What's realistic for seniors regarding park time?

[Betty Rohrer]

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.

esp if anyone has knee problems I would bring a folding cane beside the scooter. this helped me with getting in and out of rides

 

[evilqueenmindy]

when we used to take my mom, who is pretty active but has hip issues, we knew early in the day was the best time for her. We would go to the parks early, she would usually stay with us until after lunch, and go back to the room for a nap. Then she'd be rested for dinner out or a trip back for fireworks.
Also, when she was with us, I'd never plan 2 park days in a row, I'd do a pool/resort day in between.

 

[Hisgirl]

I took my 83-yr old parents for their very first visit. We stayed in a monorail resort so that helped and I made them both get an electric cart. They are average size and walked at the gym 3x per week so they balked, but I made them. Every day by about 2 they were spent, and went back to rest. They really did great!
I found they weren't as interested in the MK as they weren't interested in anything scary or thrill rides. Epcot was their favorite with the slower pace and visuals.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Nowadays, at 66 and almost 65, about 6 hours is our limit. But that's more about time we want to spend at the parks vs. at the resort. We've been over 30 times over the years, and ridden virtually every ride many times. I use a scooter but DH doesn't-actually he ran the Dopey Challenge last year over Marathon weekend and signed up for the half marathon this year, but even though we have far different levels of "fitness", the limit's about the same for both of us. We're rarely in the parks after dark, but that's more about eye sight in the dark than being tired. So we never take a mid-day break, just back by 6:00 or so, depending on the season and sunset.

 

[disneyseniors]

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.

Hi Bete: My husband and I are seniors and go to WDW every year. We find we are slowing down a bit this year (we're leaving in just 2 days, and my husband will use a scooter which we will rent at the park. Why rent at the park? He doesn't want to inconvenience anyone having to wait for him to get on a bus, etc. He says he might not need one every day, so that is why we will rent at the parks. He had back surgery and has to take it a little slower, even though he is completely healed at this time. I have fibromyalgia and arthritis, and recurring plantar fasciitis. Hopefully, I will be able to forego a wheelchair or scooter.
As far as our fast passes: we pick a park and plug in 3 in the am at each park. We don't use them every day, but they are there if needed. We eat our main meal at noon, then go back to our resort and rest up. Then we plan where we want to go and what we want to do, with no fast passes set up. We have park hoppers so we can go eat at one park, then visit another. We wait in line in the pm if we want to go to an attraction. No problems with waiting, contrary to popular belief
So, the fp's are just a guide line if we want to use them. I hope this helps you.

 

[rwdavis2]

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.

What I meant to say was, what do you think your limitations are? Age is only a small part. At 60 I can spend all day in the parks. I too have high BP, OK with meds so that's irrelevant.

 

[Nancyg56]

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 60 and my DH is 64. DH is in excellent health when it comes to stamina, but has HBP. I am not as active as he is. We can last all day in the park and generally can run circles around some of our younger family members.

WE usually get to the parks early on most days, stay until late afternoon, head back to theresort for a rest or swim, shower and back out for the evening. Other days we go later to a park and will stay until close.

WE do not try to do it all, and tend to mosey around. I like to see all the details, poke around the shops, as well as the attractions.

I am not sure how anyone can guesstimate what you will accomplish. WE have no idea what time of year you wil be going, what parks you will choose, if you like shows, if you will spend time dining during the park time, etc.

 

[Micca]

DW & I are early 60s When it's adults only we don't do rope drop and we're usually done with the parks when we go for dinner. However part of this strategy is having been to WDW dozens of times, we just don't need to stay in a park all day. No limitations on rides except the ones I'm scared by (RnRC) but DW does that one and we do all of the rest of the stuff we've always done. If you like the nighttime entertainment, you can always chill at the resort for a while in the afternoon. I can tell you that our adult DDs went with us on our last trip and they sure didn't turn up their noses at the prospect of an afternoon nap for a couple of hours.

 

[disneyvoice]

It really depends on the individual. My mother and my in-laws are all right about the same age. My in-laws are able to get around like people 30 years younger than they are. My mother on the other hand has really struggled with any activity that involves much walking lately. She has to walk very slowly or she can't cover much distance. Even then she tires out very easily and we take lots of rests on benches along the way for her. It is about a million times worse if it is hot (and she has become MUCH more sensitive to the heat lately so even when WE were just hot but not uncomfortably so, she felt like it was almost undoable).

