Hi Touring Plans family! I’m helping my parents plan their adults only Disney trip and wanted to throw out a WWYD question. To set this one up, my dad has some lung issues and will most likely need to go at a very slow pace as he refuses to use a scooter. I’m trying to build a plan that minimizes walking, but also minimizes waiting.
When I build an Epcot touring plan, it looks like rope droping Spaceship Earth (using 8:30am early entry) and then heading to Soarin’ is the “right” way to go both from a wait time and walking perspective…I’m just having a hard time believing that I shouldn’t tell them to head straight to Soarin’. By the time they get out of Spaceship Earth, they should have about a 10 minute head start on regular park opening and they could head to Soarin.
Maybe a Spaceship Earth start would be fine…now that I type it out. Given that the park has Remy now, perhaps that helps spread out rope droppers? I don’t know…I value your thoughts TP family! WWHYPD? (What would you have your parents do?)
DH and I are 65+, and he can’t do as much (or as fast) walking as I can, so I plan our trips to minimize the walking. We were there in Dec. EP is huge. Assuming they start at the main entrance, I would definitely do SE first then work my way up the west side, doing only the things that they really want to spend time doing. Soarin’ isn’t the horrible wait it used to be in past years. They can probably tolerate the wait in a line far better than all the extra walking of going back and forth trying to minimize the total wait. I wouldn’t worry about trying to shave off a few minutes.
Speaking as a disabled person, I would RD Spaceship Earth. Epcot is very spread out. I would also have them start from Mexico in WS because that hill from Canada through UK to France is difficult to climb.
That is exactly why I’m recommending the Friendship boats! That hill is a beast! I think they will head over to Canada to watch the film and then I’m going to encourage them to go grab the Friendship boat and watch Voices of Liberty and The American Adventure before circling back to some of the other countries.
It sounds like they would probably also enjoy Impressions de France, but keep in mind that’s only showing at the very beginning and end of the day. Beauty and the Beast sing along is there the rest of the time.
I don’t know why people want to avoid scooters. My mom’s husband used to hate the thought of having to use a scooter (COPD) … until we finally got him to rent one in Vegas. Then he bought one for personal use and has not looked back.
My mom has used one the last 3 trips to Disney …even though she got new knees finally, she’s still a slow walker.
With a scooter you can go on SE at anytime as you use the back entrance. Which means at best a 5-10 min wait in my experience.
Throwing out another question on this thread in the hopes y’all will weigh in again. The last time my parents visited MK, my sister and I booked the dessert party on the terrace for them so that they would have a place to seat for fireworks. They really enjoyed the view and being able to sit down, but weren’t as impressed with the food. They aren’t planning to book this again for the upcoming trip, and I’m wondering whether you have any recommendations of where they could go to watch fireworks and have a seat. My first thought was behind the castle, but then they miss the projections. The tables in front of Plaza and Casey’s all have umbrellas, right? I know some of the garden areas have a little ledge you could perch on if you get there in time. I welcome any and all suggestions!
Those tables are usually full but a good viewing location. Having a seat unless your on a curb is hard. I don’t know about sitting on the ledges. We were told to get off. You could maybe lean but be careful with that plan.
