Tips for taking the folks for the first time

[Oktavia_von]

Thinking about talking my folks to disney during the summer. Just looking for some tips. (Their 57)

 

[sbenemerito]

Hydration Hydration Hydration. With that comes - make time for lots of bathroom breaks. I got in the habit of asking if they needed to use the bathroom quite often when we passed one. This saved the frustration of needing to frequently back track or have them get out of line to find a restroom.

We eat just at quick service locations. They threw out a lot of food the first couple days. I finally went to ordering kids meals and by the end, they actually were sharing a kids meal and sometimes still had food leftover.

We did find it best to have some breakfast foods in the room. We like to do that anyway to save time and money, but this was helpful for my in laws because they had some meds that needed to be taken in the morning with food.

 

[Donna M]

How active are they? At 57 I could tour like I did at 47, so they may be able to do everything you want to do. That will be a big part of your planning. Will they need a slower paced day and rides that aren't as wild as you may like? Have you talked to them to find out what they would like to do?

 

[Disneyfan754321]

Go in nov, dec, jan, feb the weather is the best and the crowds better * except the holliday/school breaks weeks in November and December.
Plan on breaks mid day.
It can be back at the room or a sit down lunch. Much like traveling with little ones they need breaks

 

[NH-to-FL]

First, do DISboards posting!

I recently hosted a quick, 1 day first visit for my brother and his wife, both in their 50's. I chose the Magic Kingdom as I consider it to be "classic Disney" Wish turned out to be the right choice as his wife's only request was to visit the Beast's Castle. So I had to really work to get a lunch reservation for Be Our Guest. But I got it and she was very happy. I bought their tickets through my account so they were immediately linked to me for planning. At 30 days out I made three FP+ for a selection of the "classic" Disney attractions. Neither wanted to do anything "rollercoaster" so that made the choices a bit easier. Between the FPs I had picked out a few of the second tier attractions to visit. I tried to make choices that didn't have us walking back and forth across the park. One thing I didn't anticipate was his wife's interest in the street performers and the various entertainment around the park. She really enjoyed Mickey's Royal Friendship Faire. And they both wanted to meet Mickey. She had assumed that Mickey would be wandering around the park. I explained how that hasn't been happening for many years. We got lucky that we happened upon a low wait time and they got great PhotoPass pictures with Mickey courtesy of my AP.

We were lucky to have great winter weather for the visit. I will second @sbenemerito that a first visit during the summer adds an extra complication, heat and humidity. Make sure your party is prepared and that your plans reflect their capabilities.

I can tell you that hosting a first visit is quite enjoyable. Watching them be amazed and enthralled by the scale and detail of the park was worth the planning effort. It has been a very long time since I had my first visit and it brought back those memories.
Wishing you a visit!

 

[chevy5seven]

Wife, son and I carried my dad (75) to the World the week before Christmas in 2015. Parents had carried me when I was a kid, before EPCOT, his first time back since. First ride was Expedition Everest! Can't describe how fun it was to ride with my dad and hear him laughing like a kid while on that ride! Ask him many times if he wanted to sit while we rode or did something. His reply....."No! ya'll might get into something!" I believe he sat out for 2 rides the entire 10 days we were there. Tower of Terror and 7 Dwarf's Mine Train. EMH, rope drops, park closings, and character meals. He was there for everything.

 

[Boopuff]

I'm in my 50's and I keep up quite nicely with my kids (27,30) If your parents don't walk, move etc. then you may have to slow things down. But I suggest if they don't walk a lot get them moving!! I wear my fitbit and challenge myself to walk a lot. Have fun. And if I run out of steam my kids know to park me on a barstool and pick me up later

 

[WDWTRAVELLER]

I take my parents every year. the one thing I found was I have to have Patience with them. It seems everyone is always moving quickly through the parks and I try to keep up not thinking my parents are getting up there in age and have troubles keeping up. They do have scooters that we could get them but I find them a pain and my parents are to proud to ride in one. at the end of the night the line ups can be busy and i dont like to have them wait in line for the bus so i normally get a uber or Lyft to take us back to the resort. Patience Patience Patience. Your parents will enjoy it just as much as mine had

 

[APiratesLifeForMe2]

Will it be their first time or just your first time taking them? There is an active 57 and a not so active 57. My mom is a not very active 59 year old so she likes a much slower pace. She prefers we make all the plans to include her but she will bow out early if we have a long day planned. Despite having been to Disney many times, the WDW transportation has tripped her up before so I try to remind her the way home, which bus stop etc. depending on where we are staying. If this is their first time I would definitely make sure they know appropriate clothing, footwear and bags.