Trip Advice Needed - 1st time, experiences, and more

[sponica]

Any chance you can change your trip and keep your heat

I don't know why it manifests for us, it's definitely not hot and dry in NH .

 

[ParrotBill]

Good advice given on parks and tickets.
As for a nice dinner, The menus of Spice Road and Boma are quite different! You can at least view menus of restaurants that are not buffets, but the menu shown for Boma is just a short list of possible items. There is no way to know ahead. I am a fan of Boma, because the foods are interesting and different than the usual.

However, consider the time you will lose leaving a park and driving around. If you couple it with Animal Kingdom and go at the end of the park day that works best.

In EPCOT, I would be tempted to eat from 3-4 Outdoor Kitchens for dinner rather than taking the 1-2 hours for a sit down meal - plus you are ready to find a spot for the show at 9.

 

[LuvMyEAR]

First of all, I think it is very special that you are taking this trip with your 75 yr old aunt! My mother had her first and only visit to WDW at 89, and she loved it! At 92, she got to visit Disneyland. She had great fun driving an ECV in WDW (first time for one of those, too!) but was more comfortable in a wheelchair for the DL trip.

Late April is generally very warm. I hope you luck out and humidity is not a factor. The heat is quite tolerable without the oppressive humidity.

Your schedule is ambitious, so really stick to your guns about taking your time. It only take one day of pushing yourselves too hard to ruin the remainder of your trip. It would be nice to be able to alternate park days with resort days. But, with no built-in recovery time, make use of the months ahead to see if there are any must-do experiences for either of you. Don’t make it a long list, but doing one or two priorities each day can be very satisfying. Different things resonate with different people, and your aunt may be harbouring a deep wish to ride the Jungle Cruise above all since watching Walt talk about it in her childhood. I confess, I wanted to ride Dumbo and Peter Pan more than anything! I was 40 at the time.

One other piece of advice I can offer is to find a way to inject some Disney magic into these months before your trip. Anticipation is something to be savoured and it is best when shared. If logistics permit, get together with your aunt from time to time. Watch a classic or new Disney movie, with some Disney-fied snacks. Get together for a meal and try a Disney recipe from a restaurant you’ve enjoyed or one you’d like to try. Share a countdown app and start (or end) conversations with the number of days until your trip. Set aside some dates for planning chats. There are sooo many ways brighten the months ahead with this kind of effort. We do it for every trip and find it adds far more enjoyment to our vacation that we could possibly cram into the actual days!

 

[DisPhanatic]

First of all, I think it is very special that you are taking this trip with your 75 yr old aunt! My mother had her first and only visit to WDW at 89, and she loved it! At 92, she got to visit Disneyland. She had great fun driving an ECV in WDW (first time for one of those, too!) but was more comfortable in a wheelchair for the DL trip.

Late April is generally very warm. I hope you luck out and humidity is not a factor. The heat is quite tolerable without the oppressive humidity.

Your schedule is ambitious, so really stick to your guns about taking your time. It only take one day of pushing yourselves too hard to ruin the remainder of your trip. It would be nice to be able to alternate park days with resort days. But, with no built-in recovery time, make use of the months ahead to see if there are any must-do experiences for either of you. Don’t make it a long list, but doing one or two priorities each day can be very satisfying. Different things resonate with different people, and your aunt may be harbouring a deep wish to ride the Jungle Cruise above all since watching Walt talk about it in her childhood. I confess, I wanted to ride Dumbo and Peter Pan more than anything! I was 40 at the time.

One other piece of advice I can offer is to find a way to inject some Disney magic into these months before your trip. Anticipation is something to be savoured and it is best when shared. If logistics permit, get together with your aunt from time to time. Watch a classic or new Disney movie, with some Disney-fied snacks. Get together for a meal and try a Disney recipe from a restaurant you’ve enjoyed or one you’d like to try. Share a countdown app and start (or end) conversations with the number of days until your trip. Set aside some dates for planning chats. There are sooo many ways brighten the months ahead with this kind of effort. We do it for every trip and find it adds far more enjoyment to our vacation that we could possibly cram into the actual days!

I love this advice and the warm thoughts. My aunt lives on the west coast and I am east coast. We did order her a magic band that she picked out and I love the idea of picking a few things. I am generally a ride task master and know I need to change my tune. She wants the experience and I am excited to have a different trip.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I love this advice and the warm thoughts. My aunt lives on the west coast and I am east coast. We did order her a magic band that she picked out and I love the idea of picking a few things. I am generally a ride task master and know I need to change my tune. She wants the experience and I am excited to have a different trip.

This will be such a wonderful trip for you and your aunt! You're wise to go in with a completely different mind set.

In 2019 we visited with my 'parents' (long story ) who at the time were both in their late 70's. We'd visited before but this time it was different as they tired more easily (even though both had scooters) and we just took the parks at their pace and did what they wanted. It was wonderful!! So many great memories created! We did go early but were also done most days by about 2:00. That was enough for them and they were happy to return to the resort, rest, swim and go to Disney Springs. I'm glad I prepared in advance to know it would be a different trip as like you we tend to do the parks hard and ride as much as we can each day. This trip we averaged 3-4 rides a day and it was perfect!