Which resort best for 75 yr. old?

[sndral]

I'm planning my next WDW vacation and trying to make a better choice for my 75 yr old mom than last Sept.'s POFQ. We were in a building 7@ the end of the complex and the walking to and from the bus stops & the room & the parks wore her out. She came to enjoy independently going to DTD via the boat once I showed her how. I''ll need space for 4 adults (@ least 2 rms and 3 beds.)
Poly - on the monorail, fairly compact. Busy lobby. Would need 2 rms @ deluxe prices. Mom liked the 'feel' when we had dinner there.
Beachclub/boardwalk area - villas possible so I wouldn't have to get 2 rooms. Pretty spread out and sunny, but boats to epcot and DTD? Didn't see much in the way of lobbies.
AKL - villas possible, everyone loved it when we had dinner there, still lots of walking - especially the hike up from the bus stop at the end of the day, but nice lobby and areas to relax for when she's not up to trekking to the parks. Plus she's a zoo nut.
Thoughts/advice, things I haven't thought of or don't know?:confused:

[PetefromRI]

It's tough at Disney when you have any kind of mobility issues.It seems that there's alot of walking whatever you do.We like POFQ if we can get bldg.#4 right next to the foodcourt but nothings guaranteed so my first thought was the Poly if you can get a longhouse near the lobby(GCH).You could always go conceirge and be guaranteed the Haawii longhouse but that's not cheap.Even preferred rooms at the mods can be a bit of a walk for an older person,and it sounds like she wants to be independent so a wheelchair is out.How about a scooter?

[KathyMJ]

How about a preferred room at one of the moderate resorts? A preferred room will put you in a building closer to the main building/food court/bus stop. You will pay a little more than a standard room, but not nearly as much as a deluxe. If you go to the resort section on Intercot, you can pull up the resorts to see which buildings are preferred and then check them out on the map so you have a good idea what might be best for you.

Also, you may want to request a ground floor room. Disney will never guarantee room requests, but they do their best to accommodate.

I think it's great that your mom still enjoys Disney and is so independent!!

Have a great trip.

[Simba's Mom]

When Mom was 73, she loved staying at BCV. Her mobility isn't the best, but the walk to Epcot wasn't too long for her. And she liked that she was able to just take the elevator downstairs and a quick walk into BC Marketplace to get a snack.

[Marymouse2003]

Just order her a scooter from off grounds to have use whenever/wherever she wants to head out. The scooter will give her independence to go & come as she pleases. AND that way you can pick whatever resort you want. Talk to her about it. I finally rented scooter from rental company back about 10 yrs ago. Was 35 yrs old. I did have my problems with vanity @ 1st, must admit that, but @ the end of a week,not suffering any way near with pain and realized it gave me independence, I then thought, what the heck have I been suffering for all these years. Talk to her about it as a good thing as apposed(sp?) to a bad thing. Good luck!!!
God bless,

[TheRustyScupper]

1) We took Dad to WDW when he was 84.
2) He really liked POFQ.
3) The resort is small, so
. . . he fell very secure
. . . he knew he could get around without problems
. . . it was easy to see where everything was

[hubbyofadisneyholic]

Rather than 2 rms @ a Deluxe resort you might consider a 2 bedroom villa at OKW.
My mother came with us when she was 77 & 78.
We requested 1st floor in a building near a bus stop.
It worked out perfectly. It was less than 50 yards from our door to the bus stop. Much shorter than the walk from the bus to the gate at any of the parks.
And at the end of the day the time on the bus was plenty to give her the energy for the walk back to the villa.

Just something to consider...

[sndral]

