What's realistic for seniors regarding park time?

[Bete]

We are okay for our age, but we have a few medical issues like high blood pressure controlled by meds. One person is diabetic. We are somewhat active at home and we probably are out and about at least 3X/week. There are three of us.

How many hours as a senior are you in a park? Do you take a mid day break? Do you use a scooter?

With FP+ as a given how many rides/shows do you think we can accomplish in a day?

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

It would be hard for someone to tell you what YOU should/could do.

My parents are 69 and 73 and they go to the parks all day.
When with the younger generation they go at a fairly quick pace and do as much as the rest of us.
When alone they tend to go at a slower pace but still get many attractions in each day.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

We are okay for our age, but we have a few medical issues like high blood pressure controlled by meds. One person is diabetic. We are somewhat active at home and we probably are out and about at least 3X/week. There are three of us.

How many hours as a senior are you in a park? Do you take a mid day break? Do you use a scooter?

With FP+ as a given how many rides/shows do you think we can accomplish in a day?

I am 66 also with med controlled high blood pressure. i used a cane this trip but have used a scooter on other trips. I have gone all day with either a table serve lunch or dinner each day. have done a mixture of rides and shows plus character meets. have stayed for fireworks and night time shows. have done every thing I wanted to do but had to give up Space Mountain this summer cause I could not crawl out of ride but that was only ride that I wanted to do that I did not. I walk on the slow side so it takes longer to see the parks. hope this helps. Ps I was there with husband who is 74 who does not ride most trill rides by his choice not that he could not and our daughters and their families total of 14 people

 

[ToddyLu]

I am not a senior yet ( 48) but just took my MIL ( 74) in Oct and will be taking my parents ( Mom 73, Dad 79) this May. Typically we head out mid morning. This is mine and DH's vacation from work and we both are at jobs by 7:30 a.m. working full time. So they respect that and we sleep in a little. I only plan for our 3 FP. They have all been many times with us as DVC Members. Daddy doesn't go like he used to and I find him enjoying a good bench as we walk around the parks. This will be the first trip that my Mom has been disabled, so I expect an adventure since she is exceedingly proud and doesn't want to be seen in a WC ( I think after day 2 she will give it up and hop in the chair). They are still healthy and precious. So I say no rope drop, head out late morning, do FP, come back for nap and swim, back out for dinner and fireworks. It is vacation after all and that seems to be the best. We are usually ready after our FP, a show and meandering for a few minutes.

My Dad used a scooter in 2013 due to sciatica and his endurance was just not up to par...he loved it and realized right away that he needed it. It was a much better trip. Even though DH( 52) and I are younger we are a bit slower now and just don't worry about the plan as much. I use our FP then everyone just kinda does what they want. In Oct my DH met his Mom and Brother at Epcot and I stayed back at room by myself for a bit. It was nice.

My advice woul be to plan ADRs like you want, use your three FP and let everything else fall where it may. You are a lucky senior, stop and smell the roses if you want, then walk over to EE and ride baby ride

 

[Bete]

We've had many trips to Disney World, but it's been 6 years since our last one. FP+ will be new to us.

I'm familiar with the parks, but I just don't want to over schedule our day and then be disappointed we are not getting it done.

It's why I appreciate the input, here.

 

[The Hunchback]

We are seniors and average about 8 hours in the park with me on a scooter. If I walked, we would only get 4 hours. My suggestion would be to rent a scooter from an outside vendor and have the seniors share riding it. It will extend both of their endurance levels. The scooter will give them both a bit of a lift and can carry everybody's coat or water bottle.

 

[rwdavis2]

It is pretty difficult for total strangers to tell you what your limitations are.

 

[Bete]

I understand you can't judge our abilities. I'm looking for actual experiences from seniors who have done the parks and what they could handle.

 

[Twende]

Everyone is so very different that it is difficult to give you just one answer.

