Hello,
Looking for any advice and ideas…
We have a large group of 15. The oldest person in the group is 70, the youngest is 4 months. We have one person that has mobility issues and will be renting a scooter when visiting the parks. We also will have two strollers. We will be visiting from the July 23rd to July 31st.
Our group is a mixed bag. My sister, her son (12 years old), and husband are are flying in from Missouri. They have visited Disney world 3 or 4 times as a family, but the last visit was in 2019. My sister misses many of the amenities that were available before Covid including the free fast pass system. They are looking forward to doing Rise, Smugglers Run, Tron, and Guardians the most.
My father is 70 years old and has had some recent health issues and I am concerned about his health and stamina in the Florida July heat. My mother is 69 years old. She has mobility issues and can not walk very far or fast. She also has balance issues. My aunt who is 67 also has some stamina and health concerns. They will be flying in from Chicago and have not visited the park since 2019. This will be my parents 4th trip to the park, but they have never been to Animal kingdom or Hollywood Studios. My mother does not want to do Avatar flight of passage due to her balance issues. She does want to do rise, smugglers, the runaway railway, the safari, Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, Peter Pan, Poo Bear, Pirates. My father wants to do Avatar FOP, Rise, Smugglers Run, Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, Peter Pan, Pirates, maybe mine train, and just about every show in AK, MK, and HS. My aunt is interested in Rise, Smugglers Run, the runaway railway, the safari, Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, Peter Pan, Pooh Bear, Pirates and a lot of character meet and greets.
Next up is my brother-in-law’s cousin. He has never been to Disney and hates roller coasters. He will bringing his wife who loves roller coasters, but who also has never been to Disney. They will also be bringing their two daughters along. The oldest daughter will be two years old at the time of our visit. The youngest daughter will be 4 months old. Also joining this group will be my brother-in-law’s cousin’s wife’s mother and his first cousin. Both have never been to Disney before. These six will be driving in from Iowa. Some want to ride rides, the oldest girl really wants to meet Micky and the princesses. I know that the cousin is looking for a relaxing time watching the fireworks and drinking.
Last up will be my son (6 years old), my wife, and myself. Our last visit to Disney World, was in 2022. We will be driving in from IL. My sons musts are Tower of Terror, Tron, Tianas, GOG, Remmy, and meeting Donald. He also wants to do Rocking Roller coster but we are not sure we want him to ride it. He is 49 inches tall and brave.
My Mother, Father, and Aunt only have two park days planned and then they will be headed home. Everyone else will have 4 park days total.
My sister, her family, and my brother-in-laws cousins family will be sharing a 2 bedroom villa at Saratoga springs. While my parents, aunt, and my family will have rooms at the Dolphin. We want to take advantage of early park hours and extended evening hours if we can. Again I am concerned about the heat and pace of trying to move though so many parks so quickly with so many people, young and old, in the heat.
Our first park day we are planning on starting at Animal Kingdom and then heading over to Magic Kingdom.
Our second park day is going to be at Hollywood Studios. My parents don’t want to go back to Epcot, but I would love to figure out how to at least get them on Remmy.
Our 3rd park day, we will down to 12 as my parents and aunt are leaving. We are planning to do an entire day at Epcot.
Our last park day will be mostly at magic kingdom, unless we were unable to do something earlier.
Anyone have any ideas and thoughts on how to get as much done especially the first two days?
Thank you everyone for the comments.
We have purchased the park hopper. Day one will be AK & MK. Second day will be mostly HS but I would like to sneak over to Epcot. My parents spent a lot of time there on their last visit in 2019, so they really do not want to do back. I however do believe that Remmy is worth the trip.
3rd day is an Epcot day
4th is a MK day but my sister will be going over to Epcot for dinner.
On our first day we do have a sit down meal planned at christal palace. Lunch is up in the air that day. I think it will be Quick service depending on the group. My wife and I really want to try Santuli Canteen, but the flavors seem to be a bit too exotic for the rest of our party.
You will have a great time!!!
I would ask folks what their absolute top three things are, and then try to prioritize them for the first two days while their stamina is at its highest. That way, if they wear out and want or need to spend more time resting, they already knocked out their top things at least. :)
It might be a good strategy to have one group in the "morning shift," then come back to the hotel and swap with those in the "evening shift"? That way nobody gets too tired and you could even split groups according to age or preferences? If you have park hoppers, you could hit one park in the morning and one in the evening? The only downside of this might be less together time as one big group.
Sometimes folks don't recommend table service meals due to the time they take up and the price, but if those aren't concerns I very much recommend them, it is soooo nice to sit down out of the heat and not have to worry about fighting anyone for quick service seating (not literally fighting, haha, but it is hard, you gotta watch like a hawk and swoop in when one is free!) We did 1-2 table service meals every day during our trip (one day we even did 3!), and when combined with Genie+ we were still able to do everything we wanted. Table service meals are also a great way for your kids to meet all those characters they want to meet, all at once with no lines and in the AC! Recommend Akershus especially for the princesses. We met Mickey at Garden Grill and Topolino and both were great!
One last tip, get Magic Spotter flags for your strollers from Etsy, ours made it so easy to instantly spot our stroller no matter where it got moved. Let us know how it all goes!
First of all - Let me start with - HAVE FUN AND ENJOY THE JOURNEY!!! This sounds like a real opportunity for family memories and stories for years and generations to come!
What I would do is for the first 2 days is figure out what your parents CAN do and then do a lot of get them a coffee or something at the place they will need to be while the rest of you use G+ to go ride and come back -
For Animal Kingdom - I would probably NOT rope drop - I would G+ Navi and get ILL for FOP in the same hour you got Navi - so you could do those together. The Santuli Canteen is a great place for people to wait and the drinks and food and environment are so beautiful. I assume your parents/aunt will do Navi and not FOP.
Then you could G+ Dino and Everest (usually available hour of) and they could wait for you in Africa - and you could end the day by G+ the Safari - (if you have to wait for it - the bar there overlooks the music stage which is nice - or there is food. I would also do Lion King show if you can fit it in. This plan keeps them on one side of DAK - with the remaining crew doing major rides.
MK - I would ask your parents what they WANT to see - and then for this half day focus on a slow relaxing view of that side - so like Tiki room, liberty boat, american president (air conditioned and easy things - on the left side) or People mover, carousel of progress, philharmagic, on right side - then if you think you are going to make it to fireworks - perhaps have the parents somewhere on a bench near the castle to hold your spot while you try to fit in some G+ of bigger rides?
Hope this helps some