What to do with mom?

[Jenkins]

Hi all! So...my boyfriend (35) and I (28) are planning on taking my mom (56) to Florida with us this year on vacation. It's my first trip planning EVERYTHING myself and as you all know - stressful! Tentative plans are a trip around the middle of April (between the 12th and 25th) staying at either HRH or RPR for 2 nights/3 days with park to park tickets. Rest of the week will be spent in the great beyond of FL!

I'm trying to find something to do for my mom's birthday while we are at the parks, though. She hasn't had a break in so long and I want to spend a lot of quality time with her. Any fun things for daughter-mother to do? Neat stuff that hotels can do for bdays?

She's not big on heights so I am going to make sure that I balance out rides I want to go on with something she would enjoy while we are at the parks. Will she be able to enter lines with us and not ride? Also, she is claustrophobic. Any areas that might trigger a panic attack with her that aren't as obvious? She was fine with all the old rides (Jaws, King Kong, etc) but we haven't been since '99 so I'm not sure about the Harry Potter areas and newer rides.


Any tips, tricks or opinions you can share would be appreciated!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

What about getting her an interactive wand? Then she could enjoy casting spells in Diagon Alley, even if the some of the other park rides are not her thing.

 

[Go Vols]

She can walk through any queue with you and not ride. No claustrophobic rides that I can think of. You could take her to Mandara spa for a treatment or a nice dinner at Tchoup Tchoup or Mama Della's.

 

[macraven]

get her a birthday button at guest services.
have her wear it in the parks.

 

[kelleybean]

Hi all! So...my boyfriend (35) and I (28) are planning on taking my mom (56) to Florida with us this year on vacation. It's my first trip planning EVERYTHING myself and as you all know - stressful! Tentative plans are a trip around the middle of April (between the 12th and 25th) staying at either HRH or RPR for 2 nights/3 days with park to park tickets. Rest of the week will be spent in the great beyond of FL!

I'm trying to find something to do for my mom's birthday while we are at the parks, though. She hasn't had a break in so long and I want to spend a lot of quality time with her. Any fun things for daughter-mother to do? Neat stuff that hotels can do for bdays?

She's not big on heights so I am going to make sure that I balance out rides I want to go on with something she would enjoy while we are at the parks. Will she be able to enter lines with us and not ride? Also, she is claustrophobic. Any areas that might trigger a panic attack with her that aren't as obvious? She was fine with all the old rides (Jaws, King Kong, etc) but we haven't been since '99 so I'm not sure about the Harry Potter areas and newer rides.


Any tips, tricks or opinions you can share would be appreciated!

If she's familiar with the movies, she might like Ollivanders (go to the one in Diagon Alley, not Islands of Adventure. Wait much shorter). My mom also enjoyed the trolley ride in Islands of Adventure. My mom also really enjoyed getting a Butterbeer. It's not my favorite because it takes so long but she might like Disaster at Universal. She also might like the queue in Forbidden Journey even if she doesn't ride (no problem exiting before the ride if she just wants to wait for you). It's incredibly detailed. They also have "castle tour" where you can go in a separate line that just looks at the queue, doesn't feed into the line of riders. My other thought is the Celestina Warbeck (all the shows really) on the stage in Diagon Alley.

 

[christophfam]

Was at Universal with my older sisters (around your mom's age) and my daughter last November. Things my sisters enjoyed --

Make sure to plan some pool time. After running around the parks, there is nothing better than sitting by the pool and being waited on (drinks/food). I've been to both hotels you're looking at and if your mom likes tropical she'll love the RPR pool. It's my favorite!!

Sitting in the Orchid Lounge in the evenings after the parks close. Great place to unwind and enjoy a drink or dessert.

Going to the sauna/whirlpool at the gym.

Just being together in the parks!!

 

[Jenkins]

Thank you all for the suggestions! I completely forgot about the spa (she's never been to one) and am glad to hear that she can walk through the lines with us on the rides. Now if only I could decide on a hotel.

 

[Zim]

Unless she is a huge music fanatic, she would probably enjoy RPR just fine. HRH hotel has that 'treat you like a star' feel to it - more fancy and the staff just seems more attentive, IMHO. But RPR is just fine and more relaxing for it's fauna and shade - not to mention significantly less than HRH.

A nice dinner or lunch for her birthday would be at Mythos. We really enjoy it, and for a park eatery it feel tres fancy!

 

[clsteve]

If she's a high claustrophobic, be careful of the indoor pre-show queue/wait area for Poseidon, parts of the FJ and Gringott's queues (especially if either ride goes down for awhile) since they've no windows, are dark and parts are dungeon or cave-like, and perhaps the Gringotts elevator. The single rider lines skip much or these areas, so if she wants to ride she can avoid them...

 

[Jenkins]

Thanks for the heads up, clSteve. I can empathize with the claustrophobia, but sometimes it's hard for me to know her triggers. I'll let her know ahead of time about those areas so she can make the judgement call. If you are in line on those rides and something happens and you need to get out is there any place to go? Or do you have to backtrack down the lines? I would assume they have emergency exits but I'm not sure. Also, are you packed in like sardines or do you have room to breathe in those lines?

 

[clsteve]

There are exits. For the Poseidon Show, they do the normal- "file all the way in..." that packs it tight. If you want to do the show, I would suggest getting there right before the show time and hanging in the back so as not to get crowded in. There's an explanation of it in my TR which is the third link in my sig, below. (My wife's a bit claustrophobic). Either the first or second installment, I think......

Both FJ and Gringotts are such amazing rides it would be a shame to miss them. It might make sense to do the Castle Tour and the tour of the Gringott's Lobby (both are amazing) then do the ride in the single rider line which skips the parts of the queues that might impact her.

 

[Jenkins]

You've been super helpful, thank you so much! I have so much less to worry about now.

 

[clsteve]

I'll bet she has the time of her life. You've all the bases covered

Another thing that might be fun and special - think about one of the caricatures of the 2 (or 3) of you. They're really fun and not expensive , at all. We had a good time with it last year and it's a nice keepsake. I went back and looked and attached the link.....

http://www.disboards.com/threads/the-darksides-not-so-dark-after-all.3226669/page-6

 

[Jenkins]

I saw that in the trip report and thought it looked awesome. She's been hinting for a while now that she needs more stuff for her walls.

Since I have you in here mind if I ask a few other questions? How much for you usually plan to spend a day on food/extras/souvenirs? My mom and I prefer to graze throughout the day on small items then have one large meal at dinnertime. Also, would you do the three days I have planned for Universal at the beginning, middle or end of the trip? It almost makes more sense for us to start off at UO then head elsewhere but I didn't know if I would be crazy to do that. Don't want to be too tired to enjoy the beach, you know?

 

[clsteve]

What we spend per day is a tough one to use as a comparison since our party's so different than yours. However, we like to do similar - light breakfast in the room, apps's at the pool, and a bigger dinner. At CityWalk, the new places (which we enjoyed, greatly) ran us about $ 100 - 125.00 for 4 people. That's apps and main course, split desserts and one or 2 adult bevs for Mom and Dad. Plus, we got the AP discount

As far as when to go in your trip - I check the calendar and the weekends are Grad Bash and the first part of your trip is Mardi Gras...... So, you might want to consider that 19th to the 24th period. Much lighter crowds so you can really maximize your 3 days with your Mom (and I'll bet the prices at RPH are way better, too)......