Thanks all for the replies. Here's wishing you all a healthy and happy 2009. :magic:
These are the thoughts running through my mind-
Mom's mobile and independent - but she did wear out pretty fast last Sept., especially at Epcot. And because we had the dinning plan we ate at a lot of places and thus used the transportation system a lot. I suggested that maybe next time she have a scooter for Epcot, and she was good with that -don't know if it's possible to rent one for just that park.
Instead of going in Sept. I'm leaning towards Nov/Dec Christmas decoration time - that way the muggy heat won't be the factor it was.
We are on the west coast, so WDW is a 'big' deal for us. Mom has been to WDW 3 times and stayed 2Xs @ CBR and last time @ POFQ. I'm not rich, but can upgrade to a deluxe, especially if they come out w/ discounts, and I'd like to do that, since who knows how many more years she'll have to enjoy disney? She loves Disney and took the whole family every year to stay @ the Disneyland hotel when I was younger. W/ all that in mind (and quality of Christmas decorations) - any thoughts you all have to help me would be appreciated.
OKW/SSR - both seem isolated. SSR seemed POFQ like - but I've only seen them from a distance.
Fort Wilderness Villas - We went to Hoop dee Doo and loved it last Sept. It was dark, so didn't see anything else. The boat ride seemed long, but boat rides are so much nicer than buses.
Polynesian - in an odd way it had the Disneyland Hotel of old feel - probably because of the monorail, but 2 deluxe rooms, maybe not special enough to justify the price, especially since it seems the only easier park is MK. But mom liked it when we had dinner @ Ohanas.
Beachclub Villas - I've wanted to stay here since I first visited WDW, but it seemed like we did a lot of walking to get places when we cruised through in Sept..
AKL - When we got there for dinner mom sank into one of the chairs in the lobby and said "now this is nice." My son and his gf really liked it, too. I stayed there when it first opened and wasn't that impressed - but maybe that was colored by the overall bad experience (long story) of that trip.
I'm sort of leaning towards AKL, just because the kids and mom seemed to love it, but I'm concerned about the isolation/buses only factor.

[Disney Lynn]

Although we usually stay on-site, when we visited with my Dad (82 then) and several cousins, we rented a house off-site in Kissimmee. We always get a car, so that wasn't an added expense for us. Houses are frequently cheaper than WDW properties plus we made good use of the kitchen and laundry. With just a few steps from the front door to the car, plus his handicapped sticker (or use the guest drop off, then park and meet up again), Dad could save his energy for walking at the parks.

If you do stay at AKL, rent a car! We visited WDW the first week of December and found out that the bus schedules had been modified- instead of every 15-20 minutes, they had cut back to every 20-30 minutes. And we were told this while we were standing in line for over 45 minutes one morning! And once a bus comes, it fills up very quickly, so your Mom might still be standing! We usually drive everywhere except the MK; by the end of our week's stay, we were even driving there- to save time and aggravation.

As for renting a scooter- yes you can do it park by park. And the Christmas decorations were nice (less this year than in the past, but still nice). Definitely do the Candlelight Processional (get the dinner package!) and the Osbourne Family Lights.

[thejens]

I love AKL, but to me that would be less convenient. My mom, although younger, has a lung condition and uses oxygen. We stayed at the Poly and rented a scooter for the week. It was there when we got there and she buzzed around on it all week. It was awesome. We were tired when she was perky and rested. The resort themselves (Poly included) can require a lot of walking. I highly recommend the scooter. It was amazing how easy it was for her to use it even in most of the lines. When she felt up to it she parked it and walked around, and when she was tired it was always there. We were able to charge it in restaurants if she needed to. The monorail was convenient for MK and for Epcot. The scooter cannot go on the boats. We were able to put the scooter on the busses, but that is not my preferred method of transportation due to possible waits. We all enjoyed watching the kids in the pool and watching Wishes over the lake. Very nice. I was never a big Poly fan, but I was won over by the easy going vibe and convenience. Not to mention Wishes sparkling nearby every night! Just our experience.

[TheRustyScupper]

1) A 75-year old would do well in "Pooped" Century.
2) Actually, they would do well anywhere.
3) My Dad did POFQ at 80-years and loved it.

[biodtl]

One thing to keep in mind about renting a scooter in the park is that they can run out if you don't get there early.

[sndral]

I'm down to AKL - for theme, WL for xmas decorations and Poly - because, well, the more I read about it, the more excited it makes me, there sure are some poly fanatics out there! I noticed that in the long houses they seem to have mini lobbies on all the floors, which addresses one of my concerns, that the main lobby (still learning the initials) seemed so busy when we were there.
I also started mentally figuring out how to plan dinners to reduce the long treks.
Thx for the tip on getting to the park early for a scooter - we are not early risers and west coast time is 3 hrs. behind fla. time.