First trip with a Senior

[tractorm3]

My grandfather out of the blue went stir crazy and offered to take my wife and I to Disney!!!

Who am i to stop him? my wife and I are in our thirties and he is 87 with two new hips.

We are going to rent a scooter for him and plan a few dinners together.

Does any one have ideas of neat things to do with him? We should be able to get him on the mild rides, and he loves soaring.

 

[networkpro]

It depends on his activity level and endurance. I was just at WDW in September with my 80-year-old mother and she did lots including Expedition Everest. I'd go heavy on the shows and light on the thrill attractions.

 

[tractorm3]

yea, Def not with my grandfather lol. The biggest thrill they will do is soaring.
We are going to plan some dinners together and see how they do.

 

[DisAl]

We took my 89 year old mother with us for the four generation whole family trip this last June. She did EVERYTHING we did except 7DMT. (She had done that our previous trip and said for her is was two rides in one - her first AND her last. )
We did take a wheelchair for her because while she can do ok for short distances there is no way she could handle the average 7.5 miles a day we walked. A scooter is not an option for her because I don't have that much liability insurance.
He can probably do everything he wants to do as long as he can handle boarding. We found that the moving belt boarding type rides were the hardest for my mother to handle. However, even some of those like The Voyage of the Little Mermaid have a special ride vehicle that will accommodate a scooter or wheelchair if necessary.
I would not recommend some of the more "motion intense" rides like Dinosaur. Star Tours can be a little rough if you are in one of the seats towards the corners of the ride vehicle.
And finally, there are a number of "dark shows" where he can catch a quick nap....

 

[KikoKea]

Took our elderly moms there a few years ago, and they loved the castle show and parade. No parade now, but the show is really nice. When getting on HM, etc, they would slow the belt down for them and it was no problem. They also liked the shows and character dinners.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

You asked about neat things to do with him, so have you thought about any tours? He might be interested in the steam train tour, it is $54 dollars which isn't too bad for a tour. It could be your treat for him and you, something low key to do together. Or maybe the Caring for Giants tour at Animal Kingdom, that one is cheaper and shorter but it is very cool to go backstage and observe the elephants.

Since you are planning on dinners, what about an interactive one like the Hoop de Doo Revue. That is good old fashioned fun for the whole family and good food.

 

[JohnD]

My folks like Epcot the best as it was mostly just strolling around WS. My Dad definitely wanted to do Soarin. But LwTL might be worth a try too. Second park for my folks was AK because of the animals and shows. MK might bring back memories for the grandparents. I can't imagine them wanting to go to HS, though.

 

[JohnD]

We took my 89 year old mother with us for the four generation whole family trip this last June. She did EVERYTHING we did except 7DMT. (She had done that our previous trip and said for her is was two rides in one - her first AND her last. )
We did take a wheelchair for her because while she can do ok for short distances there is no way she could handle the average 7.5 miles a day we walked. A scooter is not an option for her because I don't have that much liability insurance.
He can probably do everything he wants to do as long as he can handle boarding. We found that the moving belt boarding type rides were the hardest for my mother to handle. However, even some of those like The Voyage of the Little Mermaid have a special ride vehicle that will accommodate a scooter or wheelchair if necessary.
I would not recommend some of the more "motion intense" rides like Dinosaur. Star Tours can be a little rough if you are in one of the seats towards the corners of the ride vehicle.
And finally, there are a number of "dark shows" where he can catch a quick nap....

Your mother sounds like my mother. Same with her. Doesn't like scooters. Can walk short distances into gift shops, get on buses or whatever. Can't walk the long distances requrired however. So wheelchair for her.

 

[woody1]

Take him fishing on Bay Lake, they provide everything including the guide, he should have a great time. 407-WDW-FISH

 

[JohnD]

Take him fishing on Bay Lake, they provide everything including the guide, he should have a great time. 407-WDW-FISH

Wish I had known that sooner. My Dad tried fishing in the lake by CBR and got stopped by CMs. I think he would have rather skipped the parks just to fish in Bay Lake.