My parents were very active into their mid 90's. My dad would be leading the family to get to rope drop and always stayed for fireworks. He out walked most of us and we often had friends who traveled with us ask my dad to slow down. He was always a fast walker. We often kept my mom in a push wheelchair because she had a form of dementia that mostly affected her short term memory and she would get away from us. She too was a fast walker and could end up shopping in a store before we knew she was gone. They both would ride any attraction in the park except RNR and my mom would have done it but we showed her the elevated example cars that are just hanging there and then tell her the ride was broken down.

Now my DH is nearing 70 and is using a scooter for distances in the parks. Too many years in the military have destroyed his knees and we have not yet convinced him to get them fixed. He is much happier when he can walk when he feels like it instead of doing our usual 12 miles a day. When he is not in pain, he is not grumpy; thus I am happier!

We do try to schedule a long evening meal where we sit and relax. We also do a short sit down for a quick lunch.

It worked for us for years and now that my parents have passed that senior role has fallen on DH and I. We are doing a pretty good job of keeping up the standards! LOL!

 

[amberpi]

My folks are both 66 and avid tennis players despite dad having type 2 diabetes. They could almost out walk me and they'll match me glass for glass on wine. It truly depends on YOU. People much younger couldn't keep up, but dad does watch his carbs like a hawk and has to walk past ice cream quickly or with testing/testing/testing.

 

[Disneygal27]

When we took my grandparents in summer 2007, the biggest limitation was the heat. My grandma is relatively healthy, 69 at the time, but my grandpa had several health issues and a major health scare about 4 months prior (he was adamant we not change the trip, it was also his 70th bday trip). Still went out multiple times a week for church/shopping/meals before the trip. They did surprisingly well, we needed to break at the hotel in the afternoons due to heat, had at least sit down QS lunch if not full meals, but they went longer than we did some days. They skipped a lot of thrill rides (pop due to serious heart issues, and my grandma thought maelstrom was a thrill ride), but with FP and a little planning we saw everything in the week, I would say 5-8 rides/shows in a morning or afternoon depending on which park and wait times. Obviously YMMV, but as long as you respect your limits and don't overdo it I think you can be pretty productive. (Full disclosure, we did rope drop, no EMH though)

 

[Lothlórien]

We are okay for our age, but we have a few medical issues like high blood pressure controlled by meds. One person is diabetic. We are somewhat active at home and we probably are out and about at least 3X/week. There are three of us.

How many hours as a senior are you in a park? Do you take a mid day break? Do you use a scooter?

With FP+ as a given how many rides/shows do you think we can accomplish in a day?

I am not a senior, but my in-laws are. They both turn 70 this year.

When they do WDW or even DL, they get to the parks around 9:00 and they stay until about 1 or 2. They go back to the hotel for a rest for about 3 hours and then go back to the parks for the rest of the evening.

 

[Bete]

I think I'm going to plan rope drop and have an early table service dinner around 4 pm and leave the park. We will do an early QS lunch around 11 am.

We are going in December. We will do MVMCP one day and we will rest that day before going. That way we will be able to see MK fireworks. For Epcot, I think we will leave the park around 2-3pm after a QS lunch, take a rest, do a late dinner at Cape May Cafe, and then take the boat ride from Beach Club to International Gateway and see Illuminations.

 

[Lothlórien]

It is pretty difficult for total strangers to tell you what your limitations are.

Why comment at all?

 

[Accident]

I am not a senior however I dealt with a blood pressure issue/scare last year and it really put me on my back. Difficult to get into the park let alone around the park. Also my parents recently visited and they have more challenges and my father would also fit the description you gave as active, gets out a couple times a week, etc etc.. My mom fits the diabetic description although she's had some complications and surgery so things like driving and even being on feet more than a few minutes is no longer possible.

So from my parents perspective.

My mom was ushered around in a wheel chair and was ok overall. she wasn't looking to wake up early or stay out late but we got solid late morning through dinner time in the parks with her. She couldn't really do any rides she had to step into but did give it a try. We didn't miss anything she wanted or felt could do and my daughter and father did some rides on their own the same time period.. I'd say 90% we got a fastpass for and the rest we didnt' really need one. My mom had DAS but they only used it once in the whole trip and it really wasn't needed.

