Disney for Seniors (aka Children of All Ages)
We think Walt Disney World can be a perfect place to visit for anyone. Previously, we explored going to Disney with young children, going as a couple, and going when you are thrill seeker. This week, we're going to focus on our tips for seniors who want to see what Walt Disney World is all about.
Where to Stay
While any Walt Disney World resort is acceptable for an older adult, our recommendations focus on one thing in particular: ease of getting around and getting to the parks.
Regardless of where you stay, do yourself a favor and look at a map of the resort ahead of time. Then call the resort and put in a room or building request. We recommend doing this because some resorts are very spread out, and requesting a specific building or room, while not a guarantee, improves your chances of having a shorter walk to the lobby, or bus stop, or avoiding stairs if that is an issue.
Room and building requests are not guaranteed, so another way to ensure a room that isn't miles away from the lobby and transportation is to pay for a preferred room. Couple this with a request because some preferred rooms can still be pretty far away from the lobby but are preferred because of the view. This comes at a higher price than your typical rate, but increases the likelihood of getting a decent location.
Sunrise at Disney's Polynesian Village Resort on a chilly morning
That said, these resorts are fairly compact and offer decent transportation:
Wilderness Lodge - If you are in the main building, you will be a short, air conditioned walk to the restaurants, shops, and lobby, and a short walk outside from the lobby to transportation. While transportation isn't perfect here, most of it being bus, you can take a boat to the Magic Kingdom from which you can easily get on the monorail or ferry to the TTC to open up transportation options to EPCOT. We prefer monorails and boats to buses simply because they are larger capacity modes of transportation which will increase your likelihood of finding a seat during peak times.
Animal Kingdom Lodge - I'll start by saying all transportation from this resort is via bus, which is not ideal. However, this is another resort structured like Wilderness Lodge where if you are in the main building, everything is a short air conditioned walk away. Given you'll have to deal with buses here, try to travel during off peak times if you are concerned about having a place to sit. During peak times, buses can be standing room only. More on that later.
The Swan or Dolphin - The two above resorts are deluxe resorts, as will be the rest of our recommendations. Basically, you pay for convenience and we recommend convenience. However, you may be able to save a bit by staying at the Swan or Dolphin. These resorts are not operated by Disney, but are considered Disney resorts and enjoy many of the amenities you would get by staying at a Disney resort. They are again hotel like, so most walks around the resort should be air conditioned, and they are central to EPCOT and Disney Hollywood Studios, with transportation to those parks via boat.
These resorts are less compact (making a building request important) but have excellent transportation:
Polynesian Village Resort - When the monorail is operating normally, I would argue this is one of the best resorts, if not THE best resort, for convenient transportation. The monorail to the Magic Kingdom leaves from the lobby. You can either take this monorail to the TTC and switch to an EPCOT monorail, or you could choose a short 10 minute walk to the TTC from the Polynesian Village resort itself to get on an EPCOT monorail. Other parks are served by bus. The Grand Floridian and Contemporary resorts are also on the monorail loop and are nearly as convenient (just missing the possible walk to the TTC from these).
Yacht Club Resort - This resort has a sister at the Beach Club, but the Yacht Club is slightly more refined in atmosphere. This is one of many EPCOT area resorts, which means you have your boat transportation to EPCOT and Disney Hollywood Studios with buses to other places. The reason we recommend this above the Beach club and Boardwalk is atmosphere. The Beach Club will draw more children with the amazing pool while the Yacht Club will be quieter. The Boardwalk resort is lovely but has several bars and night hangout spots which might keep it noisier longer than you might prefer.
Where to Dine
Again, every dining spot at Walt Disney World is perfectly fine for seniors. Some seniors might prefer familiar food but others might have more adventurous palates, so do keep your personal preferences in mind when reserving dining. The dining spots we will recommend here have a little something extra that you might enjoy.
Chef Mickey's (Contemporary Resort)- Yes, it's a character meal that draws droves of children and is almost always screechingly noisy, but hear me out. It is the single easiest way to meet the big five Disney characters, while seated, in air conditioning, and enjoying a meal, and we imagine you might want to meet Mickey given you've come to Walt Disney World. This is especially ideal if you've come with grandchildren because it will save you standing in character greeting lines. Also, the buffet is so large that while it's nothing fancy, pretty much everyone can find something they like.
Tony's Town Square (Magic Kingdom)- There are two possible great reasons to dine here. First, if you are a Lady and the Tramp fan, then this is the Italian restaurant with the spaghetti. You can recreate the scene if you want. The other great reason is parade viewing. If you want to see a parade at the Magic Kingdom but don't want to sweat it out on a curb or standing while fighting crowds, a perfectly timed reservation here, and a polite request to sit on the patio could be your ticket to stress-free parade enjoyment. While getting a patio seat is not guaranteed, there is a good chance, if you remain flexible and arrive early for your ADR, that you may be able to do it. Worst case scenario, you still get a good meal.
50s Prime Time Cafe (Disney Hollywood Studios)- Are the 1950s nostalgic for you? Then this is a great place to dine. You will find all the home cooked favorites on the menu, and soda shop style sodas and desserts.
