Traveling for 1st time with semi-handicapped 70 yr old dad

swissamy

swissamy

Well-Known Member
Hi all! We are blessed to be able to bring my parents with us to AKL (Kidani) this year for a week in May because in the fall, my 70 yr old father had a stem cell transplant for Myeloma and thankfully is here and able to join us. However, the chemo has really affected his ability to walk due to nerve damage (neuropathy)in both his right hand and foot. He can walk short distances but struggles with balance. We will have a car and have encouraged him to rent an electric scooter. As this is our first trip with someone that will have a few more challenges, I wondered if anyone could offer tips on best things to do or avoid to make this a satisfying trip for him as well as everyone else involved!! Blessings!!

I forgot to say that he gets super tired so will probably need to either start late or come back to rest...my 70 yr old mom would be the one to deal with the scooter in that instance...
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
betty rose

betty rose

Well-Known Member
swissamy said:
Hi all! We are blessed to be able to bring my parents with us to AKL (Kidani) this year for a week in May because in the fall, my 70 yr old father had a stem cell transplant for Myeloma and thankfully is here and able to join us. However, the chemo has really affected his ability to walk due to nerve damage (neuropathy)in both his right hand and foot. He can walk short distances but struggles with balance. We will have a car and have encouraged him to rent an electric scooter. As this is our first trip with someone that will have a few more challenges, I wondered if anyone could offer tips on best things to do or avoid to make this a satisfying trip for him as well as everyone else involved!! Blessings!!

I forgot to say that he gets super tired so will probably need to either start late or come back to rest...my 70 yr old mom would be the one to deal with the scooter in that instance...
Click to expand...
I'm 60+, and I also get tired, with the heat and humidity...this may be hard, but my suggestion would be to go in shortly after rope drop, it's cooler in the morning...and a little less crowded...have lunch, take a nice long break in the afternoon....maybe go back to the park...or not. My husband and I love sitting in the Poly lobby, and listening to the Hawaiian music..It's a short ride on the monorail to get from Magic Kingdom to the Poly. We plan this time to return to the resort to nap or read...We take one day off from the parks, and do something relaxing...visit the other hotels, Grand Floridian comes to mind, and just relax. We have come to enjoy Epcot the most, as rides aren't as important to us....it's less crowded and they have shows where you can sit, and enjoy the air conditioning. We like the flavored ice's around the parks, sipping on those keeps your body core cooler. Have a wonderful time, no matter how you decide to approach this challenge....take plenty of pictures of the family to remember the experiences. Have a blessed vacation. Oh, one more thing don't try to do everything....that will tire you out, and get frustrating. God's speed...
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
rsoxguy

rsoxguy

Well-Known Member
I'm not certain that this post will be of any help to you, but here I go.

You know two things that everyone here does not; the full extent of your father's physical condition and your father's personal disposition. As such, I think that you would be best served by looking at the park maps and attraction descriptions, taking note of what you feel would best suit your father's needs, and plan a daily schedule that would prove to be a realistic "workload" for him. I wish you all the best.
 
Upvote 0
beanbunny

beanbunny

Member
Having traveled to WDW for many years with my wheelchair bound dad & later mom, the biggest advice I can give you it to make sure he can hear you. Even if his hearing is fine, you need to remember he is sitting 2 or 3 feet below you. We always made sure when we were pushing him (we never used a motorized chair - he would have taken too many people out lol), we would get down to his ear level & basically talk right into his ear, making him him feel included. I cherish & miss those trips with him - his last trip was when he was 87.
 
Upvote 0
CheersBigEars

CheersBigEars

Well-Known Member
image.jpg

Have you considered something like this? I bought a used one at a charity shop for my mother when we travel. Great to help your dad with his balance, he can sit in the shade whenever he feels like it and you can store some snacks and drinks in it. Very easy to get in and out of the bus and no need for charging etc. Even with this we tend to start late when my mother is with us and take regular breaks. Planning some long sit down lunches also works if you don't want to leave the park.
 