I would recommend planning for what you THINK you will be able to do, but don't worry if you have to slow down. My husband and I have been going together since we were in our 30s and even then, when we could have kept up an insane pace all day, we often enjoyed just sitting at a bench with a snack and people watching. There are also a lot of attractions that are longer where you are sitting in a nice air conditioned theater. Those attractions are good ways of giving yourself a break while still being able to cross an attraction off your list. Hall of Presidents, Mickey's Philharmagic, The Tiki Room, Country Bear Jamboree, Monsters Inc Laugh Floor, Tomorrowland Transit Authority, Stitch's Great Escape, Carousel of Progress, and the WDW Railroad are all great options for taking a break from the walking and heat. At Epcot The American Adventure, The Circle of Life, Ellen's Energy Adventure, Impressions of France, Living with the Land, Spaceship Earth, and Turtle Talk with Crush are helpful (Reflections of China and O Canada are also good but you actually have to stand during the presentation). At DHS try Beauty and the Beast (is it still there?), The Frozen Sing a Long, Indiana Jones show, Muppet Vision 3D, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, and One Man's Dream. At AK Finding Nemo, Flights of Wonder, It's Tough to be a Bug, Kilimanjaro Safaris, and Festival of the Lion King work.

It's WDW - so even if you need to slow down and take a lot of breaks you are still in the Happiest Place on Earth and will have a great time!

 

[Vijoge]

I'm 66, and just returned from our latest trip on Wednesday. I, too, have hypertension (controlled with meds) and diabetes (also controlled with meds). I use a power wheelchair due to spinal stenosis which leaves me in pretty severe pain after as little as ten minutes of standing. But I can go all day, from rope drop to park close. I ride everything except Splash Mountain-I don't know why but Splash has always scared me. We took 3 kids with us on this past trip and they really slowed us down.

 

[Gigi22]

In mid-60s myself, with some minor health issues. Went to WDW for an extended weekend (in on Saturday, out on Tuesday) this past December. It was unseasonably hot for December, which made touring more challenging. We had 4 single day park passes each, no hopping, so we did one of the major parks each day. We averaged over 12 Km. walking every day, with our longest walk being 16 Km. the day we went to Epcot. Most days we were at the parks quite early, once before rope drop, because we were on the KTTW tour. If I had not worked up to walking distances before our trip, I wouldn't have made it! Even my DNiece, in her early 30s and very fit, found successive days of touring quite tiring.
If I had it to do again, I would have taken more refreshment breaks, and I would have built in a day off for us to rest up.

 

[piccolopat]

We took my 83 year old mom in December. We were in the parks each day close to park opening (but not rope drop). We planned on TS for both lunch and dinner. Even though she is a very light eater, I wanted to give her some down time to relax, cool off and recharge. We had lunch generally at or just before noon and dinner between 6 and 7. We took frequent breaks whenever a bench was open and stopped for water frequently so she didn't get dehydrated. We also planned on going to some of the shows that DH and I usually bypass since she really isn't interested in the thrill rides. All in all, it was a very good trip and we walked more almost 30 miles in the 5 park and 2 travel days.

 

[Bete]

I appreciate the responses and it certainly sounds pretty productive for everyone with their trips.

I will combine all these stradegies and hopefully have a successful trip, too.

 

[hdnwaters]

I just celebrated my 60th birthday at WDW! My 27 year old daughter and I rode at least 11 rides at MK from 10-6. I rode all the mountains too. I have found the older I get, the more I really enjoy a nice sit down lunch. Make a lunch reservation in the parks and sit awhile! A show is a nice break too. I think it all depends on the temperature on how much you feel like doing. If it's really hot and humid, it's much harder to tolerate the lines and the long walks.

Get some really good walking shoes and start walking at least 3 days a week before your trip. Eat healthy and drop a few pounds. It can make a big difference. I was really surprised to see some seniors (much older than I) riding Star Tours and Tower of Terror! I will ride anything as long as it does not go upside down.

Most of all, have fun!