The Edison (Disney Springs)- If you ever wanted to feel like the Great Gatsby, this roaring 20s themed restaurant at Disney Springs is for you.
Hollywood Brown Derby (Disney Hollywood Studios)- This restaurant is a replica of the real Brown Derby restaurant of Hollywood's Golden Age and serves menu items that were served at the restaurant it is named after, including the famous cobb salad (which is actually named after Bob Cobb, the chef who created this at the original Brown Derby) and grapefruit cake.
What to Do
This time, we're not going to recommend specific rides or attractions for the most part. We think most seniors know what thrill level they are comfortable with on rides, and there could be a whole spectrum of desires here. So instead, we're going to share some ideas outside of the mainstream and a tip about rides in general.
Surrey rental at Disney's Port Orleans Riverside
First, be aware that there is more to Walt Disney World than the theme parks - The theme parks are great, of course, but if being in a theme park isn't what you enjoy most, you are in luck. There is water activities, golf (PGA-style and miniature), pier fishing and guided fishing, boat rentals, bike rentals, surrey rentals, horse drawn carriage rides, campfires, luaus and sing-alongs, and shopping. So don't let Disney be a turn off just because it is a theme park.
Consider a dinner show - As mentioned above, there is the Spirit of Aloha luau at Disney's Polynesian Village resort. There is also the Hoop Dee Doo Review at Fort Wilderness which is a Western themed dinner show that many guests rave about.
When it comes to attractions in the parks, our most important tip would be to read the signs posted at the entrance. This is especially important if you have any health issues, even if you don't consider them major. For example, some rides are not recommended for guests with high blood pressure. In our experience, these signs are posted for a good reason and guests who ignore them might suffer from ill effects. Rides that are particularly intense and have warnings include Mission: Space, Rock N Roller Coaster, Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, Expedition Everest, Dinosaur!, and Space Mountain. This doesn't mean you can't ride them, but it does mean you should pay extra attention to the warnings before riding.
Other Tips and Tricks
We can't stress the importance of rest enough. We've been going to Walt Disney World now for about 30 years, and we just can't maintain the energy level we used to be able to maintain. A mid-day break, at the very least, is recommended. We would even suggest rest days in between park days if you can swing it. Remember, you only have to pay the ticket price for days you will be in the parks, and given the expiration rules, almost any multi-day ticket purchase calculates in rest days equal to resting over other day, rounded down. So, for example, if you buy a 3 day park ticket, you have 5 days to use these days from the time your first ticket is scanned. That's enough for a pattern of touring of: park - rest - park - rest - park.
We also want to circle back to what we said about busses. Look, even if you stay at the Polynesian Village Resort, you are still likely going to be on busses a lot, so it's important to understand that at peak times, busses can be full and that means anyone new boarding might have to stand. This is true for any form of transportation - we've stood on the monorail as well. If standing will be difficult for you, it's important that you ask those around you who might appear younger and more healthy if you might be able to sit. This actually works better if you ask for someone ELSE in your party to be able to sit. Theoretically, those who are able-bodied should be offering their seat to you. Disney announcements often encourage guests to do this, and even if they don't, it's just polite. But not everybody does this, especially when tired, and it is also dangerous for someone to make an assumption that just because someone appears older they may need to sit. So if you or someone in your party does need to sit, don't be afraid to ask guests around you.
Which brings us to if you need a scooter or mobility assistance. We wrote an entire blog about it. Check it out here.
Oh, and About Grandchildren...
IF you happen to be bringing the grandchildren, there are some other considerations. First, rest is even more important. The good news is kids in general love the resort pool, so you can market the rest days as "pool days" and will almost certainly have buy-in from the grands.
Secondly, while it is tempting to steal away the grandkids and leave their parents at home, do consider having the parents join you. Think of it as bringing along the grandkids AND their professional handlers, because kids are a handful, and kids at Walt Disney World can be even more of a handful without a calm and firm adult to nip any bad behavior in the bud. In our experience, grandparents don't like to play disciplinarian, so having the parents along can be important. We talked about this before, so forgive us if we sound like a broken record, but kids thrive on order. Put them into a vacation at busy Disney, and order can quickly descend into chaos. Adults with those kids need to do their best to keep not only routines, such as naptimes or mealtimes, for the kids, but also keep it so the rules established at home don't become ambiguous when on vacation.
If going with grandkids without their parents, keep careful tabs on two things. One is the rules and expectations and routine for the kids as we described above. It is tempting as a grandparent on vacation to suspend them, but once you do, we promise you, chaos will reign. The other thing to keep an eye on is your energy level. Kids may run you ragged. It's better to take a break BEFORE you are completely spent because Disney breakdowns are intense. There are playgrounds, pools, arcades, splash pads, etc that are all good places to let a kid with boundless energy continue to burn energy while you recuperate yours, so we encourage you to identify these on a park map ahead of time.
Or, you know, you ARE allowed to visit Disney as adults without grandkids along too...
We hope we've provided some useful tips for yet another demographic that might be wondering whether Disney is for them. We have some ideas in mind for future posts like this, such as Disney for Foodies, and Disney for Geeks, and Disney for Walt Disney fans. What other groups do you think we should address? Talk to us over on our Facebook page, where you can also follow us to see when a new post hits each week. Until next time....
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