My father was feeling the burn and was ok as long as it was a straight line without repeating any section. It was too much walking to have to zig zag or circle back or come back later. We really wanted him to get an ecv or somethign to help him out but we was too strong willed. My mom on the other hand enjoyed the wheelchair and could have gone longer.

From my medical scare perspective.. ECV was the way to go. It worked so well my daughter would have to say "dad, i'm sore and tired and it's time to be done and we're not walking over there". I would have had to skip the parks entirely without it. nobody wants to need help but there is a time in everyones life where you do and disney. The average youngster doesn't do 7-15 miles per day of walknig. Disney is strenuous work and it's not like your going to the mall or food shopping. It is like walking 10 miles uphill in snow both directions just to get a horribly made taco. seriously consider if an ecv would enhance your trip (and rent one third party as it's much cheaper and you can use it for the couple miles per day you do at the resort too).

 

[goopysolelady]

DH and I spent 8 days at DW last December with only a couple of "grumpy days". He had knee surgery in April, 2016, and "tweaked" his knee getting out of the dune buggy at Haunted Mansion. That led to a couple of "not so good days" but overall a good trip. We'd eat breakfast around 8-8:30 and leave the resort between 9-9:30 returning between 10 and midnight. We also did the Christmas party after spending the morning at AK. He rested his knee about an hour at the resort before we left for the MK. We scheduled at least 1 table service meal between noon and 3 PM and made it a point to take our time for our other meal of the day. One day we spent 8 hours at Epcot before going to Ft. Wilderness for a "sleigh ride", buffet dinner at Trail's End and then "walked our meal off" touring the campsites on foot (some nicely decorated campsites and something you may want to consider for your trip). I scheduled 3 fastpasses a day at various times. We'd rest when we were tired, grabbing some coffee or a snack and people watched. It was a FUN trip...first time we'd gone as only a couple since 1978 and while we love going with our kids and granddaughters I must say we REALLY enjoyed it.

 

[LucyBC80]

I am not a senior, but my in-laws are. They both turn 70 this year.

When they do WDW or even DL, they get to the parks around 9:00 and they stay until about 1 or 2. They go back to the hotel for a rest for about 3 hours and then go back to the parks for the rest of the evening.

This is me and my mother. She's turning 75yo in November and since she hit her 70ies we take slow and do breaks throughout the day. We're always there for rope drop, or even earlier for EMH, stay till lunch around 2pm and then go back for the resort so she can rest/sleep. Then it's off to the park again where we stay until they kick us out so they can close the park.

We also do half days, either rope drop till the parade is over or arriving in time for the parade and staying till closing time.

Sometimes we do full days, up to 14 hours in the Parks butt those days are few in between and only because we'll have a day off the next day.

 

[Candlelady]

We are 66 and 63 and do all rides except for Space Mountain, it's too bumpy for me. We are up and out by 7:30am for a nice sit down breakfast or early entry. We go all day and log anywhere from 8 to 12 miles a day for a week. Our favorite rides are Rockin Rollercoaster and Everest. Last October we did 4 parks in a day with a 5 yr old and ended with Illuminations!
We don't like to be thought of as seniors. We only consider ourselves 'senior' for hotel and food discounts. The only thing we've slowed down is our drinking around the world. We don't think about being old and we keep active.

 

[maxiesmom]

I understand you can't judge our abilities. I'm looking for actual experiences from seniors who have done the parks and what they could handle.

I've gone with my dad a few times, the last time he was in his early 70s. He does great, as long as we don't go at a crazy fast pace. I also plan 2 sit down meals a day, as that is a great way to force a break and let him rest and recharge a bit. He also gets around well enough to know when to head back to the resort when he needs to. He has no problem hopping a bus by himself.

 

[Bete]

Love all the comments. Obviously, we will have to see how it goes and adjust if we need to do so.

I believe we will get scooters. We can always park them for a while if we want to walk more. Maybe, we will last longer in the parks that way.

We will alternate rides and shows. The shows will give us a rest.