It's been a few years ...

[cindybarth]

Hi everyone ... for many years we took our girls to Disney and loved it. But, as they got older, we started doing the shore ...

Now, we're heading back to Disney! We'll be taking our 15 year old daughter, our 20 year old daughter and her 20 year old best friend. We're staying at the Yacht Club for 5 days ... we already purchased the dining plan and have reservations for all but one night ...

My question to everyone is ... what suggestion(s) do you have for us to make this the best trip ever? We've done all the "kiddie" things, have seen our kids kissed by Cinderella and taken out of the crowd at the parade by the Fairy Godmother ... all those things that make me cry. Now we have "adult-like" children ... so what should I look forward to doing?

Please note: we decided to stay at the Yacht Club so that my husband and I could do some things we want while the girls sleep late (ugh!) and spend time at the pool ...

Any and all suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Cindy :)

[brad192]

:welcome:To Intercot!

Don't be suprised if you end up doing some of those "kiddie" things again! ;) I still like to get pictures with characters, especially princesses! :blush: It's a real hoot to show them to my non-Disney friends & see their reaction. I've also been known to dance with the parade characters, get into a staring match with Donald, and generally act like a 10 year old. :mickey:

As for some more "adult" things, maybe a backstage tour? Or, La Nouba is always a good choice. Of course, DTD is a must. And, if the budget allows, what about a fireworks cruise? :fworks: Everyone will be old enough now for all the rides, so try & do any that you couldn't do when the kids were younger. Just be sure you fill each day with as much magic & pixie dust as you can! Have a great trip! :D

[WriteDisney]

:thumbsup:

First of all, great choice in the Yacht Club. Not sure if you said you've stayed there before, but the boardwalk, just across the lake, has some fun night life activities and its very close to Epcot and MGM. Yachtman's Steakhouse is a must!

You already said you made your dining reservations, which I find to be a major attraction for adults. There are so many great restaurants, its alot of fun to try them out.

Besides the obvious rides (Expedition Everest, Rockin Rollercoaster, etc), it's also fun to check out the other hotels, if you've never been. They also have fantastic and fun themed restaurants (again with the food.. do we see a pattern here?).

Downtown disney is fun to check out as well, you have more dining, clubs, and cirque de soleil.

It's nice to go at your own pace too. Sometimes with young kids you end up rushing from attraction to attraction, I find it nice to just stroll. Have a great time! :thumbsup:

[MarkC]

First of all, congrats and welcome. You'll have a great time. I would suggest you let them relax in the pool quite a bit, and you and your husband take in a restaurant at the World Showcase on your own. The girls will probably want to hit the water parks and nightclubs, so I would suggest not overplanning, but other than some dining reservations just go with the flow. Kids don't want to have the vacation to planned out- my guess is they will want to be more spontaneous and enjoy whatever they feel like at the time. You didn't say when you are going, but my 18 and soon to be 16 year old sons would probably be more than welcome to meet your daughters as we stay at the Beach Club. At those ages, and with the cell phone world we live in, it's amazing how quickly they exchange numbers and text/talk/etc. Have fun. Mark

[cindybarth]

Thank you all for your comments, they are VERY helpful! We are going 4/2 - 4/6/08. We've never stayed at the Yacht Club before, we have a timeshare and usually stay outside the park ... so this will be the first trip we stay on property. You are right ... trips in the past have been "get as much magic in as possible" ... so this will be the first time we are going without any real itinerary (except the dining reservations we've already made).

As for the food, we're eating at some of our past favorites ... Cape May Buffet, Morroco, and the Coral Reef. I'm probably going to call today and try to book Le Cellier for just my husband and I (the girls want one night on their own, as do we!). Even in the past, when we didn't have a meal plan, we have tried all the higher-end restaurants, almost without disappointment ... it really does make the vacation! Would you chose the Yachtsman Steakhouse over Le Cellier?

Thanks for the tip about the Boardwalk, we were over there one time during the day and it was pretty dead ... now I'm hopeful that there will be some life over there! We have done the fireworks cruise (on a pontoon boat in the bay, it was fabulous!) but have really never been to Pleasure Island or DTD at night!

Keep the suggestions coming!

[rjmdds]

I think you will get much more out of EPCOT now because there is such a large component that can be appreciated by adults. I think you could really dive in to EPCOT and experience a whole other side of DIsney. As another poster suggested, look into the many tours that the parks have to offer. Again, they will open your eyes up to a whole other aspect of the World.

[cindybarth]

I agree ... one of the reasons we booked at the Yacht Club was to take full advantage of Epcot! We've been there during the Food and Wine Festival, which we loved ... and I hear there is some sort of flower festival in April when we'll be there ... so we'll be able to enjoy that too!! Thanks!:mickey:

[BMan62]

If you haven't gone to WDW in a few years, it will all be new again. It doesn't matter what age you are - I'm 46 and act like a kid every time!

Forget the nightclubs - except for Comedy Warehouse and Adventurer's Club, they are all 21+.

Enjoy!

[LandFan]

Definitely hit the Adventurer's Club! Kungaloosh! It is a one-of-a-kind club with some audio-animatronics and was designed by Joe Rhode (the amazing imagineer). It is really funny! You have to be prepared to stay a while to get the hang of it though. Otherwise you won't "get it". Your kids are the perfect age to love it.

[WriteDisney]

Would you chose the Yachtsman Steakhouse over Le Cellier

No! Le cellier is my all time favorite, if your looking into that one I say go for it! I just thought of Yachtman's because of the Beach and Yacht Club, it's very nice, but Le Cellier is better, IMO anyway!

[IloveDisney71]

We love LeCellier. It is a must "eat" for us on every trip. We've never been disappointed.
My 2 DD's are 17 and 19 and still love WDW.
They really enjoy the water parks.
Don't forget to catch Wishes, Illuminations, & Fantasmic.
I was recently at the MK and was with a 21 yr. old girl who had not been to Disney since she was 5 yrs. old (poor thing!). Anyway, she LOVED everything. She got a big kick out of IASW and Mickey's Philharmagic. When we saw Tink fly down from the castle during Wishes - she got tears in her eyes. Another Disney covert! HA!:mickey::number1:

[cindybarth]

Thanks so much for all your input ... I'm going to call today and try to make a reservation at Le Cellier, for sure!! We're all starting to get excited again, we got out old pictures and videos this weekend and it got us all excited ... so thanks for all your help!