less time consuming to move around.

 

[zumbergc]

we like tour guide mike for figuring what day to goto what park. We've gone along with his suggestions and done well. Then a couple of times, made our own plans, etc, and saw the longer lines, more crowded parks.

Actually that is mostly what we use his site for. I've read most of the other stuff on these boards, and from knowledge of going lots of times.

 

[Selket]

TGM does not have you criss-crossing the park. He does sometimes recommend a "fast pass runner" - one person in your party to go get fastpasses elsewhere while the rest walk to another attraction - then you meet up at that attraction (the FP runner doesn't miss it).

TGM will give advice on avoiding all the long lines and as much of the crowd as possible. If you are going on spring break (done that the past 2 years ourselves) I very much recommend following his advice. The downside is that he generally recommends going early to the parks - and during peak times the parks open really, really early (like 7am) so you have to be up and running at 5am or so to get there.

If he can't get up and go that early he could meet up with you and do some of the less crowded attractions. I like that TGM lists ideas for attractions to see later. TGM also lists the best days to visit which park and that really helps cut down on the crowds.

I'll add that if you can skip some of the parades/fireworks in the MK and Epcot I've had very good luck with walking right on to rides or having little wait (like PoTC, Splash, BTMRR, Test Track, Mission Space, etc).