Lack of a smartphone

We are headed to Disney in December. My parents will be meeting us there later in the trip. We are staying at separate resorts. Neither of my parents have smartphones, however they will have magic bands. How difficult is it going to be for them to order food/go to restaurants etc. away from the group? I could see them wanting to meet us in the parks later in the day and leaving before park close. They are in their late 70’s and aren’t tech savvy at all!

Just be sure to set them up with charging privileges and it will be fine.

They won’t be able to mobile order but everywhere has a order live lane so they can do that.

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Would it be worth getting them a prepaid phone plan for a month? My mom and I both use Straighttalk that you buy through Walmart. She has a $60 Samsung phone and pays $35 a month for more data than she will ever use. There are even cheaper phones available and you pay by the month so it could be a nice option to have on hand and pay when they need it for times just like this.

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I have a sort of smart phone - it can access the internet but can’t read those squares (whatever they’re called)

In December we were turned away from Sunshine Seasons, not allowed to do live ordering. Our phones had no service for mobile ordering. As we were going out of the Land to obtain cell service I recalled having seen availability thru the afternoon at Coral Reef. We tried and got in. We like Sunshine Seasons but the CM - who looked about 12 - was off putting in her absolute disinterest in being helpful (which won’t change our opinion of Sunshine Seasons)

We did have a much better experience at Coral Reef with social distancing and an awesome waitstaff.

I suspect your parents could do quite well, despite their phones. All that’s really needed at WDW is a friendly nature and possibly a smidge of pixie dust . . .

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This is exactly what I’m worried about! They still use flip phones :joy::joy:

If they were offered a temporary smart-ish phone, would they be likely to acquiesce?

If they feel confident, I’d leave 'em to it. With a bit of old school assist.

Set them up, before y’all go, with a map of the World, for their perusal. With your resort and their resort marked. And perhaps a schedule of meals, parks of the day, etc.

I suspect they’ll figure out how to get things done. And have a blast. And maybe want to visit again.

Maybe, each day, hand them a card with the next day’s particulars, as a reminder.

Depending on your parents, you could either say be sure to avoid asking CMs any questions. Or CMs love it when guests chat them up. Depending on whether reverse psychology works.

(We’ve brought older newbies to Disney with clunky phones. They’ve been amazingly capable. :wink:)