traveling with seniors

[strawboss]

Travelbug:

I sent you a private message on some other tips for traveling with senior citizens. Hope it's helpful!

 

[travelbug]

Extremely helpful! Thanks so much for everything!

 

[Cmbar]

two senior over 82. Any suggestions would be helpful.

Thanks!!

You can Pm if you like.

 

[strawboss]

Are they mobile? Will they be needing wheelchairs, or are they in pretty good shape? Keep in mind that WDW is a LOT of walking. I took my 78 m-i-l in Dec. 2003, and we took her around in a wheelchair. That kept her from getting too tired out and she got to see everything that we saw, too.

There's plenty of rides and shows for them to enjoy without doing the "thrill" rides. The landscaping and architecture and Disney details will also keep them interested and amused.

I'll let you know more as I get more details from you. They will have an absolute blast, esp. if they are young at heart.

 

[SueM in MN]

If you are interested in wheelchairs or ecvs (power scooters), follow the link in my signature to the disABILITIES Board. There is a FAQ at the top of the board that has wheelchair info.
This website has some good hints about traveling with seniors.

 

[Cmbar]

To answer some of your questions. These are my DH grandparents and they are in their mid eighties. They are definitely young at heart and belong to a travel club and go lots of places. That being said they are getting frail. I mentioned a wheelchair and my Grandfather In Law didn't like that too much. Doesn't want to slow anybody down. So I am not sure how successful I will be to get them in one.

We have already planned out a trip that is slower with a few rest days. Just trying to find out what kinds of things Disney has that would interest them. Grandfather in law is a WWII vet and I believe he would like to see the flag ceremony at MK so I am going to try and plan that.

Any other suggestions?

 

[strawboss]

Cmbar:

I sent you some private messages about my experiences. However, I will say that the wheelchair was such a huge help, was easy to navigate (we went on Dec. 7 or so, not very busy time for the park), and I was amazed out how good it was to have it- we were able to pretty much do the parks as we usually do and ride the rides/see the shows that would interest her in the 9 am to 2 or 3 pm window of time. We rented a wheelchair from a medical supply place that delivered it to our resort the day we got there, and it was actually cheaper than renting one in the park, plus the park sometimes runs out of them, and when you leave the park, you leave the wheelchair there, too.



There's no way my 78 m-i-l would have even made it to the front of the park without the wheelchair, and she balked about riding around in a wheelchair, at first.

Unless the GP's are walking 2 or 3 miles per day, they may get really tired really fast, and that will really slow everybody down if they have to go back to the room before they are really ready.

I hope no seniors take any offense to this, as I'm sure there are plenty in better shape than me-- a 40 something with no consistent exercise program other than walking my frisky dogs!

But, even for me, Disney is a workout, much more so than it used to be!