Hi Friends!
Being therapists, my husband Doug and I have always been curious how much walking and exercise we are able to achieve on our Disney trips and what that can mean for us! First of all, I think we can all agree that any trip to Disney is not to be taken lightly.
Disney trips can require quite a bit of preparation beforehand and maybe even some endurance training if you're not used to that amount of activity, BUT, if you find yourself asking, "well, how much activity should you expect or prepare myself for?" then you're in luck reading this post! I first gathered some information from our trusty Fitbits going back to some dates of our previous Disney trips! Now, there is an ongoing "debate" or "competition" that goes on between Doug and I regarding our daily step count. Even though we tend to go most places together, I tend to have more steps than him throughout the day, which is due to our different stride lengths and overall cadence (which I won't bore you with the details about today!) SO, I also have his steps as a comparison between the 2 of us!
Based off my chart (purple), I average around 24,600 steps and 10.9 miles a day at Disney and Doug (blue) averages around 23,500 steps and 10.69 miles.
Overall, I thought this information was interesting and it's pretty awesome to say " I walked 10 miles today"! ( and I wouldn't dare share how many dole whips I had in the process!) I wanted to add in the calories burned just for visual reference here, and I plan to have another post in the future regarding their significance!
After seeing how many steps we take a day, I became curious about how big each Disney park is for another reference. I had some trouble finding information on how big each park is in regards to mileage, so I found a website where you can make a path and calculate the distance in mileage. Here's what I was able to come up with!
I did my best staying on our usual walking paths without overlapping much because I wanted more of an outline and general size of each park! The "rough" mileage I was able to gather for each park is below!
I enjoy having this information as another reference for what to expect on your trips! Instead of using our personal daily steps and mileage for guidance, this is more of a consistent measure that can help prepare you! As an added bonus, this may be able to help you prepare by specific parks as well!
For example on how this information can be used, I have a patient who is planning on attending a future Disney trip with family. Now, setting their goal to "walk 10 miles a day" based on our personal data, would not be fair or appropriate for this patient, but I can however set a goal of "walking 3-4 miles a day" to make sure they can tolerate and enjoy walking through a park each day! Give or take some extra trips from parking lots, buses, trams, etc. and lets not forget some seated resting breaks for activity tolerance and delicious snacks of course!
Stay tuned for my future posts on what this activity can mean for your health and some safe ways you can start preparing for your trips!
Until then, Wishing everyone health and happiness!
Kungaloosh!
-Skipper Sarah (PT, DPT)
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