Upvote 0
T

thomas998

Well-Known Member
swissamy said:
Hi all! We are blessed to be able to bring my parents with us to AKL (Kidani) this year for a week in May because in the fall, my 70 yr old father had a stem cell transplant for Myeloma and thankfully is here and able to join us. However, the chemo has really affected his ability to walk due to nerve damage (neuropathy)in both his right hand and foot. He can walk short distances but struggles with balance. We will have a car and have encouraged him to rent an electric scooter. As this is our first trip with someone that will have a few more challenges, I wondered if anyone could offer tips on best things to do or avoid to make this a satisfying trip for him as well as everyone else involved!! Blessings!!

I forgot to say that he gets super tired so will probably need to either start late or come back to rest...my 70 yr old mom would be the one to deal with the scooter in that instance...
Click to expand...

You might be better served using a wheel chair that one of you pushes. If he isn't used to using an electric scooter then having him learning the ins and outs of it in one of the most congested and crowded places is probably not a great idea. We had to use a wheel chair on our last trip with my wifes mom because she was just too old to really do all the walking you have at WDW... It isn't as big a pain as you might expect it to be, and for us it was much better than trying to have her use a scooter where she would have likely be hitting lord know who... but a wheel chair is really only slightly more inconvenient than pushing a stroller with the only difficulty I recall being the Beauty and the Beast show at Studio because they seat the wheelchair at the front and that means when it is over you'll be pushing a wheelchair up a long and winding road.
 
Upvote 0
betty rose

betty rose

Well-Known Member
beanbunny said:
Having traveled to WDW for many years with my wheelchair bound dad & later mom, the biggest advice I can give you it to make sure he can hear you. Even if his hearing is fine, you need to remember he is sitting 2 or 3 feet below you. We always made sure when we were pushing him (we never used a motorized chair - he would have taken too many people out lol), we would get down to his ear level & basically talk right into his ear, making him him feel included. I cherish & miss those trips with him - his last trip was when he was 87.
Click to expand...
Such a great suggestion, being hearing impaired , people speak around me, assuming I can hear...so I try to follow along as best as I can...but it can be wearing, with the amount of noise in Magic Kingdom, especially.
 
Upvote 0
betty rose

betty rose

Well-Known Member
CheersBigEars said:
View attachment 90009
Have you considered something like this? I bought a used one at a charity shop for my mother when we travel. Great to help your dad with his balance, he can sit in the shade whenever he feels like it and you can store some snacks and drinks in it. Very easy to get in and out of the bus and no need for charging etc. Even with this we tend to start late when my mother is with us and take regular breaks. Planning some long sit down lunches also works if you don't want to leave the park.
Click to expand...
I love this...I need to look into one of these my self. I'm unstable in my walking, due to a stroke...my daughter tells me to go to Epcot, during Wine and Food, she says I'll fit right in.;)
 
Upvote 0
betty rose

betty rose

Well-Known Member
thomas998 said:
You might be better served using a wheel chair that one of you pushes. If he isn't used to using an electric scooter then having him learning the ins and outs of it in one of the most congested and crowded places is probably not a great idea. We had to use a wheel chair on our last trip with my wifes mom because she was just too old to really do all the walking you have at WDW... It isn't as big a pain as you might expect it to be, and for us it was much better than trying to have her use a scooter where she would have likely be hitting lord know who... but a wheel chair is really only slightly more inconvenient than pushing a stroller with the only difficulty I recall being the Beauty and the Beast show at Studio because they seat the wheelchair at the front and that means when it is over you'll be pushing a wheelchair up a long and winding road.
Click to expand...
Agree, and you have your bench with you!
 
Upvote 0
mm121

mm121

Well-Known Member
On a trip years and years ago, when my grandma was up in years, my sister insisted that she come to Animal Kingdom with us, she was just gonna stay at the hotel, but we definitely didnt want that.

We rented a push wheelchair, dont think we really considered a scooter, not sure why.

It worked well, disney is set up pretty well for this, and this was back before all the DAS drama so we were able to get easy access to the shows and things.

Dont know how many able bodied people your going with, but there were 4 of us and it was no problem taking turns pushing, and then occasionally one or two of us would break off to do the more extreme attractions.

it was just a one day thing so it worked fine, if your going for a full week theres time for scooter training.. lol

I dont know anything about them, but there are companies that will deliver a scooter to your hotel, then you can use it both in and out of the parks, vs if you rent from disney you can only use it at the park it was rented at.
 
Upvote 0

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom